With lots of online lists recommending the Rabbitgoo Harness, you might be really tempted to invest in this harness for your dog.
I know I was when I started looking at dog harnesses for Indie and things like 120k+ reviews on Amazon? Are really influential too.
But is the Rabbitgoo harness all it’s cracked up to be? Is it the proverbial dogs bollocks of harnesses, or is it… not?
I’ve spent the last couple of months testing out this harness with Lucy, my little coonhound lady, who put this harness to the test with longline work and a lot of hiking and exploring rivers and brush. I wanted you to know the truth behind the Rabbitgoo.
So let’s start with introductions!
This is not a sponsored post, I purchased this harness as Rabbitgoo weren’t replying to me
Introducing The Rabbitgoo No-pull Harness
The Rabbitgoo harness (whilst oddly named) it set up for success with a very similar design to the ruffwear front range – an over the head design with two buckles that clasp on the sides of your dog, there are four slide glides that allow for adjustment around the neck and around the girth.
There’s a handle on the back, and a front chest attachment point as well as an attachment on the back. Though the back attachment point sits further forward than others sitting in the middle of the back piece.
Reflective threads on the stripes and it also trims the back piece (but not the chest).
Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
What I Love About The Rabbitgoo Dog Harness
Reflective Straps
These straps create a lot of extra visibility for your dog when it’s dark out. The reflective thread is 3M which is a really good brand for this and they do light up really well! Meaning that when we’re out and about, I wouldn’t be worried about this harness highlighting Lucy’s presence for oncoming vehicles.
Front attachment
It does have a front attachment point so it works really nicely for teaching dogs to walk loose leash. When you couple this with a double-ended leash it really becomes very effective for learning.
No Loose Flappy Straps
It’s been made with enough consideration that there’s no reason to have loose straps bouncing around and everything is nice and tight to the body, meaning there’s minimal risk for snagging!
Handle
I will never understand it, but, it has a handle! So, for those of you who like a handle, this will definitely be a feature you will appreciate. It’s stitched in to the foundation structure of the harness, so it’s as strong as it can be.
Great Variety Of Colours
It does come in 14 colours, which is rather impressive! I don’t think there are many harnesses on the market that can brag that many different variations. So, if you do want a harness that can suit your. dogs colouring as much as possible, this might be the one for you.
What I Don’t Love About The Rabbitgoo No-Pull Harness
Poorly sized.
Certainly for my dogs, all of whom are deep chested, this harness was always too tight in under the armpits for them. Which is why Lucy ended up testing this harness. She’s the smallest of our three and as a consequence to give it enough of a test, we had to explore this with her.
This was bought to fit Indie’s measurements, and it says it was perfectly capable of doing that (a 30 inch chest) and it struggled for Lucy with a 27 inch chest. We bought a large size which should have fit from 17-34 inches.
Lesson to be learned here, is make sure you size up!
Compromises strength
the reflective thread nylon has a tensile strength of 600lbs – which is relatively low when nylon webbing goes from 275lbs to 5,500lbs. Consequently, whilst the reflectors are nice, it really signifies that this harness is not strong in any way. I do want to say that 600lbs does significantly outdo the weight of most dogs – but this is a breaking strength and it includes the motion or velocity of your dog… meaning that a 60lbs dog going 10mph is very likely to be a problem.
Aluminium Fixtures
Steel is always my preferred, with stainless steel being better than that, but the Rabbitgoo harness has aluminium fixtures on front and back, which is just a touch disappointing. I wouldn’t trust this harness on a dog over 70lbs, and especially not a reactive dog.
Doesn’t hold up.
We’re already facing small tears, pulls and problems with the fabric. Nothing that has created a critical failure in the harness, but it’s definitely not boding well for it and it’s longevity. I know it’s a very reasonably priced product, but, I would still not expect this level of degradation after only a couple of months.
I will also say, I have not approached them about replacing it because I rather can’t be bothered, it’s not a harness I’ll be using again after these tests.
Who Can Use The Rabbitgoo Harness?
Great question. There’s not many people I would recommend this for. But there is one.
New Puppy Parents
It could be good for new puppy parents. Puppies grow so fast that investing in a great quality harness is entirely unnecessary and not something I would usually suggest. Especially seen as your first harness you’re learning and so are they! So if they chew through a harness that’s around $25 you’re probably not going to be all that worried.
Caveat here is that you really must check, as your puppy grows, that the harness continues to fit, because my instinct is that my experience with sizing is not unique.
Do I Recommend Rabbitgoo No-Pull Harness?
Not really.
The Rabbitgoo harness disappointed me on pretty much every level. For a small cost more, there are better quality harnesses that have been finished to a better degree, and don’t cost an extravagant amount. They’re more secure and frankly, I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone other than puppy parents – where a harness is grown out of quickly, and destroyed easily.
This isn’t a harness you need or want, and I’m astonished they’ve managed to do so well with it for so long…
Not sure the Rabbitgoo is for you, why not go see how it ranks compared to other harnesses?
Author, Ali Smith
Ali Smith is a professional, qualified, and multi-award winning trainer is the founder of rebarkable. She has always believed animals deserve kindness and champions force free methods. Believing that dog guardians will all choose the kindest options if proper information is provided, she aims to help all dog guardians who need it and make dog training as accessible as possible
Ali lives win Maryland, US with her husband and her three dogs.
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