Dog Community

Harness leaving sores?!

erica1989

Posted : 4/27/2007 1:33:06 PM

Casey only wears his harness when we go on walks (he has his tags on a collar at all times). We don't go on walks very often (don't worry, there is a lot of fetch and chase in the backyard 2 times daily....)

The thing is, I was brushing Casey yesterday, and I notices little sores on his sides, right where the harness would be. They are not bad, thankfully I caught them in advance, and a little panalog will heal it right up.

He did not know how to walk on a leash at all, and was terrified of it when I first got him. Now Casey pulls a little bit when we walk (we are working on it!), and makes the awful hacking sound... which is why he wears a harness. He is a little dog, and I know they have sensitive tracheas.

The thing is, I do not want to keep on using that harness (it is just a regular, plain harness). Does anyone have any suggestions? I have seen harnesses with sheepskin lining, would that help? Or does his just need to be washed - could something on it be irritating him? I looked and did not see anything, but that does not mean it's not there!!

Thank you!

sl2crmeg

Posted : 4/27/2007 1:50:31 PM

Do you mean sores in his 'armpits'? Like, where his front legs meet his body?
I know some of the dogs at the dog daycare I work at wear an Easywalk Harness because the regular style tangle their fur in that spot. I'm sure dog.com has easywalk harnesses.

Poor Casey and his owies [

].

erica1989

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:00:43 PM

No, they are actually above his arms, where the top of the harness would be. Not in the middle of his back, but there are two sore on his sides above his arms. I'm not sure how else to explain it. The harness fits him, so I don't think it is a sizing issue. (They call me at work to come up to the office and fit dogs for harnesses and collars - so I know how to do that)

Amitiel

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:03:37 PM

consider a gentle leader

sl2crmeg

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:08:03 PM

Weird! Of all the dogs that I see wear harnesses I've never seen sores there! (And EVERYONE at day care has to wear a harness!) Maybe a sheepskin one would help then. It might not 'rub' as much, I guess.

Wait, is it the kind of harness with a neck loop and then a chest loop, and the buckle is on the chest loop? Or the kind that they have to 'step' into and it buckles over their shoulderblades?

Cita

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:08:54 PM

Have you tried adjusting the fit? Maybe it's too tight/loose? I don't think adding something soft like fleece would do any harm, but if the harness does sit at those spots it might be a good idea to let him heal before wearing that particular harness again.

paulaedwina

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:10:36 PM

I think you should look at fit - it sounds like it is too short along the back. Yoshi's harness doesn't rub his shoulders - that part is further behind (along) his back.

Paula

erica1989

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:14:31 PM

The harness I have on him now is like this one - [linkhttp://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=11034]http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=11034[/link]. just your average harness. I thought about trying the easy walk - but it would still rub in the same place.
I will try to find a gentle leader (halter collar) at work tonight that is small enough for him... he doesn't like having anything around his face - so that will take time for him to adjust to that.
I was thinking about just picking up a martingail collar for him until I can go and get a harness with some fleece. He just has a regualar buckle one now, and has a habit of sneaking out of it if he doesn't have his harness on...

Amitiel

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:19:06 PM

[linkhttp://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=10562]http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=10562[/link]

erica1989

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:20:04 PM

His sores are right in this area on both sides -

this was when I first got him home, he has grown a bit - and the harness fits him properly. And like I said earlier - he doesn't wear it often, only when he goes on walks...

Amitiel

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:25:26 PM

sores may not be from harness - however they will be irrated by the harness (is he chewing there?)

sl2crmeg

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:40:17 PM

Pirate belongs to the group of the collar-slipper too. He has a martingale collar and I love it. It didn't stop him from pulling though, that was all work. I think in his harness he actually could pull BETTER. It let him put all of his legs and chest into pulling.

Man, it must be hard having such a cute widdle guy. Sorry, I love pointy-eared dogs. [sm=biggrin.gif]

stardog85

Posted : 4/27/2007 2:50:28 PM

Regular harnesses do encourage pulling, so it might be best to just work on that issue and switch him to a collar for walks. If you want to stick witht the harness, you can try moleskin or sheepskin on your current one, but I've not had much success doign that myself. Maggie is a hard one to fit for harnesses (she'd get sores behind her legs and the harness would slide too much no matter how I adjusted it), so I ended up buying this harness: [linkhttp://alpineoutfitters.net/Secure/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=155]Urban Trail Harness[/link]

The UTH is designed for pulling so it has a longer back and a nice stiched front rather than a metal ring, plus it is padded with polar fleece all over. The straps that are causing the sores on the current harness are set back further on the UTH, so there's less friction there as well. You'd have to call and see if they can fit one for a small dog; each harness is custom made so hopefully they can.

Here's Maggie in her UTH: