How to Put on a Petco Mesh Harness

I get quite a few page views from people looking for step-by-step instructions for putting on the Petco Mesh Harness. While a have a product review, I didn't include a graphic step-by-step breakdown of how to make sense of this harness on there. Clearly this is an oversight I need to rectify.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Petco Mesh Harness is a Roman-style harness designed to take pressure off the dog's neck and distribute it across the chest. This is a choke-free harness, it is not a no-pull harness and will not discourage a dog from pulling on the leash. In fact, a comfortable harness like this could actually encourage pulling by making leash pressure more comfortable.

This harness is a good choice for people who want to avoid putting pressure on their dog's neck or throat. It is great for dogs who tend to back out of collars, and is also good for visibility because it comes in bright colors and bold patterns. This harness should not rub or chafe, and may be a good choice for dogs with sensitive skin.

One thing that makes the Petco Mesh Harness different from other mesh harnesses  is that the neck can be adjusted. This is accomplished via a pair of plastic ratchet straps that look like they were stolen off a pair of ski boots. The fact that these can be completely unbuckled is why I suspect this harness confuses so many people.

Photo by Erin Koski

Step One: Find the Ratchet Straps
To make sense out of this harness, I first need to find the plastic ratchet straps. These may be buckled or unbuckled. They are made from ridged plastic, and connect to a strap at a right angle. They may be buckled into the ratchet buckles or unbuckled.

If the ratchet straps are buckled into the wrong sides of the harness, the whole thing will be a giant twisted mess. When I can't untangle one of these, I start by unbuckling the ratchet buckles completely. This is accomplished by pushing down on the tab of the buckle and sliding the ratchet strap all the way out of it. Then I can hold the ratchet straps up and let the rest of the harness dangle and untwist. If the side-release buckle is still fastened, I will also unbuckle that one.

The Petco Mesh Harness comes with yellow stickers on the ratchet buckles, making them easier to find on a brand new harness. The buckles on the pink harness in these pictures still have their yellow stickers.

Which Strap Goes Where?

To figure out which ratchet buckle goes to which strap, I can lay the totally unbuckled harness out flat with the rubber Petco label facing up and each strap out straight. When laid out this way, the black ratchet strap on the right goes into the closest ratchet buckle.

Laid out flat like this, we can see the top of the top and the bottom of the bottom of the harness. These are the surfaces that will not be touching the dog when he is wearing the harness.

I pay close attention to this little ring because it's easy for the straps to get confusing. The leash ring is on a little tab, and when the side straps are adjusted like this, the leash ring strap can rotate around the ring and pass through the other strap. It's supposed to be on the opposite side of the ring from the strap with the rubber Petco label.

If the harness looks like this, I need to pull the leash ring strap through the side strap loop so it's opposite the rubber Petco label.

Photo by Erin Koski

Step Two: Buckle the Ratchet Straps
Once I know which ratchet strap goes into which buckle, I can fasten the ratchet buckles to make a loop for Brisbane's head. It's easier to fasten these buckles before putting on the harness, but some dogs really don't like having things pulled over their heads. For these dogs I fasten one ratchet buckle before putting the harness on, and do the second ratchet buckle to buckle the harness around their neck.

Photo by Erin Koski

Photo by Erin Koski

Photo by Erin Koski

Step Three: Put the Dog's Head Through
When the harness goes on the dog, the printed mesh panel should be on the bottom, and the rubber Petco label should be on the top.

Photo by Erin Koski

Photo by Erin Kosk

Step Four: Put the Dog's Leg Through
To put this harness on, I need to lift up Brisbane's right leg and put it through the loop formed by the side strap and mesh panel.

Photo by Erin Koski

Step Five: Buckle the Harness
The large side-release buckle is fastened on Brisbane's left side.

Photo by Erin Koski

Step Six: Strike a Pose!
Look at that fancy harness!

