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Harness Tips for Small Dog With Sensitive Skin?
Hi everyone,
I have been lurking on this board since we adopted our puppy baby about two months ago. Francesca is a sweet Chihuahua mix from the local shelter and is about 1 year old. She seems to have sensitive, pink-ish skin (she is short haired), so much so that the vet remarked about it at her first check-up. He didn't recommend anything in particular and didn't seem concerned by it, but since then, especially in the last two days, we've noticed that she is developing a rash or abrasion underneath her front legs (in her "armpits") from the harness we got for her. She pulls a little bit on walks, but not a ton (her training classes start next week, so hopefully we can curb this!) but I think we should try to find her a more comfortable harness that doesn't chafe her.
Her current harness is a step-in with the rings for the leash on top of her body, just below the base of her neck. It is made of thin nylon rope. My question is, has anyone had similar issues? Would buying some sort of a mesh, padded harness help the problem and be more comfortable for her? If so, does anyone have recommendations of a good brand for small dogs? I've seen a lot of mixed reviews online of the brands carried in the stores most local to us (PetSmart) so any guidance is appreciated. I would be happy to buy online as well, if we can get some feedback about where to look. I hesitate to buy something unseen and have it shipped without a recommendation of some sort.
Thanks in advance!
ETA: Recommendations for no-chafe collars are also appreciated- she has a collar with her nametag with our info on it, her name and microchip ID, and her county registration tag on it but currently it's making her neck red and irritated so we'd like to replace that too. Something she can wear comfortably while she is at home in the event that she somehow escapes (unlikely but terrifying to me!).
Re: Harness Tips for Small Dog With Sensitive Skin?
When my short-haired dachshund was a puppy, she was the same way........extremely sensitive skin that would get irritated easily. I did two things that helped extremely. One, I changed her food. She was on a Science Diet sensitive skin food, which despite the fact that it was recommended by the vet, is actually a pretty awful food. I started feeding her Fromm, which is an awesome food. I wonder if her skin issues were because of an allergy to her food, to the "filler" ingredients like corn or wheat. Either way, once I put her on a good food, the skin issues got soooo much better. Two, I stopped giving her so many baths. I was giving her a bath like once a week, and even with really mild shampoo, that dried her skin out. Now I only bathe when necessary, like when she rolls in something gross. She probably hasn't had a full-on bath in about a year.......just the occasional spot clean.
Thanks so much for the replies!
LolaNJoe- We actually have that same brand of harness! We also have the step-in kind... the other kind wasn't sold in stores locally. Her collar matches it. Since posting this a couple of days ago the harness issues (underarm rubbing) have gotten better but the collar issues have gotten worse. For now we've just taken his collar off and it doesn't seem to be a big deal.
Jasmine- That information is so helpful! I will definitely look into changing her food. She came home with a big bag of Science Diet from the shelter (free) so she has been eating that. Since reading posts on this board I obviously know it's not the best food and we planned to switch once it was used up... after all, we aren't made of money so wasting the bag we have seemed like a bad idea. After reading this it seems like it is worth it to make the switch. I'll try the brand you recommended. We also bathe her about once a week, although her skin does not seem dry. It was very dry when we first brought her home, but we've been giving her vitamin E and her flaky skin has cleared up a lot. We will definitely try bathing her less often and see it if helps.
Thanks so much everyone!!