Ancol Viva Exercise & Travel Dog Harness – Blue, Medium (45–65cm)

Ancol Viva Exercise & Travel Harness – Blue, Medium (45–65cm)

Fitting a 45–65cm chest girth, this is the size most mid-weight dogs that pull end up in. The argument for a harness over a collar on such a dog is mechanical rather than moral: a collar concentrates the whole of the pull onto a narrow band around the windpipe, while a harness takes the same force onto the breastbone and ribcage. Ancol's own description of the Viva is that it distributes pressure evenly for improved control and support, which is the same point put their way.

What a harness will not do is stop the pulling. It removes the coughing and the throat pressure, and it gives you a steadier handle on a dog you can actually move; the training still has to happen. In blue, on Ancol's poly-weave webbing with a soft air-mesh lining.

Performance & Benefits

• Fits a 45–65cm chest girth, with a 20cm adjustment span.
• Ancol say the design distributes pressure evenly for improved control and support — across the chest rather than the throat.
• Durable poly-weave webbing, which holds its shape under steady load.
• Soft air-mesh fabric where the harness bears against the dog.
• Fully adjustable at the neck and the girth for a secure and comfortable fit.
• Reflective band for increased visibility in low light.

Suitable For

• Dogs measuring 45–65cm around the chest just behind the front legs.
• Dogs that lean into a collar, and dogs that cough or rasp on the lead.
• Brachycephalic and short-nosed breeds in this size range, where throat pressure is worth avoiding entirely.
• Everyday walking, and car journeys used with a separate vehicle tether.
• Not a no-pull or head-control device — for a dog you cannot physically hold, a head-controlling design is the honest answer, and this harness will not replace training.

How to Use

• Measure the chest at its deepest point, just behind the front legs, and check the figure sits within 45–65cm.
• Fasten the girth strap close behind the elbows, with the chest panel over the breastbone.
• Adjust until two fingers slide flat under the webbing at both points, and no further.
• Use a lead of a metre or so rather than an extending line — a puller on a long line loads the harness constantly.
• For car use, attach a separate tether such as Ancol's ISOfix Seatbelt, item 741600, to the harness. It is not included.
• Ancol publish no wash temperature; rinse in cool water and air dry away from direct heat.

Specification

• Size M, chest girth 45–65cm. Colour blue. Ancol item code 182170.
• Poly-weave webbing with soft air-mesh fabric.
• One reflective band, as Ancol describe it.
• Also made in S (35–45cm), L (60–85cm) and XL (80–120cm), in black, blue, lime, pink, purple and red.
• Ancol publish no webbing composition, breaking strain, harness weight, hardware metal, wash temperature or maximum dog weight, so none is stated here.
• Some retail listings describe a padded chest section and two lead clips. Ancol publish neither, so neither is claimed here.

Care & Caution

• Ancol publish no breaking strain for the webbing or the attachment hardware, so do not treat this as a restraint for a dog that lunges at traffic without also using a lead you trust.
• Ancol sell this as an exercise and travel harness and list it under travel, but publish no crash test, no safety standard and no vehicle-restraint rating for it. Do not assume crash protection.
• Ancol describe no dedicated seatbelt loop on the harness, and no tether is supplied. A vehicle tether is a separate purchase.
• Ancol's own instruction on their ISOfix Seatbelt is that it must be attached to a suitable harness, never to a collar, and that it does not replace a crash-tested harness.
• Used with a seatbelt, a harness restrains the dog rather than protecting it in a collision. Ancol claim restraint, not protection.
• A correctly fitted harness must not allow the dog to back out of it — a hard-pulling dog will find any slack in the girth strap.
• Check webbing, stitching and buckles regularly and retire the harness at the first sign of fraying.