Let me preface this by saying that I live on a farm – a rather large farm with about 130 acres of corn/bean fields, and around 5 or 6 acres of “mowing” ground. Our first dog, Letty, was adopted from a local shelter – she is a Rotty/Husky/GSD mix and came to us as an adult, already trained for the leash. Our second dog, Aries, was a puppy (and still is, albeit, quite a bit larger now). He has never known what it’s like to “take a walk” on a leash down a sidewalk. When our dogs have to pee, we “let them out”. They run around the property, do their thing and come back to the door when they’re done. There’s no one for them to bother and no one to bother them.
Taking them into town for shots or grooming, however, can be a little tricky.
Aries is a very intelligent dog – a full blood GSD – and typically listens very well. He knows commands like Sit, Stay, Lay Down, Fetch, Drop It, Out etc. But he’s also two years old and likes to be ornery. As he grew, it became increasingly difficult for me to hold him on his leash – he wanted to go where he wanted to go (which is usually where Letty wants to go). Trying to wrangle two 90lbs dogs at one time is not fun, nor in anyway graceful and can even be embarrasing.
With that said, I started looking at various options for dog control. I don’t like choke chains or collars, nor do I hold with prong collars or shock collars, and yanking him around by his throat wasn’t cool for either of us.
So… harnesses.
BTW, I’m frugal. My fiance and I have a lot going on and I need to save money. Harnesses can be expensive if you buy them at the store, and I knew I needed something durable and strong. So, I came up with this:
I bought a horse lead with clips on both ends and a halter ring. Altogether, cost me about $10. It’s sturdy (hello, horses!) and will never break.
To start, clip the halter ring onto one end of the lead. Wrap the lead under the dog’s belly, loop it through the halter ring (which should be placed in the middle of his back), wrap around his neck, and loop back through the halter ring.
Viola! Homemade harness! This thing works great too! He knows I’m in control and doesn’t even attempt to pull. He stays right by my side the entire time it’s on.
You need to be careful the rope and ring don’t tug on his fur too much, but other than that, this works perfectly. (NOTE: his ears are laid back in this picture because Letty was off and running and he was sad to be on the leash – he’s such a whiner sometimes!).
This would probably work with any leash that has a handloop, I just preferred the durability of this design (fabric wears over time while this will seriously last forever!).
So there you go, a $10 dog harness that will last and can be used to wrangle even the biggest, smartest, most ornery puppies 🙂
Fur Kids 