Product Review: Canine Friendly Crash-Tested Car Harness

The Canine Friendly Crash-Tested Car Harness by RC Pets is another product that was tested by the Center for Pet Safety. This harness serves as both a crash-protection device and a walking harness. It is fleece-lined, adjustable, and easy to put on. I believe it was originally available in four sizes, but I can't find anything on the company website at the moment so it may be discontinued.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is probably Brisbane's favorite crash-tested car harness. It is comfortable and non-restrictive, with two buckles on the belly strap so I don't have to lift his leg over a strap to get him into it. The chest plate is nice and long, so the straps sit well behind his armpits. This is definitely my pick for a car harness that does double duty as a functional walking harness.

Like the AllSafe harness, the Canine Friendly car harness did not actually achieve Center for Pet Safety certification. Like many of the products tested, it suffered catastrophic failure of the largest size. However, the small and medium sizes kept the weighted stuffed test dogs on the seat, and head excursion measurements were within acceptable limits.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Canine Friendly harness did have some hardware integrity issues, with some pieces bending due to the force of the crash test. Still, the small and medium sizes held together well enough to make this harness worth using.

Pros: Easy and uncomplicated to put on. Fits and feels very much like a regular vest harness. Small and medium sizes can survive a 30 mph crash without allowing the dog to fly off the seat or strike anything in the vehicle.

Cons: Large size is inadequate for crash protection. Not as strong as other products on the market that can survive a crash with zero damage.

Bottom Line: For small and medium dogs, I think this is an acceptable compromise between a comfortable walking harness and a protective seatbelt harness. It's not the highest-rated thing out there, but it might be the easiest to use.

Product Review: AllSafe Car Harness

Klein Metall's Allsafe is a German-engineered crash protection car harness. I features doubleback buckles and a padded chest piece to distribute force. The Allsafe dog seat belt comes with a second piece that attaches to the vehicle belt via a pair of steel quick links, with a heavy bolt snap that connects to the harness. The harness may also be used for walking and sledding.

Photo by Erin Koski

So I've basically acquired all of the top performers from the Center for Pet Safety's 2013 Harness Study. The SleepyPod Clickit Sport is currently the only car harness certified by CPS, but some of the other products tested performed adequately under certain conditions.

Most dog safety harness testing is static, the manufacturer pulls on the harness until it breaks and then reports how much force their product could take. Julius K9 advertises their IDC Powerharness as crash tested using this test. A static test only measures the strength of the product, a dynamic sled test demonstrates how it actually performs in a collision. I do not consider the IDC Powerharness to be crash tested, and feel that Julius K9 is making a false claim.

The Center for Pet Safety has some pretty rigorous testing criteria for products undergoing their dynamic sled test.  Manufacturers usually test their products with a 30 lb weighted stuffed dog, and declare their product effective if it does not break. The Center for Pet Safety actually considers the motion of the test dummy on impact, and whether it flew off the seat and presented a danger to other hypothetical passengers in the vehicle. They test the car harnesses at all available sizes, and even consider a measurement called 'head excursion'. That's the measure of how far your head moves on impact, and is an important measurement for child safety seats.

Photo by Erin Koski

The AllSafe car harness normally comes with an adjustable tether that is several inches long. When the harness was tested with the seatbelt run through the back of the harness instead of using the tether, it kept the heaviest dog on the seat. With the tether, the dog launched off the seat. The tether shown on both the tests and the Klein Metall website is adjustable, however the one that arrived with my harness is not. Still, the tether is about 6" long, and not short enough to minimize head excursion and potential brain injury in a crash.

It's worth noting that Klein Metall and their USA distributor 4x4 North America still include the tether with the harness. However, the 4x4 North America product page now includes the vital information about the harness being much safer without it.

This harness probably would have passed the CPS certification requirements had it been tested without the tether. The harness suffered no damage in the testing, demonstrating its strength and ability to not squish or behead my dog in an accident. It is light and comfortable enough to be used as a walking harness, and Brisbane doesn't mind wearing it.

