Thanks Rachel. It is such a wonderful thing. I'm SO thankful! He has changed my life completely as has this harness in the way it was made.

I spoke with their customer service person and he helped me decide what handles would work best for me. Its expensive,but it was well worth the investment as they do research and work in tandem with a university to study how it affects the dogs.He says it sits on the dogs similar to how a saddle sits on a horse. I also have a vest for him that I use when I'm in my wheelchair which has a handle. Around the house, I manly have him in a soft harness made of leash-like material and then I use a paracord handle that I made. It works well for me inside and I use the BLD one when we go out.

@@IncredibleAnyway it's definitely the Cadillac of harnesses and very well made. The other harnesses I was looking into our Bridgeport and there's another brand I can't remember the name of or similar to a guide harness. I really love the BLD!

Wow! I am SO excited for you! Congratulations on your new service dog and ordering your harness! Thank you for letting me know my video was helpful! I wish you the very best as you are building a relationship with your dog - it can take a while, but once the bond is there, it is powerful. Please let me know if I can be of ANY help at all with service dog stuff or the harness. When your BLD harness arrives, I highly recommend reading through all the material they send with it and watching the YT videos on how to fit the harness to your dog. I also sent photos of my dog in the harness to BLD so they could check the fit and that was helpful too. I needed to make some minor adjustments. So happy for you!

Hi Annie! Sorry I'm delayed in responding. I haven't been feeling so great. I like your description of what contact with your dog feels like. I like hearing how other people experience it. I have not taught Bene to assist with momentum, but I did find this video where they show you how to teach it and it seemed pretty well done: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gpeblt2Bv8vdaIk.html I got my dog from a service dog organization so my service dog had been taught most things before I got him, including he was comfortable in harness. Regarding counterbalance, I think a big part of it is first making sure the dog is extremely comfortable in harness and comfortable walking/doing all movements/tasks in it. Once the dog is comfortable in harness, I would think the next step would be introducing and getting the dog comfortable with the handles being used/pulled up on as he may interpret it as a command to stop walking/or something else rather than that you are using him to balance. Typically counter-balance is defined as when the handler pulls up on the handle or up & towards herself when standing or walking. Once Bene's harness came in about 3 months after I got him, I had him wear it regularly and we practiced walking at home together regularly (before that I had used a rolling walker) before we went in public in harness. I didn't teach Bene to counterbalance specifically, but I think it was the walking frequently together where he seemed to naturally adjust to my gait and what it meant when I pulled up and toward me on the handle (counterbalance). He must've had experience with it at the SD org because he picked up on it really quickly. I don't know how other people teach it or how counterbalance is typically taught, but that is how it happened with me and Bene. The longer we were together, the more familiar he got with me and what I needed when I used the handle. Kinda like how your Golden alerts you when your walking is off, Bene picked up on that when I pull the handle up, I'm using him to help me balance. And actually, while I never taught Bene to assist with momentum there have been a handful of times where I unexpectedly needed him to do it and he naturally did it without me asking. I think service dogs get so in sync with their handlers that they sometimes just know/figure out what is needed. I've found this to be true with the PTSD tasks Bene does. I hope that was helpful! Let me know if I can be of any more help! Good luck with training your sweet Golden boy! -Kelly

I'm so glad it was helpful! Congratulations on getting your balance harness! I hope it changes your life like mine did! Let me know how it goes! That is so wild you have a Golden and the same cane as me! :) Great minds think alike!

That is so kind of you! Thank you!

Yeah, it wouldn't work to brace with a 27 pound dog! I'm sorry to hear about your bad knees. I can see why you wish your SD was bigger.

@@IncredibleAnyway thank you for reading!

I'm so glad the video was helpful. That would be really hard to have a SD in a country that doesn't recognize them!

I'm so glad it was helpful. Can I answer any other questions or help further ease your mind about using a mobility harness? I've been using a this harness since October 2019 and I still love it.

Oh I'm SO happy it was so helpful! Please don't hesitate to call or email Bold Lead Design's product support. They are AWESOME. They talked to me about what harness might be best for me and what I needed to do to make it happen. This is an expensive harness, but I see it as an investment in my mobility and in my independence and I SO happy I have it. Let me know how it goes and if you end up getting this harness! :)

Oh wow! I LOVE that! Thank you for sharing! He is such a good dog!

I'll have to look into it. I've never used one before so I don't know much about them!

You are so welcome, Chris. Both handles fold down. I made a short video for you and just posted it so you can see how they fold down. Here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jJmWl6SGsOCdmXk.html

Hi! I'm so glad you found this video helpful! That is why I made it! I had no clue about what the different handles were supposed to be used for until I was ordering the harness and I had no clue what to do! If you have any questions, when training SD Bella to help you with the dizzy spells, I'd be happy to help! That is great what she is doing for you so far and I hope the alert training goes well! Keep me updated if you'd like! Best of luck! Kelly

There are two handles on my harness. It is Bold Lead Designs. It is a Mobility Support Harness with a MSH Rigid Support Handle and a Vertical Balance Handle Semi-rigid added on. I spoke to them on the phone to create my harness specifically for my needs, which I highly recommend. They were extremely helpful.

@@IncredibleAnyway Thank you for getting back to me about this. Since I live fairly close to them, I'll make an appointment to go down. I'm wondering if they can re-do my current BLD rigid-handle harness? Thank you again for your response.

Admittedly, I dont have a lot of knowledge this. But I imagine you could. It is a question I would recommend asking to the place(s) where you are looking at getting your dog from. Or if you are just gathering information right now, a guide dog organization would know more than I do on this. I'm sorry I don't know more about it!

@@IncredibleAnyway I’m doing research right now.

Absolutely. Bold Lead Designs. boldleaddesigns.com/ My harness is a mobility harness with a balance handle added on. I highly recommend calling them and talking about your husband's needs because they will be able to suggest the best set up handle-wise. It's really customizable to the individual and their dog. Let me know if I can be of further help.

Thank you sooo much!!!!!!

I have seen so many different type of breeds used for service dog work. I can only speak to what I have, which is a Golden Retriever. It is an excellent breed as he loves to work, he loves to retrieve and he is very intelligent. But I have seen many other breeds do very well as service dogs. My best friend has a Golden Doodle who is excellent. I think the most important thing would be to pay attention to the health and temperament of the specific dog and of his/her parents. If you are to use the dog for balance and mobility, you want a dog that is big enough to safely help you. You also want to make sure you have their hips checked out by a vet to ensure they are in good condition to do mobility/balance work. I hope this helps you! Best of luck!

Thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it.I hope you are doing well. Golden retrievers are not readily available for breeding here. Not sure what I'm going to do lol.

Hi there. What is confusing to you? If you have more specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them.