The best harness fit for Whippets

I get asked quite a lot about these harnesses so I thought it may be useful for anyone who was thinking about one for their hounds.

Why I choose Ruffwear

There were two reasons we were looking at harnesses; one our old boy Jasper was quite sensitive around his head when he had his inner ear removed, we felt a harness would be much gentler for him, and then there was Shadow.

When we first got Shadow, we realised that we would need a harness for some of our walks, basically wherever there was going to be any excitement, if he saw anything even remotely fun then he would leap four foot in the air and dance around like a maniac. Not great when the only thing he is tethered to is a collar round his neck.

It’s notoriously difficult find harnesses for sighthounds, most fits seem to be too loose because of their deep but skinny chests. We were pleasantly surprised by the RuffWear front range harness, because of the amount of adjusting we could do at several points, it fitted perfectly. I also loved the fact that rather than being strips of thinner material like a lot of harnesses, this has wider, more padded sections and the front almost feels like a chest piece.

The front range harnesses are great for general walking, however Shadow learned how to back out of it. So we checked out the six point webmaster – problem solved! Again this is super adjustable, it fits him really well and with the added benefit of the harness coming further towards where the waist tucks in, it’s Shadow proof. We went for the addition of the stomach protector as he had previously had trouble with an awful rash after going through long grass. Hey presto, we have the perfect harness!

We use the front range harnesses for all the other hounds with great success. We have the small size for all five hounds, that shows how adjustable they are as they are very different in height & weight! I can also pop them over our Redhound for Dogs fleeces. 

I got asked quite a lot of questions about the fit, so I have popped a little video up here: Ruffwear Harness Fit

When do I use them?

We use them quite a lot, like if we are going somewhere super busy like DogFest or when we are exploring the countryside. Anywhere there is too much going on for us to be trying to direct the hounds from collars, it’s not easy on their necks as they are constantly trying to hoover up dropped food or follow exciting smells.

If you have any questions about my experience with these harnesses, please don’t hesitate to ask, and I’d love to hear if you have them for your hounds too!  

With thanks to additional models Buzz, Ozzy & Ollie who are also RuffWear wearers 🙂

Kerry x

Purrfectlyyappy.com sell the full Ruffwear range: Ruffwear Harnesses