Saddle Up & Move ‘Em Out

Each morning before our walk I get Willie into a harness.  I do this so I can attach his lead to the harness rings between his shoulder blades – an alternative to attaching it to his collar, which would put stress on his neck.

We’ve been through a few different harnesses; he hated the one the lady at PetSmart sold me and the first day he wore it he hooked his lower jaw under the black woven nylon chest strap and chewed himself free.  The second one, a red one woven with Union Jacks — a gift from our British friend Suzanne – was of a similar design as the original and was similarly dispatched.

On the advice of our friend, Tony, I bought a Voyager harness of a very different design – a soft and sturdy thing with no clasps or buckles located where they would annoy Willie.  The harness fits him comfortably, but putting it on him those first couple of mornings was pretty awkward; I’d thread one leg through a hole and as I turned my attention to the second leg he’d remove the first.  I tried to put it on him while he was standing, and I tried it with him lying on my lap – though he wasn’t especially cooperative.  “This is like trying to put a brassiere on someone,” I said to Richard.

“Have you ever put a brassiere on someone?” he asked.

“Well, once.  A long time ago.  And now that I think of it, it really wasn’t actually anything like this.”

I finally figured out a nearly foolproof way to get Willie “harnessed up.”  I lay the harness on the floor in front of him, place both of his feet in the holes, then quickly pull it up and secure it atop his shoulders with the Velcro tab.  I close the quick release plastic buckle, clip the lead to the metal rings, and we’re ready to go.

The first time a big, off-leash dog came charging toward us, I also discovered the harness let me quickly reel Willie in, lifting him straight up off the ground to safety.  The harness provides a convenient handle for me to lift him up, and, back in the safety of our fenced yard, his harness also lets me launch him like a bowling ball, so he hits the ground running like a Jack Russell terrier launched from a saddlebag.

But just because this harness makes things easier for me doesn’t mean Willie likes wearing it.