Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi! I've had the Web Master harness for Roman for the past couple months and overall I love it. But his leash has randomly detached from the leash attachment hook several times, sometimes resulting in narrowly avoiding a serious incident (he likes to run after other dogs and UPS trucks). This is the same leash I had before using the Web Master and it never unhooked on its own before. And he's not doing any weird acrobatics, just normal walking and laying. Has anyone else experienced this with the Web Master harness ? Is there a specific type of leash hook I should be using with this harness? My current leash has a trigger snap clip (I had to look that up) which I thought was a pretty standard leash clip. It just seems so weird that this would happen only with the Web Master harness and not any of the harnesses or collars he previously used. Thanks for any help/advice.
Yikes sorry that happened and I'm glad he's OK.
Honestly I don't like leashes with those clips, they are not trustworthy and I've had them fail on other types of harnesses too. This is the same closure right?
I would use anything but a leash with that type of clip on any harness. It's got a weaker closure than other types. None of Ruffwear's leashes use that type of closure and my guess is this is why.
I'm assuming you are attaching the leash to the metal d-ring, right? If so, I think why this is happening is because the D-ring leash attachment point on the Webmaster is angular, unlike most other harnesses that have round D-ring leash attachment points. My guess is the angular D-ring and the smooth round trigger clip don't play nice together. That's just a theory. I have a message in to Ruffwear to get their take on it and will report back as soon as they let me know.
Hi Jerry! Thanks so much for checking with Ruffwear. You are correct, I’m attaching the leash to the metal D ring which is flat. The pic you have is not like mine, but I can’t figure out how to add a pic from either my computer or my phone. It’s a pretty standard clip I think, almost all the leashes in Petsmart or petco have this kind of clip. If I have to buy a new one, I want to make sure it’s going to work with the harness.
That's odd... and very scary! I've had leashes on 5 dogs over the past 25 years or so and never had one detach and I use the regular clip. I've used exclusively Ruffwear harnesses for more than 10 years too.
My guess would be that the design of the Ruffwear metal D ring attachment point could cause the leash to detach because it has two openings where normal D rings have just one. The latch on the clip can push on the second part of the D ring and open. Much easier to show with pictures but I don't have time right now.
I have small dogs and I don't like the clips that Jerry showed because they are so heavy- also why I don't use Ruffwear leashes.
I fiddled around with a leash clip and a Ruffwear harness and I could get it to open but it took some manipulation. It also depended on which way I clipped the leash on the D ring. When the leash unclips is he moving or laying down? Is the leash tight or lose?
I'm curious to hear what Ruffwear says....I'm guessing it will be to recommend their leashes 
.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Oh does it look like this?
or like this?
Both are called "bolt snap clips" in some places.
So here's what Ruffwear says:
Hello Rene,
Thanks for reaching out! This is likely due to the bolt snap leash they are using. The bolt snap can easily be depressed by our harness' V-Rings. We recommend the customer use an alternative leash attachment to prevent this issue. We do not carry bolt snap leashes for this reason.
I always wondered why Ruffwear didn't carry leashes with that kind of clip. Their clips are very unique, I never see them on other leashes.
Thank you for helping us to get enlightened on this really important aspect of their harnesses! And thanks for your feedback and experimenting Karen. Notice how they didn't do the hard sell with their leashes? I love that about them!
Notice how they didn't do the hard sell with their leashes? I love that about them!
Yeah, that was supposed to be a joke but obviously didn't land as intended
And what they said about their V ring (now I know the right name) causing the snap bolt clip to open is what I found when I was fiddling around.
It had never occurred to me before, I'm going to have to look around a bit to find a better clip that isn't too heavy since both the girls wear Ruffwear harnesses.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
LOL! Of COURSE they want you to buy their leashes, they're in business after all! 
It always call it a "D-Ring", now I know too.
Thanks to you both for your research, this was really helpful. Jerry, the one I was using that kept unhooking looks more like the first pic (where you push "in" to open it) and the one I've been using since (no issues so far) looks more like the 2nd pic (where you have to push down on that little lever to open it). But I guess they're both bolt snap clips and are susceptible to unclipping. It doesn't seem like others are having this same problem, which is great, but wondering why it was happening to me. As I've said, I think I have a pretty standard leash clip. Karen, I'm glad you don't have the same issue I did. To answer your question, it happened both when he was laying down (and then got up abruptly to yell at the UPS truck) and when he was standing (to lunge toward a dog who dared to walk by us). So no rhyme or reason to it that I can find, other than I'm not using a Ruffwear brand leash 🙂 I'll continue to use the new leash while it's working, fingers crossed.
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