As a lot of you will know, I was inspired by my Saluki mix, Blondie, to start Snootiful Hound.
I fell in love with Blondie from the moment I rescued her, but she had one habit that turned our daily walks into a struggle - her knack for escaping harnesses. She would slip out of any harness we put her in. It's a common problem with sighthounds, so if this has ever happened to you, then you know how terrifying it can be.
Rather than enjoying quality time with my best friend, our walks were stressful and filled with anxiety which is not the vision I had when I chose to adopt a dog.
More than that, it was dangerous, she only had to make her way to a road once and it could all go very wrong, and it almost did. The idea for the Snootiful Hound escape proof harness was born the day that she got loose on a main road and I knew I had to fix our problem once and for all.
Life has never been better:
I won't bore you with all the details about creating the harness, you can find out more here, but things got better, immediately.
The first time I put the harness on Blondie there was a massive weight lifted off my shoulders. Don't get me wrong, I still had some doubts, I had felt this optimism before when I tried other harnesses, but the first walk went by and nothing happened, then the second walk, and then the third, and my hopes were getting higher and higher each time.
It's been the best part of a year now at the time of writing, and I'm so pleased to say that she hasn't even come close to slipping her new harness.
But it doesn't stop there. Walks are fun and stress free again. They're a time for me to relax and unwind and watch Blondie explore the world and all the wonders it has to offer rather than worrying about how I'm going to catch her if she slips her harness again.
It's well known that our dogs feed off our energy, and she seems a lot happier and more confident on walks too.
With my new trust in my beautiful sighthound companion, I could give her a bit more freedom and started slowly using longer lines and working on her recall, and now she's even allowed off lead, on my terms, not just when she sees a squirrel.
A far cry from the dog she was before, friends and family cannot believe the transformation she has made, and frankly, neither can I.
Our bond now is stronger than it's ever been, and I wanted to share this with the world so that you can enjoy the benefits that this harness has brought us too.
