Can you believe we first posted our original Buddy Belt Review back in 2012!? I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun. Lately I’ve been going back to rework some of our older posts. I think it’s interesting to look back at what we thought of products when we first tried them verses now. Since Buddy Belts are still available for sale, I figured I’d take a look back at what I wrote about them back in 2012, and update with some new insight nearly 10 years later!
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Excerpts from Our Original Buddy Belt Review
Buddy Belts were originally developed in 1997, inspired by a miniature Dachshund named Buddy. They are designed to reduce stress on your dogs neck. This is important especially for smaller breed dogs who can be prone to tracheal collapse. The harnesses are made out of leather, and come in an array of colors and sizes.
*** Neither the makers of Buddy Belt nor FunnyFur.com paid for this review. All opinions expressed are my own! This post contains affiliate links. ***
I got Kit a red (of course) regular addition size 6 Buddy Belt. The website I got it from also offers a stain guard treatment, which I decided to get. I also bought a pair of harness liners for $10. Someone had told me that the leather on the regular addition harness was kind of stiff at first. Kitsune has sensitive armpits. Shipping and handling from FunnyFur.com was $11.95, so my order in total was $97.36.
This is a new picture, of our 10+ year old harness!
First Impressions…
The first thing I noticed when the harness got here was that the leather was a lot softer than I was expecting it to be. I don’t know if this was because of the stain guard treatment I had gotten, or some other reason. I decided to put the liners on anyways, to hopefully make the area of the harness that goes under the dog’s armpits a little bit softer for Kit. The liners are made of soft leather and attach around the harness with a strip of Velcro.
The size 6 I ordered, as far as I can tell, does fit Kit well. The belt has 5 holes on it so it can fit slightly different sized dogs. It fits Kit at a comfortable tightness when on the 2nd or 3rd hole. I am glad that, if I need too, I can make it a bit looser on him. I think in the winter it should fit fine over a t-shirt or sweater. The Buddy Belt is a step-in harness. It’s easy to put on – one leg goes inside each hole of the harness. I thought the harness placement was a little bit weird at first. The top of the harness, on Kit at least, falls on top of his shoulder blades. I guess that’s good because it’s true that the harness does leave his neck completely free.
Escape Proof?
Those of you who know anything about Kitsune probably know that he is a very hyper/active dog. I’ve always used harnesses on him since I got him. I can’t recall him ever actually fully escaping from a harness, but there have been times when he’s been very close to backing out of them. Unfortunately, Kit did escape from his Buddy Belt a couple of times. Thankfully, he’s a good boy and didn’t run off after getting out of his harness. Although I’d love to be able to recommend these harnesses for all dogs, I’d carefully consider if you have a dog that’s an escape artist, or one that’s a flight risk if he/she manages to escape.
One thing I’ve found that I’d change about this harness, and this is a very minor thing, is the O ring for attaching your dog’s leash. I don’t know why they used an O ring instead of a D ring. I would think that a D ring would lay flatter against the leather of the harness and look a bit nicer.
There is a section of the top part of the belt that sticks out a bit. Once in awhile Kit’s leash will get looped around that piece of leather. Then I’ll have to wiggle his leash around to free it. It’s not a big deal though. I can’t think of any way they could avoid this without taking away the ability to make the harness fit a wider range of dogs. I’d rather deal with the leash getting caught once in awhile then not have the ability to widen the harness. Like I mentioned I do want the harness to be able to fit over clothing during the winter.
Functionality…
Most importantly, Kit seems very comfortable in this harness. It took him a few days to really get used to it fully, but now that he’s been wearing it for awhile he doesn’t seem to mind it at all. The first couple of times I walked him on it I think he felt a bit weird having the harness be right on top of his shoulders. After a few days though he seemed to get used to it and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t bother him at all now.
I would recommend the Buddy Belt for most dogs, with the exception of those who are escape artists/flight risks. The Buddy Belt website recommends you use a leather treatment on the harness every 3 months. That’s something I’m going to look into further. Hopefully if we take good care of it it will last a long time.
So, What Do We Think of Buddy Belts Now?
I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t use Kitsune’s Buddy Belt on him for very long after we completed our review all those years ago. As I mentioned in my old review, Kitsune was able to back out of his Buddy Belt a handful of times, and that’s saying a lot because he’s really not much of an escape artist. We still lived in the city at the time, and although Kit has always had a pretty decent recall, the thought of him running loose in the busy city streets were just too stressful for me to continue using this harness.
