Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - welcome to the teenage wasteland

[Bupster]

Buckled (under instruction 😄)

Oh gosh I’m sorry it happened again @CoubousAndTourmalet, how scary for you! I am really glad she wasn’t hurt. I agree I think Perfect Fit might be worth looking at for you too. Please be kind to yourself!

Thank you @YorkshireFelix
I think this will stay with me for a long time 😰

I'm looking at Perfect Fit, Hurtta Safeguard & Ruffwear Webmaster right now.

@CoubousAndTourmalet that must have been terrifying! Absolutely no reflection on your ownership, freak incidents like this happen! Glad you and Brie are okay ❤

@CoubousAndTourmalet That must have been so scary for you. Fortunately no harm was done, so once the shock and the 'what if' thoughts have worn off forgive yourself. These things happen.
I have used Perfect Fit harnesses in the past and can recommend them too. Hopefully the pieces come big enough to fit Brie. Or would two collars and two leads work? So if she slipped one, you have a second one as back up. That may be a stupid idea. I have no experience of dogs bigger than a spaniel.

@SpanielsGalore the perfect fit website have photos of a great dane and a newfoundland wearing them! I guess a PMD must be somewhere between the two?

Thanks @LandSharksAnonymous
The guilt is horrible, I feel like I let her down.

Ironically @SpanielsGalore she was on two collars!!! Since the previous collar incident a few weeks ago, I've been walking her on a martingale with her other collar behind it because that one has the ID tag. Today, for the very first time, I swapped the lead onto the fixed collar for the walk home, because I felt she was panting on the martingale. I have no idea how but she suddenly stopped walking, backed up and I felt both collars slip off over her head. Next second she was crossing the road because there were kids getting out of a car and Brie, like all PMD, adores kids. I just screamed, ran into the road and yelled "Breezy" and she ran back to me so I grabbed her. So yeah, apparently she can do recall (who knew) but bloody hell we were lucky.

I swear I'll be having nightmares over it. It was just horrendous.

That'll teach me humility, because literally the other day I was rabbiting on the puppy thread about how I prefer collars. I brought this on myself.

@CoubousAndTourmalet Told you I knew nothing about big breeds. 🙈 It seemed like a good idea in theory.
Excellent news that she has good recall though. 👍 (Focus on the positive.)

Going out to walk my three down the sea front now, because it has been TOO HOT to walk them today. 🥳🥳🥳 (It was only 28° but that's scorching when you are used to 16°.)

Wow! You were way hotter than us 😳

Have a lovely walk x

Oh @CoubousAndTourmalet , that must have been so scary. Bill ran into the road when he was a puppy, heading towards the dog park - it terrified me.

I've just got a new summer harness for Bill and it's got a three metre lead that clips around the front and sides and makes it so much easier to walk him when he's pulling. The lead sort of goes across the front but the idea is that you use that to steer rather than to pull them back, if you see what I mean, so it's not restricting movement so much. I'm not sure if they'd fit her though - the XL is 30" - 46" or 76 - 115 cm around the ribcage. Any good? They're called Mekuti. Bill loves it and puts his head straight through and it's light as anything, I couldn't believe the package actually had a lead and a harness in it.

It was horrendous @Bupster It's so busy down there, the hub of the village. We were really lucky she didn't get hit.

Thanks, I'll have a good look at that Mekuti harness. As I said earlier, the issue with Brie isn't so much the chest girth as the length of her body. Both the other harnesses seem to be too short, so the chest strap restricts her front leg/shoulder movement. One of her many nicknames is Mrs Longbody 😆As soon as she wakes up I'll get the tape measure out and do neck, chest and length. Might end up splurging on two or three different harnesses just to get it right.

Perfect Fit is three separate pieces that clip together and each of the separate pieces can be adjusted; the Mekuti is all in one but again can be adjusted, so the chest strap can sit well back from the armpits. Though will that be trickier to find given her floof? The chest strap piece is meant to sit on the 'balance' point for the Mekuti, where you'd lift the dog up from (though they make sure to say don't do that 😄). I did find it easier to fit the Mekuti so it sat back from the armpits and didn't restrict him, but that might just be because the straps are thinner.

Perfect Fit are brilliant at responding to emails - you could just describe Brie and what you need and see if they've got anything that will suit her and will sit back far enough. I haven't tried emailing Mekuti but I'd be surprised if they weren't responsive too.

Thanks @Bupster I've just watched a video of the Mekuti one, it looks complicated from the demo, but I'm sure once it's on you're fine.

At the moment I'm slightly leaning towards the Hurtta Safeguard one, but as I said, I might multi order if I can figure out how to get precise measurements (she's still flat out).

In the meantime I'll put her back in the Ezy Dog until a better one arrives, because I'm not taking any more chances. No idea why we never had this problem with our other dogs, but I suppose she does have a fine head and a fat neck 😆

Have to stop beating myself up. We lived to tell the tale so we learn from our mistakes and move on.

Think I may end up trying both the ones you suggested @Bupster

The size XL Mekuti one with a lead, and a Perfect Fit in the size shown on the Newfie as I suspect that's closest. Danes appear to be deeper chested but less body length.
Seemingly, the Hurtta one I liked won't fit her big fat neck 😂and I feel she might find the Ruffwear one too coat like and uncomfortably warm.

But I think I'll ask them for advice about sizing first, as you suggested.

Thanks for your help 😊

@SpanielsGalore can’t believe it’s been 28 up there! It’s been a chilly 21 here 😄

It was only 18 here!

