I have two different questions but I figured I'd put it in one thread. My wife and me got a 6 year old Siberian Husky about a month ago from someone who was moving and couldn't keep her anymore.

First question is about walking and jogging. She does pull a little bit which doesn't bother us so I'm not looking to fix that. She does however not pay any mind to where you are or where you're about to go! While jogging she will run straight across your feet and nearly hurt both of it! We'd also like to do bike/skijoring with her so those bad walking habits will need to be fixed first. Anyone have training tips or a book recommendation on how to get her to walk and jog with us better? We'll also need to train her commands for joring like turning left and right.

The second question is about the harness. We got her a Kong harness from Petsmart but it rotates on her while we're walking. It seems to bother her a little and its annoying to straighten all the time so we're looking into upgrading. I've sort of narrowed it down to either the Web Master or Alpine Outfitters Urban Trail Harness. We do a lot of hiking so the Web Master has some appeal since we can hook packs to it, but it seems like it would take a while to put on which is no good for quick walks. Also it seems like it would be pretty hot in the summer time (not sure how that would effect her yet). The Urban Trail almost seems like the perfect harness for us. Easy to put on, good for walking, jogging, hiking (without packs) and they even say its good for bikejoring! The only thing I'm worried about this harness is it has the same basic design as the Kong harness that rotates on her. Does anyone have the urban trail harness that can tell me how they like it? I'm open to other suggestions but I'd rather it have a D ring on the back instead of on the front.

Any help is appreciated!

I'll just chime in on the harness question, as my dogs just sort of caught on with how to properly walk and jog. I think they just learn manners in due time.

The webmaster harness is nice- but you will most likely have to deal with it sliding to the sides and having to be pulled back to the center a lot. The product is great, but ideal sizing is difficult with their products since sibes generally fall on the largest scale of the small harness according to sizing, but the center top part of it looks awkward and small if you get it in that size unless your dog is incredibly small and narrow, so you use a medium- which fits, but from my experience, does not fit nice and snug, so it slides from side to side. It annoys me. The trail harness is really nice- I plan on getting bother my dogs the urban trail harness once it becomes their offseason again, since I don't want to wait several months to get it. Since you can get it custom fit, it will set perfectly on your dog and you will not have to worry about it moving around.
I do have a trail harness that unfortunately got ruined during our last move- I loved it. I had D rings on the normal part and on the sides since I planned on using it with bikejoring.
The custom fit is going to make it to where it moving around so much won't be an issue, plus the material isn't as likely to slip around as what the kong is made of.

I much prefer the custom harnesses by Alpine over Webmaster since you can have it to where it is made to conform to your dog's body.

Chiming in on the harness as well, I'll leave the training to others. I would definitely recommend the Alpine Urban Trail harness over the Ruffwear Webmaster. The handle and pack options are great on the Webmaster but like Heather mentioned, the fit will probably not be the greatest. We have a medium for our sibe, based on his measurements that's what should fit him, and I have all the straps as tight as they'll go and it still slides around more than I prefer. The custom fit Alpine harnesses are great and will fit your dog much better since they are custom made to your dog's specs.

So it sounds like I'll be getting the trail harness . I guess I'll measure Gwen and order it tomorrow so I get it ASAP (however long that might be).

If it is going to take a few months to get the urban trail then has anyone tried the Puppia soft harness? Options are always good so I wouldn't mind having both.

Puppia harnesses are good, I've never used one personally but I know a lot of people who have and I've only heard good things about them.

I have the Palisades Pack by Ruffwear which you can detach the packs and use just the harness which is the Webmaster harness. After talking to Heather, I sized down for both dogs and the harness does not slide from side to side as much.

However, I do agree with both Heather and Val that it would be a much better fit if you get a custom fitting harness.

For us, we use different harnesses for different activities: Ruffwear packs when hiking, x-back harnesses for skijoring and snowshoeing, and an EZYDog harness when hubby runs with them.

We plan on getting a different harness for different activities too. So far from what I've been looking at and from the info on here we just want the best all around harness that fits her correctly.

She can't handle long hikes yet so the packs wont be necessary. For now with the shorter hikes I can carry her supplies with my 26L or 50L packs. Gwen's original owner kept her in a small fenced area (about 10ft x10ft) in their backyard so she never got much exercise. We walked her about one to two miles a day and she ended up pulling a muscle in her hind leg within the first week. If you pet around her back legs all you really felt was bone. The vet said after she recovered to take it easy and slowly work her up to a few miles per day along with a high protein diet.

It feels like she has a lot more muscle on her back end now and she handles 3 mile hike without a problem. We can also tell when her back legs do start bothering her by the way she walks and sits. It will be a little while before she can carry her own bags or do any pulling. So the X-back and bags can wait. At 6 years old she doesn't have to many years left of heavy activity but we're going to make sure she enjoys every bit she can!