Common sizing mistakes.

We process returns, and returns leave a trail. Almost all of them come back to one of a small number of errors, and none of the errors are difficult once you know they exist.

The pattern behind returns

Mobility equipment is unusually unforgiving about size. A cart an inch too tall changes how a dog carries their weight. A brace slightly too loose does nothing at all. A boot marginally too wide comes off on the first walk, which is worse than no boot because the paw was unprotected while you believed it was covered.

That is not a reason to be nervous. It is a reason to spend five minutes carefully rather than thirty seconds casually.

Mistakes of position

Measuring a dog who is not standing

The most common error by a distance. A sitting dog's rear leg height is meaningless and a lying dog's back length is short. Every measurement is taken standing with weight through all four legs, even if that needs a second person supporting under the chest.

Measuring the paw in the air

The pad spreads under load. A paw measured lifted is narrower than the same paw on the floor, sometimes by a size. Put the paw down, let the dog stand on it, then measure across the widest point.

Measuring over a thick coat

On a double coated dog the tape can sit half an inch off the body. That is enough to change a harness size and more than enough to change a brace. Part the coat and take the tape to the skin.

Mistakes of number

Using an old weight

Dogs with mobility problems lose muscle from the hind end, sometimes quickly. A weight from a vet visit six months ago can be several pounds out. Weigh your dog this week.

Mixing units

Half the measurements in inches, half in centimetres, and a chart in the other. It sounds too obvious to happen and it happens constantly, usually when two people measure on different days. Write the unit next to every number.

Sizing a brace off body weight

Braces are sized from limb circumference. A heavy dog can have a slim thigh and a compact dog a thick one. Weight tells you very little here and using it alone is close to guessing.

Mistakes of judgement

Rounding up between sizes

The instinct is to size up for room to adjust. On a cart or a brace, too big fails as badly as too small and usually rubs as well. When the numbers land between bands, that is a signal to ask rather than to pick.

Sizing off the breed

Two dogs of the same breed and weight can need different frame heights. Breed averages are a starting point for a conversation, not a substitute for a tape.

Ignoring a mismatch

When the primary measurement and the weight point at different sizes, that is information. It usually means either a measurement needs retaking or the dog genuinely sits outside the standard proportions. Both are worth five minutes of someone's attention.

A five minute routine

1. Non slip floor, soft tape, pen and paper, ideally a second person.
2. Stand the dog against a wall, side on, weight through all four legs.
3. Take each measurement twice. If the two disagree by more than half an inch, take a third.
4. Write the unit next to every number as you go.
5. Weigh the dog the same day.
6. Send the lot to us before ordering anything you are unsure about.

If it has already arrived

Stop before you use it. Photograph your dog wearing or standing in it, side on, whole product in frame, and send that with the size you ordered.

A surprising proportion of what owners think are size problems are adjustment problems, and those are usually visible in a photo and fixable in minutes. If it genuinely is the wrong size we will arrange an exchange, and the conditions are in our returns policy.