Keeps you dog secure in the car, prevents driver from being distracted
Disadvantages:
Can't be used as a standard walking harness
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
~*~Background~*~
I have a Jack Russell dog, called Milo, who is almost two years old and goes almost everywhere with me. I very often take him in cars, but as I'm just a passenger he's able to sit on my knee. However, I'm currently learning to drive, and so I started thinking about how I could restrain him in the car, as I won't often have passengers to hold him for me. It's not only a matter of me being able to drive without Milo distracting me, but also of keeping him safe with me as a driver!
Luckily I mentioned this to my partner, who said special car harnesses for dogs were available - which I hadn't known - and that he'd seen them in cars before. I went into town the next day, and visited every pet shop and supermarket, but no-one had heard of them. Finally I resigned myself to going to the national pet store, 'Pets At Home', which is about a two mile walk for me, there and back. Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed when I got there, and easily found what I was looking for.
~*~Hi-Craft Dog Car Harness~*~
Hi-Craft is a pet-care product producer, and supplies to pet stores, mail order catalogues and online stores in more than 50 countries around the world.The Hi-Craft Dog Car Harness comes in five sizes, which are all adjustable:
Extra-Small = 17in/43cm for dogs like the Yorkshire Terrier
Small = 24in/60cm for dogs like the West Highland White Terrier
Medium = 30in/75cm for dogs like the Cocker Spaniel
Large = 36in/90cm for dogs like the Red Setter
Extra Large = 42in/106cm for dogs like the Rottweiler
To find out which size your dog will need, measure the widest part of the dog's chest whilst they're sitting. The measurements given above are the maximum, so if your dog has a 30 inch chest, you will need the Large size, otherwise there will be no room for comfort or growth. Each harness can be adjusted to roughly half the size given - so for example the Medium size will fit dogs with roughly 15 inch chests.The harness is designed purely for the dog's safety. If you ever need to brake heavily, the dog will be thrown forward. The dog's weight will be absorbed across it's shoulders, so the harness has a padded chest piece to help limit the effects of this and absorb some of the impact. The harness still gives the dog freedom to sit, lay, and turn around but prevents the dog from leaving the seat and distracting the driver. The harness is particularly helpful for large breed dogs, which may otherwise block the driver's view.
The harness is suitable for walking the dog short distances, but the manufacturer's advise you not to use it as an everyday walking harness, as it has been specifically designed for use in cars and would be uncomfortable for the dog to walk in.
~*~ The Design and Packaging~*~
The harness comes in a clear plastic container, although you can't really see the harness, as there's a cardboard cover over the front and back of the container.The container is easy to open, and I actually opened several in the shop to check for the correct size, then re-sealed then without a problem. The front cover shows the size in the top left corner - either XS, S, etc - and 'Dog Car Harness' written in white. The rest of the cover has a red background and a photograph of a dog actually wearing the harness. The rear cover gives the instructions on how to use the harness, and a guide to sizes.
Upon taking the harness out of the container, I saw that it had red straps, with black clips. The padded chest strap is also black, and has a label on it's front which gives the product and manufacturer name as well as the size of the harness. All the clips are plastic, but the size adjusters are silver metal. I chose size medium - which at it's smallest is approximately 15 inches around the dog's chest, but adjusts to 30 inches. The neck strap is 14 inches at it's smallest, but expands to approx. 20 inches. Instead of having a ring at the top of the harness, where normally you'd attach a lead, there's an extra length of strap joined by two silver d-rings and a bolt. This allows the extra piece of strap to move and rotate. The extra strap has another black clip and at the end of the strap is the ring which can be attached to a lead, if necessary.
~*~How to Use the Harness~*~
First of all hold the harness face-down (with the label on the padded chest-strap facing the floor).One end of the harness is sown together near the clips - ensure this is to your right. Next, face your dog, and put their front-right paw through the hole in between the padded chest strap, and the sewn-together clips. This will automatically mean that the two loose ends of the harness are in the correct position - one in front of the dog's chest, and the other underneath the dog. Get the two loose ends and bring them to the top, where the dogs back is. Then simply clip both straps into the clips on the opposite side. You may need to adjust the harness slightly at this point.You should be able to get two fingers underneath the harness easily. If not, it's too tight. If you can get more than two fingers under, then it's too loose. You need to check both straps, and adjust them if necessary using the silver sliding adjusters.
Once you've done this, put your dog in the car (if you're not there already) and undo the clip on the extra length of strap at the top of the harness. Fasten the seatbelt for whichever seat your putting the dog in, then pass the extra length of strap around the seatbelt and re-fasten the clips. You dog will now be secured in the car, but will still have room to move on the seat.
Please see the photos I've added for the manufacturer's diagrams of how to use the harness.
~*~ Availability~*~
Pet's At Home, the national pet store sell these harnesses. I paid £12.99 for the medium size, and each size has a different price - with a couple of pounds difference between each one. You can also buy them online at SimplyK9 : http://www.simplyk9.co.uk/products/collars-rosewood-car.htm or from Pet Planet: http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product_group.asp?dept_id=15&pg_id=35
There are many other online stores that stock these, however, so it may be worthwhile typing 'Hi-Craft Dog Car Harness' into Google and having a look through the results for the best deal. The manufacturer, Hi-Craft, do have their own store (http://www.hi-pet.com/Shop/index.html), but this is currently offline.
~*~What does Milo think?~*~
I always use a harness to walk Milo, rather than a collar, so this wasn't really a big shock for him. Milo didn't very much like the fact that he couldn't walk around the car as usual, and the fact that he couldn't sit on my knee. He was still able to look out of the window though, and move around in his seat, so I don't feel like I was being cruel. From my point of view, I'm very happy with the harness. Milo's much more secure now, and if there ever was an accident he stands a much better chance of not being injured wearing the harness than without it. I also feel happy that he won't be able to distract me whilst I'm driving by trying to jump on my knee or walking around the car.
The harness itself feels very strong, and of very good quality. The clips are easy to fasten and undo, and are very secure so there's no chance of them accidentally coming undone. The harness is very easy to put on your dog, and easy to remove too. The only thing I did feel slightly disappointed in was the chest strap, which didn't feel very padded to me. Compared to the other straps on the harness, yes it's padded, but only very slightly, and I can't imagine it making much difference.
I have actually seen an RAC dog car harness since I bought the Hi-Craft one, and I have to say out of the two I'm glad I chose the Hi-Craft one. However, the RAC do a 2 in 1 harness which I haven't seen, which allows you to use your harness for walking your dog too. This sounds really useful as I currently have to swap Milo's harness before I get out of the car. It only takes a couple of minutes but it would still be nice to not have to change it at all.
One really important thing to note is that you mustn't leave dog unattended or in direct sunlight whilst wearing the harness. You may also need to stop during long journeys to allow your dog to get some exercise.
