Product Review: Yup! HalfBall

Yup! decided to do something unpredictable, and made the HalfBall. Billed as "half the ball but twice the fun", it's full of surprises. The shape makes it bounce and roll unpredictably, but it never rolls too far.The star-shaped hole on the flat side allows the HalfBall to be filled with treats or spread with peanut butter. Made from natural rubber, it is dishwasher safe and smells like vanilla instead of old tires. This toy is available in two sizes, for wee tiny dogs and regular-sized dogs.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is another of the wonderful toys the Sporn company sent us home from SuperZoo with. I think it's a good example of the kind of innovation I've come to expect from this company. The idea is pretty simple, yet it manages to be completely different from all the other balls in the house.

The shape of the ball means it rolls unpredictably, and bounces all over the place. It can be swatted with a paw and flipped into the air. It's easy for dogs to get into their mouths, without being small enough to present a choking hazard.

Photo by Erin Koski

The star-shaped opening on the flat side of the ball is pretty cool. I feel like it would be less likely to get stuck on a dog's lower jaw, and maybe easier to remove if they did manage to get it jammed on there. Rather than a solid ring, it's a star that can sort of expand if necessary.

Pros: Vanilla scent is nice and appealing. Made from natural rubber. Top-rack dishwasher safe. Relatively easy to clean if it does get super yucky. Durable enough to handle some serious chomping. Different enough from all of our other toys to keep the girls very interested.

Cons: Bigger size may be too small for giant breeds. Does not come in a power-chewer-friendly super-tough version yet, though I haven't heard of any dog demolishing one yet.

Bottom Line: The HalfBall is a welcome addition to our toy collection!

Product Review: Yup! Durable MarrowChews Ring

I was given this Yup! Marrow Ring at SuperZoo, and it has been a hit. Designed by the Sporn Company, this is a durable chew toy with a center made out of meaty jerky stuff. Dogs can smell the inner filling, but have to chew though basically the whole bone to get to it. That project can take them months, and even people with power chewers seem to report that these things last. This is a big bone, 7" long and recommended for dogs over 40 pounds.

Photo by Erin Koski

Before SuperZoo, I had not encountered these MarrowChews bones. A lot of dogs just don't see the point of gnawing an inedible nylon bone. Nylabone claims to flavor theirs, though having licked a few I have a hard time believing that. (Don't judge me!) Benebone actually makes their nylon bones out of bacon or peanut butter. FlavorIt bones are full of holes so you can add your own flavoring. Yup! has done something completely different, putting something worth chewing for inside the bone with holes that allow the dog to smell and taste it a bit.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pretty much every collection of reviews rof dogs won't chew something inedible. I was unable to find any reports of dogs destroying these bones. Quite a few owners reported that these were the only toys their power chewers could enjoy. I also failed to find any reports of dogs breaking their teeth or injuring their mouths on MarrowChews.

(It's worth noting that the ingredients of the filling are basically rice flour, pea flour, and vegetable glycerin. I did find one person claiming that MSG was a large part of the filling, that MSG causes headaches in people, and that it is toxic to dogs. Though this does not match the current listed ingredients of MarrowChews, I do feel the need to point out that despite a lot of study there is no actual evidence for MSG causing headaches in humans. It's also ridiculously safe for dogs. Like, so safe that a study in 1977 reported feeding a diet of 10% MSG to dogs for two years with no measurable effects.)

Pros: Stands up to the toughest chewers. Way more interesting than a plain nylon bone. Cleans teeth as the nylon shaves off in little ragged bits. Lasts longer than pretty much any other durable nylon chew bone. U-shape is a convenient shape for dogs to carry and hold.

Cons: Like any chew toy, not every dog will be interested in it.

Bottom Line: I need to find a power chewer to really put this bone to the test.

Product Review: Original Sporn Halter

The Original Sporn Halter is a no-pull harness that has been around since 1992. It consists of a collar with an unusual number of D-rings, and a cord with clips on either end and a ring and spring toggle in the middle. The cord is run through a pair of fleecy sleeves to prevent it from rubbing on the dog. The Original Sporn Halter is currently available in three different colors and four sizes to fit dogs with necks 9-33"around.