How to Use a Euro Lead

A Euro Lead is one of the most confusing leashes out there, but it is also one of the most versatile. Euro leads go by many names, but generally any multi-function leash is going to be some style of Euro lead. These are very popular with Schutzhund handlers, service dog handlers, and dog snobs. Most Euro leads are made out of leather, some plain and some with various amounts of braiding and decoration. I also have a thick nylon Euro lead I bought at Walmart years ago.

Six-foot leash mode. Photo by Erin Koski

Most Euro leads are 6-8 feet long, and they all have snaps of some sort on either end. Mine is 6' long, leather, and has trigger snaps on each end. Most Euro leads have a small D-ring attached several inches from each snap, and a larger ring fixed near the center of the leash. Some Euro leads also have a floating ring that allows them to be used as slip leads. Susanne Clothier's Ranger lead even has a semi-floating ring that allows it to be used as a martingale. Mine isn't that fancy, but the Ranger lead is on my list of thing I really, really want.

To use a basic Euro lead as a basic leash, one end is clipped to the dog and the other end is clipped to the nearest D-ring to form a handle loop. If the leash has one clip that is larger than the other, the larger clip should be attached to the dog and the smaller clip used to form the handle. I don't often use my Euro lead like this because the big round ring in the middle has a tendency to bonk Brisbane in the head. Six-foot leash mode is great for dogs that don't mind being bonked in the head.

Three-foot leash mode. Photo by Erin Koski

To use the Euro lead as a three-foot leash, one end is clipped to the dog and the other end is clipped to the D-ring closest to the dog. I also run the leash through the big ring in the center to keep it from flopping in a big loop and to make it more like a handle. This is the way I see most guide dog handlers using Euro leashes. In 3' mode the Euro leash is short enough for bigger dogs to wear without too much of it dragging on the ground. Most of the time, I don't loop the leash around my wrist when I use it like this., I just grab the doubled-over leash at any point that seems convenient. This is a good way to use the leash in crowded areas, stores, anywhere I want to keep my dog close to me, and anywhere I think I might drop the leash and then pick it back up again.

Over-the-shoulder mode. Photo by Erin Koski.

To use the Euro lead as an over-the-shoulder leash, one end is clipped to the dog, and the other end is clipped to the big ring in the center. This makes a leash that is about four feet long, with a big loop that can be worn over the shoulder and across the body like a purse strap. I use my Euro lead like this a lot, especially when I am walking Brisbane and Ulysses together. While Brisbane is extremely good at walking on a leash, Uly really has no idea where he is going and the two of them don't move as a unit. Having Briz on a hands-free leash means I can guide Uly and keep the two of them from getting tangled. Over-the-shoulder mode means the dog is on a very short leash, and can't deviate very far from heel position. It's a good way to use the leash when I need to carry something and can't devote and entire arm or hand to maneuvering my dog. I prefer to use the leash like this when the dog on the other end already has nice leash manners. Wearing the leash around my waist is a good way to walk a pulling dog with no hands, but wearing the leash over my shoulder like this could hurt my back.

This might be the greatest picture ever taken of my dogs.

To use the Euro lead as a two-dog leash, a dog is clipped to either end. I usually run the leash through the big ring to make a handle, sometimes I clip a second leash to the big ring to make a giant dog coupler. This works best when both dogs understand how to walk on a leash, when I tried clipping Uly to the other end he inadvertently dragged Brisbane all over the place. It also works best when the dogs know how to walk nicely side by side (also called walking as a brace) because there is no swivel to keep the two sides of the leash from tangling around each other.

