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| Showing off my typical working gear during a photoshoot this summer! |
Every service dog team is different, so each team will have a unique set of gear that works best for them. It has taken my girl and me about a year to establish what works best for our team, and we're still adjusting our gear very frequently as we learn about new products and gear setups from other teams. However, when starting out the process, especially when beginning as an owner-trainer, it can be difficult to figure out exactly what gear will work for your team. If you start out researching how to owner-train a service dog and what gear your dog should wear like my girl did, then the sheer amount of service dog gear available can seem overwhelming (a good place to start is my SD gear checklist). Alternately, resources on owner-training are limited, so sometimes it can seem like the only options are either a guide dog harness or a traditional Service Dog vest.
So here is what I wear/switch between on a daily basis! (I've broken everything down into categories to make reading through everything easier)
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| Me in my beautiful dragon harness! Isn't it a work of art?! |
Vests and Capes
- DD Service Dog Designs BLD-style cape: mine is a royal blue with zippered pockets. I really like it because instead of having a belly buckle, it has a belly strap that snaps on both sides, which is nice because my girl can take off my cape easily whether I'm on her right or her left side. My girl is also super sensitive to the noise that velcro makes, so she loves that the harness attachments are snaps instead of velcro!
- COZYHORSE (Etsy) backpack cape: mine is a size 7x17" in royal blue and is customized to have a plain centre instead of an ID holder and a small zippered pocket. Love this design! You can't find it anywhere else but here. It combines the BLD-style cape with a saddlebag/pack design for more pocket space. This is easily one of my favourite pieces of gear of all time.
- WireDog Classic Harness Vest: my first vest ever, and it's still going strong! Mine is in royal blue and fits a 26-30" girth. I customized mine to have a "Service Dog" patch on each side (rather than on the left and on the top), which WireDog did for no additional cost (thanks WireDog!). My girl loves the rubber handle for tactile stimulation and for momentum pulls up stairs, and the three D-rings are helpful for attaching saddlebags (which WireDog also offers on their website).
Harnesses and Handles
- saxonleatherart (Etsy) custom black leather harness: the lovely woman who runs saxonleatherart made me my own custom harness modeled after an ActiveDogs harness. My girl and I use this almost every day because it's so perfect. It has a handle made out of super soft leather that's super comfy in my girl's hand, and even the rest of the harness leather is super high quality with beautiful stitching to finish it off. I easily give this harness 6 out of 5 stars because it's so wonderful!
- saxonleatherart (Etsy) custom dragon leather harness: this harness is a literal dream come true. When my girl got my dragon collars from saxonleatherart, she had this wild idea about getting a dragon harness, and saxonleatherart made it a reality! Complete with scales and wings, it matches both of my dragon collars but is still functional as a Service Dog harness underneath all its beauty! Funnily enough, I get fewer stares and questions from strangers when I'm in my dragon harness than when I'm in my normal black harness...
- MuttButt Gear (Instagram) summer harness: mine is made out of 1" nylon and was custom designed by MuttButt and my girl. It's light and perfect for hot summer weather! My harness has 3 black plastic D-rings (two on the side for a pull strap and one on the centre), as well as MOLLE on the side so my girl can attach pouches if she needs to (MuttButt offered her two tactical-style 4x4" pouches that are perfect for the job).
- Bridgeport 8" guide handle: I got mine in black! I also have the 12" handle, but it's a little too long for what my girl needs. Depending on what my girl needs, I'll either be wearing this or one of my paracord pull straps.
- littlewolfparacord 16" and 21" paracord pull straps: mine are done in a cobra stitch and are royal blue and teal. In addition to using them for momentum pulls, my girl is using them to teach me how to pull her to her feet.
Patches, Tags, Leash Wraps
- MuttButt Gear (Instagram) custom patches: these are a dream come true! I got mine in black, white, and red to match the rest of my gear. My first design is 2"x4" and says "If handler is down/do not call ambulance/unless injured/Give us space," where the backslash indicates a separation between lines. My second patch, also 2" x 4" in size, has the symbol of a hand crossed out with "Do Not Distract" next to that, and underneath both of those is "Ignore Me." And finally, my last patch design is 1"x4" and says "Severe light & sound sensitivity" in a colour scheme to match my Emergency Info Inside patch.
