Dog equipment for those with less fluff

tsukitsunetsukitsune
edited September 2009 in Products & DIY
:)

I've been shiba-fied. I'm stumped - I have a dog now that seems to be easily irritated by cotton or nylon martingales/harnesses (including the easy walk).

It might be because her lack of fur (any pit/cane corso/etc owners want to weigh in?) and incredibly thin skin and shocking LACK of body fat..

As a sight hound (mix) she's also less proportionate to the shiba-type, so harnesses I normally use do not fit her the way they should. Her chest has more of a circumference, her neck less so.

I need to find something that:
A. prevents slipping out
B. helps with her excessive pulling (she's in training, too)
C. is padded or made with something more comfortable/less skin damaging than nylon
D. puts less pressure on her small neck and takes advantage of her strong breastbone area

I wish I spoke German - these are perfect: http://windhundgeschirre.de/

Any ideas?

p.s. sort of related - both those with very thin haired dogs + nihon ken homes - do you find that your thinner haired dogs need protection in winter? During play?

Comments

  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    edited November -1
    greyhounds often wear martingale collars, and there's all sorts of fancy ones that are wide- you can have a lot of fun with nice brocades and embroidered ones. I have seen real greyhounds wearing fleece in the winter- there is a thing called a snood that they wear- its a close fitting fleece sweater that you can even pull up over their head a bit like a wetsuit.

    I know that with weight pulling sled harnesses you can have them padded with fleece. I dont recommend a sled harness, per se, but just thinking if they can do it with sled harness I imagine you can do it with something else. leather collars are sometimes lined with soft deerskin on the inside. There must be a way to get custom.
  • NekopanNekopan
    edited November -1
    Jack has incredibly thin fur and sensitive skin. He typically wears a nylon collar that does chafe his neck a little bit - but he seems to have built up a resistance to it so to speak... kind of like callouses on your feet/hands I guess. Since we don't really use harnesses I'm not sure what to recommend - other than to look around for custom harness sites and/or provide her with a lot of "naked time".

    Winter is totally too cold for Jack! Usually he loves being outside, but if there's snow, he just goes out to pee and then comes right back in. I suggest you look into some sweaters - there are lots of sites such as this that make them according to dog body type. I imagine you'll have to go for Whippet style. You could always look for patterns, too, if you're into that. :)
  • NekopanNekopan
    edited November -1
    ETA: I found http://www.make-and-build-dog-stuff.com/make-a-custom-dog-harness.html and http://www.uberpest.com/harness.html if you want to try your hand at making your own custom harness.
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    On the website where I ordered the sled harnesses for my boys they also sell a padded, regular style harness. The intention for these harnesses are for urban mushing (skijoring, bikejoring, scootering), but might be something to consider.

    http://alpineoutfitters.net/Secure/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=155

    you can also try the Walkeez harness, it's padded and has the same neck design as a sled harness (pressure on shoulders not the neck) yet is meant to be a regular use harness

    http://www.gollygear.com/walkeez.html
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    Here is also a padded step in style harness

    http://www.gollygear.com/ezharn.htm
  • JessicaRabbitJessicaRabbit
    edited November -1
    I had Pam make an easy-walk style harness. That works great for Ruby.
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    Check out some greyhound equipment. I tried a Ruffwear Cloudchaser and Overcoat for Beebe when her coat was all out of whack last winter-the neck holes were too tiny and the chest girth was too deep, seemed like they would better fit a sight hound.

    http://www.k-9designs.com/ has a lot of sighthound stuff
  • yukidomariyukidomari
    edited November -1
    Our Dobe and Minpin have short hair. It's true they do chafe easier. We don't even let Luna wear anything on her unless we're going out (to hang ID from). For training our Dobe, a Sporn training halter worked well. It has fleecy 'arms'.

    While we don't have any Shiba, Lilith is the only one that doesn't need clothes when we go out during the winter. Lantis started to once he hit old age, but the smaller dogs do lose body heat easily. Luna sometimes has to double up on clothes during the really cold days.. sweater first then coat.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    The chilly dogs thing is interesting, and pricey! I might go find something in the kids section of target this winter..

    Thanks for the links, I have lots to check out!
  • AraksAraks
    edited November -1
    We do the same thing with our min pin with the doubling up of the clothes. And about the harness, well, Sevuk has a very thin coat and he's fine with one of those standard harnesses you see everywhere, haven't seen any problems yet.
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2024