vests for dogs

[BIGINNER]

i'm thinking about getting one of those neoprene vests for my dog, (blaze orange)  and i was wondering,  how much of you put vests on your upland dogs?  do the vests get in the way?  cause problems?

[Happy Gilmore]

i'm thinking about getting one of those neoprene vests for my dog, (blaze orange)  and i was wondering,  how much of you put vests on your upland dogs?  do the vests get in the way?  cause problems?

shouldn't really ever need one in Washington. Maybe once in a blue moon. I would never put neoprene on an upland dog, ever. If you're a chuckar guy you might consider booties but, not a vest. No reason for it, just keeps in extra heat. Most labs shouldn't ever need a vest for water fowl either. I have one buddy who hunts Chessies off the coast of Maryland when it's dropping well below zero without wind chill. When salt water starts freezing on his boat he'll vest up his dogs. Until then, no need.

[BurleyDog]

I put a blaze orange vest on my dog while upland hunting. Its not neoprene its canvas type material.

The vest doesn't get in the way at all and adds an element of safety to the hunt. The dog is basically
easier to see.

It was a gift my wife got me from LL Bean. I'd recommend it.

[ghosthunter]

Labs are prone to overheating. I know several guys that their dogs just passed out and had to be cooled with water.

As far as waterfowl I use a neoprene vest on my lab if there is a chance she may have to break Ice.
Or if she is retreiving in water with some floating debri.

The vest hinders the dog being able to shake off water and fluff up. 

[bonneylakebowman]

There is no need for a neoprene vest on a upland dog here. One of our buddies put one on his springer to keep her from getting cut up and it rubbed really bad in her arm bits and got tore up super easy. He went through a couple in a fall. If you are looking for something to protect the belly they sell a thing called the skid plate that I have heard is pretty good but I have never tried it.  If you are just looking for something to see the dog better they sell light weight vests for that.
 
http://www.gundogsonline.com/dog-vest/k-9-skid-plate.html
 
http://www.gundogsonline.com/dog-vest/hi-viz-dog-vest.html
 
 
 

[Happy Gilmore]

very little cactus in Wa. Save your money. I personally think if you need an orange to see your dog for safety somethings' wrong with the shooting...Not too often any reason for a vest in this great State in my opinion.

[ORCA_SIX]

I put a neoprene vest on my dog for duck hunting when it is super cold, never for upland birds. When hunting upland, I have two separate vests I use sometimes, not in conjunction. One is from LL Bean and the other is from Cabelas. The Cabelas is a skid plate design for cornstalks and heavy briars. The LL Bean I will use at some of the release sites if it is busy. You have to be careful on some of the vests though, sometimes it can rub and cause chafing on the dog.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/Dog-Supplies/Vests-Boots|/pc/104791680/c/104715180/sc/103906980/Cabelas-Ripstop-Chest-Protector/748637.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fhunting-dog-supplies-vests-boots%2F_%2FN-1104248%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_103906980%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104791680%253Bcat104715180&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104791680%3Bcat104715180%3Bcat103906980

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/57467?feat=507010-GN1

The Avery boaters dog parka is the one I would recommend for duck hunting in the cold or for a dog with little insulation.

[Miles]

You have to be careful on some of the vests though, sometimes it can rub and cause chafing on the dog.

    Watch your dog carefully the first few times to see if it is chaffing anywhere.

[CP]

I used an orange vest on my young lab last season for West side pheasant.  That hunt is such a zoo and he was only 12 months old; seemed like the prudent thing to do.  Who knows, it might have kept him from getting shot.

[JColony]

I use one on my dog, but only when it gets real cold, like why are we out here cold.  He's a lab cross and he didn't get the lab coat.  Have never had any issues with overheating or chaffing. 

[kbyers]

We have occasionally used a vest when duck hunting out of the boat.  The hand holds on the top of the vest I have make it easy to get the dog back into the boat

[BIGINNER]

i just was thinking about getting a neaprene cest for duck hunting,  my dog hates cold water.

[ORCA_SIX]

You have a Weimaraner right? I would definitely get that dog a vest for duck hunting. I would say that some dog owners forget about hypothermia for their dogs. If you are concerned, always err on the side of caution and spot check your dog occasionally for hypothermia or overheating. I always take her vest with me in the truck or carry it in my vest if the weather is questionable.

[andersonjk4]

I have a GSP that is a duck/goose retrieving fool.  He loves the water even when its well below freezing out.  I always have a neoprene vest on him when we are waterfowl hunting and it gets below freezing out.  With shorthaired pointing dogs (GSP, Vizsla, Weims, etc.) they have very narrow chests compared to retrievers, so you have to be careful with the width of the vest in the chest area between their front legs.  I had to trim the vest way down in this area or else the vest would rub and cause serious irritation and swelling in their "armpits".  I have had several different brands of neoprene vests and would highly recommend the Avery vests.  I got mine at Sportsmans warehouse.     

