Choke-Free Pet Shoulder Collar - Safe & Comfortable Dog Harness for Small & Medium Dogs - Perfect for Walking, Training & Outdoor Adventures

These are my personal notes on this "choke-free pet shoulder harness" -- it's not a collar, not at all). You may have different experiences and results, but having tried every harness on the market, this suits my little dog perfectly.Best thing that's happened to my dog and me since I found her at the shelter! Shoulder harness is fabulous: Easy to put on, easy to remove, no hard plastic snaps that hurt to open and close (with arthritic fingers!), made of soft leather (matte or metallic, nice colors), no shed pet fur on outside leather (which otherwise would stick to cloth, mesh, and ?!? other materials of which harnesses are made), and one big strip of military grade velcro to hold the harness on, pierced to allow a D-ring pass-through for leash hook-up, little metal paws (neat deco!), And the dog loves it -- ,no struggling, no fighting her to put it on! No choking possibility, an important consideration, and adjustments are made at how snugly you close the velcro.Measure carefully in two places: 1. Around dog's chest behind where legs join torso (at "arm pits"); and 2. Just in front of the collar bones at nape of dog's neck. My little dog has a 14" neck-nape and a 20.5" chest; she weighs 16 lbs. I bought the 21" for her, and it fits perfectly. Would go up in size rather than down, but you may want to consider leather stretching and how hard your dog may fight to escape. In other words, use your judgment and knowledge of your dog = Use of smaller measurement means tighter; using larger measurement means looser.First trip out in shoulder harness, my little lady dog was startled by some jerk on a motorcycle, who was showing off, and she pulled back hard -- her shoulder harness brought her up short, but with none of the full-body jerking that the other harnesses sometimes cause. My little companion is one-half chihuahua and one-half Italian Greyhound. Basically, she looks like a long-legged chihuahua, with the athleticism, speed, and jumping ability of a greyhound. She is a sight hound and can pick out movement on the road a good 1/4 mile away. The shoulder harness lets her move freely and easily, without any risk of my losing my grip or hurting her. To put on your dog, lay the harness out flat on floor or table (it will look like a figure 8), public side down. Have your dog step into the two openings, one paw per hole, and then you just need to pull it up, seating the tail end behind dog's legs, and head end in front at neck nape (there is no front or back -- they are identical); join the two ends at top of dog (snugly), but before squeezing the velcro shut, slip D-ring through slots at bottom and top of two ends where they overlap. (See product picture.)The slot for the D-ring is quite long, as is the velro strip; one can adjust loosely or tightly based on how much overlap you need to secure the harness snugly. My dog's closure uses all of the velcro; if she gets fat (!), we'll have stretch room for her!Your and your dog will like this shoulder leash; it will be a new experience for you both, and I sincerely hope it is a good one! Happy dog-walking!After all those years of putting on a dog's collar and not knowing that that simple act may have been one that endangered the health of the dog, we now have one of the better solutions for securing our new pup. This ChokeFree Pet Shoulder Collar fits our bill and even the puppy likes it. You should see her reaction to my getting the ChokeFree out and ready to put on her. She is jumping and dancing and basically say, 'Hurry up, Old Man and get my collar on. I'm ready to go.' I think back and recall the reluctance of our previous dogs' attitudes toward a standard collar. In the beginning they balked big time at the mere thought of a collar but now with ChokeFree that balking has disappeared. It is quite possible that there is no balking now because it is a different puppy and has nothing to do with the old days.I may have made a mistake in buying a 13" collar instead of a 14" one because the puppy is close to maximum girth and she is only 4 months old. From her standpoint it does not make a difference. She is protected and the probability of her hurting herself has been diminished significantly because there is zero pressure on the trachea.The leather is slightly stiff; however, after a few twists and turns by my and the pup it will become quite comfortable soon. The hook and loop construction of the top pieces makes placing the collar around her neck so much easier than attempting to snap the closures shut. Having the sturdy metal loop come through the top part of the top permits a strong guaranty of the device not coming off the pup. This is a well-designed and even attractive collar. The two little paw print attachements on the top of the device add to the overall appearance. The pup's white and black colors almost hide the collar. Bottom line: We like it. She likes it. The price was right. All is well with this little part of life and it is another beautiful day. Enjoy it. We are.Just know that this harness is a deep bubble gum pink. I feel like the image may be purposely altered to give a pleasant dusty rose or non-obnoxious pink color. We're making it work, but it's really too pink to complement any natural dog fur/hair tones.These are a much simpler product than Buddy Belts yet these continue to rise in price to match the price of Buddy Belts. I'm not seeing the craftsmanship here that I see in the Buddy Belts. For sure the Buddy Belt is better engineered and better looking. That considered, the tendency for leather to stretch makes the ChokeFree perhaps the better harness if one always applies it to the dog in the same direction (one side designated as the right side and is always on the right side of the dog). Because it's only one thin layer of leater (the metallic ones, being excepted), it will soften up and form to the dog more quickly. This means it will be a more comfortable harness for some dogs. However, the thin single layer of leather invites greater risk of breakage. Some of our dogs hate the buddy Belt and will reluctantly accept the ChokeFree. One thing that for me is a huge plus with the Buddy Belt is that it is actually is easier to put on and take off despite it having a metal buckle The leash can remain attached to the Buddy Belt at all times which saves us time as our dogs' harnesses are removed as soon as we get home and we like to store them attached to the leashes. With the ChokeFree you have to remove the leash each time you take it off.This is an excellent product! A must buy if your furbaby suffers from collapsed trachea.Love love love this choke free harness! The leather softens up quickly. We use these on our 5 pound yorkie.I really wanted to like it but... my dog apparently hates it? It looks like it chafes my dog's armpit area and she just freezes in place after I put it on her and walks a little awkwardly even though there's more than enough room for me to fit 2 of my fingers underneath the collar all around... And somehow she took it in the middle of the night...and chewed/ate half of it...The colour is much shinier/glossier than the image portrays, I went with the non-metallic blue afterwards and am happy with that.Apart from the colour issue there is no problem with the item. It's made very well for the sale price I paid.The BEST harness you can buy!