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Harness and collars, raw spots

1758 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  LuvMyFluff
Having trouble finding correct gear for this beast of mine.
She's about 35# and built skinny. Has the body style of a German Shepherd but petite and short, thin hair.
Her head is just as skinny as her neck, so even a too-snug collar can be pulled off easily.
We have tried about six hundred harnesses, it feels like, and own five. Only one of ours has a "proper fit" where it lays comfortably secure on the body. I prefer not to use it because it says, in big letters, Service Dog (and she is not officially trained as one yet.) Most harnesses, if going by size charts, don't fit secure (big belly band gap, or too tight on neck, etc.) and going up or down a size makes an impossible fit. She can slip out of every harness we own with a simple body flick, to give an idea of the severity.

Worse yet, we MUST acquire a good fit harness because everything we own is rubbing her raw (armpits and neck) and if my children open the front door she likes to take advantage and go chase squirrels. We are big on hiking and are often with her off leash in the yard, woods, and at family's houses, it is paramount she has tags on her every waking moment.

How do I find a better fit?! I've gone to every pet store within a 30 minute radius without luck. Size charts have proven useless.
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I should have added that we generally leash walk with a rope leash, that slips around the head, rather than attaching to a collar. Or, we might hook leash to a harness if in leash-required public. Not fool proof for slipping free, as I mentioned.
She is no longer a puller. Although she won't heal as proper as a show dog, she generally is so pleasant to leash walk that my handicapped family member walked her shortly after double knee surgery. Yay training!
So, a martingale collar as an everyday collar for tags won't benefit us, because her head is that much smaller than her neck and she can remove them by simply lowering her head to slide them off lol.

Hmm, a custom fit harness must be the way to go. I would like to have a harness that is soft and comfortable, like mesh, for around home with tags on and in case she takes a stroll on her own (pesky squirrels and landlords!) Having a heavy duty harness like those links above would be great for all our outdoor adventures. Her backpack doesn't even fit correctly, so I can't load as heavy as she could potentially carry :(
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