Oh no @CoubousAndTourmalet - when things like this happen, it is absolutely awful - if it makes you feel any better, I'd bet it's happened to nearly all of us. My Newfie did this when she was about 8mths old - took fright at a bin and backed out of her collar then ran into the road at a busy crossroads. Pure luck there were no cars at the time. From that day onwards I took her 'normal' collar off and used a half check - like this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07MQ9BZ1B/ref=twisterB07NF1JFGV?encoding=UTF8&th=1

and she's not backed out of it in years, apart from once when it was way too loose and I didn't notice. (I'm not familiar with the term martingale being used with dog collars - it was a horse equipment when I was young - so I call them half-check - sorry if that's what you mean you already have).
Due to the latest shenanigans I've had to endure with reactivity of my 'pack', I have had to double up on them both wearing a collar AND a harness purely as a safety precaution.
For travelling, I use the Perfect Fit harness as others have suggested, as its safety tested and grew with Newf/you can add on parts as they get bigger - it's a great bit of kit. For daily use though, my two both have a different (cheaper) soft/lightweight harness with a handle on the top to make it easier to grab them should all hell break loose in a scuffle.
For whatever reason, they both really dislike harnesses that go over their heads (never had any trauma, and don't mind collars), but the 'handle' ones I use are actually overhead ones (I'll just have to practice with more training) and a godsend at times. They are also very lightweight for this weather.
I have this one in the green for my Newf - she's about 43 kg at the moment and theres room to make it smaller

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DP877G7T?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Please don't beat yourself up over this - try not to relive it, and just concentrate on one thing - Brie is OK. That is all that matters ❤️

Thank you @abracadabra1980 , this is really helpful and very reassuring. Especially with Brie being a similar size to your girl! We often used half check or martingale (but with a webbing loop rather than a chain) style collars for our previous PMD, we but haven't always with Brie and I stupidly clipped her onto the fixed collar today. I thought it would be okay for the 10 minute walk home from the big meadow. Given that she slipped out of it getting onto the field a few weeks ago, I should have known better.

I think I'll be doing the belt & braces thing with both harness & collar from now on also. I'm still looking and trying to decide what is the better option. The green one you show looks similar to the EzyDog harness that I already have, so maybe I'll try that again on tomorrows walk before deciding on Perfect Fit or Mekuti.

We had a lucky escape today, but yes, my darling girl is fine and we've had loads of cuddles this evening.

How have your walks been since the incident @CoubousAndTourmalet?

Hen sent a small child flying today after it raced up to her and wrapped its arms around her from behind. She’s such a good old girl, didn’t even growl, even though I know the child hurt her and she was scared (she raced back to me whining which is what sent the r child flying as she knocked it over). I do sometimes think non-dog people forget that dogs get scared as well - even big dogs. She spent the rest of the walk clinging to me like she did as a baby. So I think today will be lots of Mum and Hen time (perhaps Star Wars on the sofa).

It is finally raining! I've had to put a coat on! It is so nice to be soaking wet rather than sweaty just standing up!

Thank you for asking @LandSharksAnonymous
I haven't managed to get out yet. Sadly, last night it was still 20c and very humid at 8pm and after, so we decided to forego the evening walk. My partner has done both the 6am walks with her on the checkmate collar and said she was fine. I'm having an asthma flare and mornings are difficult until my inhalers kick in, so I'm off early duty until the humid spell is over.
My partner flatly refuses to walk her on a harness, quite honestly I feel the same but with her 26" neck, it might be a safer option. He has faith in the martingale/half check but I'm more of a worrier.

Oh, poor Hen, being startled. It's always a worry when they're caught unawares like that, but what a good girl for not grumbling. I hope you didn't come in for any nastiness from the parent... Speaking of which, that debate goes on and becomes ever more surreal 🙄

Enjoy your chillout time with Hen.

I hope all Pen's pups are continuing to do well and that she is coping with her massive brood. I imagine they're very much entering the irresistibly cute but really hard work stage now... I'm sure Twatdog is being a great help... 😉

I am patiently awaiting the arrival of rain here. It’s been forecast to rain all weekend pretty much!

Trying to get my head around the concept of modular harnesses. I contacted Perfect Fit yesterday, and I'm pretty sure they suggested the wrong size. I don't think they know the difference between a Bernese Mountain Dog and a Pyrenean, so I'm ignoring their advice and looking at the size recommended for a Newfoundland, because Newfies I've met have been long bodied like a PMD.

I also got in touch with the appropriately named Mountain Dog yesterday and had a chat with one of their chaps in relation to Hurtta & Ruffwear harnesses. Obviously they design for the average dog, but he did confirm that body length and heavy coat combined is problematical with some breeds. Theoretically, ordering by girth measurement alone should give a suitable neck size... but seemingly with Big Bertha it doesn't 🙄 My girl officially has a fat neck 😂

I'm now looking at a Haqihana hound harness with two body straps.
But again, wondering if modular construction is strong enough.

It was never this complicated with our other dogs. Am I just overthinking this?

@CoubousAndTourmalet I have had the opposite problem with K. Her body measures as a size S, but her neck is an XS. If I go with S, she gets her front leg through the chest strap and the harness twists round.
Is there a stockist near you that you can take Brie to and try the harnesses on? I did that when I bought Perfect Fit ones.

I hadn't thought of that @SpanielsGalore , so I've just done a stockist search. The nearest stockist is in Preston area and it turns out she's a trainer and behaviourist with experience in Livestock Guarding Dogs. So I may follow this up in relation to Brie's lead biting issues. Thank you ❤

@CoubousAndTourmalet Sounds like fate to me. 💖