Mantrailing Harnesses. Can I use my canicross or dog walking harness?
When we are mantrailing with our dogs we want to ensure that we have connection to the dog and a harness helps with this. We do not risk influencing the dog when we trail with them in a harness whereas when the dog is in a collar, they may feel the pressure of us moving.
A harness also ensures that the dog is comfortable and they should not rub or chaff. Harnesses allow the dog to work more efficiently because it doesn’t restrict briefly and distributes the pull motion evenly across the muscles of the body.
When you are mantrailing, good pressure distribution on the chest is crucial since you want to protect the neck while the dog is sniffing the ground. The angle of the chest straps helps to direct the pressure to the chest instead of making the harness slide up on the neck.
Can I use my Canicross harness for mantrailing?
Technically, yes. However, a canicross harness is designed and engineered for running and high intensity acitivites with your dog. A canicross harness is longer on the dog’s body than a regular harness.  You could give it a try, but it will slide up if your dog is not constantly pulling like they do in mantrailing. A canicross harness is also not padded enough for a pulling sport like mantrailing.
Can I use my dog walking harness for mantrailing?
Usually, because mantrailing harnesses are designed to be pulled on, the front of the chest area is looser which means that it is not ideal for dog walking. Dogs could easily back out from the looser chest area if they were determined, which means they could slide out. Whilst you could use the harness for hiking, it was not designed for that so you would need to ensure that your dog’s gait and pressure is correctly distributed.
What harness brands can I use for mantrailing?
I recommend my clients use Perfect Fit harnesses as you can get a really good fit for mantrailing.  A BullyBillows Tri Harness is also a good harness for mantrailing. Julius K9 also do a mantrailing harness, but I have struggled to get a good fit with these.