In 2020, we tested a true novelty! We distributed over 700 IDC®Longwalk dog harnesses to find out how professional and hobby dog owners feel about our new Y- harness after prolonged use. Feedback has shown that testers say our harness has a good effect on the dog-owner relationship and also spares the joints – all thanks to the Duo-Flex® system.
When developing our products, the health of animals and their owners is always a priority for us. The IDC®Longwalk Y-shaped dog harness is designed to protect your dog from unintentional sudden pulls on the leash while on long walks. Another factor to consider was that the new harness should respond to every movement of the dog even if it was moving freely, without a leash. This is how our true novelty, the IDC®Longwalk harness, and the innovative, flexible Duo-Flex® system came into being. The harness has since won several international awards (eg. Red Dot Award 2019, German Design Award 2020).
In our experience, our development can also bring direct benefits to people. During long-term use, the load on the arm holding the leash is also reduced by the built-in flexible system.
To review our research results, we asked professional and hobby dog owners for help last year. In German-speaking countries, we distributed over 700 IDC®Longwalk dog harnesses to gather feedback on long-term use. Our testers included veterinarians, physiotherapists, and search and rescue professionals who shared their experiences with us through a questionnaire.
The new harness is good for the dog-owner relationship and spares the joints at the same time
The feedback we received was a good reflection of what we experienced, and it even revealed some additional things for us. According to 90 percent of our respondents, the Duo-Flex® flexible system also harmonizes and supports the dog-owner relationship by dampening vibrations.
This feedback is a huge achievement for us, as our company philosophy is based on this principle.
For the questions regarding the effects of the harness on the joints, the answers accorded with our own study results. A significant proportion of our testers believed that, in general, flexible functioning would spare the dog’s joints in the short term. When asked specifically about the IDC®Longwalk harness, about half of the respondents (49%) answered that they had found this dog harness to have a joint-sparing effect even in the short term.
In addition, nearly half of our respondents believe that the Duo-Flex® system can increase the comfort of dogs that are moving freely compared to other harnesses. And 33 percent of them experienced our development goal, which is that the IDC®Longwalk’s flexible system responds to shoulders movement even when the dog is not on a leash.
The harness does not restrict breathing and fits nicely on the dog
Our testers have also tested the IDC®Longwalk dog harness on dogs of different sizes and ages. Their general experience was that after proper adjustment, the harness fits well and does not restrict the dog’s breathing. This is also a great achievement for us because the latter is a commonly recurring problem with Y-shaped harnesses. Many welcomed the reflective elements, and several pointed out that any sudden tugs are effectively dampened by the Duo-Flex® system. For example, one of our testers frequently experienced pain in the arm when his dog pulled on the leash, due to a previous arm fracture. However, thanks to the Duo-Flex® system, these problems were greatly alleviated.
Our harness has also been tested by several veterinarians. According to one of them, in addition to the joint-sparing effect, another positive feature is that the breast pad does not press on the upper respiratory tract in this design. A colleague of his pointed out that dogs respond very well to control in this type of dog harness. He added – “The handle is also quickly and easily accessible if there is an emergency”
Some additional important feedback:
- ”I generally believe dogs should not be pulling in the first place, but this harness can be really useful in situations where they do.”
- ”It just fits great. The joint-sparing effect can definitely be felt during long/hard pulls, which results in a softer and more comfortable feeling for both the dog and the owner.”
- ”The harness fits my dog very well and I can see that she really likes to walk while wearing it.”
The above shows that IDC®Longwalk dog harness and the Duo-Flex® system have been well tested by our subjects. Based on the feedback, we were able to achieve what we wanted. The vast majority of our testers said that we produced a harness that protects not only the health of the dog but also that of its owner during long walks.