[andersonjk4]

Another thing I forgot to mention is that a neoprene vest also saved my GSP's life a few years ago.  We do a lot of jump shooting ducks and geese on the palouse river.  We always keep the dogs away from ice.  However, one day I had to cross the river to retrieve a goose (yeah I know that's what the dogs are for, but sometimes my pointers just wont retrieve ) Instead of crossing back through the river I decided to just walk down the other side to a spot where my dad and bro-in-law could drive around and pick me up.  I sent my dogs with them and about halfway back to the rig they spotted me on the other side of the river and decided they HAD to be with me.  So across the ice they went all the time all three of screaming at them.  Well my two dogs (GSP and Vizsla) and my bro-in-laws dog (lab) ended up falling though in the very middle of river were the ice was very thin.  The two female dogs (vizsla and lab) were able to pull themselves up and out, but my male GSP was stuck out in the very middle of the river.  He could almost get out, but his chest was too deep and I think his "manhood" was also catching on the edge of the ice.  After watching him try to get out for a couple minutes I ran back down river to the crossing, waded the river again and ran back up to where he was.  I tried crawling out on the ice to see how far I could get, but I could only get halfway to him before I started falling through this was about 20' short of him.  I tried several things including lassoing him with some twine, and getting him to bite a long stick, but nothing was working.  I finally decided that I had to go get him.  My dad and brother started breaking every branch they could out of the nearby trees and throwing them out to me.  I started laying them across the ice to build a kind of raft that distributed my weight on the ice and let me get out closer to him.  But all this took too much time.  I was within about 10 feet of him when he finally lost the strength to hold his head up and laid it down on the ice.  I knew I had to do something right then or else he wasn't going to make it.  So I took a bunch of the branches to float on and started swimming/breaking ice until I got to within a few of feet of him and was able to hook his collar with a branch and pull him to me and get him back to shore.  By now he was severely hypothermic and convulsing uncontrollably and was completely unresponsive.  Luckily we were only a couple hundred yards from the pickup and only 5 minutes from home and the nearest vet.  Where after some warm IV fluids and about two hours wrapped in a heat blanket he was back to normal.  Anyways, very long story short.  A neoprene vest saved my shorthairs life and if you are planning on hunting in cold water with shorthaired dog I would highly recommend using a vest.   

[BurleyDog]

glad that worked out well for you. Sounds scary!

[twistiron]

My american bulldog has dosent grow a winter coat for some reason so after like 10-15 min outside in the winter he starts shivering and trembling really bad so we got him one of these and could not be happier, keeps him warm and dry and is very durable. he loves to run behind the truck when wheeling on back roads for miles and i have never had an issue with chaffing. he is  wide so the vest does not touch the insides of his legs. i would get another in a heart beat. good luck.

http://us.wholesalesports.com/storefront/dog-supplies/dog-gear/upland-dog-vest/prod1046133.html

[netcoyote]

I can't comment on the vest for a water dog, but for an upland dog I would never use a vest. I got a blaze vest for my English Setter and only used it on him a few times. It's hard to get a good fit and he ended up getting chafed pretty good on the inside of his front legs.
Even worse than the chafing is the concern that the dog will catch the vest jumping over a snag on a log and seriously injure or impale himself. When I watch my dog run, I think he is really efficient with his jumping and dodging to avoid injury, but adding a separate piece of equipment may throw his timing and judgement off. Once I thought about it, I decided to not have him wear the vest. He is a Llewellin colored setter and easy to see in the brush, so I don't need the vest for visibility.

[JColony]

When I watch my dog run, I think he is really efficient with his jumping and dodging to avoid injury, but adding a separate piece of equipment may throw his timing and judgement off

That piece of equipment could save his life.  My good buddy has a German Shorthair that caught a piece of something while jumping over it.  Opened his chest up like he had a zipper, almost died.  If you follow the instructions that come with the vests, you are told how to trim them to fit.  My lab cross has a very odd shape, chest is very narrow and tall, had no problem fitting the vest to him.  no chaffing and definitely does not slow him down one bit.  Just my  not meaning to rant, that comment just struck a little to close to home.

[Rhinoron247]

I use two different type of protective garments on my English setters.  In the later / colder part of the season I always use a neo vest I swear by them.  You have to custom fit them or they will rub the dog raw.  I go through a couple vests per dog each year but compared to the vet bills, down time and pain and suffering to my dogs its worth the expense.  My setter are so aggressive in the field they are always getting torn apart by wire and misc metal we find to late. 

I also made a custom pair of front should chaps that work with the vest or on there own depending on where were hunting. 

[Happy Gilmore]

I just don't know many people who run their dogs/hunt them alot who feel the need to use vests. I've had a dog I've stitched up hit a fence once, in 12 years but, in that time running dogs alot hunting, something is bound to happen. I'd say you're 10X more likely to cut a pad on a broken beer bottle on a sandy beach than you are ever going to have a chance at needing to use a vest for any type of hunting in Washington unless it is really, really cold and you're working ducks on the Columbia River....just my 2 pennies....