Photo by Erin Koski

Before there was the Simple Control Harness, before there was the Non-Pull Mesh Harness, there was the Original Sporn Halter. It was invented in 1992 and I'm sure I was using one shortly after the product was released. I used to walk Sid the Weimeraner from down the street on a Sporn Halter, I guess my neighbors were early adopters.

Like every piece of dog gear, there's some good things and some bad things about this one. For some users, it is nothing short of a miracle. Back in 1992, it allowed my tiny prepubescent self to walk an enormous dog with ease. Sid the Weimeraner had major skin issues, but the harness never rubbed him raw, and back then the cords didn't even have those sherpa sleeves on them.

On the flip side, this is a somewhat complicated piece of gear to put on, more so because it can come apart unlike similar products by the same company. The collar has two metal D-rings on the front and two on the back. Each side of the forked cord piece is run through a back ring, under the dog's front leg, and attached to the front ring on the same side. The plastic toggle at the center of the cord is then used to pull both sides snug. The leash is attached to the center ring above the toggle, so that the restraint cords are pulled tight when the dog pulls.

Apparently not.
Photo by Erin Koski

Doesn't That Hurt?

I have for many years considered the Sporn Halter to be an aversive tool. Clearly pulling a thin cord into a dog's armpit must be painful, right? The primary reason I keep these in my toolbox is because they just don't seem to bother the dogs much.

In my review of the Yuppy Puppy (now YUP!) Anti-Pull Harness, I said I was sure a dog charging to the end of their leash with a full head of steam would feel actual pain when they hit this harness. During our photo shoot, I actually got to see this happen. Annie the Escapologist saw another dog across the park and went flying to the end of a 6' leash in an Original Sporn Halter...and didn't even notice. The harness made her front legs sort of spread out to either side, airplane style, but she quickly figured out how to engage her back end and keep pulling with her front completely off the ground. 

I have now revised my opinion of string harnesses as aversive tools. Clearly they don't cause nearly the amount of discomfort imagined, given how well they work. It seems they make the action of pulling on the leash inconvenient or awkward, rather than outright painful. 

Pros: Light for dogs that abhor heavy harnesses. Instantly effective on many dogs. Does not require the dog's feet to be lifted, or anything to be pulled over their head. 

Cons: Some dogs just don't find it that annoying. The cords on this design can rub the dog's armpits raw, the Sporn Non-Pull Mesh Harness places them a bit further back. Can be a bit complicated to put on for the spatially-challenged  (or maybe looking at a mass of straps and cords and being able to immediately identify what it is and how it goes on is my superpower...). Is definitely not escape-proof, short-legged dogs and those that can back out of their collars may have an extra edge when it comes to popping out of it.

Bottom Line: Annie the Escape Artist is a fantastic product tester for no-pull products as well as supposedly escape-proof gear. I had regarded this harness as difficult to escape until she tried to back out of it. Apparently, for some dogs, it's as easy to pop out of as a flat collar. Annie is a great example of how we learn more from difficult dogs than we do from the easy, well-behaved ones.

Product Review: Sporn Non-Pull Mesh Harness

The Sporn Non-Pull Mesh Harness is designed to discourage pulling by tightening when pressure is applied. It is highly adjustable and nearly escape-proof. Available in black and red, it comes in four sizes to fit dogs with necks 8-33" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Sporn Company

Does this look exactly like the Yuppie Puppy No-Pull Mesh Harness? That's because they're by the same company. In fact, it looks like they've finally combined their brands and now the Yuppie Puppy stuff is being sold as Yup! By Sporn. I kind of like that, it sounds like the opposite of 'nope!'.

The Harness

This harness works by concentrating pressure onto the cords running under the dog's armpits. It's kind of like wearing a backpack with thin straps, that just keeps getting heavier. It loosens up nicely as soon as the dog stops pulling, and seems to be a lot more intuitive for them than a choke chain.

This is one of my favorite products to use as a bandaid for a pulling problem. Ideally everyone would train their dog to walk nicely on leash, but some people just want an instant fix, and others need to be able to control a strong dog for safety. A lot of dogs seem to figure out how this harness works right away, and it's only mildly aversive so it won't leave a sensitive dog screaming in pain as Sisci is demonstrating in the picture above.

