Mike’s Doghouse

NOTE: This review is about seat belts from USA K9 Outfitters. There is a similarly named company in the same town called Champion Canine Designs (ChampK-9). The websites look almost the same in every way. However, ChampK-9 is not filling orders, not answering emails, not answering the phone, and all phone answering machines are full. The legitimate place is usak9outfitters.com. If anyone has had a bad experience with ChampK-9, I strongly urge you to file a complaint via the Better Business Bureau.

I’ve tried several types of canine seat belts over the years. The simplest was a heavy duty short lead/tab that hooked to a regular harness on one end and had the seat belt threaded through the other. Another was the Four Paws padded harness which was decent enough. Or so I thought.

But I’ve learned over the years that there is a lot that happens during a collision and that the vast majority of canine seat belts just will not work. It is all about where the load stress is during an impact. These stress points must be reinforced so they do not come loose. The problem with a lot of the older seat belts for dogs is that they relied on regular harness stitching and plastic buckles at the stress points. As every dog owner knows, those plastic buckles break at the worst times and during a crash they were sure to.

Another main problem with many dog seat belts is that the human felt they needed an engineering degree to get the harness on properly. Some look simple enough but flunk this test while trying to buckle in a squirming dog eager to get going. The tab I have came with instructions that said to put it on the dog’s collar! Right, if you want his neck snapped! I wrote a series of articles (for EDS Today) about Service Dogs and one of the articles was about vehicle safety.

I recently bought the Champion Canine Seat Belt System from USA K9 Outfitters. I chose them after reading several online reviews. (the best resource for dog seat belts is over at The Agile Pooch.) I got three systems plus a “puppy” harness and three extra restraint straps to put in Lorna’s wagon.

PROS: these things are heavy duty stuff! They are built tough out of heavy strap material. There are a lot of sizes available, even for huge breeds. Easy enough to put on but does take practice (we’ve found it best to put on indoors first then take the rowdy pups out to the truck). The harness slides around, allowing the dog to move without the stress points being compromised. The “system” includes the harness and the restraint strap.

Did I mention it is heavy duty? There are two rings where the restraint strap attaches. These things are so big that a regular leash snap won’t hold them both. This harness makes me think of a climbing harness, it is that tough feeling and looking. The harness attaches to a restraint strap that weighs almost as much as the harness itself! Again, big strong hardware on tough material. The other end of the restraint strap is attached to the vehicle in a variety of ways. We used the “quick link” to attach to the lap portion of the back seat belts. The plastic buckles are huge (but are not stress points). All of the hardware is heavy duty almost to the point of overkill. But should the point of a safety device.

CONS: The harness is heavy and putting it on does take some practice. The weight of the harness means you can’t drape the first half over the dog while getting the other leg through. Unlike other harnesses where it slips over the dog’s head then the rest is brought up and clipped together at the chest, this harness is designed so that each leg must be put through the harness and then the clips come together at the top. We’ve gotten better at it and with more practice, we’ll have no further trouble. The fact that the harness slides around may be good in the vehicle but is a pain in the butt out of the it. I need to tighten the harness more to see if that keeps the sliding to a minimal.

The restraint straps come with a “bull snap” clip to attach to the harness. The design of this snap was difficult for me to use to the point I was either going to return them or modify them. (see below for the solution)

Bottom Line: Wow. This is an excellent product from a great company. They’ve put a lot into the design. The cost ($45) is well worth it. Other quality seat belts cost about the same. The entire system is well designed with no weak link. In case of an accident, Mike will be safe. He may slam into the front seat of the truck, but he won’t be ejected. Nor will he get loose and run off.

I emailed the company to ask what weight strength of climbing carabiner I could use. Just a few hours later, I got a reply. They have a second kind of bull snap and were putting three restraint straps together for me! I got them just a few days later and returned the three I had original purchased. This more user-friendly snap is much easier to use. A comparison photo of the two snaps is over in the reviews photo album.

The seat belt system is sold by USA K9 Outfitters. They have the Champion System with sizes from 11″ to 42″ chests (<15lb to 100+ lb) and the Survivor System for 30″ – 52″ chests (80lb to 220+lb). You can get just the harness, just the restraint strap, and several other auto/truck stuff like seat covers and barriers. The “puppy” harness is where you get the seat belt system in the size the dog will be as an adult then you get a smaller harness (at a discounted price!) the dog is now. They also have a short article on why a dog should be restrained while in a moving vehicle.

After trying and disliking the Outward Hound bag, I ordered a Gentle Leader Treat Pouch from SitStay.com.

PROS: Clip for a belt or top of pants; ring for attaching stuff; waist belt is included (and removable); small zippered pocket in the back; small pocket in the front; VERY strong springs on the sides to keep the bag open or closed; made of very tough canvas.

This thing looks and feels tough. There’s a stiff something sewn into it along the front and back to keep the bag edge upright. The hinges/springs on the bag are extremely sturdy. As many times as I have snapped it open and shut during class or a training session, it still feels as stiff as when I first got it. It can be opened and closed with one hand, leaving the other free for the leash and/or clicker.

CONS: The front pocket is weird. Not quite sure what it is for since the clicker falls out of it too easily. The hinges may be too strong for some people with weak hand strength or hand pain. I get it open by pushing my fingers in then turning the hand to push it open.

