Putting a harness on Ray has never been a major problem.

His walking harness goes over his head first, and then we lift a front leg and put it through a loop; bring a strap under and over to clip it all together. He generally just guides his head through the loop, and his front leg goes totally limp so we can move it. Perfect!

His travel (car) harness is slightly different. His head still goes through a loop first, but then both front legs have to be guided through their respective  loops, and then it all clips together.

If we take him anywhere in the car, I will usually be doing the driving, and Carol usually gets Ray into the  car and attaches his harness to a restraining strap (to limit his movement).

When we arrive at our destination, Carol  is usually the one who switches harnesses so we can walk him and, upon returning to the car, switches them once again. She does both harness changes while Ray is still on the back seat. He knows the routine and cooperates very well.

On Saturday, Carol was away from home and taking care of some personal business. It was obvious that if Ray was going to get a walk in, it would be just him and I, so off we went. It is important to note that while Ray is emotionally attached to both of us, he is more attached to Carol, and this can be a problem when I take him for a walk without her.

On Saturday, it was a problem. We got just around the corner at the end of our street when he stopped. Some gentle pressure on his leash, and lots of coaxing, served no purpose. except to make him sit down. I am not averse to taking complete charge and, after all, he does have choices as to what to do when the leash goes tight however, a Ray in a sitting position sliding along the sidewalk was not what I expected or wanted.

I turned around and Ray was immediately up and walking, until I tried to cross over the end of our street. Once again, his brakes went on! Turning for home solved the problem and he trotted quite happily alongside me all the way home, where he then took up his normal position in these circumstances. He gets on his chair and stares out of the window.

Being a great believer that Ray really does need his regular exercise, and as it doesn’t do me any harm either, a new strategy was needed. I would get him in the car, and take him somewhere that he is not too familiar with, and walk him there! Brilliant! Of course I would have to take care of the harness changing!