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Back in 2017, we published our original review of the Ruffwear Front Range Harness. At the time, we knew it was a great harness. What we didn’t know was that nearly ten years later, we’d still be using the very same one.
Kizzie, our Golden Retriever, is still wearing her trusty purple Front Range Harness today.
Not because we couldn’t replace it. Not because there aren’t newer versions available. And certainly not because there aren’t plenty of other dog harnesses on the market.
The simple truth is that it still works brilliantly. For us, that says more about our experience of its quality and durability than any list of features ever could.
The current Front Range has been refined since we bought Kizzie’s, but the comfort, fit and everyday practicality that won us over are still at its heart. Here’s why we still love it in October 2026.
What Is the Ruffwear Front Range Harness?
The Ruffwear Front Range is a padded everyday dog harness, combining comfort, an adjustable fit and practical features for walks of all kinds.
While Ruffwear offers more specialist harnesses for lifting assistance or technical adventures, the Front Range sits firmly in the “everyday favourite” category.
It’s the harness you reach for before a quick walk around the block, a weekend trip to the countryside or a morning adventure in the woods.
And that’s exactly how we’ve used Kizzie’s.
The current Front Range offers:
- Foam-padded chest and belly panels
- Four points of adjustment
- An aluminium back lead attachment
- A reinforced webbing front lead attachment
- An ID pocket to keep dog tags quiet and accessible
- Reflective trim
- A dedicated loop for a Ruffwear Beacon safety light
Nearly a Decade of Real-World Use
Kizzie’s Front Range Harness has had nearly ten years of real-world use.
It’s been through:
- Countless daily walks
- Muddy woodland adventures
- Wet winter mornings
- Summer holidays
- Beaches, with swimming in the sea and digging in the sand
- Country parks and footpaths
- More washes than we can remember
Through all of that, it has continued to do exactly what we need it to do. The harness still fits well, still feels secure and is still comfortable for Kizzie to wear.
That’s why we’re writing this update instead of buying a replacement.
If you’d like to read about those first walks with Albie and Kizzie, our original Front Range Harness review is still here.
What We Still Love About the Front Range Harness
When we look at Kizzie’s harness today, it’s interesting how many of the features we liked in 2017 are still the reasons we’d recommend the Front Range now.
Comfortable Padded Construction
Comfort was one of the biggest reasons we originally chose the Front Range.
The foam-padded chest and belly panels provide cushioning without making the harness feel bulky. It’s a feature we’ve appreciated across years of everyday walks.
A harness can look lovely and have an impressive specification, but how it feels on your dog is what matters. Kizzie has remained happy wearing hers.
Easy to Put On and Take Off
Some harnesses seem to require an instruction manual.
The Front Range keeps things simple.
It goes over the head, fastens with side buckles and has four adjustment points to help you get the fit right. Once fitted, it’s quick to put on before a walk, something we still appreciate after all these years.
If you’re choosing one for your dog, start with their girth measurement and the current size guide. We’re always happy to help if you’re unsure.
Front and Back Lead Attachment Points
Having both front and back lead attachment points gives you flexibility depending on your dog and how you walk together.
The back attachment is a straightforward option for everyday walks. The front attachment gives you another way to guide your dog, and a compatible double-ended lead allows you to use both.
It’s a useful choice to have within one harness.
If it helps to see the setup, watch Kizzie walking in her Front Range Harness with a double-ended lead. The video shows an earlier harness and a non-Ruffwear lead, but demonstrates how we use the two attachment points together.
Everyday Practicality
Perhaps more importantly, it just works.
We’ve never found ourselves wrestling with awkward buckles, constantly readjusting straps or wishing we’d bought something different.
It’s one of those products that quietly gets on with its job. That’s often the biggest compliment you can give a piece of walking gear.
Ruffwear Have Continued to Improve the Design
Although Kizzie is still wearing her older harness, Ruffwear haven’t stood still.
Over the years, they have refined the Front Range while keeping the features that made it such a favourite.
One addition we particularly like on the current version is the dedicated loop for attaching a Ruffwear Beacon dog safety light. For darker mornings, evenings and winter afternoons, it’s a simple but genuinely useful improvement.
The current harness also includes reflective trim. Reflective details respond to external light, while the Beacon produces its own illumination, giving you different options as the light changes.
There are fresh colours to discover too, including Pink Mountains, added in summer 2026, and River Rock Green, shown on the Border Collie pictured above. You’ll find coordinating collars and leads in our Ruffwear Front Range collection if a matching walking kit is your thing.
These are thoughtful additions to a harness whose everyday appeal remains reassuringly familiar.
So Why Haven’t We Upgraded?
If the latest version has improvements, why are we still using Kizzie’s older harness?
Because we haven’t needed to replace it. It still does everything we need it to do, and in many ways, that’s the strongest endorsement we can give.
But if we’re completely honest, there’s another reason.
We still haven’t found a colour that feels quite as “Kizzie” as her Tillandsia Purple harness.
Dog owners will probably understand exactly what we mean. Somehow, certain colours just seem to suit them. After all these years, Kizzie and her purple Front Range have become inseparable in our minds.
Whenever Ruffwear releases new colours, we find ourselves comparing them with the one she’s already wearing. So far, none has quite won us over.
Perhaps one day Ruffwear will release the next perfect “Kizzie colour”. Until then, her trusty purple harness isn’t going anywhere.
Is the Ruffwear Front Range Harness Still Worth Buying Today?
In our opinion, absolutely.
There’s plenty of choice when it comes to dog harnesses, but the Front Range remains one of the easiest for us to recommend for everyday walking.
Why? Because it gets the fundamentals right:
- Padded comfort
- An adjustable fit
- Straightforward day-to-day use
- Front and back lead attachment options
- Reflective details and a Beacon light loop
- A design we’ve happily used across years of walks and adventures
It isn’t a lifting harness or Ruffwear’s most specialised design. It’s an everyday dog harness, and that’s precisely what we love about it.
You can explore the current Ruffwear Front Range Harness for available colours, sizing and the full specification.
Would We Buy Another One?
Without hesitation.
If the day comes when Kizzie’s current harness reaches retirement, the Front Range will be our first choice to try again, with a fresh check of her measurements and fit.
Not because we’re resistant to change, but because over the years it has earned our trust.
There are very few dog products we can say we’ve happily used for nearly a decade. The Front Range Harness is one of them.
Final Thoughts
When we wrote our original Ruffwear Front Range Harness review in 2017, we knew we liked it.
What we couldn’t know then was how much life that purple harness would become part of.
The current version brings useful updates and a fresh choice of colours. Our recommendation comes with something else: nearly ten years of reaching for the same harness and heading out together.
For us, that’s praise worth giving.
Photographs of Kizzie, our Golden Retriever, © Barks & Bunnies. Current product and lifestyle imagery courtesy of Ruffwear.