Dog harnesses and leads, priced

A no-pull harness and a training lead come to £21 plus £13, or £34 at the prices read on 2 November 2026. Add the car harness at £45 and you're at £79. Those are the sizes listed here; other sizes cost more or less.

I haven't put any of these on a dog. I'm going on store pages, the Highway Code and Which?, whose panel of three dogs did the walking. The order above is by how much each page tells you about fit before you pay: chest and weight first, weight alone last. It isn't a quality ranking.

Measure first

Which? says to take the widest part of the chest, usually just behind the front legs, and sometimes the lower neck too. Battersea, quoted by Which?, wants a snug fit with space for two fingers. Those numbers then go against guides that don't match each other:

• JULIUS-K9: chest and weight. The size here is 49 to 67 cm and 7 to 15 kg. zooplus.co.uk listed XL, for 28 to 40 kg, at £41.09 on 2 November 2026.
• KONG: neck and girth. Medium covers a 38 to 91 cm girth on the Pets at Home guide, a span so wide that it tells you little, so measure twice.
• Halti: neck only, 34 to 56 cm for medium, with breed examples from Beagle to German Shepherd.

Back clip or front clip

Which? tested harnesses in June 2026 and lists the IDC Powerharness as back-clip, with its scores behind the members' login, so I can't tell you how it did. Back clips take pressure off the neck, the magazine says, but a dog that lunges drags you along behind it.

Front clips turn the dog's head towards you when you hold back. Halti's page calls its version front control steering. Battersea's warning, also via Which?, is that equipment has to go with training, or "the dog will simply learn to pull against the new pressure".

No-pull designs get a harder time. Which? calls them "somewhat controversial", and quotes the charity Woodgreen saying they stop pulling because they're uncomfortable, and that owners should check the fit. Pets at Home's page calls the Halti "kind and humane". Those two views don't sit easily together. I'd read Woodgreen's remark about belly straps before buying any no-pull harness, this one included, and I'd pay for a trainer before I paid for a second one.

The car is a separate job

Rule 57 of the Highway Code says animals must be restrained so they can't distract you or get hurt if you stop quickly, and names a seat belt harness, carrier, dog cage or dog guard as ways to do it.

Pets at Home reports that the KONG was independently crash tested using ASTM F3725-25 and FMVSS 213 frontal conditions. I haven't seen the test report, and the page itself says no restraint can guarantee against injury. Which? tells buyers to look for a crash test to a recognised standard. The JULIUS-K9 has a crash claim too, but read it closely: zooplus says the buckle held a load of up to 350 kg. A buckle isn't a car harness, and I wouldn't treat it as one.

Leads

The Flexi's limit: Up to 50 kg, on 8 m of tape. Rule 56 wants a short lead on the pavement, the road and paths shared with cyclists or horse riders, so 8 m is for open ground. The brake lock does that job, and the included safety loop stops the lead snapping back if a collar breaks. The Flexi costs £26 and has 10 buyer reviews averaging 4.1 out of 5 on Pets at Home.

The large Halti lead has a limit too: Up to 52.5 kg. A small version stops at 27.5 kg. It's the one I'd start with, and it scores 5 out of 5 from 10 reviews on Pets at Home, a small sample. The missing length still annoys me.

These lines sit inside our first-year dog kit, next to the crate. If that's your next purchase, here's how to size a dog crate. The full list is on the harnesses and leads page.