Why I Keep a LOOBANI Lift Harness by the Door

There is a hook by my back door with one thing on it. Not a leash. Not a towel. It is a LOOBANI lift harness, and it has hung there since March, and I want to tell you why it earned that spot instead of living in a drawer with the other things I bought and stopped using.

My dog is Waylon, a yellow Lab. He turned 11 in March. He is 68 pounds and he has been with me since he was a puppy, back when I was still dispatching buses and he spent his days sleeping under my desk chair. Last October his back legs slid out from under him on the kitchen hardwood one morning. Same week, he walked out to my CR-V, stopped at the back bumper, and looked at me instead of jumping in.

That look is what got me shopping. Not the fall. The look.

I am not a vet tech and I am not a trainer. I am 59, I am retired, and I have had big dogs most of my life. I asked Dr. Reyes about every single thing I bought for him, one at a time, never two at once, so I could actually tell what was doing what. This is what I saw with one product.

I did not want a device that carried him. I wanted something that let him keep doing the walking while I took a little of the weight off his back end.

Before I bought it I spent two weeks using an old bath towel under his belly. I folded it, I held both ends, and I shuffled down the three wooden steps behind him. It worked, in the sense that it held. It also slipped out of my grip, it bunched up under him, and by the tenth day I was tired of fighting it. That bath towel is the only other sling I have tried, so keep that in mind for anything I say about how it compares.

The LOOBANI is not a full-body harness. I want to be clear about that because I think some people buy it expecting straps around the chest. There is no front chest piece. It is a padded band that goes under the belly and hips, with a drawstring closure and handles on the sides, and the lining is soft, sheepskin-like. Per the listing it is nylon, machine washable, and it folds into the storage bag that comes with it. X-Large is the size on mine.

Here is how it actually goes in our house. Three wooden steps down from the back door into the fenced yard. That is the only set of steps Waylon uses. He gets his harness on in the morning and we take those steps slowly, me slightly ahead and to his side with the handle in one hand, and I take some of the weight off his back end. He still does the walking. That was the whole point for me. It came off the bath towel era and put a real handle in my hand.

He stood for it the first day. No drama, no backing away. I set the band under him, snugged the drawstring, and took his weight for the first time going down, and he just went. Eight months later he still stands for it, which tells me more about whether it is comfortable than anything I could guess from a photo.

It also goes in the car. On a bad day, when his back end is not cooperating, I put the band on him and steady him while he walks up the ramp into the CR-V. I do not lift him. He is 68 pounds and I cannot lift 68 pounds, and my husband Gary has a bad back and cannot either. So the harness does a smaller job than people might assume: it is a steadying hand, not a crane. That is exactly what I need it for.

It is a steadying hand, not a crane. I still have to bend, I still have to be there, and I still have to pay attention.

Now the parts I do not love, because I would rather you hear them from me than find out in your hallway. It requires bending. I have to get down to set the band under him, and on a stiff morning that is not my favorite thing. The band shifts back toward his tail if I do not get the drawstring set right, and I have had to re-seat it more than once. And it does nothing at all for his front end. His shoulders and front legs are on their own. If your dog's front is the thing that worries you, this is the wrong tool.

I also want to be honest about the overall picture. Waylon is still an old dog and he is slower than he was two years ago. Nothing I have bought changed that, and I would not tell you it did. I cannot prove what helped and what did not. What I can tell you is that the three back steps are no longer the hardest part of his day, and the thing that changed there is the band I keep on the hook.

If you are looking at a rear support sling and wondering whether the price is worth it, I would read the listing carefully and measure your dog rather than guessing. That is what I did, and I have not regretted the hook.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you to call your vet first. Not the internet, not me. I asked Dr. Reyes before I bought this, the same way I asked her before the glucosamine and before the socks. If your dog takes medication or has a diagnosed condition, that conversation matters more, not less. I am not qualified to tell you what is going on with your dog's hips and I would not try.

Then I would tell you to measure. Take the tape to your dog standing on a hard floor and get the length and girth you need, and read the size chart on the listing instead of ordering the size that sounds right. Too small is useless and too big slides.

Then I would tell you the unglamorous thing. Practice on flat ground first, in your own kitchen, with a piece of cheese in your hand. The first time I used it on the steps I was nervous and so was he, and it went better the second morning because we had both done it once. Give it a week before you decide anything.

And I would tell you that a sling is not a solution to old age. It is a handle. It gets your dog from the door to the yard with a little dignity and it saves your back while you do it. That is a small, real thing, and for us it was worth the hook by the door.