Escape from "chokeless harness" - What happened

[Cherie6446]

Yesterday Zoey escaped from her chokeless harness. I thought this was not supposed to happen. Scared the stuff out of me. She is a wild little thing that won't come when called and this has been my biggest fear. Luckly I sat down in the grass (we were at a park) and she ran circles around me. I tried several times to catch her but she was so fast. Finally, she came close enough to grab her. Any ideas what went wrong? She was running in circles around me and I tried to stop her by putting the least/collar on the ground and POP out she went.
Cherie

[Britster]

I'm not sure which harness you're talking about specifically, but it's so scary when they do that! Jackson once got out of his collar (it was, like, 1am, and he had to go out and I didn't put his harness on... stupid me) and as I was pulling the leash for him to come inside, the collar slipped right over his head and he went a runnin' having a grand ole' time. Luckily, food can usually get him back quickly, but I think in this case I opened my car door and said "Wanna go for a ride?" and he came back.

Jackson also got out of a Puppia harness once! I couldn't believe it. I keep them looser and not so tight because I want him to be comfortable, so it's my fault. I was tugging at him again because we had to go inside, and it slipped right off his head! lol. Luckily he didn't go anywhere.

First, sizing is SO important, as I've found out, when it comes to harnesses/collars. For big dogs, you're supposed to be able to put two fingers through it but little dogs, I think it's one finger. Also, coming when called is sooo important. I work with Jackson every day and his recall has become MUCH better!

[EarthAngel]

I have no answers as to how she got out of her harness. But I have to say you did the right thing in laying on the ground...for some reason all dogs just have to check out why you are on the ground! It was only way to get my Shepherd once when she was loose. I think it is good for us to know that in case nothing else works in getting our furkids to cooperate.

[Ellie May]

Was it is step-in?

We can't use those here because Ellie can slip her elbow under one of the pieces of material and get it of it. It really confuses me how so many people like the step-ins and they work well. I put Ellie's on pretty tightly and it still isn't perfectly safe.

[Mudcon]

my Harley did that one night about 2am and it scared the crap out of me. I got down on the concrete and luckly he came right back. I put them on a little tighter now.

[QuickSilver]

A harness is basically like a tshirt with no cloth, if that makes sense. Just as you pull a tshirt over your arms and head, a harness can come off the same way. It usually happens if you are tugging the dog forward and he is pulling backwards. With the front legs stretched forward and braced, and the head down, the harness can slip right off.

Besides making sure the fit is good, try to avoid pulling your dog like that. It can be tough if your dog has decided to plant himself on the sidewalk and you need to get moving. This happens to me sometimes when I walk rescue dogs, since a lot of them tend to stall, or decide that nope, we are not walking back, we are doing another lap in the park.

[Cherie6446]

I kinda figured that out about pulling forward. I was trying to stop her from running in circles around me like a crazy one. I was trying to put her in a down position when off came the harness. I'll never do that again.

[yorkieusa]

They can also get out of a harness if they go in reverse from you! I have a neighbor that had a little rat terrier rescue. She backed up and came right out of the harness. She took off and they never found her!

I should have added that she had on one of those Gooby harnesses. They are quite similar to Puppia harnesses.

[FidoTheYorkie]

oh, i hate when they do that! Fido once got out of his collar (i dont use much harness, he pulls so much of it but i use it if i go for a long walk or a walk with other dogs ).
Now i always use a half-check collar (nylon collar, a bit of it chain so he cant get out of it when he pulls back!), i know its not the best for his neck but i use it for his safety, he doesnt pull much with a collar so its ok, i just never pull the leash when he pulls back, i just stop then instead.)

[Yorkiedaze]

We had one of our girls do the same thing. We then just adjusted the harness to the next smaller hole and she couldn't get out again even when she tried.

[LuvMySissy]

What type of harness was it? For the brand-name "Choke-free" I don't see how any pup could ever get out of one. I cannot use the traditional step-in harnesses for my girls as Sissy can get her leg/shoulder out of those. However, the "Choke-Free" we have never had an issue. Nor with harnesses made like clothing.

[Maximo]

Glad you were able to catch Zoey.

My toothpick Teddy nearly escaped from a Buddy Belt, a harness that fits closely to the body. He was pulling backward and moving his arms in such a way that he came very close to slipping out.

[yorkieusa]

A long time ago, Kacee's came off and she just stood there, like, "What happened?"

[Gsw19]

I had the opposite happen - Scarlett got stuck in her harness. It was the first time I put the Puppia Xsmall harness on her. It went on easy enough and she didn't seem to mind. I wanted to use it all day to take her outside so I kept it on her. We were always right by her side to watch her. She took a nap and when she woke up some how the collar part had slipped below both of her front legs and was now around her chest. There was no way, no how I was going to get it back up over her legs. I ended up having to cut it off. I sewed velcro to the neck opening and now have the head open with a velcro closure.

[Cherie6446]

These little ones can get out of anything I am certain. If they don't run it is ok but the "rabbit" ones like my Zoey - then this could be a major problem. I'll really cautious with it now.