# How tight should a Harness be?



## SERVO (Oct 2, 2010)

The harness I bought is goes around the neck and stomach area and the two parts are connected at the top.

Similar to this one, but not as heavy duty since my pup is tiny










anyways, while doing some leash training (just walking around the house) the harness will shift to the left/right. 

Doesnt really seem to bother him but just wondering if it should be tightened? i did the two finger test and two fingers fit fine in between


----------



## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

I find that all harnesses move around a bit, not really much to do about it, unless you tighten them more than what is comfortable.

I keep my dog's harness really loose, because she doesn't try to get out of it and I figure it's more comfy, but if your dog is an escape artist you would want it tighter. I believe the general rule is you should be able to fit 2 fingers inside the straps.


----------



## Bart (Jul 15, 2010)

The strap at the base of the neck can be tighter but the girth under the chest should be a little looser. It can depend on where the dog's head will be. In tracking, the dog's head is down whereas in weight pulling or sledding it's higher, so you have to adjust based on the expected position of the dog.

Harnesses are best for pulling longitudinally in line with the dog's body, for example a cart or sledding harness. The various styles differ in where the load is attached.

You should have a straight line from the load, through the attachement point to the dog's center of gravity. So for a sledding harness, the lead attaches low and farther back, whereas a carting harness, the traces attach higher, and for skijoring or bike joring it would be high over the dog's back. For tracking it could go on the back or under the belly.


----------

