Hey there my friends! I am sure by now you all know that we are HUGE fans of Howling Dog Alaska gear. We have dumped everything else we had from trial and error over the years and we are finally outfitted 100% with HDA gear. Our harness of choice is the Distance Harness. The name does not mean that it can only be used for running long distance. We use it for everything ~ walking, hiking, bike-joring, cani-x, sledding and as a safety harness when travelling in the truck. We have had 3 of the harnesses for 3 years and use them nearly every day, year round. ALL the harnesses are still in like new condition. Every couple of months (more in the muddy season) I toss them in the wash and hang them to dry and they look brand new again. At the bottom of my post is an an excerpt from the HDA website describing the distance harness (all of the claims listed I have first hand knowledge of and agree 100%, ie. crabbing & strain on the hips caused by traditional x-back harnesses are completely alleviated). We also use the trekking belt with bungee for cani-x. Hands free running with your dog without strain on your shoulders or lower back. The bungee reduces the shock to you and your dog if (when) they lunge with enthusiasm at take off (or after the deer that like to cross the road in front of you) ;) Last, we use both the protector booties as well as the dura booties. We love the height of and the elastic at the top of these booties. (Both styles are cut the same, the dura is made with a thicker material). We use the booties on every dog to run in the winter and early spring due to the use of rock salt on our roads & sidewalks. We have a short trek down a paved road before we get to the logging road we run on. Exposure to salt and salt-based ice melting products can cause dogs severe dermatitis, inflammation of the paws and serious gastrointestinal problems including vomiting and internal burns of the mouth and digestive tract. Dogs can ingest these ice melt pellets when they lick their paws or the pellets can get frozen into their paw pads. Later when they are inside with higher temperatures the ice melts and dogs begin to lick their paws. The salt can heat up as high as 175 degrees and not only burn their skin but their mouth and digestive system. Wearing the booties prevents the snow, ice and rock salt from collecting on their paws. A quick rinse of the booties once you return home and they are ready for the next run. Additionally, Teddy has severe allergies and had to wear booties for nearly 10 months, every day ~ all day. We had two sets of booties, one was being worn while the other was being washed and dried (regular cycle). Both sets of booties survived the 10 months with little to no excess wear. I keep Teddys nails trimmed properly so as to not tear the booties from the inside. Fenway has ultra sensitive paws and to prevent cold-paw, she wears them when the temps are 10 or below alleviating the problem. Roxi has a rear dew claw that is a floppy little trouble maker ;) She has never been able to wear booties because of it. The HDA booties are the first ones that were tall enough with the velcro strap higher up the leg so as to not tear her dew claw. So . . . in short ;) I could not be happier with them and recommend them to anyone who has a need for booties. I would be remiss if I did not mention Ivana Nolke, owner of Howling Dog Alaska. It was her patience and fantastic personal approach and customer service that sold me from the get-go. She listened to the activities that we do with the dogs + the breeds we have, our environment, previous problems with the dogs and / or gear and she talked me through the gear that she had available, what she recommended and why then she talked me through proper sizing. Every time I have had questions / concerns / ideas, she was always available to receive or give feedback. Her experience has been very much appreciated and I owe her for Fenway & Tuckers major improvement in performance while in harness. Feel free to share :) Lynn & The PAWZ Pack Copied from The Howling Dog Alaska website ~ Our Distance Harness is the harness of choice for skijoring, bikejoring, canicross, scootering and dog trekking. It is an ideal harness for the use with BTL and Springer bike attachment. The Distance Harness is also the best harness for roading (exercising gun dogs with an ATV or bike). It can also be used as a truck harness/car safety harness. The Distance Harness is becoming increasingly popular as a walking harness for pet dog owners. No more choking for hard pulling dogs! And most but not least, this harness is one of the most popular harnesses for long distance mushing. Our Distance Harness has been designed with the priceless expertise of four time Iditarod champion Jeff King and is the harness of his choice. Why do we recommend our Distance Harness for skijoring/bikejoring/canicross over an X-back harness? The line angle between the dog and the skijorer (biker, runner) is steeper than the line angle between a dog team and a sled, which has a lower point of attachment. When a skijoring line is connected to a typical X-back harness, the steeper angle will often cause a lifting force on the harness. The design of our Distance Harness takes in consideration the steeper line angle and while using this harness, the dogs pull force becomes more evenly distributed. The Distance Harness only reaches about 1/3 down the dogs body, which eliminates the pressure on the dogs hips while pulling. Therefore it makes this harness an excellent choice of a harness for any dog with lower back problems. Crabbing dogs (dogs running sideways) will straighten out.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 02:56:56 +0000
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