nedelja, 03. marec 2019

Collars, harnesses and a mistake I made

When "we" got Thor he became mine in 0.01 second. I was only barely 12 and I never owned a dog before. Living on a farm I was in contact with so many animals and even my grandparent's dog Max. But I was probably born with the wish of owning a dog. I was nagging my mom. The only books I got in the library were dog books. About how to train them, how to take care of them, about different breeds and I actually saved National Geographic pictures of dogs and put them in an album and on the wall. I never wished for Barbie dolls, I wanted a dog.

Long story short when I got Thor I felt like I knew everything about dogs. When we would go to the vets and pet stores I would correct them and I would annoy everybody. But I did make a mistake I regret a lot. Consider this a mistake number 1 of many I probably did and the problem was I didn't read about it in any book, because no body would write about it at the time.

I would always use a collar on puppy Thor, never a harness, because at the time collars were the "IT" thing and harnesses were mostly used in specific dog sports and for car transporting. So the first harness we actually used was the original one for transporting. It came in a set with a seat belt. But I used a collar all the time. You read it right. All the time. That means when he was outside, inside, when he was sleeping on my bed or in his crate. All the time. I don't think I put any thought into this at that time. He probably had his collar on 9/10 of the time. To me it kinda felt practical, I really don't know. I was 12 and I probably had him wear a nylon collar all the time for 2 - 3 years. When I look back at it I feel so stupid. But he has a permanent line on his neck. He never had it too tight, that was never the case and he was always able to free roam, he was never EVER chained or anything. We had a really big fenced garden and he was trained not to bark and he was a really well behaved dog so when I would be in school, he was able to go outside if he wanted to. And he almost always choose to be outside until I'd get home from primary school. It was 'convenient' for my family for him to wear a collar I guess.

The fact that it was nylon collar didn't help at all, but ever since I could remember I hated every other collar material but light flat nylon/fabric (now padded). I hate chains so much, they remind me of the times when every house would have a chained dog and I would never ever want to own a chained one and I personally don't prefer leather, because it is leather and I don't like to pick products made of animals. And only when I was around 15 and 16 I would started to buy and use harnesses all the time. When the damage was done Thor was forever marked with my stupidity I would rarely put one on him, only if we went for a walk.

That is why you would never spot my dogs having a harness or a collar on when we are not outside. I used only Agility leash for Thor for quite some time too. When I grew up a little I kinda realised it how crazy it was of me, it never clicked in my head before. Now I just like to keep the place ''naked'' or sometimes put a cute bandana on him. But it is something I regret deeply. And if for nothing, I hope people don't make the same mistake as I did.

It is not visible on photos, only if you check it out closely, because it is better than it was when he was younger. If you ever wondered why all my photos are with Thor practically wearing a harness this is why.

Harnesses I use & recommend:

  • Ruffwear Front Range (Thor has it in Green, Orca has it in Violet)
  • Red Dingo (Thor has it in Blue Spots Brown)
  • Hurtta Casual Harness (Orca has it in Yellow) but I recommend using a Y types.

Collars I use & recommend:

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