I'm back on here to buy another one, and thought I would address a comment I saw when I was reading reviews before purchasing it the first time. I've had this harness about a month. I got a size medium for my then-5mo, 21-lb Lab/bully mix. The counter-surfing picture should give you an idea of her size and how the harness fits. She is now 6mo and about 27 lbs, and I'll still be ordering a medium. We will probably only need a large for her full growth is my guess. We switched to harness by day 3 of having her because she HATES the leash being on her collar. But our first harness frankly sucked. I got the most comfortable-seeming thing at the large pet store, but it still left a lot to be desired. It went over her head, which she tolerated but didn't exactly like. And it chafed enough that she scratched at it constantly. She appreciated that the leash clipped at her back, but otherwise she hated that other harness. And who can blame her? She has very short fur, so there's nothing to cushion a harness made to be so tough and sturdy that it's stiff and abrasive. But the few soft ones I saw at the pet store were more like a thick vest, and we live in a very hot area. THIS harness, she liked much better from the beginning. It's an excellent middle ground with being comfortable and soft enough to wear for long periods of time if desired but also sturdy enough that you know the strap will hold. My pup scratches it at occasionally but just a few swipes, not like it's seriously bothering her. She wears it anywhere except her crate, and since she's a puppy and therefore in constant training, she typically has her leash attached most of the time even inside the house too. It's comfortable enough that she doesn't complain. I saw comments before saying that the harness didn't have adjusters on both sides, making it lopsided if you cinch it in tightly. I can verify that at the very least, the red one that we got has four different adjusters, one each on the front-of-shoulder straps and one each on the sides of the chest strap. All the pictures appear to be the same, so I wonder if a) those reviewers got an older version or b) those reviewers got a faked version. Make sure the harness you get comes with the "Voyager" logo on a black ellipse with white letters like in the product pictures. If you do, then the adjustment is balanced and fine. Also see my second picture, shows the logo. I saw other reviews mentioning how their dog slipped out of it. Many dogs can get out of ANY harness given enough motivation, so I don't consider that a con. I will say that YES, my puppy has gotten out of this harness a couple of times. Both not on my watch, it was other family members watching her. I have since trained those family members what to do and she's not managed to do anymore Houdini stunts. What to do if your dog starts pulling: 1. AVOID: First, be alert in the first place for the kinds of things that might excite/scare your dog enough that they want to get away. If you're alert enough, you should avoid putting your dog in that situation. 2. STEP TOWARDS: As they start to back away from you, attempting to squirm out of the harness, DO NOT jerk the leash to try to pull them toward you. All you're doing is HELPING them get out of the harness by providing the counter-force they need to squirm free. YOU will actually be the one to pull the harness over your dog's head. Instead, take steps TOWARDS your dog as they're trying to back up out of the harness. 3. SHORTEN LEASH: Take in all the slack in your leash. I use the thick nylon strap kind, so I just go hand-over-hand a couple of times like I'm hauling in a sailing rope, and I'm caught up to the dog already and she has no slack left. 4. PULL UP: Apply gentle pressure upward. I don't mean try to jerk your dog off their front feet. Just make sure that you're keeping the angle of the leash upward until you can get your dog safely away from whatever caused them to want to escape the harness in the first place. In order to squirm out of a harness, a dog needs you to hold the leash at a relatively shallow angle and preferably also help them pull it over their head. By doing the above steps, you're making it so that they are forced to be at your side and with the leash pointed upward. This will give you enough control over your dog to help you guide them away from the exciting or stressful situation. If you do have a situation where the dog managed to squirm out, you should of course go back and make sure you've got the sizing adjusted correctly. But there's a trade-off with making sure it's tight enough to be secure but not so tight it becomes uncomfortable. So again you're going to land back at needing to know how to prevent your dog from squirming out. Another nice feature about this harness is that there are two metal D-rings to clip the leash onto at the shoulder blades, which means that ultimately the metal rings + the metal leash clip are what is securing the harness shut if the dog starts pulling, so the harness itself can't fail and break open at the plastic clasp. Now, FYI, you should know that the reason I'm back to get another one isn't because I smartly planned ahead and decided to get a second so I could sometimes wash one while she's wearing the other-- though that would be smart. It's actually because she took a bite out of hers. No fault of the harness. It was all my fault for not watching her. I had just taken it off and we were sitting on the couch, me zoned out, and I didn't realize what she was gnawing on until it had a bite missing out of it. We're still able to use it, but I'm getting a replacement nonetheless. Sturdiness is a trade-off for the softness. I'm fine with that. Especially since this harness is less than half what that first uncomfortable one cost us!! This is the one for us.