So that's...I dunno...four functions? These are usually advertised as x-function leashes, where x is the number of different ways they could demonstrate to use the leash. A Euro leash can be wrapped around a tree/pole/bike rack/etc and clipped to itself to hold the dog temporarily, though I would never leave my dog tied outside a store or coffee shop unattended because I am paranoid and my dog is a monster. I've clipped one end to my dog and the other end directly to a chain link fence wire during training class when I needed my dog to stay put for a minute. I've also clipped it directly to my belt loop when I wanted to give him some more freedom but couldn't be bothered to hold the leash and wasn't worried about him lunging or bolting. The end attached to the dog can also be attached to the nearest ring at the same time, forming a handy traffic loop.

Several different training methods and tools make use of double-ended leashes like the Euro leash. The Freedom harness uses a martingale loop in the back, a front ring, and double-ended leash attached to both so the dog can feel the tightening action of the back loop and then be guided back to the handler via the front attachment. Some handlers use a double-ended leash with head halters for the same reason, the head halter is used only to orient the dog back to the handler and not as the main deterrent to pulling. A Euro leash can be used as a safety measure when trying out a new piece of equipment, the other end can be clipped to a martingale collar or some other escape-proof piece of hear while the test-driving the new collar/harness/saddle/whatever.

I will also admit to using my Euro lead because I am a dog snob. It's versatile and incredibly useful, it also subtly informs other dog snobs that I too am a dog snob. Look at my fancy leash! My everyday leash is still a well-worn 6' long leather leash, but only because of that head bonking thing. If Brisbane was less easily traumatized, we would use that thing every day.

In Which My Dogs Get Covered in Tar

Off the coast of Santa Barbara, there are natural oil seeps that dribble crude oil out into the ocean. The Native Americans used to gather this tar as it washed up on the beaches, they used it to waterproof their boats. This is important to know because, as I have learned in adulthood, tar is not a ubiquitous beach experience.

The dots running parallel to Brisbane's pawprints are tar.

On Friday the dog beach was tarry as hell. I'm used to getting a few spots of it on my feet, but this was nuts. I had to stop periodically to scrape tar sandals off my feet. There were wave-shapes squiggles and dots of tar outlining the maximum reach of each wave upon the shore. I have never seen that much tar on the beach before. We do have active oil fields off our coast, and people like to blame those for the tar on the beaches, but the truth is that the oil slicks and beach tar predate European records of the area. It's a feature.

Tar all over my feet.

By the time we left the beach, the bottoms of everyone's feet were completely covered in tar. Fortunately this isn't a huge issue, and locals all know that the solution for tar-removal is baby oil. Mineral oil, vegetable oil, and olive oil are also popular solutions. Basically, oil is the solution to sticky. I've heard of people scrubbing their dogs' feet with Goo Gone and rubbing alcohol, but those are overly harsh and completely unnecessary. Trust me, oil is where it's at. Around here it's not unusual to see people at the grocery store buying a case of beer, some ice, maybe some chips, and a bottle of baby oil.

Tar all over Ru's tiny feetsies.

To remove tar from a dog's (or person's) feet, pour baby oil on a rag or paper towel or something else that can be thrown away because that thing is never going to get clean. Rub the feet with the oil, and switch to a new towel/rag and fresh oil whenever the old one gets completely gross. The tar is literally being transferred onto the rag so there needs to be a liberal supply of rags to get all the tar off. Keep working at it until the big black deposits are gone and only a light brown residue remains. Brisbane isn't crazy about me scrubbing his feet with oil, so I like to cup the rag in my hand and pour a small reservoir of oil in which to dip his foot.

In the case of dogs, "rub until the tar is gone" actually means "rub as long as they will let you". In either the case of humans or dogs, the result will be brownish oily feet. The next step is to wash those with soap and water. I like to use dish soap because it cuts grease so well. I used a wet and very soap rag to scrub Brizzy and Ru's feet until they got tired of me messing with their feet. After that, I just rinsed their feet off with the hose.

My feet came perfectly clean with minimal effort. Brisbane and Ru both still have slightly tarry feet, but are no longer caked. In any case, the best way to remove tar from a dog's feet is baby oil and lots of rags or paper towels, followed by normal soap and water.