Gear review - dog stuff

[Peakbagr]

I did a shakedown hike with my Lab, Bookah this morning. Besides being my first outing since injuring my back (great getting out again!), wanted to test out a couple of new pieces of gear.

After watching my friend Bill"s dog Shiloh in a Ruff Wear harness, decided to get one also. The harness goes over your dog's back and then had padded straps across the chest and underneath in 2 places. Heavy duty hiking snaplocks.
If you go to Ruffwear's site you can see it better than I can describe:
http://www.ruffwear.com/Web-Master-Harness?sc=2&category=1131
All I can say is that its a tough piece of gear meant to be used in the woods, and the handle on top is very useful in the steeps. If you are interested, the current version of the harness is the Master Harness. The earlier version is being sold at a discount. Altrec.com is selling the harness with free shipping and their CSRs are excellent at helping you fit the right size over the phone.

Their flat out leash got its first test also. 6' webbling leash with a traffic grab.Its nicest feature is the ability to buckle it around your waist. When the pooch needs leasing, you hook up and your dog is now attached to you, hands free. Very nicely done by Ruffwear.
http://www.ruffwear.com/Flat-Out-Leash?sc=2&category=15

I have no financial interest in this but these are 2 well thought out and executed pieces of gear for those who like to hike with your dogs.
The Flat Out leash is a good idea for anywhere.

Alan

 

[Dugan]

Ruffwear gear is generally good stuff. However, I have one thing I don't like about the harness. The rear strap is positioned under the abdomen of most dogs, behind the ribs where the abdomen is less protected. Be very, very careful to lift gently and for not very long. According to a vet I know who designed drafting harnesses for Newfoundlands, sustained or sudden pressure could result in injury to internal organs. You'd also want to keep that piece a little loose if the dog is just walking around in the harness.

I love the leash. I don't really need another, but.....

Must stop looking at website, I also like their Knot A Collar.

 

[Peakbagr]

Dugan,

I looked at the harness when I fit it for Boo. She's a Lab, but a little one and just under 50lbs. Did a tentative and slow lift with the handle.
Right now, when we're in terrain thats ledgy and steep, she usually waits at the top of the drop off and gets handed down.
The handle will facilitate that and she won't be supported for more than a few seconds, and gently at that.
You raise an excellent point, but for small and medium sized dogs or under the circumstances I forsee, I think the harness will work well.

BTW, I've always value your hiking-dog posts and follow your excellent advice. Particulaly memorable were the comments you've posted about introducing a young dog to hiking and observations re growth plates and elbows on larger breeds.
Thanks, very much appreciated.

Alan

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Alan -

I got the Ruff Wear harness for Brutus a few years ago - it's now the older version - and have been most satisfied with it. Brutus loves to pull sleds, so it was easy to rig something up using the harness. Where I appreciated it most was tying him over to navigate slippery steeps and crossing slide paths.

Concerns about the adequacy of using it to lift your dog are important ones. In Brutus' case, and with other giant breeds, lifting a 150-200 dog by a harness is a near impossibility without a hoist, so it's mostly a non-issue, but am glad Dugan pointed it out for "smaller" dogs - not that a 50lb dog is small.

I'd also like to mention again that Ruff Wear as a company was excellent to deal with when I was looking for some booties for him. I couldn't find anything that would fit him, so contacted their customer service via email, and had several back and forth. At the time they were getting ready to introduce a larger model, hopefully suitable for a bear-sized paws like Newfs have, and even offered to custom-make a pair for him. Unfortunately, the price was a bit steep, and I ended up making some from 1000d Cordura (not difficult) which I carry in the event they're ever needed. But, I was impressed by their level of responsiveness nonetheless.

Kevin

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

Ruffwear gear is generally good stuff. However, I have one thing I don't like about the harness. The rear strap is positioned under the abdomen of most dogs, behind the ribs where the abdomen is less protected. Be very, very careful to lift gently and for not very long. According to a vet I know who designed drafting harnesses for Newfoundlands, sustained or sudden pressure could result in injury to internal organs. You'd also want to keep that piece a little loose if the dog is just walking around in the harness.

I agree. In fact when I first saw the harness I pictured putting it on backwards because the location of the handle. It was only after reading Dugan's comment that I realized I had it backwards. I would much prefer to see that handle moved forward so that the weight of the lift would be on the chest rather than the abdomen even if the weight were not as evenly distributed.

 

[Dugan]

Growth plates and skeletal maturity are an issue with all dogs - not just large dogs and not just purebreds. It's just that generally, the larger the dog, the older they are before they're physically mature.

Peakbagr - Boo? I didn't mean to copy your naming idea! We brought home a second dog this spring. After much wrestling and flipping through reference books we somehow struck upon Caboodle, Boo for short!

As part of bringing Boo home, we had both a vet check and a structural evaluation by Deb Gross Saunders, recommended by Una_dogger. Not that anything is ever a sure bet, but I wanted to hedge my odds by not adopting a dog that was ill suited to being athletic. The evaluation was an hour and worth every penny. I learned a lot. Thankfully, she declared Boo to be an excellent prospect for a hiker dog, with the exception of a bit of stiffness in spinal column over the loin area. We're doing the exercises she suggested and have been conditioning him gradually.

I would not introduce a dog into athletic activities again without this kind of evaluation. The pain and heartache of Dugie's CCL injury and the life-long trouble it will cause, is not something I ever want to go through again - either for myself or my dog.

 

[Peakbagr]

Boo is short for Bookah. Her parents and grandparents scored high on the Penn Hip and regular hip evaluations. I had the same concerns as you after living with old Springer's last 3 years of life with back issues.

We spoke about a VFTT dog hike a couple of years ago. Maybe on Graylock? Probably a good time with the construction going on.

 

[Dugan]

Hee! How 'bout one for only dogs named Boo?!

Seriously, I wouldn't mind seeing Greylock again. As long as the hike was limited to a smaller number of dogs it could be fun.

 

[rocksnrolls]

How about the 2nd or 3rd weekend in July? I've been wanting to get back to Greylock and it'd be interesting to hike with 2 dogs nicknamed Boo

 

[Dugan]

Are there any watery routes to help keep the pooches from overheating?

 

[griffin]

Are there any watery routes to help keep the pooches from overheating?

19 mile brook trail, Gale River Trail, Lincoln Woods and Franconia Brook - Zealand and lots of stuff in Franconia Notch if you don't mind crowds.

 

[Peakbagr]

I was thinking thinking the Roaring Brook approach might work, water part of the way. Coming from other directions is kind of steep or from the north, dry.
Just an idea.