An anatomically designed harness is important

Greyhounds have a long torso and deep chest but are also very narrow. This uniquely long body provides for the athletic flexible spine, the deep chest houses the incredible heart, lungs and cardiovascular system and the narrow width reduces drag, all making the greyhound the superstar couch potato we know and love.

Poorly designed harness styles

With a body designed for speed, the greyhound needs an appropriate harness to suit its physical structure without rubbing or irritating its delicate skin. There are so many poorly designed harnesses on the market unfit for any dog, but especially unsuitable for our favourite long doggies. Harnesses which have a chest strap that is parallel with the ground (and often bears the dog’s name, you know who you are, terrible fit harness with a good gimmick and too much of the market share…) are anatomically unsound as they restrict the movement of the dog’s shoulder. The shoulder joint moves the dog’s front leg forward and backward and to have any material sitting right on top of the joint is just so infuriatingly poorly designed that it cannot have been done by anyone with any knowledge of canine anatomy. Not only is the material sitting right over the top of the joint, but it is also putting direct pressure on to the joint when any pressure is applied from the owner/lead attachment.

Another dreadful harness is a no-pull harness designed to pinch together at the top of the dog’s shoulder blades and squeeze on the bones of the scapula, squashing the muscles of the trapezius and rhomboids and compressing the spine and spinal nerves underneath. Other brands have decided to put all the strapping over the dog’s shoulder blade, an area vital to movement - why? Another too commonly seen is one presumably designed to hobble the dog by having a strap which fastens over the top of the dog’s leg to exert pressure on the elbow. Just bananas. What about the ones that remind me of tactical gear and have an enormous amount of unnecessary thick and unmalleable material sitting right over the spine and rubbing on the coat unnecessarily? Please stop harness companies - most of you don’t know what you’re doing and every day I see dogs with restricted movement in their forelimbs and unnecessary pressure on their spine.

Benefits of using a harness on your greyhound

Any benefits of using a harness on your greyhound are outweighed by using a terrible harness. Your greyhound will have less freedom of movement, even though you may have chosen a harness to be less restrictive than a collar, as the important movement muscles and joints of the dog’s forelimb are impinged and have the potential to be damaged with long term. With a poorly shaped harness, whilst you may have wanted to avoid injuring your dog’s neck by using a harness, you may end up potentially injuring them elsewhere. Now, this is not to say owners are negligent in purchasing these harnesses, it’s just most people understandably do not understand canine anatomy and have chosen a harness by colour, price, or a strange desire to have their dog’s name emblazoned across their shoulder. The internet is saturated with adverts from these awful brands, and they have a lot of selling power.

So why do DogsBody Health recommend Haqihana harnesses for greyhounds?

Well because there are great advantages to using a harness. The Haqihana is anatomically designed. This means that it fits around the important structures instead of over the top of them. The webbing is relatively narrow, which suits the greyhound's narrow frame, whereas other brands have a thick chest plate which is totally unsuitable for greyhounds. The straps sit in front of the shoulder blade, not over it, so the greyhound’s forelimb can extend and retract without hindrance and the strap runs along the length of the spine, not over it allows for pressure, when applied, to be exerted evenly across the chest without impinging on muscles, bones, or nerves. The strap around the torso can sit well behind the greyhound’s elbow, not pinching behind like other brands can and there’s also a design with a second torso strap for wriggly greyhounds who need a bit more security.

Purchasing a Haqihana for your greyhound

Purchasing is easy through our secure website and delivery is with Australia Post. Your receipt and tag provide a 5-year warranty. Your harness will arrive wrapped in complementary colours, complete with a thank you card, because thank you, for doing your research, for not hobbling your precious grey, for caring enough about them and their musculoskeletal health, to purchase the best kind of greyhound harness there is.

You can go to our online shop to purchase your Haqihana harness.