The suede vest goes on without touching his ears or his face

“Doesn’t go over the head (which my guy hates).” One Frenchie owner on Reddit put his whole wish for a harness into that one line.

This page holds two vests. The suede vest steps on. His front paws go through two loops, and one buckle closes on his back. Nothing passes over his ears or his face.

The fleece vest is a different cut. Both are described below, one at a time.

Paws in, buckle on his back, leash on: three steps and he is dressed

Open the buckle and lay the suede vest flat on the floor, chest panel up. Call him over. Get both front paws into the two loops.

Draw the straps up over his back and click the buckle shut. It is one plastic side-release buckle, in the middle of the back strap.

Then clip on the leash. Before the door, pull each of the four sliders until two flat fingers slide under the strap.

Set the two shoulder sliders first, then the two on his sides

On the suede vest, start with all four sliders loose. Put it on him and close the buckle.

Take up the two shoulder sliders first, so the rings sit at the top of his back. Then take up the two on his sides until two flat fingers fit under the strap.

Last, walk him across the room. If the vest has slid back toward his tail, take up the shoulders again.

Two rings on his back take the leash, and the small one on his chest holds a tag

Two silver D-rings sit side by side on the back strap, next to the buckle. The snap hook of the leash goes through both.

The small ring at the bottom of the chest panel hangs from a short fabric tab. It is meant for a name tag or a clip-on light. Keep the leash off it.

Hang his tag there and the leash has the back all to itself.

The leash is in the box, cut from strap in the same color as the vest

All six colors come with a leash to match. Teal with the lake blue suede, lime with the green suede, dark brown with the brown. The fleece leashes match too, in sky blue, orange and sage green.

Each leash has a loop handle at one end and a metal snap hook at the other.

Suede in teal, lime or brown, each with a contrasting edge

The lake blue vest has a teal panel and teal straps, edged in orange. The green one has a pale green panel with lime straps and a yellow edge. The brown one has a khaki panel with dark brown straps and edging.

A round patch with a small dog’s face sits on every panel, and the D-ring hangs just under it.

The cloth has a brushed, velvety surface. Under a hand it feels soft.

The fleece vest is one wide panel with a thick rounded edge and a bow tie

The shape is plain in the photos. One wide panel covers his chest and reaches round his sides, with two big oval openings for the front legs. The edge is thick and rounded. The surface has a fine diagonal rib, and a small yellow bow tie is sewn on the chest.

Four gray sliders adjust it, and a gray strap runs inside each opening. A small silver ring with a green loop sits on the neck edge. The leash clips on his back.

It comes in blue, orange and green.

Side by side, here is what you see on each vest

The two vests share a page and a size range of letters, but they do not share a cut. This is the quick way to tell them apart before you pick a color.

For a 25 lb Frenchie, the chest tape picks the size and his weight only checks it

One owner on r/Frenchbulldogs asked for “sizing recommendations for a typical 25 lb frenchie?” Here is the answer for the suede vest.

Twenty-five pounds is 11.3 kilograms. That is inside the weight range of the XL, 10 to 14 kilograms (22 to 31 lb). But weight does not pick the size here. The chest tape does.

Tape his chest just behind the front legs, flat and snug. The tape reads M from 43 cm (16.9″), L from 50.5 cm (19.9″) and XL from 55 cm (21.7″). If his weight points to another size, go with the tape.

The breed standard stops at 28 pounds, which is 12.7 kilograms. A Frenchie right at that limit is still inside the weight range of the XL.

The chest ranges overlap, M and L from 50 to 51 cm and L and XL from 54 to 56 cm. The weight ranges leave a gap from 6.5 to 7 kilograms and meet at 10, so weight cannot settle those dogs. The tape can.

The columns show how far the straps open and close. They are not his measurements, and no dog fills the whole range. Where two sizes reach him, the one that leaves his number farther from the end of its range wins, and a tie goes to the larger.

Before the puppy arrives, get his chest number; on day one, put a tape on him

“I’m getting my first bulldog a week from now and making all my purchases now.” If that is you, you have no dog to tape yet. Ask the breeder for his chest measurement, taken just behind the front legs. That is the number the size table uses. His weight is only the check. If the breeder has only a weight, wait and tape him on day one.

