Barbie has developed a dislike for her WWW harness, so I'm going to have to get her a different style. I put it on her to go running a few months ago and she wouldn't even walk in it. She wasn't a fan of it the first time I put it on her, either, but she seemed to have gotten over it.
Anyone have any suggestions? I walk her in a fat martingale, and have done a bit of 'walking alongside the bike' type training with collar only but I have huge reservations about running her with the bike collar only. I'm thinking that it would probably put less strain on her neck in normal trotting circumstances but a sudden stop wouldn't be very nice. As I am the impatient type I will be checking out the local pet store for options on the weekend but I'm looking for suggestions. I'd say it needs to be as light and soft as possible. I'm not sure exactly what she dislikes about the harness though so that makes it hard to select a different one! I suspect it may have something to do with how it feels under her armpits when she walks. It may have something to do with the very slight tightening action the 'no pull' harness has (it has a small loop at the top where the d-ring is, which pulls maybe a cm of strapping if she pulls on the lead). I might stick Bender's tracking harness on her and see how she reacts to that - it has really broad seat-belt style straps so if she is OK in that then I know it's more about the tightening action.... if she has a problem with that too then it's most likely to be the armpit chafing.
Problem is I can't put his tracking harness on her anywhere in earshot. He hears that velcro and he gets all excited!
I intend on starting Bender's bike training tonight also. I have given this some thought. Bender is a mad man on the leash a lot of the time, so is going to require more deliberate training. If he tugs I have the springs in the walkydog to absorb some of the pull, but the other thing is that I have been riding bikes for the best part of 18 years.... pretty much constantly, and I think that I have the built in balance to counter any pulls he makes instinctively. I have the walkydog on my Bike Friday folder as well which has 20 inch wheels and a low centre of gravity so I think that is in my favour too. I will give it a go tonight and see how well he does.
