Ruffwear currently offers 6 different dog harnesses for a variety of activities, and today we’ll be taking a closer look at the Ruffwear Front Range Dog Harness and the Load Up Harness.
Reviewing The Ruffwear Front Range Dog Harness vs Load Up Harness: Which Is Better?
Disclaimer: This blog post was originally published in 2015 and has been updated in 2021. It contains affiliate links I may earn compensation through at no additional cost to you.
The Ruffwear Front Range Dog Harness – Everyday Use
The front range harness is a good harness for everyday adventures because it’s sturdy yet lightweight. I like to use it for:
- Walks around the neighborhood
- Trips to the beach
- City destinations, and
- Adventure hikes
For the past year, Missy has been doing all of these activities with the medium size front range harness in orange. As of last year, it was only available in a few colors, orange being one of them, but the harnesses JUST became available in many more colors!
I even use it in the car to buckle her up (see picture at the end of the post in Bottom Line). For this, I use a nylon seat belt buckle that connects to the aluminum V-ring on her harness and clips into the back seat buckle.
That tether came with a previous car harness I no longer use because it felt flimsy.
Features of the Ruffwear Front Range Dog Harness
- Comes in 6 colors (black, green, blue, purple, red, orange)
- Available in 5 sizes (XXS, XS, S, M, L/XL)
- Retails for $39.95
- Everyday harness
- Two leash attachment points
- Four points of adjustment
- ID pocket
- Padded chest & belly panel for comfortable wear
- Reflective trim for low light visibility
Any Cons?
The leash attachment points are made of webbing rather than heavy duty metal.
That doesn’t make it a good option for strong dogs who tend to pull on the leash, so it’s definitely something to consider.
The Ruffwear Load Up Harness – Car Travel
I wanted a really sturdy car harness for Buzz since his 75 pounds of body weight catapult him into the big boy category (Missy weighs 50 lbs).
Also, as mentioned above, my previous car harnesses just didn’t feel like they’d be up to the job of actually keeping the pups safe in case of an accident.
So I went ahead and invested 80 bucks for Buzz’s medium size load up harness in black.
It’s sturdy, well made and allows for a decent range of motion. Buzz can either lie down on the backseat or sit up.
While his load up harness is a lot more bulky than Missy’s front range harness, he can still go for a little walk while wearing it.
Features of the Ruffwear Load Up Harness
- Only available in black
- Comes in 5 sizes (XXS, XS, S, M, L/XL)
- Retails for $79.95
- Car travel harness for the backseat of a vehicle
- Successfully crash tested at MGA Research Corp
- All metal, strength-rated hardware
- Four points of adjustment
- Padded chest and belly panel for comfortable wear
- Universal seatbelt attachment
- For more information and the crash test videos, check out Ruffwear’s FAQ section
Reviewing The Ruffwear Front Range Dog Harness vs Load Up Harness: Which Is Better? – Bottom Line
There’s no right answer to the question of “which of the two harnesses is better?”. That’s because they are both great for what they were designed for.
I might end up getting Missy a car specific load up harness for our road trips, and Buzz a front range harness for our everyday activities.
Granted, it’ll be an additional $120 in doggie gear, but it’ll be money well invested and…let’s face it…dog lovers love to shop for their pups, right?!
Do you have a favorite (Ruffwear) harness or are you pondering buying one? As always, we’d love to hear from you in our comment section!
Related Reading:
- 6 Practical Uses For A Tactical Dog Harness
- Mighty Paw vs Ruffwear Harness: Which Is Better?
- Exercising My Dog With The Ruffwear Commuter Pack
- Dog Fitness and More With The Ruffwear Approach Pack
- Ruffwear’s All-Weather Sleeved Dog Jacket “Cloud Chaser”
I was reading an article on Whole Dog Journal about harnesses the other day, and I think the Front Range was one of their favorites. I really need a new walking harness for Luke, and I’m always on the lookout for good ones. He just chewed through the one I was using, but I never loved it anyway.
We also have a car harness from Solvit that I’ll be reviewing next month. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve been pleased with their other products so hope this one will work well too.
I just came across that article on While Dog Journal this morning as well and pinned it! The Front Range is really awesome. I just bought Buzz one in blue – I had it sitting in my Amazon cart for a few weeks and finally received a notification of a $10 price drop!! I snatched it up right then and there.
I’ll be looking for your car harness review from Solvit. I’ve heard of the brand but don’t have any of their products quite yet.
Hi There, was wondering if you could possibly give me some pointer on how you fit two large dogs in the back seat of your car?
I have two Goldens, with one being almost 14 years old. (My heart and soul!), but the young one who is 16 months loves to hog the back seat. Any suggestions to help keep the peace and so they both have enough room for road trips? Thanks!
Hi Caryn, I was lucky enough to get my pups Missy & Buzz at the same time when they were just 8 weeks old, and they’ve gone on tons of car rides together since then (they’re a little over 6 years old now), so they just got used to sharing the backseat of the car. I did make it a point to have them wear car harnesses that attach to the seat belt, so they each only had so much space for themselves and couldn’t really hog a big section of the backseat area.
Your two Goldens sound adorable!! I love that you have a senior pup – 14 is such a great age for a larger dog!! Maybe let your senior K9 get into the car first and get into a comfy position, and have your younger pup get in after. Have you tried a car harness on your younger one? That might keep him (or her) from spreading out too much on the backseat.
Thank you so much for responding back! I do have a tiny backseat and not an SUV sized back-end, so things are a little tight. I’m thinking of making something to cover the gap between the seat and the back of the front seats.That way they each have room to stretch out their legs without falling off the seat.
I’m actually thinking of getting the RuffWear harness for the older dog and giving the SleepyPod one to the younger dog since it fits her nicely. This way the older dog has a bit more “give” with the RuffWear harness.
Thanks for your suggestions, I will see how this goes!
Of course! That’s a good idea to cover the space between the backseat and the back of the front seats. My guys started with the tiny backseat area of a convertible sports car, then got to enjoy the large backseat of an SUV, but now they’re down to a much smaller back area of a Chevy Sonic :/ So I definitely understand the space issue.