Walk in Sync and Freedom Harness Review

Helo has had a Freedom harness since he was 6ish months old. It does the job (discouraging him from forging by pivoting him around) but not effectively and I'm not totally happy with how it fits him. It comes across his shoulder right at the point where the scapula and humerus meet. Attempts to encourage it to sit higher usually ended by the end of a walk or training session with it back down lower.

A 9 month old Helo wearing the Freedom. 

In use, when Helo forges ahead the chest strap will buckle sideways - I'm not sure the best way to describe it. It tended not to pivot him much and largely he could ignore it because the chest strap was loose. All my attempts to fix this issue by tightening it made the harness sit on his body weird.

Further, the construction of the Freedom is such that it tended to pull on his long body hairs. Often little tufts of white hair would be found in the parts where the vertical strap met at the chest and neck. This is because instead of being sewn together, the chest strap loops around a portion of the chest and neck straps for some side to side flexibility.

Lots of Helo hair got caught in this part.

I do like the harness in general. The soft velvet on the chest strap is a very nice feature. I could see this harness working for dogs with short hair, with different conformation than my boy. For us it wasn't quite right. I am planning on trying the Freedom on the corgi, so I will report back in the future what I think of it on him.

We just got the Walk in Sync yesterday and already I'm much happier with how it fits Helo. I put it on him for CGC class and that night got a compliment on how well it fits him from someone we've taken a few classes from. It naturally sits up higher on his shoulder and when he forges or moves away, the front piece stays stable and pulls him around quickly.

I like that it doesn't come across his shoulder at any point.

For us, that is big because Helo really likes other dogs. He knows when he feels the tug to look back at me, but (my best guess) with the Freedom it tended to come after he was over threshold. Several times we were in close quarters with other dogs last night and he would be pivoted around to face me and just walk back as if to say "oh well I tried".

Now, don't get me wrong. Some of this is maturity and training. I've spent countless nights fretting that he would never find his brain again! Then I bonk myself on the head and remember he's an intact adolescent. But I definitely noticed a difference in just one training session with the Walk in Sync. Bonus? No white tufts of hair stuck on the harness when we were done!

Solid sewn together construction means no ripped hair!

**I purchased both the Freedom Harness and Walk In Sync for personal use. No money or items were given to me for this review. **