Julius-K9 IDC Powair Summer Harness - Blue - Size XL

Julius-K9 IDC Powair Summer Harness - Blue - Size XL is JULIUS-K9's mesh summer harness, here in size XL for a chest girth of 71 to 96 cm, in a mid blue.

Key Features

• Mesh instead of webbing: The body is a light open mesh rather than solid webbing, so air moves through it. That is the whole design brief, and it is why this is the harness to put on a dog through a Gulf summer.
• Wet it and it cools him: The mesh soaks up water and holds it. As the water evaporates it pulls heat out, so a damp Powair does real work on a warm walk that a dry harness cannot.
• Dries fast: JULIUS-K9 make the point that it dries quickly, which matters on a harness you are deliberately soaking and on one that goes in the sea.
• Light, and still properly made: Far lighter than the standard IDC Powerharness without dropping to the quality of a cheap mesh harness. It still closes with a full length hook-and-loop chest strap.
• Takes the same patches: The chest strap carries the interchangeable JULIUS-K9 patches, so a Powair and a Powerharness can wear the same pair.
• Control handle and a water-retaining layer: On S, M, L and XL, JULIUS-K9 add a handle across the back for instant control and a layer that holds water for extra cooling. The smaller sizes do not have either.

Using It As A Cooling Harness

• Soak it, wring it out and put it on. The mesh holds water and the water takes heat out of the dog as it evaporates, which is the point of the thing.
• Re-wet it when it dries out. A dry cooling harness is just a harness, and on a hot walk that can be every ten or fifteen minutes.
• Use cool tap water, not iced water. Very cold water on a hot dog constricts the surface blood vessels and slows the heat loss down rather than speeding it up.
• It takes the edge off a warm walk. It does not make a Dubai afternoon safe, and it is no reason to extend a walk you would otherwise have cut short.
• If a dog is already in trouble, heavily panting, unsteady or drooling, this is not the answer. Get him into shade and into air conditioning, wet him down with cool water and ring your vet.

The Full Size Ladder

• 3XS for a chest of 29 to 36 cm, around 0.8 to 3 kg.
• 2XS for 33 to 45 cm, around 2 to 5 kg.
• XS for 40 to 53 cm, around 4 to 7 kg.
• S for 49 to 67 cm, around 7 to 15 kg.
• M for 58 to 76 cm, around 14 to 25 kg.
• L for 63 to 85 cm, around 23 to 30 kg.
• XL for 71 to 96 cm, around 28 to 40 kg.
• The weights are a guide only and the girth is what decides it. A lean greyhound and a stocky bulldog of the same weight are nowhere near the same size.
• L and XL overlap on girth, so on a dog between the two go by the tape and by how much coat he carries.

Fitting It Safely

• Two fingers should slide flat under the chest strap and under the belly strap. Tighter rubs; looser lets a determined dog reverse out of it.
• Check behind the front legs for rubbing after the first few long walks. That is where any harness marks a dog first, and a chest pad or a small change of adjustment usually settles it.
• A harness is not a car restraint. Use a crash tested travel harness or a crate in the car, and take this one off when the dog is unsupervised or crated.
• It gives you control of the body, not of the head. It takes the strain off the neck, which is the point, and it is not on its own a cure for pulling. That is training.
• Through the Dubai summer, walk early and late, keep walks short and take the harness off at home rather than leaving it on all day. Press the back of your hand to the pavement for seven seconds first, and if you cannot hold it there it will burn his pads.

Looking After It

• Hand wash in cool water with a little mild soap and dry it away from direct heat. No machine and no tumble dryer, because heat is what makes webbing go hard and hook-and-loop lose its grip.
• Brush the hook-and-loop out regularly. Hair and grit packed into the loops are the usual reason a chest strap stops holding.
• Rinse it after the beach. Salt and sand together wear webbing faster than anything else, and here most harnesses meet both.
• Look over the stitching, the buckle and the D-ring every few weeks, and look harder on a dog that pulls. Replace it at the first sign of fraying webbing or a buckle that does not click home cleanly.

Good To Know

• Size XL fits a chest girth of 71 to 96 cm, which is roughly a 28 to 40 kg dog. Measure the chest rather than going by the weight.
• The range runs 3XS to XL in four colours. This listing is blue in size XL only.
• Size XL has the back handle and the water-retaining layer. 3XS, 2XS and XS do not.
• A summer harness, not a winter one. For year round walking and for a dog that pulls, the standard IDC Powerharness is the stronger choice and we stock it in eight colours.
• The matching Powair leash is a separate listing and comes in the same four colours.
• Takes the Large JULIUS-K9 patches, sold separately.