I have always been a fan of harnesses for dogs, mostly because both of my dogs have a tendency to pull and I don’t like to see them hacking and coughing as they are slowly choked by the collar. But when my dog Lucy was diagnosed with glaucoma it was even more important that I use a harness since the choking effect of a collar can aggravate the pressure in the eye. I had a variety of harnesses already but I had always thought they must have been quite uncomfortable. The straps were rough and the buckles seemed to dig into their body
So my goal was to find the best harness for a dog with glaucoma. Fortunately I didn’t really have to do too much searching because as fate would have it, the right harness came to me without any effort on my part. When I picked up Lucy after her laser surgery in Sydney they brought her out with a harness they had been using on her during her stay. The vet told me that it was important that I use a harness on her instead of a collar and then told me that I could keep the harness. To be more specific she said, “You may as well keep the harness, you’ve spent enough already”. You’re not kidding!
So to get to the point of this, the harness that Lucy was wearing was a Puppia Soft Dog Harness. I had never heard of the brand so had to look it up and of course found them on Amazon. The reviews were excellent so I was happy to see that.
What I Like about the Puppia Soft Dog Harness
What I like most about this harness is that it is nice and soft. You can just see that it is so much more comfortable than regular harnesses. It’s something your dog will be happy to wear for long periods of time.
The other big plus is that this harness is so simple to put on. I have a number of other harnesses and it doesn’t matter how many times I have used them, I am still confused when it comes to putting them on. Is it up or down and does this strap go under the neck and does their leg go in there? They can be quite complicated and when your dog is excited and jumping around ready to go for a walk, it makes it even more difficult. So I really like the Puppia harness because it is pretty simple in it’s design making it easy to put on. I just put her head through the main opening and put her left leg through the other hole and then clip up. I just don’t seem to have the same trouble putting it on as I do with the others.
The Puppia harness has been designed to take the pressure off the neck and place it more on the shoulders. So the pressure is more evenly distributed making it a perfect harness for a dog with glaucoma.
I like it and will be getting one for my sighted dog as well.
Sizing
I notice that some of the reviewers on Amazon have spoken about sizing issues and one mentioned that the neck size is actually the head size. In other words, you should measure your dogs head size rather than the neck size to get the right dimensions. These harnesses are designed to be put on over the head and the opening for that cannot be adjusted. So if for example, you measure the neck circumference and find that it is 12 inches and you buy the Medium and find that it doesn’t go over your dog’s head then it is because your dogs head is larger than it’s neck circumference.
So to ensure that you get the right size measure the circumference of your dog’s head as well as the neck size. If they vary considerably then this may not be the right harness for your dog, because although you may be able to get it over it’s head, it may be too loose around the shoulders once on.
For my dog Lucy her neck circumference is 13 inches and her head circumference is 14 inches. We have the Large harness and it goes over her head perfectly and fits nicely across her shoulders. Also when measuring the neck girth ensure you don’t measure around the neck but just a little lower. You can see where this is in the image below.
Where Can You Buy the Puppia Soft Dog Harness?
You can buy the harness at Amazon. They have all the various sizes and 12 different colors to choose from.
Hi Paula. Greg here, you no, that old family friend that kicks around up here in Queensland. I thought I’d pass on my experience with a blind dog, I partially grew up with. On school holidays, we would visit my uncles sheep & weat farm up in central New South Wales, he had five dogs on the farm, four kepies and Labrdor cross, that was totally blind, our Favorite, I suppose because the other dogs where all ways jumping around, and the Lab. slower and quieter (for odviuos reasons). She would all ways follow you around, and would no who you are as against another person, (smell I suppose), her hearing became quit acute, she would hear your foot steps from quit a distance and head in that direction, to see who it was, you could see her movements would change, as she got closer, sencing who it was, and noing how that person interacted with her. We watched her change over the years, getting smarter, noing where everthing was, at times you would not no she was blind. The other interesting thing was the other dogs reaction with her, when she was outside, all four kelpies would watch over her, all sticking together, in case anything happened. She lived to be a ripe old age, I suppose we liked her most, because you could see how smart she became. Talk Soon.
That was good to hear Greg. I wish Bronnie would be as caring as those other dogs. She just tolerates Lucy and if she steps on her she will have a go at her. She isn’t all that helpful at all.
Bronnie might come to realize in time, Lucy’s new situation. keep the fingers crossed. P.S. Please excuse the spelling mistakes, did not have spell check.
Hi Paula, this is a great article and hits home for us. We have been extremely happy with puppia harnesses as they have helped our two Shih Tzus and lot of our customers. We intentionally keep our prices low and offer 15% off with coupon code Free15 at http://www.organicpetboutique.com
Best Regards,
Len
Thanks Len. You’ve got a really nice site there. I like the range of organic dog foods. I think the dog food industry is pretty much atrocious these days. I feed my dogs a home made diet now and they sometimes eat better than I do…LOL.