Bottom Line: Excellent bag that does what it was designed to do. It opens easily, stays open and wide, and closes with a simple push. It is more expensive than other treat bags (SitStay.com sells it for about $12) but, in my opinion, the extra cost is worth it. If you have weak/painful hands, you might want to find a store that has one and try it out a few times. Clip it to your belt and open/close it repeatedly. The good thing is that it holds so much, that even if you bent over, not much if anything is going to come out. That way you can reduce the number of times you have to open it.

The bag is made by Premier under the Gentle Leader brand although it is sold as “Terry Ryan’s Treat Pouch”. I got mine from SitStay.com. It is found there under the “Carriers, Bags, and Packs” category instead of the “Treats” category.

Photos of the bag can be found in the Bait/Treat bags album in the Reviews album on Mike’s photo album. At the moment, there is only one or two. I’ll get more taken and uploaded soon.

UPDATE: Lorna tried the Outward Hound bag for one complete class and gave up after less than a minute while we prepared for the second class to begin. She hated it. The clip wouldn’t stay on her belt so the bag kept falling off. Since it isn’t very deep, that meant the treats went everywhere. Anytime she bent over, out came treats. The training place, A Good Dog’s Life, has the Gentle Leader bags (the one I use) so she got one from them. She loved it! No problem with the clip, the treats stayed in the bag when she bent over because opening and closing it requires just one hand.

Photos of the Outward Hound bag and (soon) the Premier bag can be found in Mike’s Photo Album.

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(original review from March 3rd)

Today we got the Outward Hound Designer Treat ‘n Ball bag. We’d gotten one several months ago (I think the same brand) but couldn’t find it tonight so we got two more.

PROS: has a clip to put it on a belt; has a D-ring for hanging stuff on it; has a clip for hanging more stuff or to hang it on something like a belt loop; the outside rim is stiff so it stays open for easy access

There’s also a velcro thing on the back that I think is for attaching to a leash, although the instructions don’t mention it. I used it to attach the rope of Mike’s toy. The draw string is inside and doesn’t interfere with getting to the treats when the bag is opened.

CONS: bag won’t close completely when filled

The bag is, basically, a nylon bag inside a cloth bag. The nylon bag has a draw string closure that, when there’s nothing in it, actually closes all the way. However, put more than a few treats in there, and it won’t close. I just measured and I had barely a cup of Mike’s kibble in there and it was “too” full. A cup may seem like a lot but not for a really good training session. Mike’s kibble (Wellness Just for Puppy) is itty bitty pieces. If we’d used the adult dog food, I doubt we’d get half a cup worth in there.

Why does closing matter? It does if you train away from home. You put the treats in there at home and out you and the dog goes. If the top won’t close, you have to keep the bag upright or stuff comes out. If you bend over while wearing the closed bag, stuff comes out.

Bottom Line: Don’t bother getting it if you use a lot of treats or use bigger treats.

Outward Hound (made by the Kyjen Products, Inc. company) has several versions of their “Treat n Ball Bag”. I had to look in several places before I found the one we have. They call it the “Designer” bag. It is a nice looking bag and the brand name is stitched directly onto it vs a patch. The other bag we have (the one we can’t find) I think is the one with the pocket on the front. I really dislike that one but I won’t review it here until I find it and am sure of the brand.

I bought this bowl to see what it was like in real life. It looked too good to be true online so I wanted to test it out.

PROS: soft and bendable so it can be made to fit into small spaces; can be a bucket or can be a bowl; folds down to a size just slightly larger than my fist; doesn’t smell bad (not rubbery smelling); dishwasher safe (I tested it).

The bowl is made of silicone. It can be inverted to form a bucket with two handles or the sides can be folded down to form a non-tip bowl shape. It holds a good amount of water when in the bowl shape. Mike didn’t hesitate to drink from it.

CONS: no clue on how long it will stay so wonderfully flexible; not easy to find to purchase; can be easily chewed on and destroyed (vs a plastic bowl); they say it holds a liter of water but that has to be while in bucket form; they are expensive (~$19).

Bottom Line: If you are looking for a bowl to fit into a bag, backpack, glove box, or in a seat pocket, this is the bowl for you. I’d say it would be great while hiking since it can shape into a bucket and pour. It won’t leak like so many other bowls out there (and I’ve tried a lot of them!). But if you have more than one dog who insist on gulping water at the same time, then you’ll want to get them each one.

I found it online at Clean Run, a site mostly dedicated to agility and clicker training. They have a video of how it folds and unfolds (click the ‘files/videos’ link under the animated image). It is made by a company called Tazlab. You can buy it from them for about the same price as Clean Run. We will be getting more to keep in various bags and in Lorna’s car.

From time to time, I will discuss various products that I have either tried or know enough about to give an opinion. We’ve had so many dogs go through this house and have tried so many different products. Some were complete busts. Some were great. All cost money which is why before I purchase something, I research it. Reviews are also a bonus but I have to remember that often reviews are given by those who disliked the product the most.

Usually, in doing an online search, if you enter in a product name followed by REVIEW, you will find some good links. For example, today I entered in “dog seatbelt reviews” (without the quotes). I found what I needed quickly. I prefer Google’s search engine.

Joella once had a website where I had a lot of reviews up. Due to some software crashes, most of that is gone but I am looking for a backup I may have saved.

If I do a review and someone has an opposing opinion, feel free to say so! Opinions are as widely varied as the people who have them. Just remember, say what you want about my opinion, just leave my genealogy, brain cell capacity, and common sense level out of it please.