Because it's not terribly aversive, when no actual training takes place many dogs still pull a bit in the Sporn Mesh Harness. They don't pull as hard, but the discomfort increases as they pull harder so most just find a balance that involves a bit of leash tension. When actual training takes place, the Sporn harness can be used to change the picture for a habitual puller and help them feel the tension they've become desensitized to on their regular walking gear.

Pros: An easy fix for dogs that pull on walks, also good for training loose leash walking. Can help a small person control a large dog. Difficult to escape. Does not appear to cause acute discomfort.

Cons: Rubs the armpits of sensitive dogs. Less effective on fluffy dogs. Tangles up easily when putting it on the dog and easily confuses the less spatially-oriented among us. Leaving the harness on the dog without a leash doesn't work well.

Bottom Line: At around $20 new, this harness is worth a try. For really fluffy or very strong dogs, I would choose the original Sporn Halter as it provides a stronger sensation.

Product Review: Yuppie Puppy Anti-Pull Harness

The Yuppie Puppy Anti-Pull Harness is a back clip harness designed to discourage pulling. It is an aversive training device that makes pulling uncomfortable. The harness is available in four colors and four sizes to fit dogs with necks 3-33" around. Not every size is available in every color.

Photo by Erin Koski

I call this style of no-pull band-aid a "string harness". Wide, flat harness straps distribute force and make pulling more comfortable, so pulling harnesses and roading collars are made from wide strapping. This harness works on the same principle, a narrow and rounded cord is the least comfortable thing to pull against because it concentrates the force. Of course, pulling on a rounded choke collar isn't aversive enough to discourage an insensitive dog from pulling, so string harnesses route those cords across more sensitive areas like the underarms.

That said, I don't actually find these harnesses to be that aversive. They aren't associated with painful corrections the way choke chains and prong collars are, and they generally aren't used as force training devices designed to give a painful correction. Still, I have no doubt that a dog running to the end of the leash will feel actual pain when it comes to a sudden stop. For this reason, I would not use a string harness on a reactive dog like Brisbane (Edit: Apparently they just make pulling kind of weird and awkward rather than painful, as Annie helpfully demonstrated by flying to the end of a leash on one)

Photo by Erin Koski

So how does it work? The Yuppie Puppy Anti-Pull harness consists of a nylon strap collar or chest strap, and a pair of rounded cords that attach to the front of the collar, run under the dog's front legs, and then come up behind the front legs. The cords run through a ring in the back of the collar and then attach to a leash ring. When leash pressure is applied, the cords pull through the ring and tighten across the dog's armpits. A plastic toggle adjusts how loose the cords can fall when slack. Ideally there should not be a lot of slack, the dog should feel the cords tighten when any leash pressure is applied. If the cords are too loose, the dog can build up a bit of speed before the cords tighten, making the correction more harsh.

Older style string harness, photo by Erin Koski.

When these harnesses first came out in the early 1990's, they consisted of an adjustable collar and cords that could be unclipped and removed altogether. The harness on Ru is by Four Paws, but is identical to the Sporn harness I used on Sid the weimeraner down the street when I was a kid. The idea was that the collar portion could be used as an actual collar, and the leash could be attached to both the pull cords and the collar as a way of transitioning from the harness to walking on a normal collar. The Yuppie Puppy harness seems to have abandoned this concept,  I like to think it's a simpler design for simpler people. Still, it works. The red and black Yuppie Puppy harness on Brisbane is a little out of date, the current model is the Mesh Anti-Pull harness, but the concept remains unchanged.

I consider string harnesses to be more aversive than the Premier Easy Walk harness, but less aversive than prong collars and choke chains. It's a great way to get the attention of large and insensitive dogs, and can allow a relatively small person to control a very large dog. I think Sid and I were the same height at the shoulder. There was a particularly wild Labradoodle in Ru's puppy obedience class that did not seem capable of learning to chill out and stop jumping on people until the trainer put a Yuppie Puppy Anti-Pull harness on her. Kirby never came back to obedience class after the harness apparently solved all of her behavioral problems.

Pros: Works well for control of large dogs, and helps insensitive dogs learn when they are actually pulling on leash. I would recommend this for people who are small, fragile, or recovering from an injury where they can't handle any leash pulling at all. The fleece sleeves on the Yuppie Puppy harness also make it more comfortable and less aversive.