Pros: Crash tested and actually crashworthy when used without the tether. Fits enough like a regular harness that my weird-stuff-hating dog is willing to walk in it.

Cons: It fits a little bit closer to Brisbane's armpits than I'd like for a walking harness. The doubleback buckles make it slightly less convenient to put on. It's also at the top of the crashworthy harness price range at $120-150.

Bottom Line: Not Center for Pet Safety certified at this point, but performance seems comparable to the SleepyPod harnesses. The AllSafe is a bit more versatile than the Clickit or Roadie, and works better than either of those as a walking harness.

Product Review: Petco Premium Pink Seatbelt Harness

The Petco Premium Seatbelt Harness is a safety harness designed to reduce driver distraction, and is not intended to protect your dog in an actual collision. This appears to be a previous iteration of this product, as the one currently available looks more like the Kurgo True-Fit harness. Ours is pink and gray, with reflective striping on the back and metal quick-release buckles. This one comes in three sizes to fit dogs with chests up to 34" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

While this is definitely a sturdy and heavy harness, the package doesn't say anything at all about crash protection or testing. That means the Petco Premium Seatbelt Harness only keeps your dog from moving around the car, and won't help in an accident. I think it's important to explicitly state this because there is a very widespread misconception that extra-sturdy car harnesses will help prevent injuries in an accident. In fact, these untested products may actually hurt the dog when put to the test.

This particular harness is kind of weirdly-sized. It claims it will fit dogs up to 24" around the chest, but is a couple inches too short to go around 22" Sisci. (Maybe she grew when I wasn't looking?) It does fit Ru pretty good, but it's also super heavy and stiff on such a little dog. Even though they both fall into the advertised size range of "up to 24 inches", I think this harness is better suited for dogs 14-20" around and weighing 10-20 pounds.

I'm sure the original design for the Petco Premium Seatbelt Harness was much larger. This small one looks like they took the big one and just made everything a little smaller without altering any of the proportions. The result is that the neck straps, while technically adjustable, actually have a range of well under an inch. The size range for the neck is about 10-11", why even have it adjust?

I've actually encourntered this harness in the wild, we have a couple of dogs at work who wear this exact size. It works better on dogs well in the middle of the stated range.

Pros: Sturdy, reflective, easy to put on. Inexpensive. Probably won't maim the dog wearing it if the car stops abruptly.

Cons: Doesn't fit well on dogs at either end of the size range. Neck adjustment is so limited it's comical. Rugged design and metal hardware can lead users to believe this product would provide some protection in an accident despite it not being explicitly marketed that way.

Bottom Line: For some reason this harness makes Ru look crazy long. He's pretty long, but I specifically use gear that minimizes it. This thing maximizes it. Soooo looong.

Product Review: Ruffwear Load Up Car Harness

The Ruffwear Load Up Harness is a crash-tested vehicle restraint harness designed to provide crash-protection. It has been independently crash-tested by MGA Research Corp, but is not certified by the Center for Pet Safety. It is available in five sizes to fit dogs with chests 13-42" around.

Photo by Erin Koski

At the beginning of the summer, Ruffwear released some new products centered on road travel. The Load Up crash-protection harness was the most exciting thing announced, and one of the biggest questions was whether it would be tested or certified by the Center for Pet Safety. Our current crash-protection harnesses, SleepyPod Clickit Sports, have been the only certified harnesses for a while and I was excited about the prospect of a new one by a company I love.

When the Load Up harness was released, several people asked about certification via social media. Ruffwear's response was that they had the harness independently tested, but were not seeking certification due to the design of the harness. Their test dogs really preferred the harness with the tether attached way down at the back, and they found that this attachment point also kept their test dummies from flying off the car seat. However, this design means that the dog's head will move pretty far in an actual accident. Part of the certification for the Center for Pet Safety involved harness test results passing certain criteria for head excursion. The Load Up harness wouldn't pass these tests.

