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

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

The medium covers a 45–65cm chest girth, and 45cm is exactly where the small stops. If your dog measures 45cm you can buy either, and the medium is usually the better answer: it starts at that figure with 20cm of let-out still in hand, whereas the small arrives at full stretch with nothing spare for a winter coat, a heavier condition or a mis-measurement of a centimetre.

Go the other way — to the small — only if the dog is genuinely slight and shallow through the chest, and fully grown. On that build the medium's straps end up wound so far in that the loose ends flap, and the shorter webbing sits tidier. Everything else about the two is identical: poly-weave webbing, soft air-mesh lining, one reflective band.

Performance & Benefits

• Fits a 45–65cm chest girth — a 20cm adjustment span, the widest of the two middle sizes.
• Overlaps the small at 45cm, so a borderline dog has a choice rather than a gap.
• Durable poly-weave webbing with soft air-mesh fabric for breathability.
• Fully adjustable at the neck and the girth for a secure and comfortable fit.
• Ancol say the design distributes pressure evenly for improved control and support.
• Reflective band for increased visibility in low light.

Suitable For

• Dogs measuring 45–65cm around the chest, just behind the front legs.
• Springers, Border Collies, Staffords, working crossbreeds and similar mid-sized builds.
• A dog measuring exactly 45cm, where the medium leaves adjustment in reserve and the small does not.
• Everyday walking, and car journeys used with a separate vehicle tether.
• A slight, shallow-chested and fully grown dog at 45cm is tidier in the Ancol Viva Exercise & Travel Dog Harness Black S 35-45cm; anything over 65cm needs the black large, 60-85cm.

How to Use

• Measure the chest at its deepest point, just behind the front legs, and read the figure against 45–65cm.
• Open the buckles, sit the chest panel over the breastbone, fasten the girth strap behind the elbows.
• Adjust until two fingers slide flat under the webbing and no further.
• Clip the lead to the harness attachment point, not to the collar.
• For car use, attach a separate tether such as Ancol's ISOfix Seatbelt, item 741600. It is not supplied with the harness.
• Ancol publish no washing instructions or temperature; rinse in cool water and air dry away from direct heat.

Specification

• Size M, chest girth 45–65cm. Colour black. Ancol item code 182110.
• 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); Ancol's colours are black, blue, lime, pink, purple and red.
• Ancol publish no webbing composition, fabric or 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 sell this as an exercise and travel harness and list it in their travel range, 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 vehicle tether is included. A tether such as Ancol's ISOfix Seatbelt is a separate purchase.
• Ancol's own instruction for that tether is that it must be attached to a suitable harness and never to a dog's collar, and that it does not replace a crash-tested harness.
• Used with a seatbelt or tether, a harness restrains the dog and keeps it in one place. That is a restraint, not certified crash protection, and Ancol do not claim otherwise.
• A correctly fitted harness must not allow the dog to back out of it. Check the girth strap and neck opening before every outing — two fingers flat under the webbing, no more.
• Inspect webbing, stitching and buckles before each journey and replace the harness if you find fraying or a cracked buckle.
• Not a tie-out point, and not to be left on an unsupervised dog that chews.