Cons: While not terribly aversive, this harness still works by making pulling hurt. I would not use it on a sensitive or reactive dog, and I would be watching my dog to see if any of their manners worsened on leash.  A lot of people seem to forget or not realize how this harness works, I see dogs running in them at the off leash beach, and I cringe every time I see someone try to encourage their dog to jump into the car by pulling up on a leash that is attached to one of these. It's also more complicated that a lot of other no-pull solutions, and that makes it less useful for people who get confused by masses of cords and straps.

Bottom Line: Good for stubborn, insensitive dogs, and dogs that don't even realize they are pulling. Works as a decent band-aid for pulling and I think it is less likely to cause behavior problems than a prong collar. 

Yuppie Puppy vs. Sporn: The Battle of the Simple Control Harnesses

Wait a second, did I really do two different reviews of the same Simple Control harness? Kinda. The Yuppie Puppy and Sporn brands are owned by the same guy, Joseph S. Sporn. This is the guy that invented the original Sporn no-pull harness back in 1992, when I used it to walk the neighbors' oversized Weimeraner. He also opened the first dog daycare in the United States back in 1987, I like his style. (I will someday do a review on the original Sporn harness as I do own one...in just-barely-big-enough-for-Ru size. Every time I see it laugh.)

Photo by Erin Koski

At face value these products are incredibly similar. Actually, the same picture is used for both products on the Yuppie Puppy and Sporn websites and packaging. The Yuppie Puppy harness is also packaged and sold as the Sporn harness, and it's possible that this design has replaced the earlier Sporn design. At any rate, here is a side-by-side comparison of the two products.

The red harness bears the Yuppie Puppy logo on its neoprene sleeves and tag. It has bright stainless steel hardware and a plastic quick-release buckle. This harness has a martingale-style loop that tightens both the neck and chest straps when pressure is applied. The buckle is placed down on the side by the dog's elbow.

The black harness bears the Sporn logo on its tag and buckle. It has brushed metal hardware including one half of the quick-release buckle. The chest strap of the Sporn harness tightens by pulling part of the chest strap through a ring attached to the neck strap. The neck strap on this harness does not tighten at all. The buckle is located up high by the leash ring, well away from the dog's elbow. The tightening action on this harness is not very smooth or quick due to the end seams on the strap.

I acquired both of these harnesses from thrift stores. If I ordered the Sporn Simple Control Harness from the Sporn website, I am not certain which product I would receive. I suspect that the red harness is the current design, and the black one is an older model. It doesn't seem to work as well.

As neither of my dogs pulls on the leash, I have sent these to a friend with small but mighty dogs. They may not be fancy or fabulous, but they're about as simple as harnesses come.

Product Review: Sporn Simple Control Harness

The Sporn Simple Control Harness is a back-clip no-pull harness designed to discourage pulling without choking or causing pain. It comes in two colors and four sizes to fit dogs with chests 11-42" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is a very easy to use harness that discourages pulling without being horribly aversive. It does not tighten around the dog's neck whatsoever, and the only part of the harness that does tighten is the strap that goes around the chest behind the front legs. The neoprene sleeves help distribute force over a wide area while protecting coats and delicate skin. The buckle on this harness is place up high, right beside the leash ring, where it is least likely to chafe or rub.

This is a very simple design, it's basically a Norway harness that tightens around the middle. I'm not a huge fan of the way this harness tightens. This one is a size small, and the mechanism probably works better on a larger scale. Basically, there is a short length of strap that is pulled through a ring to tighten the strap when the dog pulls. On the small harness, there is perhaps an inch of single-thickness strap, and half an inch or so on either side that is doubled over and sewn to attach it to the rest of the chest strap. This means the strap does not slide smoothly or evenly through the ring, and it often gets stuck when four layers of nylon are jammed in there. The harness does not tighten without a good tug, you can see in the picture that it is lifting away from Ru's back with leash tension.

Pros: This harness is easy to put on, and definitely won't tighten around sensitive necks and collapsed tracheae.

Cons: The harness does not tighten easily or smoothly, and does not loosen immediately either. This may work better on the medium and large sizes, but since the harness is not that aversive I wouldn't rely on it to control a really zealous puller or a pony-sized dog.

Bottom Line: This would be an easy solution for a mild or moderate puller, but I am not impressed with the no-pull feature. That said, it would still be my choice for an easy everyday harness if avoiding neck pressure was paramount.