This dog avoided the most horrible fate aka the dog meat trade in China

We received the following question/email:

"Hello - My name is Kelli O’Neill, my bundle of joy, Rudy, absolutely has to have the UniPup harness and leash, but his size is sold out. ☹️ He is a rescue from the Dog meat trade in China. He’s lived through pure hell, being a street dog in Harbin, China; he was thrown out into the street because whomever bred him thought he was “ugly”. After living through a harsh winter (it gets to be -20F at times) he was picked up by a street dog catcher and sold to the meat trade.

The rescue I follow in that area of China, pulled him off the truck that they intercepted on the way to the slaughterhouse. If they hadn’t come when they did, he would have been tortured and killed within minutes. He came to us at just a little shy of his first birthday. So, our poor boy came to us with a lot of emotional trauma. He’s made such amazing steps with us since we rescued him, but he still has problems with his walks.

His harness now, has the D ring on his back and I think that’s making him feel too confined/trapped so he pulls extremely hard and I’m worried about his throat/thorax being crushed. I’m in love with this UniPup harness, any chance it is coming back with more XL? Rudy, our pup, has a 17” inch neck and 23.5” inch torso, so I think the XL is the best size for him. I will even pre-order it, if that’s an option.

Thank you so much for your time and for making this wonderful harness for our brachycephalic babies. It’s a genius fix. "

Respectfully,
Kelli O’Neill

 

Dear Kelli,

What an incredible story and so thankful your pup was able to break away from that fate. We are sold out XL in UniPup. We don't restock same design in order to make room for new collections. We do have the adjustable harness in UniPup available which comes in one size and will adjust to XL. We would be happy to send your pup one of our adjustable UniPup harness and leash set free of charge. Your story and feedback really touched us and we are always looking for ways to give back to our amazing community. 

The front D ring in our harness works really well to support the mental and physical state of the dog. Dogs with anxiety feel safer when the leash is attached to the neck as opposed to the back. When attaching to the back dogs often "lead" which are usually dominant and confident dogs. It sounds like your dog may be anxious and timid and needs you to be the leader in walks. Attaching the leash to the neck would probably be the best scenario for him. The Humane Society of America and other major dog organizations recommend a harness over a collar for many health reasons so naturally we would always recommend using a harness over a collar for walks.

It will take time and constant positive reinforcement until your dog comes out of his shell and become more confident. Considering his past its very likely he was abused on a regular basis. Dogs with that kind of history need time to heal. Being assertive, alpha, leader and off course provide him with a ton of love is the best thing you can do for him to start the healing process. We wish you all the best and keep us posted with his progress.

 

Sunny @Frenchiestore