I took some time over this month, around seeing clients and working on gorgeous wedding gowns, bridesmaids and other fabulous pieces, to do some camping.

The #StudioMascot, Sprocket, of course came along with us. Her present harness, which I bought in the spring to replace her previous ones that had clips that snapped, is made from a combination of straps. All of them solid and stiff, with strong rings connecting them.

Sadly, the hard straps and her barrel chest did not work well for the 18km walk day.

Blisters developed in her “armpits” and I did not realize until we were taking the harness off of her back at camp.

She’s very stoic at times.  But the sores needed to heal.

 

We switched to just attaching the leash to her collar and that worked for the most part – when the mole popped onto our site, we have to wrestle with her to keep her from chasing it, but otherwise, the leash on her neck was fine for our walks. We enjoyed the remaining time on the campground and sighed deeply as we packed up to come home.

Back in the studio, I immediately grabbed some of her previous harnesses, which I keep in case I can use the parts. I checked  them to see what I could do to get her into a more comfortable but still functional harness.

The choice was made to use one that offered a padded chest support as a pattern and  I extended the length of it.  I used part of the original straps and added reclaimed ones that I had taken off my husband’s back pack.

Thus, I was able to create a cute denim harness that works well and won’t cause her discomfort if we go on long walk in the future.