Photo by Erin Koski

Some of my houseguest dogs preferred this harness to the SleepyPod Clickit Sport, I think they found it less constricting. Brisbane hates it, but that might be because the medium isn't a great fit. The lower panel sits right in front of his bits, and when he tries to sit the harness pokes him. A small might work better.

Pros: Minimal restriction of movement, dog can sit and lay down comfortably. More comfortable for dogs that freak out in more restrictive restraints. Easy to put on and relatively simple to adjust. Crash-tested and strength-tested.

Cons: Not certified by the Center for Pet Safety. Low tether position means the part of the dog that will travel the furthest in a collision is the head. No leash ring makes it difficult to use as a walking harness. Long lower panel can stab boy dogs in the junk.

Bottom Line: Brisbane needs a size small to better evaluate this harness, but I don't think it will replace our Clickit harnesses.

Product Review: Sleepypod Clickit Sport Harness

The Sleepypod Clickit Sport Harness is a crash-protection harness that has been independently tested and rated by the Center for Pet Safety. This harness received the Center's highest rating, and is now the gold standard for dog car safety. The Sleepypod Clickit harness surpassed all other products tested, not only for strength and integrity, but for head excursion as well.

Photo by Erin Koski

What is head excursion? It's the distance the test dummy's head travels during a crash test. Simply put, the further the head moves, the greater the chance of a head injury. Manufacturers of child safety seats have to prove that their products pass head excursion tests.

There are currently no standards for pet safety products. Let me say that again. There are currently no standards for pet safety products. As horrifically demonstrated by the Center for Pet Safety, the vast majority of car safety harnesses will either fail catastrophically in an accident, or actually cause injury to the dog. Even products that worked as intended often sent the stuffed test dogs bouncing all over the car seat.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Sleepypod Clickit is part of a new generation of crash-protection harnesses. In the crash tests by the Center for Pet Safety, the Sleepypod Clickit Utility harness outperformed every other product tested. It was the only harness that actually kept the dog on the seat, in position, with minimal head excursion.

The original Clickit Utility harness attached to the child seat anchors as well as the seatbelt in the car. These three points helped anchor the test dog and keep it on the seat in the crash test.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Sleepypod Clickit Sport harness is more versatile because it only uses the seatbelt. At the same time, it meets or exceeds all of the standards set by the Center for Pet Safety and performs as well as the Clickit Utility. The Sleepypod Clickit Sport harness is the first CPS Certified crash-protection harness. Check out that link for crash test videos if you like watching stuffed dogs bouncing around in slow motion. (I love crash test videos.)

The harness has two grey-striped loops on the back. The seatbelt is threaded through each of these loops and then buckled. To put on the harness, the dog steps into the leg holes and then two buckles are fastened at the back. In a crash, there is no force placed on these buckles. When buckled into the car, Brisbane can sit up or lay down.

Photo by Erin Koski

There are rings on either side of the top buckle for attaching a leash. Brisbane isn't a huge fan of this harness so far. He mostly refuses to walk in it, and if I try to pull him along the top strap slides up at the back of his neck. I may be able to adjust it to prevent this. We just got our Clickit Sport and I'm still fiddling with it.

Pros: Literally the safest thing I can use in the car. Comfortable for Brisbane, even if he's a bit dramatic. Easy to use, requires no flexibility on the part of the dog. Two feet, two buckles, done. Does not impede movement. Can be used in the front seat of the car.

Cons: Not terribly functional as a walking harness just yet. Threading the belt to buckle him in is kind of awkward. They don't make a Clickit harness small enough for Ru.

Photo by Erin Koski

Bottom Line: This harness is infinitely better than our Ruff Rider Roadie. I feel significantly safer with Brisbane wearing the Sleepypod Clickit harness.