Sledding Harness

I intend to start Buster the ACDmix off for skijoring, but I have a couple questions regarding the harness.

How close are the tolerances on the X back? I do not know how old he is right now, and would prefer not to have to buy more than one. I suppose a slightly oversized one would be fine, since he would not be pulling real weight for a while, but I have no idea how to fit it to his adult size.

I have not really been convinced about any of the newer harness designs yet.

Any advice?

Any harnesses you buy should fit correctly (snug) to prevent it rubbing/ moving, so this normally means you will need more than one harness, dogs that shed their coats will need a smaller harness to fit correctly when they are out of coat, and a larger one that fits when they are in full coat, obviously if the dog is still growing then you will have to replace the harness that fits now to one that fits when it has fully grown.

Mo

You want to harnesses to fit just right, so if you get one to his size now, chances are you're going to be needing a new one when he's an adult. Me, personally, I'm waiting till the pups are over a year before I'm buying them harnesses. Then again, I have a lot of harnesses to go around.
And as for the newer designs, I'd love to try out the short harnesses. You wouldnt have to worry about the length of them, and both long and short dogs can wear the same size. Thinking about buying a few and testing them.

We'll see what my bank account says. While theyre pretty cheap, I suspect, even at $20 ea, they can add up fast! I may start off with the walking harness for our other dog, just to let him get the feel of it, without actually pulling anything. I rollerblade with another dog on that, since she is not much of a puller, I'd have to be very careful with the new dog though, he is a very good puller

Yes, equipment costs do add up fast! I dont want to think how much I've spent over the years. And I probably dont want to know.
You can use a walking harness just now, for light training. Gotta be careful though, saying they're not meant for heavy pulling. For short tern use, they would be ok. Wouldnt use them for anything long term though.

Of course. I use it on lexi the hound cross because she does not pull, unless she sees a deer I just don't want to use a neck collar because of the dangers of a high speed crash, or taking off after an animal, I don't want that kind of strain on the neck! I can get a good 10 second pull if something interesting is around, but I do try to avoid it with her and that harness.

I really like the x-back harness but for ski-joring you may want to look into a short harness like megan suggested because the gangline is being pulled up a bit whereas with a sled it is straight behind the dog or pulled down a little. Check out www.sleddogcentral.com in their classified ads. Sometimes people are trying to get rid of old equipment that is still in pretty good shape which is perfect for puppy-training.