# ruffwear front range harness



## momofboys

Looking to get some input into sizing. Copper is growing like a weed and I want to get him out on his leash more but am looking to buying a harness due to his pulling. I like the look of the Ruffwear harnesses but wanting to see what size I should get. I measured his chest and he is currently 20 inches at 14 weeks. According to the sizing chart he would be a small but I've read reviews where they seem to run small size wise. Anyone have opinions on this?


----------



## R E McCraith

Mom - @ a yr old my male V.s R 58-62#s - = medium - now answer 2 your ? - PUT a stop 2 the PULLING !!!!!! a harness does NOT correct this PROBLEM !!!!! work on WHOA & HEEL !!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Cooperpooperscooper

I agree... teach him to walk on a leash. Walk and as soon as he get out of place stop and correct it. At first, walk on a short leash. We were taught to not let their front paws go past out legs. So their front legs should be aligned with your front legs. You can teach him a command like heel so he goes back to his spot (at your legs). Have him sit until he relaxes and then continue. It also helps to constantly change directions and not keep the walk a routine. They learn the routine walk. By changing directions it makes them focus on where you are going. Once he starts getting it you can give some slack to the leash. It takes times (lots of it) so be patient. For now, your walks on leashes is training time. Once he has it down then it is leisure and a treat for them.


----------



## texasred

Cooper is still very young, and does not have the attention span yet to walk without pulling. Its something that happens slowly over time, with lots of short training sessions.

These are fun for a young pup, and gives them incentive to try and do it right.
All learning should start in a place that does not have a lot of distractions.
Mine learn in the house, then we retrain in the backyard. Next in the front yard because it has a little more distractions. Each new place provides different distractions to a pup, so plan on having to almost start from scratch each time.


----------



## dextersmom

It does take a lot of training to walk nicely on a leash. We spent a lot of time on our V and he walks beautifully. Our weim on the other hand, is a mini freight train sometimes. I didn't spend enough time with her early on (had my hands full walking them both) plus she's super stubborn. We used the Easy Walk harness to help teach Dexter to walk nicely, but it takes a lot of training for that to work successfully too. We use it on our weim, but since we weren't consistent with her training, it doesn't work very well on it's own.

That said, we use the Ruffwear front range harnesses daily. Both our two wear Mediums (one is 47 lbs. and one is 58 lbs.). It's a wonderful harness if your dog does NOT pull. We love it on our V. If I put it on our weim, she has to wear a Halti, because it allows her to pull easily and will shift significantly when she does pull. I like it now, because it has a back clip for the car seatbelt and the front clip to attach a leash to when walking. So, I'd wait until you get loose leash walking down to get the Ruffwear, unless you are just planning to hook a check cord or something to the back clip to let him play and run around.

There is no easy fix to teaching loose leash walking, at least not that I've found! Our weim will pull even in her Halti. It takes a lot of time and consistency. There are tools to help the process, but if you don't put in the time and effort, they won't be nearly as effective on their own (trust me!).


----------



## momofboys

Thanks TexasRed, I will start using those tips, I already do clicker training with him so it will be something to add to the mix. I know he's still really young but I was interested in the harness as from all his pulling he has rubbed his neck raw. I wanted to try and get something that would take the pressure off his neck, I know it won't solve the problem but wanted to try and give his neck a chance to grow the fur back!


----------



## texasred

I've never had one of them rub their neck raw with a regular collar.
Maybe check into a different collar that softer, and let him be collar free when just hanging out at the house. My sister has a dog that can't have any metal on the collar against her skin. It turns red and raw from some type of allergy to it.


----------