I still have the Buddy Belt, and I’ll say it still looks great for being around 10 years old! Take that as you will, though, knowing that it didn’t see really any use to speak of in those 10 years. It’s been stored away for most of the time I’ve owned it. Is it just me that finds that the more expensive a dog product is, the harder it is to get rid of it even if it doesn’t work out for your dog?
Would I Recommend Buddy Belt Dog Harnesses?
Knowing what I know now, if I could go back in time, I doubt I’d purchase this harness for Kitsune again. It was quite expensive, and I don’t really feel like we got our moneys worth out of it. That’s not to say that every dog owner will have the same experience! The Buddy Belt website has lots of positive testimonials from happy customers. One thing I will say, though, is that these days there are lots of harnesses you can buy that are very similar to Buddy Belts, many of them for quite a bit cheaper. If you’re interested in a Buddy Belt it might be a good idea to try a cheaper, but similar, harness out first. You can always upgrade to a Buddy Belt later if you find the style of harness to work well with your dog.
22 Comments
Hi Kitsune and Family,
Is your name pronounced Kit-snay? I was drawn to your blog and you both in gneral because my one of my dogs is named Qaisuke (pronounced Ky-skay). You also have a unique name. Qaisuke is also 19 lbs. and 19 inches at the girth, a corgi-chihuahua mix. I am also an ever enthusiastic dog guardian who would and could easily write a comparable 600 word blog post about a dog product I love!
I just got a buddy belt for Qaisuke’s brother Koa. (a 50 lb golden mix)… who walks just fine on a puppia/hip doggie harness or collar after about 2-3 “reminders” each time we go out on a leash. I was also in gear overhaul mood because he would scratch and scratch at his hip doggie harnesses on hikes so I was sure hed developed a sensitivity to synthetics. Anyway we LOVE the buddy belts also. It makes every harness I have ever gotten (a whole market’s worth) seem like a waste of time and money (and I knew about the BB’s for YEARS but never tried them due to their stiffness and cost it was the one option I didn’t try…. till now) Also the dog that needed “reminders” not to pull / be fast and firey while on leash is now the most even keeled, mellow, gentle walker on a leash. I also bet that the buddy belt is as strong as and equally as reliable and possibly more ergonomic than every overly-padded “crash tested” harness on the market (many that come way too high on the neck not to damage anything in the event of an accident…
Great blog post and video. Love your attention to detail.
Anyway i sense a kindred spirit (two) over there!
-Norell
Hi Norell, Qaisuke, and Koa!
Qaisuke is a unique name, I love it! Kitsune’s name is the Japanese word for fox. We thought it fit him, with his big fox like tail and his huge ears, and the markings on his face reminded us a bit of a Kitsune mask.
We are still loving our Buddy Belt! I’m glad Koa’s is working out for him as well. We’ve been using ours on Kit multiple times daily for a bit over 6 months now and it’s still in excellent condition. It for sure seems like it will last for a very long time, which I feel makes up for the price. Plus it seems comfortable for Kit, and like with Koa it seems to have curbed his pulling quite a bit.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment! I hope you and your pups are having a great week!
Thanks for the review. I can see that it was some time ago. Do you still use/like the Buddy Belt? How has it held up over time?
Thanks for stopping by! I should post an updated review at some point. We still have the Buddy Belt but decided to switch back to using our Puppia harness. The Buddy Belt held up really well and the one we have is still great, I think Puppia just seems to fit Kitsune better. Also something to note is he did get out of his Buddy Belt a couple of times.
Thanks so much for updating about your experiences with the Buddy Belt. I appreciated your thorough review; my main reason for looking at any new harness is that one of our dogs is an escape artist and we are always on the lookout for a harness from which she can’t back out–she collapses her shoulders and then forces herself out of it if she gets freaked out by something no one can anticipate (and I have tried). So your update about Kitsune being able to get out of the Buddy Belt is priceless to me. Thanks.
Of course! I’m glad it was helpful. If you haven’t already, maybe check out Ruffwear’s Webmaster harness. They aren’t cheap either, but are really high quality and secure. It’s the only harness I’ll use now for my younger dog, Fenrir, who is a little doggy houdini.
Thank you for a really honest review. My niece recently had to take her dog back with her (after she left home), and the transition from the suburbs to the city has been difficult. I’m always looking for products to recommend to her, but now I will stay away from this harness.
