One day, Miles - our company dog - escaped out of one of our step-in harnesses. We realized that the natural resistance around the neck that is provided with head-in harnesses was no longer there in our step-in design. We were also hearing similar feedback from our customers that although they loved the step-in feature, it increased the risk of escape for some dogs. This was especially true of dogs who were easily excitable, who had trouble taking to a harness, and/or who might not have had enough training. It was then in 2015 that Gooby set on a journey to developing a harness for all those escape artists.

The second element is the comfort and safety of the dog. At the time, there were already harnesses on the market that were labeled as a “no escape” harness. In his research, Gooby's founder, Tim Yun, saw that the existing products "were too focused on the escape free function and not enough thought was given to the comfort of the dog.”

The critical design element that separated Gooby’s Escape Free® from other “no escape” harnesses was the ability to limit how much the harness contracts when it is activated, and how far it opens when it is not. This prevented the harness from crushing the dog from excessive pulling and from simply falling off when not activated.