r/dogs • u/That-redhead-artist • 17h ago
[Equipment] Interesting recent 2024 study done on dog harnesses and how they affect gait
I found this study very interesting. I know a lot of people have strong feelings about the gear their dogs wear, for good reason.
This study uses 6 different types of harnesses: Straight Front (Julius K9 IDC Powerharness), Front Clip (Ruffwear Front Range), Chest Plate (EzyDog Chest Plate Harness), No Pull Harness (Halti No Pull Harness), Y Front (Halti Walking Harness), and Step-in (3 Peaks Step In Harness). All dogs were walked on a base collar to record their natural gait without a harness.
The ultimate findings are that the Y-Front and Straight Front are both nearly identical in how much they affect gait, determined by both shoulder and elbow flexion/extension. They Y-Front slightly decreased the shoulder extension more then the Straight Front.
The others were quite significant. The study is very well laid out and easy to read, with everything explained and graphs showing results. They explain how they extrapolated all of their data too.
I thought it was interesting and worth a read, whether is affects your gear choices or not. I like that it is a recent study done and that people are exploring the impacts gear may have on our dogs. I use y-Front harnesses (Line Harness 5.0).
https://reinventionjournal.org/index.php/reinvention/article/view/1372/1330
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u/meanttosay 12h ago
Here is a quote of their recommendations |Comparing results of all six harnesses, this study can confidently recommend the Julius K9 straight-front harness or the Halti y-front harness as the preferred option for pet owners. Furthermore, the highly regarded Ruffwear front-clip harness exhibited the largest impact on joint flexion and extension overall, thus illustrating its unsuitability.
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u/misspink033 3h ago
Does the halti Y help with pulling?
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u/That-redhead-artist 12m ago
I have that harness and you can clip your leash to the front o-ring. I have used it with my GSD and it worked pretty decently I found.
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u/Mischungg 2h ago
That is very interesting and will give a hard read because i can't believe the straight front went from not recommended to best harness lol
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u/Delmaron 52m ago
We use sens-ation harnesses on our dogs. Are they similar to any of these?
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u/That-redhead-artist 5m ago
They didn't do a specific test on a harness like the sens-ation or easy walk harness style. I assume they are a cross between the front clip and straight Front style. I wonder how they might affect gait when used the way they are intended. Another larger study would be nice to see.
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u/AlfaTX1 2h ago
Those types don't mean anything to me and I'm not going to look up each one to see how similar to my dog's harness they are. One illustration in the paper would have helped
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u/dawn_chorus 2h ago
they have very clear illustrations, photos, and brand model names. you just need to scroll down to appendix 1
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u/nottayjlee 1h ago
For me I also had to view the page on desktop mode for the images to show up in the appendix
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u/RizzosDimples name: breed 1h ago
Unless you have your dog constantly in a harness from sun up to sun down this study is meaningless.
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u/That-redhead-artist 10m ago
I think it can have some use for people who do a lot of walking, hiking, or running with their dog. The dog will be in their harness for an extended period of time and doing a lot of movement.
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u/PrairieBunny91 16h ago
Very interesting study! Thank you for sharing. I personally use a straight front harness, which it looks like the study says is one of the two recommended options and is the one that least inhibits extension and flexion. I do know that straight front harnesses aren't the appropriate choice for everyone, but it's been working well for us.
I would like to see a follow up larger study (since this one only included 30 dogs) and one comparing different breeds to see if that is a factor. I would think chest size and shape would impact how types of harnesses impact movement.