We’ve recommended a Help 'Em Up Harness for your dog. What is it, why do you need it, and why can’t you just use a regular harness?
Unlike a regular harness you might buy from a pet store or online which might be comparable to clothing, the Help 'Em Up harness is a medical device, like crutches or a wheel chair. You’d want your crutches to be designed in a way that is comfortable for you to use, will withstand day to day wear and tear, and will not cause injury to other body parts during use.
Why This Harness?
This harness is a fantastic tool to help your dog be more mobile. Whether old age and weakness is making getting in and out of the car more challenging, or we’re a neurological case that has to relearn how to walk again, your dog needs physical assistance. The thought behind assisting them to do normal activities rather than just carrying them everywhere is a sort of “use it or lose it” concept. They can’t ever regain strength if they’re not using those muscles. They won’t get the chance to regain neurological function if the opportunity to get those nerves firing isn’t there.
The hope is, that by assisting your dog to do basic things like walking or using the stairs, they can eventually regain the ability to do it on their own.
So where does that leave you and your dog? You can physically lift and hold them in the positions, postures, and paw placements necessary for these activities – prepare for your own back pain! You can use a towel, leash, or sling to hold your pet up. These are appropriate tools for short term but they don’t disperse your dog’s weight in a comfortable way and aren’t the most comfortable for you to use every day either. There’s often too many straps to easily manage, you have to remember to grab it before any activity, they can impede your dog’s normal range of motion, and they put most if not all of your pet’s weight on their belly – ouch! The Help 'Em Up is designed to be easy for you to use and fitted for your dog’s anatomical needs. The padding is strategically placed so that your dog’s body weight is evenly dispersed under their chest and hips, instead of their neck or belly while also allowing your dog to move their legs normally. They even have pieces specifically designed for male dogs to be able to urinate while still getting the support they need to stand. No more pee covered slings or towels!
But why does it have to be this harness specifically? Over the years, we have seen countless attempted knock offs of this device. We understand, they’re not cheap and pet parents are trying to do the best they can for their pups while keeping themselves afloat; it’s a delicate balance. Unfortunately, we’ve yet to see a knock off that offers the same benefits and we’ve seen many that are dangerous to use.
Some of the knock offs we have seen put the dogs at risk for a dislocated hip or a slipped disc! Yikes!
While we do offer a service to custom fit a Help 'Em Up Harness for your dog, the cost of this service only covers the expense to provide it (meaning we make no money by offering it) and we do not receive any sort of kick back from the makers of the harness.
We recommend this product exclusively because it is the best we have found and tested.
Proper Use of the Help 'Em Up
You might ask, "why is a harness fitting appointment necessary?". The Help 'Em Up can be a bit tricky to fit to your pet the first time and improper use can cause skin irritation or failure to support your pet as intended. There are many adjustment points and this device needs to be well-fitted to your pet. Using the size chart to pick out your pet's harness can be deceiving as well as we have found that they often need a slightly different size from what the chart indicates. These harnesses are also unable to be returned, to us or the manufacturer. By letting CROC Professionals take care of this for you, you'll know that your pet is comfortable and well supported in their new harness the first time around. It is important for the harness to be snug. You should not see huge gaps between your pet and the harness.
The Help 'Em Up is designed to be worn all day, but it must still be cleaned on a regular basis.
Harnesses left on 24/7 and unwashed can cause skin infections/abrasions, especially for pets with urinary or fecal incontinence. If you notice that your pet's skin is irritated from the harness, remove the harness and wash it before putting it back on your pet. It is machine washable and we recommend placing it in a garment bag or large pillow case tied up before machine washing it.
Ask the CROC Team
If you have questions about using a Help 'Em Up with your dog, feel free to reach out to us! We’d love to help make sure that your dog is properly outfitted with the correct components, as several different combos of the harness and accessories exist, and that they are properly sized and fitted. We also help with adjustments later on as the buckles can move a bit over a longer period of time or your pet may need different settings as their body changes.