Rex Specs

[digger13]

www.rexspecs.com

Anyone using this product with their sporting dogs?

We have a Labrador that I am hoping to get over the Cascades for upland season

Thought an extra layer of prevention for cheat grass and sage brush might be a good idea - nominal cost versus a vet visit

[MeepDog]

The glasses seem silly unless you're hunting Sandhills, but cheat grass can work deep into their ears. They'll hate you if you put something over their ears though.

[mcrawfordaf]

I've heard of issues with them fogging up if your dog gets wet or if there's much moisture in the air. There's no real "seal" to keep things dry in there. No hands on experience of my own though. Typically if I haven't ran my dog in the high wheat/canola beans much in the summer during our first outing he'll get a little rough around the eyes. I just use a pad balm on them and no issues for the rest of the season.

[UplandSetter]

People have been running their dogs for hundreds of years without these. There's no need. Only grass I would be worried about is foxtails, and glasses aren't going to help with those. If you see foxtails in a cut, either don't hunt it, or give it a wide berth so the dog doesn't find their way into it.

If you're worried about the dog's eyes getting cut up, I wouldn't. Obviously every dog is an individual, but for the most part sporting breeds are smart: if they're going through the briars and brush, they'll close their eyes and use their nose. The breed itself is their self defense. Your lab especially has tough skin and thick (even if it's short) fur. I promise you they're made for it.

In anticipating of any "yea but what about..." comment, I'll acknowledge that accidents definitely happen. But I'd say statistically something happening to your dog's eyes isn't any more likely than him finding a porcupine, getting a foxtail seed deep in the skin, etc. It's hard to accept but we can never take all of the risk out of the activity.

As always, just my opinion.

EDIT: I want to second mcrawfordaf. Typically they'll get pretty cut up their first few runs of the season, but it's just like a human throwing a shovel. The blisters eventually turn to callous and their skin gets thicker. As always, keep an eye on it. If they're getting especially beat up, take them out of the game for a few days to heal up and then back to the races.

[Henrydog]

All I really do anymore is upland, from the hun opener until January I am following a dog.

 I have always hunted Springers (not a lab like the op) but, over the years I have said many times I spend more time brushing their ears than actually hunting.  Their nose goes to the ground, their ears hang in the dirt to protect their face.  Of the 2 that have passed and the one I hunt today they have had all kinds of cuts, bumps, and porcupines run in's but never anything eye related.

 Really rough stuff while Chukar hunting I have wrapped paws with horse vet wrap but as Upland stated above dogs were bred for a purpose.  And I don't say that without a heart, my dogs are extended family but they were made for running in the brush. 

[HighGrouseHunt]

It seems like I’m in the minority on this. I ended getting a set of these for my lab after she scratched her cornea at least twice while grouse hunting. Totally worth it in my experience.

As you say, they were a whole lot cheaper than a vet visit, and there were no missed hunting days while waiting for her to heal up.

It sounds like it comes down to the dog, and their self-preservation instincts. When my dog was in her athletic prime, if she saw the shotgun and the vest it’s like her brain turned off and she would plow through anything in pursuit of a bird. She doesn’t charge quite as hard anymore, so I don’t use the goggles as frequently as I used to, but they are still in the truck just in case.

She never seemed to get quite as torn up in the more open country going after Huns, chuckars, pheasants, or sharpies. I would still keep them in the vest and  put them on when hunting those species if I thought she might be busting some particularly thick cover.

I found that on damp hunts they would fog up if she was just standing there panting for too long, but if she was actually cruising around and hunting the airflow would keep them fog free. I just wouldn’t put them on until we were ready to start moving.

She would usually fight the goggles for the first 5 or maybe 10 minutes of a hunt, but seemed to forget about them once she got going. When I was really using them a lot, and had her wearing them on every hunt, putting them on would get her just as excited as pulling out the shotgun.

Interestingly l, I found that she would actually push harder into even thicker brush once she got comfortable with them, and despite not getting scratched up eyes, her nose and muzzle would take more abuse than if she hadn’t been wearing goggles. That never ate into our hunts like scratched corneas did though.



In

[metlhead]

My wirehair would make 10 steps before ripping those goofy things off then charge headlong into wild roses.

[dreadi]

We use them we needed. Mostly as the range. You may need to train your dog to accept them while starting without the lens in the frame. Association of dopamine and their wear will get you farther faster.

In addition to clear lenses, the tinted and mirrored lenses can also be helpful on long days of intense sun exposure. We used them on long days out in a city during warm, hot, and sunny days to relieve her of some exposure irritation, just the same as using booties on hot or extremely cold surfaces.

If you’re training with firearms and brass is flying all over, they are also handy for that protection.


If you really want to spend the big bucks, check out K9 Helm.


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