Best harness I have found in 3 decades. Dog lead modifications.

[Dogband1]

I am so excited. I have just found the best harness in 3 decades of owning 4 magnificent Cairns.  I do not have any interest in this company or anything.  We looked everywhere to find a suitable harness, but nothing was what I wanted.  I hope someone benefits from this post. 

I happened to find this harness on Amazon, and ordered a medium as it was within the size range. Medium did fit, but was bulky.  I now have a small size harness, in black for the unbelievable price of $13.88.   It fits fine.  Reilly is a big boned, trim 23 lbs of terror.   [I would have paid $30]

Here is why I love this harness.   We travel with Reilly RedSky and he is frequently in towns, campgrounds, on hiking trails, etc. and as I am incredibly paranoid for his safety, only a harness will do.  It has four buckles, so it will go on without going over his head.  [Not necessarily a required feature, but nice].  It is very, very sturdy and well made, with strong seams.  I will clip the lead to the D ring on his back.  It also has a D ring in front which many use as a "no pull" connection.  I had a custom lead made at a shoe repair shop, that is simply a small nylon strap about 15" long with a small dog clip at each end.  I clip this to my dog lead, thread this thru the harness, and clip this to the front "no pull" D ring.  This gives me a secondary connection to the dog should my main lead ever fail.  I use this secondary lead in higher danger situations.  [As you know, when they see a squirrel, or in my case, most other dogs, he is yanking in a second].  Yes I am overly paranoid, but he has indeed once twisted out of a  "swivel snap" clip on the end of a lead.  I then had this swivel snap on my primary lead replaced with a "trigger snap" that I found at the local hardware store. [Retired, too much spare time].  Between this trigger snap, and this small secondary "safety lead", I hope I have found a grand solution to keeping him secure. 

And in closing, the harness also has an easy to grasp handle on the top, which will allow me to quickly lift him to safety when we encounter the occasional dog without a lead.  I have never gotten the aggression out of him, so I just take the totally safe way out and lift him to safety. 

The only way I could find this for you to search on Amazon is this search term:  MyDog No Pull Dog Vest Harness with 4 Snap Buckles [No Need to Go Over Dog’s Head] Reflective Easy Control Handle and 2 Front & Back Metal Leash Rings Dog Harness for Outdoor Dogs

Sorry for the excess length of this post.  I hope this helps someone.  PS, shoe repair shops are a great place to modify and repair dog leads.  

[bradl]

Is this the one? A tad bit more $ but still surprisingly reasonable.

[pkcrossley]

thanks, brad. I was trying to follow Dogband1's description but got a bit lost. so, are they the same?

[Kathryn]

I like the looks of this one, and may order a couple.  I am particularly interested in the handle.  We have puppias for Oban and Angus, and I like those because -- try as they will -- they cannot slip out of them.

We are not in California this year, but will probably go back next winter.  There I like a harness with a handle so I can scoop up a dog quickly if I need to.  A few years ago I was not quick enough in the tide pools, and Oban grabbed and ate a little hermit crab! I would have scooped him out before he could have if he had a handle on...

I wasn't worried the crab would hurt him -- I was sorry he was hurting the crab...

[CloverDragons]

I love a harness with a front-hook, especially for training a young dog who wants to pull.  If they pull, they just end up turning themselves back towards you, and they learn pretty fast that behavior doesn't get them what they want!