Is this a good harness for dog carting? **Harness Arrived! PICTURES!**

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

SEE PAGE 2 FOR PICTURES OF NEW HARNESS!

Is this a good harness for dog carting? I am looking into training my 1 1/2 year old 45lbs border collie to pull a cart. The cart would contain small loads of fire wood, ect.
(I got the picture off of http://www.amazon.com/NYL-PULLING-HARNESS-32-BLK/dp/B00176BDHU/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_b )

All and any input is appriciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[Peaches Lee]

LOL!! It looks a lot better than what I used for my dog (an old Draft horse halter)!!

Good luck and have fun. I think it's cool to see dogs that are working!

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Quote:

What kind of dog do you have?

I can't wait to start building my homemade cart!

And to start training her!

 

[AinaWGSD]

It's ok, but is really much better suited to a blockier dog. With a slimmer dog such as a border collie I would go with a siwash style harness. Instead of one strap of webbing that goes across the chest, it has a Y-shaped front so that two straps come down and meet in the center. This style harness allows for better range of motion in the shoulder, whereas the parade style harness you have pictured can restrict movement, particularly if you are going over uneven terrain.

There are lots of places you can order them. I've seen them on Ebay a lot too. I got my first one from Nordkyn Outfitters (www.nordkyn.com), and I made the second one as my younger dog still had the potential to fill out a bit more at the time and I wanted a training harness that didn't cost too much to start him out on. Turns out the one I made worked just fine for the light draft work I've done with him. But the one feature of the harness I ordered from Nordkyn that I haven't seen on a lot of harnesses from other places is that the shaft loops (the loops of webbing that go over the cart shafts that help the dog steer left or right and push back against the brakes to stop the cart) are attached to the rest of the harness with quick-release buckles. This means you can put the shaft loops on the shaft first, then get the dog arranged between the shafts, and then attach the shafts to the harness. It makes harnessing go much faster, and is less scary for many new dogs. It also means that you can unhitch the dog more quickly if you need to in an emergency.

If you have a lot of uneven land, or are not very experienced building carts, you may want to start with a wagon and make a set of shafts. I find the wagon much better for heavier loads as you don't have to worry about balancing it just right and it is more stable. A wagon is less manuverable than a two-wheeled cart, but otherwise there aren't many downsides. My first rig was a radio flyer wagon with home-made PVC shafts. Worked great until we moved out and the people moving in came in early to clean the house and even though we told them explicitely not to touch anything in the garage they went ahead and cleaned it out too and decided my shafts were gargabe and broke them to fit them in the garbage can.

My second rig is a nice little two wheeled cart I made out of an old milk crate and some bicycle wheels. The balance is a little off, but it works perfectly for light loads and can even carry heavier loads as long as I keep my dog to a walk. At the higher speeds it really starts to wobble, especially with heavier loads. We used it to carry stuff home from the farmer's market until they banned dogs.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

THANK YOU so much! Did you order the "SIWASH CART HARNESS WILCZEK STYLE"?
(I am on a different computer and I can't add a picture of the harness I am talking about. But I will later on.)

 

[Peaches Lee]

sunny & the 5 egg layers :

Quote:

What kind of dog do you have?

I can't wait to start building my homemade cart!

And to start training her!

English Mastiff. I hitched her up to a red wagon, loaded it with pumpkins and walked beside her. At first she was like, "No way!; too heavy." So I put a lot less weight in there (duh for me) and she picked up on it really quick.

Good luck!​

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Quote:

What kind of dog do you have?

I can't wait to start building my homemade cart!

And to start training her!

English Mastiff. I hitched her up to a red wagon, loaded it with pumpkins and walked beside her. At first she was like, "No way!; too heavy." So I put a lot less weight in there (duh for me) and she picked up on it really quick.

Good luck!

That is awesome!

 

[AinaWGSD]

sunny & the 5 egg layers :

THANK YOU so much! Did you order the "SIWASH CART HARNESS WILCZEK STYLE"?
(I am on a different computer and I can't add a picture of the harness I am talking about. But I will later on.)

No, I actually ordered my first harness a few years before the Wilczeks designed their harness. Mine is just a standard swiash. I haven't seen one in person, but I understand that the modifications they made allow the harness to be even more adjustable than the standard siwash harness. This means a better fit for serious working dogs, but it can also potentially mean that the harness may be a little more complicated putting it on. Not a big deal once you get used to it, but siwash harnesses can be a little daunting for a first time carter the first couple of times you put them on the dog. But from what I remember, Nordkyn sends an excellent how to sheet for fitting and adjusting their harnesses (and also for how to introduce the dog to the cart). And I've never heard anything but good things about the Wilczeks and their products (they also sell carts and harnesses on their website www.wilczekwoodworks.com). Oh, if only I had the money I'd have one or two of their hay wagons and carts in a heartbeat.

They make absolutely gorgeous shafts too.​

 

[SillyChicken]

Quote:

(not my dog)
I was going to recommend the same harness, I've got one for one of my Cane Corsos and it works great.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Here's a picture of Tatsu I took today while getting him used to the cart again (we haven't done carting in over two years since my son was born...funny how human babies tend to eat up all of your free time). He's giving me the "come on Mom, let's go" look because this was about a minute and a half into a stand stay. He's also much better at "back" than I remember him being, but I hadn't really worked all that hard on that one before our hiatus. This is the milk crate cart I mentioned, along with the harness I made myself.