The smallest size here is the M. It closes from a chest of 43 cm, or 16.9 in. A puppy who tapes less than that is below it, and the Frenchie Puppy Harness closes from a 32 cm chest. The suede M is printed for 3.5 kilograms (7.7 lb) and up, so a puppy lighter than that is below it too.

When he is home, run a tape around the widest part of his chest, right behind the front legs. Keep the tape flat and snug. Then read the number against the size table above: M from 43 cm, L from 50.5 cm, XL from 55 cm. That goes for the fleece vest too, in M, L and XL.

Two flat fingers under each strap, checked at the door before the first walk

Put the vest on him and stand him up. Slide two flat fingers under a shoulder strap. Then slide them under the edge or strap that passes behind his front leg.

Now lift that front leg forward. Where the leg meets the chest, the edge should lie against his ribs. If it cuts into that hollow, loosen the slider on that side.

“Always causes chafing/redness under my pup’s armpits.” Owners write that about harness after harness. This is the spot they mean.

Read his coat and the stitching after the first, third and tenth walk

After the first walk, take the vest off and look. Fur that lies flat in one line, or hair rubbed thin, shows where the vest pressed. A red patch means loosen that slider.

After the third, check the sliders again. Straps can creep. A slider that was right on Monday may be a finger loose by Thursday.

After the tenth, look at the stitching around the rings and the buckle. If a thread has pulled, stop using the vest.

If the skin looks raw, or he keeps licking one spot, stop and ask your vet. That is a question for the surgery, not for the slider.

If the vest drifts to one side, check the sliders before anything else

“The harness tends to pull and twist to the side a lot… it’s adjusted as best as possible,” one owner wrote.

Here’s what that means on a walk. When one shoulder strap is longer than the other, the vest sits crooked, and the leash pulls it further round.

Loosen both shoulder sliders, then bring them in one at a time. Compare how much strap sticks out past each slider. Check two fingers again.

The leash clips on his back, so a dog who lunges needs a ring on his chest

This vest spreads a pull across the chest panel. The leash sits on the back, so a hard pull goes straight back along his spine.

A front ring works the other way. Here’s what that means at the corner where he sees another dog. On a back ring, the leash pulls from behind his shoulders, so his chest keeps facing the dog. On a front ring, the pull comes from his chest and swings him round toward you.

This vest has no front ring for the leash.

If he leans into every step, look at the Frenchie Front-Clip Harness. Nothing on this vest will teach him to stop pulling.

Pick the suede for the paws-in fit and the rings, the fleece for the wide panel and the bow tie

Pick the suede if he hates things going over his head. Pick it if you want a tag or a small light on his chest, or a reflective edge for the evening walk.

Pick the fleece if you like one wide panel across his chest and a yellow bow tie on it.

Either way, the leash is in the box, and the same three letters apply: M, L and XL.

Who should skip the suede vest: chest over 62 cm, under 43 cm, or a wish for a handle

Skip the suede vest if his chest is over 62 cm (24.4 in). The XL stops there. The Frenchie Four-Piece Harness Set reaches 80 cm.

Skip it if the puppy’s chest tapes under 43 cm (16.9 in). The Frenchie Puppy Harness closes from a 32 cm chest.

Skip it if you want a handle to lift him over a curb. Neither vest has one. The Frenchie Grip-Handle Harness does.

Skip it if he lunges on every walk. The section above says why.

Reflective edges throw headlights back, and they do not glow on their own

On the suede vest, reflective piping runs along the edge of the panel. There is more reflective strap inside each leg opening, and two short strips sit beside the back rings.

When headlights hit them, the light comes back toward the car. It is not a lamp. It only works while a light shines on it.

Want a light on him? The small chest ring takes a clip-on one.

On day one the vest belongs on the kitchen floor, with no leash

“She was just stubbornly sitting and wouldn’t move.” A new harness does that to some dogs, and the sidewalk is the wrong place to find out.

Put the vest on him indoors. Close the buckle, set the sliders and hand him a treat. Let him walk from the kitchen to the door and back. Then take it off.

If he freezes, do not pull him along. Take the vest off, wait, and try again after his next meal.

On day two, clip the leash on. By the first real walk, he already knows how the vest feels.