- I have the 1st patch on my BLD cape, my backpack cape, and one of my WireDog pouches; I have my 2nd patch on my BLD cape, my backpack cape, and one of my WireDog pouches; and I have my 3rd patch on my BLD cape and my backpack cape.
- DannyLuann Embroidery patches: I have their 1"x4" white, red, and black "Emergency Info Inside" patch that features a small red cross next to the wording, as well as their 2.5"x4" red, white, and black "I'm Working For HER" patch that has two little black pawprints at the bottom.
- I have the Emergency patch on my BLD cape, my backpack cape, and one of my WireDog pouches; and I have the HER patch on my BLD cape and my backpack cape.
- patienceandlove143 (Etsy) stymbol patch: I got mine in the white, red, and black shown in the photo and in the smaller 4.5"x1" size. Love this patch! It has a crossed out hand, a crossed out speech bubble, a crossed out eye, and a crossed out camera. The symbols help overcome language and literacy barriers, which is super helpful. This patch is on my BLD cape and my backpack cape and will soon be on one of my WireDog pouches, too.
- patienceandlove143 (Etsy) symbol patch: It's like my symbol patch, but in the form of a leash wrap! I got mine in black, red, and white and was able to get a custom length of 5" to help it fit on my guide handle and/or pull straps more easily. Its symbols are slightly different from the patch with a stop sign instead of a crossed out camera, but it still gets the same job done!
- CreativeClam circular patch: I have the 3" diameter patch with a red stop sign in the centre and red lettering "Do Not Pet" above the stop sign and "Do Not Distract" below the stop sign. I have this on each side of my WireDog vest.
- SitStay circular patch: I got the white, red, and black patch with a 3.5" diameter. It has a black hand crossed out in the center, and around the circumference are the words "Please Don't Pet Me I'm Working." I have this on my WireDog vest.
Collars and Leashes
- saxonleatherart (Etsy) dragon chain martingales: my first dragon collar is in gold and silver, and my second is in peacock colours (blues, greens, and purples). Both are super regal and absolutely stunning! I get compliments all the time. They're hand-tooled leather with a silver martingale chain and are custom made to fit my neck-to-skull ratio. My girl loves working me in these both because they're beautiful and because they're functional and, at about 2" wide, super comfortable for me to wear.
- dogsbythebay (Etsy) fabric buckle martingales: so far, I have five collars from this company, all buckle martingales in a 1.5" medium size with extra D-rings (two have normal-sized D-rings and three have small D-rings). The patterns I have are plain black, light blue with dragons (although my girl thought they were birds and still believes they're birds), blue circular Gallifreyan, white with pearly white flowers (called "White Garden Wedding"), and a custom-designed two-tone collar (an option that they offer) with a teal whale pattern for half the collar and pink gingham for the other half. These collars are great, durable, well made, and easy to wash! My girl couldn't love them more. I also have two leashes by dogsbythebay: one in plain black (because black matches everything) and one in the light blue with dragon-birds (because that's my "signature" collar).
- If It Barks Original Stripe buckle martingale: I got a 1.5" medium layered ribbon buckle martingale with a base of emerald green, a middle of white, and a top layer of emerald green to make a green-white-green-white-green striped pattern. Mine has a black plastic buckle and an extra D-ring. It's functional, preppy, and really nice to wear!
- Actually, one of my first collars was also by If It Barks, which you can find in my article about martingales. That collar is a groovy blue pattern (I can't remember the exact name) and is 1" wide with a metal buckle, as well as an extra D-ring. This was the first company I found that offered buckle martingales with the option of an extra D-ring and will always be near and dear to me.
