How to Make a Dog Harness

Collars can be dangerous for pets and can pinch an animal’s esophagus while out for a walk. This can ultimately lead to a bent esophagus or a completely collapsed one. The safety of your pet may deem that a harness is better as it evenly distributes the animal’s weight. But store harnesses can be so expensive and so difficult to put on. All the buttons, buckles, latches and velcro that can get caught in your pet’s fur. Save money, time, hassle and pain on both you and your pet's part: make your own dog harness! This harness is actually ideal for any size pet as long as the right size string/rope is used.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• rope for larger animals/string for smaller animals
• Swatch of fabric(optional)
• Needle and thread(optional)

1. Begin your harness by making a double figure eight knot, as follows.

2. 
    

   To get started on your dog harness, use a rope(or string for smaller animals). Fold the rope in half so that the two sides are of equal length. Lay this flat on your workspace.

3. 
    

   Take the looped end(loop 1) and bring it upward and slide it underneath the body of the rope, creating loop 2.

4. 
    

   Still holding loop 1, pull it up over the body of the rope.

5. 
    

   Now bring loop 1 beneath itself, creating loop 3.

6. 
    

   Tuck loop 3 through the hole of loop 2.

7. 
    

   Take loop 1 and pull it over the figure you have created. Put it down at the base of the figure and tighten to lock it in place.

8. You will now have two bunny ears. This will be the body of the harness. Your pets front legs will go through the bunny ears and the sliding knot will sit on your pets back.

9. You can slide the knot up or down to adjust it for various animal sizes.

Tips & Warnings

• To make the harness even more comfortable for your pet, you can use a swatch of fabric and sew it into a tube around the bunny ears. This piece of fabric should be rested against your pet's breast bone when placed on them.
• Rope size will vary based on the size of your animal. The broader an animals chest the more rope you will need. 11 feet tends to work for most breeds that are not toy.

Resources

• How to use your new pet harness

[terrikins]

on 7/7/2009 Thanks for the reply, i bought about several harnesses for my pets, and what a waste of money! Not only did the buckles and designs irritate my dogs and i, but they were expensive too. But i don't need to go out and buy nylon or rope for this project, so that's a plus to this simple but good money-saving idea xD

[prettyevil]

on 7/7/2009 terrikins, you may be pulling too tight on step 6. It should be a pretty loose feeling knot that forms the bunny ears, not a super tight one.

[terrikins]

on 7/4/2009 Well this is embarrassing, but after making it the first time, and losing the harness i forgot how i got the knot to slide up and down. Could anyone bother to make a short video demonstration or if they can link me to one? Thanks and great article btw.

[Sondrac]

on 5/12/2009 Thanks for sharing! 5*

[poshadornment]

on 5/5/2009 Interesting and money saving idea. But how long does the rope have to be initially? Thanks for sharing.