Size medium-long vs size large

Poster boy Bobby, the sooty fawn greyhound shown on our website, is around 37kg on a good day, probably creeping up to about 38kg once he’s had a few too many treatos. He wears the blue Haqihana in size medium-long, and from the picture you can see that he's close to the maximum chest and girth capacities. This is certainly not a problem, as once adjusted correctly, the Haqihana harness straps will never slip or move as the high quality nylon straps and buckles are perfectly designed for the security of your greyhound.

The ‘long’ in medium-long refers to the length of the back strap that runs along your greyhound’s spine. As greyhounds have such a long spine and deep chest, they need the longer back strap, so that the girth strap sits in the right position, a little set back from elbow, and perpendicular to the ground, around the deepest part of the torso. The back strap of the large is plenty long enough to fit greyhounds and so does not need to have a ‘long’ option.

Summer and winter fit Haqihana suggestion

However, with straps that never slip or slide, we find that this doesn’t allow for extending easily over his winter clothing, so we also have a large size for winter walks over sweaters or coats (a t-shirt still fits easily under Bobby’s medium-long size). Now, we’re not saying that you need to have more than one Haqihana harness for your greyhound, but we must admit having a summer and a winter fit is helpful, Bobby gets to vary up his wardrobe and there are some lovely colours to choose from so it’s hard to just have one - who wants to wear the same thing year in, year out? Not Bobby! And you will be using your Haqihana for years to come too - Haqihana harnesses have a 5-year warranty, and rightly so, the quality is so good and far superior to other brands who aren’t able to offer such a guarantee or provide a repair service.

Single or double H style?

For greyhounds who are mostly calm and walk well on lead, the single H harness is likely going to be all you need. However, they can wriggle out of a harness by pulling backwards and bowing down at the same time (and this will be the case with nearly any harness, not just Haqihana). Now, if you greyhound is lunging or pulling forwards into the harness, it’s going to be super secure (and the weight will be distributed evenly over their chest and not pull on their delicate neck) but if they try to back away from something and you pull on the harness back towards you, then you could be in danger of pulling the harness over their head. We would suggest, in this instance, to go with your greyhound, to allow them to move away from the scary thing or encounter, and instead of pulling them back towards you, get them close beside you and circle them away. Our greyhound Bobby is a shy dog and can try to back himself out of certain situations, but we’ve never had a problem with using the single H style Haqihana harness on him.

For added security though, you can choose the double H design. Your greyhound's body is enviably shaped with a nice tucked up and skinny waist and this creates the perfect anatomy to fit with a wriggle-free harness - the second strap sits further back and can’t be pulled forwards over the deeper part of the chest. The double H is still very easy to fit and is still just as comfortable for your greyhound.

Why are Haqihana better than other Y or H shaped harnesses?

We’ve already mentioned the 5-year guarantee. Please just keep your receipt and you tag in case you ever need to use the warranty (N.B. the Haqihana harness is not chew proof and you will not be able to have your Haqihana repaired or replaced in the event your greyhound gives it a chomp).

The quality of materials is definitely a reason to buy a Haqihana over any other brand. The webbing is super soft, flexible, smooth, strong and narrow, which suits the narrow frame of the greyhound much better than other brands which have wide straps or a padded breastplate. A padded breastplate might seem appealing, but it creates added bulk and width over the greyhounds’ pectorals and can be quite restrictive to the front limb and the sensitive nerves that run on the inside of the dog’s front leg as well as pulling on the hair.

Haqihana are also extremely easy to put on - you won’t need to lift your greyhound’s legs to step into it so it’s comfortable for older dogs who may have arthritis or difficulty bending their leg or putting weight on one leg at a time.

Why purchase your Haqihana harness from DogsBody Health?

We offer an easy online shopping experience with the option to collect from Hampton, Victoria if you would also like assistance with fitting and wish to save the delivery fee.

Delivery is by Australia Post but you can message us directly if you’d like us to ship it by express post or to New Zealand.

We care about helping greyhounds to be more comfortable. We stock these harnesses not to make a profit, but because we care about the physical health of your hound. Greyhounds forever!

You can view our online store here.