Front Harness Causes Anxiety

[eiszoe]

We just purchased the cart. Our dog (55 pound lab/Australian Shepherd mix) has used a homemade similar cart for a while before it gave up the ghost. So, she's at least comfortable using one. However, I don't think she's comfortable with the front harness, which we haven't used before. I watched the video and am pretty certain I put it on correctly. However, she was highly stressed with it on and has barely eaten since yesterday. I wonder if I had it on too tight? The instructions say to make it snug, but perhaps it was too snug.

Have other dogs had anxiety due to the harness? Perhaps it pulls on her from "armpits" too much? If we can't get her to like the harness, we may need to return the cart.

We also have an issue with the wheels possibly being too big. I thought I ordered the right size, but even with them as low as they can go, the horizontal bars angle downward toward her head and are not parallel to the ground. I tried lowering the wheels even more by angling them backwards, but that seemed put too much pressure on her front, etc.

So, any help we can get will be appreciated. We don't want to send it back, but need to make a fairly quick decision before the 14 day trial runs out. I'll probably try to call them on Monday about it too.

Thanks,

John

[Bobbie]

How about giving her a day or two with the harness loosened up, no cart? One advantag of a harness with a cart is being able to get used to just the harness first. In the meantime you can order the smaller wheels so that your cart won't be so tall.

[eiszoe]

Good idea. Thanks.