- leather guide leash: Mine is black with some braiding, and I can't remember the company that made it, since I've had it for a little over a year now. It's super helpful for working! (which makes sense since it was designed by experts in guide dogs)
- ActiveDogs hands free leash: I got the 7.5" length, and it came with a black patch/sleeve that says "Service Dog" in white lettering. My girl uses this a lot on campus because it can help keep her hands free while still maintaining control over me (e.g. in the dining hall), although that control is more out of legal necessity by the ADA than out of training necessity, since my girl doesn't really use a leash to communicate with me.
Other
- madebyde (Etsy) cooling coat: I got the design with the simple front closure in blue with a length of 18" for the topline. The full-body cooling is ideal for hot days! A cooling coat is absolutely necessary for any working dog in hot conditions and is even a good idea for pet dogs on hot summer days, since we dogs are technically wearing a fur coat in any weather.
- icybrand (Etsy) cooling collar: I have the blue bandana style that fits a 14"-18" neck. My girl puts this on me on warm days that aren't as hot as days where I need my cooling coat but are still hot enough to require me to have some kind of cooling mechanism beyond panting.
- Ruffwear Quinzee coat: My coat is a size Small in Larkspur Purple, although I'd call it more of a Raspberry Pink. My girl used this coat on me a lot this summer, especially while I was adjusting to New England's chilly winter temperatures!
- Pawz rubber booties: these come in all kinds of colours, but my girl primarily get them in black since black goes with any outfit (and also to attempt to reduce how many times my girl and I hear "Look! That dog is wearing shoes!" throughout our day since black is less noticeable. I wear a size Small (about 2.5"). These come in sets of 4 on Amazon, and I really like the because my paws don't feel as clunky. While they're too thin to be summer booties (heat can radiate a few inches off the ground), they're perfect for protection against the chemicals used to melt ice on the pavement during winter. Shoutout to one of the other Service Dog handlers on campus for recommending these!
- Ruffwear Summit Trex booties: my girl's brother got these for me in orange and either a 2.25" or a 2.50" size (either way, they fit me, which is the important thing!). While the gaiter catches on my dew claws a bit, the sole of these boots is thick and has tread: the former helps protect my paws against hot pavement and the latter helps me feel more natural while walking in booties by allowing me to "feel" where I am on a surface.
- Ultra Paws Cool Dog Boots: these were my first boots! These booties are great for summer because they have a breathable mesh top to keep my paws cool (we dogs cool off partially via our pads) and a thick sole to protect my paws against hot pavement. I wear a small (2.25") or a medium (2.75")--since my girl has had these booties for over a year, we don't remember the exact size.
- EpicFido service dog mat: these mats are made with a soft fleece top (mine is in a blue in white pattern, although you can get pretty much anything under the sun) and a wipe-clean black vinyl bottom. My girl got this for me to settle on while she's in a science lab, but it's proven handy in so many other situations, including keeping me from directly lying on the questionable floor of Dartmouth's dining hall!
- Walmart G-Force HANDS OFF! luggage tag: click here for a more in depth review! My girl transfers ours to my different harnesses. It's helpful because she can change it to my left side or my right side depending on where I'm walking in relation to her.
- collapsible bowl: I have three of these, actually--one small pink one that either my girl carries or I carry so I can have water with me whenever, and two larger ones (one blue and round, one lime green and square) for travel, instead of having to bring two big, clunky bowls.
- Carabiner: small with the ability to lock--my girl uses it to hold my various rabies tags/microchip tags since I change collars so often (each of my collars has an ID tag though)
- I also have a variety of bandanas, bows, and flowers to wear on any given day to give me extra flair while I work! This is normally kept in a pocket or pouch on one of my vests.
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| A typical Service Dog "gear pic"--I had to finally do one! (although this isn't nearly everything) |
Tail wags and puppy kisses for now,
Kelsie Iris
Check out these other posts of mine:
SD team etiquette
Don't distract SDs
Spoon Theory
Confused? See my terms and abbreviations
SD team etiquette
Don't distract SDs
Spoon Theory
Confused? See my terms and abbreviations
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