We went from the city to the country – I can totally see how the other way around could be difficult! I don’t think it’s a horrible harness, and I was impressed with how great it looked even for being 10+ years old, but I just wouldn’t recommend it for dogs who are escape artists.
I can appreciate your honest review. Not everything will work for everyone. And if Kitsune is able to back out and escape the harness/buddy belt it doesn’t make sense to keep using it.
Oh course! Kit is my guinea pig when it comes to testing things like harnesses because he’s such a good dog. If he escapes it’s not a huge deal, he’s well behaved and has an awesome recall.
It looks like a great harness but what I do not like is that those kind of harnesses can cause Layla’s fur to get tangled and that is why I avoid them, she only walks with a harness and I love the one we have for her, it works wonders.
Kit is a papillon so has, when he’s not trimmed short, pretty long fur. We didn’t have any issues with the Buddy Belt tangling his fur but I do know what you mean because it’s happened to us before with other harnesses. I’m glad you find a harness that works well for you and Layla!
It is always useful to update a review. Pets grow and change and what was happy for a young dog might not be such a good idea for an older less active or a dog that changes its activity patterns. We should all return to our reviews once a year I think. You have been able to reassess and reflect on the products – and this matters.
The Puppia is a name I know because Katie and Waffles used to wear them (cats) and they were a real success. The othr I have read about iis Supakit but I am not urre if its dogs or just cats.
So true! I have 10+ years of blogging behind my belt so that’s a lot of reviews to go back too, but I try to do what I can when I can. Redoing this review was particularly fun because I still had the original Buddy Belt that I used in my review all those years ago. It felt a bit nostalgic trying it on Kit again after all that time had passed.
I’m not familiar with Supakit harnesses but I also recommend Puppia! They are a great, secure, option that I often recommend especially for growing puppies. My favorite dog harnesses currently are Ruffwear harness, but I’m not sure that their smallest size would fit the smallest of small dogs, or cats. Their Webmaster harness in XXS fits my little Fenrir really well, they are SUPER secure, and hold up really well over time.
I think it’s so important to recognize, as you’ve shared here, that there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to dog harnesses. Any time you bring a new dog into your home, you need to be prepared for a little bit of trial and error. I am glad, for that reason, that you mentioned the idea of trying a slightly cheaper version first to see how it works. We have 2 dogs right now and they use very different harnesses when they are walking!
For sure! I feel this same way about most things when it comes to selecting products for each individual dog, including harnesses. Life would be a bit easier if the same products worked for all dogs, but, more often than not, I find that what works for one of my dogs doesn’t necessarily work for the other too.
We’ve been using harnesses instead of dog collars for a long time now. There are many kinds out there most of which don’t work for us–most of the time there is too much material on the chest. That is great for safety but given the amount of time my dog spends in water, it would be impossible to keep it from getting nasty fast.
The other peeve I have with most harnesses is that they are step-in design; that just makes it more complicated and almost impossible to use if the dog has mobility issues.
We’re happy with the harness we found and using now; it unclips completely and you can install it without the dog having to step into anything. Normally, we just undo the torso part and slip the front over the head. The only downside of that one are the clips that happen to be right where the dog would lay on when resting on their side. On the other hand, it’s so easy to take off and put on, we just keep it off inside the house.
Finding the right harness for each individual dog is so important! I’m glad it sounds like you found one that meets you, and your dogs’ needs. It sounds like you use a very similar style to what I’m currently using for my Kitsune. I also take my dogs’ harnesses off when they’re inside the house, no matter what style harness I’m using.
I love an honest review! Very good to know about the escape artist concerns. I have a few runners in my fur family so we are very careful that they are secured when we leave the house 🙂
Same! I always test harnesses on Kitsune before I’ll use them on my Fenrir. Kitsune is well behaved, a senior, and has amazing recall, so it’s not a big deal if he gets out of a harness. Fenrir’s recall is, lets say, still a work in progress so I’m super cautious about only using harnesses I really trust on him.
Great idea going back to a previous review. There are some products I’ve reviewed in the past that I wouldn’t use now. I’m in the process of reviewing a cat harness, even though my cats don’t go outside, and I can already see some limitations with my girls.
I’ve been having a lot of fun going back to some of my older reviews! Things like harnesses I especially like to go over the pros and cons of. Since harnesses can essentially be a safety devise for some pets, it’s really important to go over all the features and help owners select the one that will work the best for their unique pet.