To vest or not?

[mojo]

Just curious what the opinions are on dog vests....coming up on my first waterfowl season with the dog and I have some gift cards to burn.

Two lines of thought:

Vest acts like a wetsuit, adds an insulating layer (as year round surfer in the northeast, I agree....but only if I'm in the water). Adds buoyancy...which does make sense.

Vest keeps them wetter longer when on land, and therefore colder.

I have a male DD, about 66 pounds, big chested, skinny waste. I'm guessing most vests are build for retrievers that are much stockier than my dog. Any recommendations for a vest for a versatile dog?

[orhunter]

I agree with what you said.

[blue04]

Vest keeps them wetter longer when on land, and therefore colder.

I don't know that this is true. I presume we're talking about neoprene vests. In my experience, the vest does let some water get in and wet the dog's core. But any water that gets in is quickly warmed by the dog's body heat because of the insulating qualities of the neoprene (which seems to hold in most of the dog's body heat). The dog may be wet under the vest, but if you take the vest off I think you'd find that the dog's fur (though wet) is still warm to the touch under the vest. The neoprene is also a great wind-breaker, so that any water that gets under the vest doesn't evaporate as quickly and doesn't cool the dog as much.

[Calvinator]

I've never used a vest, so I have no practical knowledge. I've have always thought of them as something that debris in the water could hang up on and cause problems with the dogs mobility. With a proper coat, which many DD's have, I don't think a vest is really necessary. I have PP's and have hunted in very cold conditions with out any problems. That's not to say something couldn't eventually happen.

Calvin

[mojo]

Thanks....the dog has an excellent coat. He could almost pass for for a griff.

Makes sense on the insulating properties.

[Smilin Jack]

I can't begin to tell you how many times I have warmed my hands under the vest that my Labs wore . I also have the floor of my rig done in HydroTurf on the deck [ Alum. ], Plus I carry a Buddy Heater on really bad days . I now have a PP and I plan on doing the same things .... I don't see it as a contest to see how much cold my Dog can stand .... A vest will help any Dog ...

[Steven]

Mojo, I agree with what's been said on the insulating properties of the vest. You are correct on the fit, too. They are definitely designed for the lab build so you'll end up trimming the front leg openings to narrow the center width of the chest. This will help with his freedom of movement. I read somewhere that the Avery vests were a little better cut for the versatile breeds so that's what I got. It fits pretty well. I ended up needing the XL for my DD in order to get it around his deep chest. It did require a lot of cutting in the front of his chest, though. You'll want to get the higher end vest that has better seam construction so after the cutting it doesn't separate along the seam.

[RCNZ]

I have an Avery vest for my GSP. Fit is easy to sort out if you take it to a wetsuit fitter. I couldn't find one in my area so I took it and my dog to a lady who does leather work for horses and she fit it for me. She tightened up the area around the neck, the waist, and the shoulders so it fits snugly all over with no bits hanging out. She also trimmed between the front legs and increased the clearance for his tackle. My dog has the typical GSP large shoulders and chest and narrow waste so as much or more fitting would be required for his as any dog.

It works really well. I don't use it all the time. Just first thing in the morning or late in the evening on really cold, windy days. It was cheap though so it's worth it to have on hand for the few days. I didn't do anything special with him before strapping it on, just took him out hunting. He didn't seem the least bit phased.

[blue04]

I haven't had a lot of issues with my dogs wearing vests. I put it on them a couple of times before I take them out hunting, and they seem to be fine with it. But my dogs are pretty used to having accessories strapped on to them, so I'm not surprised.

I'm curious what it cost to have it fitted. I did an ok job of fitting mine, but I'm sure a pro would have done better. In my case, I end up buying new vests every 2 or 3 years because they take quite a beating. If there is much $$$ involved in getting them custom fitted, I'm thinking it might not be worth the money for me.

[RCNZ]

Obviously it'll depend on where you take the dog but I paid about $20

It's pretty straight forward, I took the dog and the vest in and she pulled here and tucked there and drew a few lines, then she took it off and did a bit of cutting and sewing and after a recheck of the fit we were out the door again. It only took a half hour or so. Most leathersmiths have an hourly rate so I would bank on a half hour to an hour's worth. You can speed things up by doing the cutting yourself, what you really need them for is the cutting and sewing parts around the neck, shoulders and belly.

[ottomatic]

I originally purchased a vest for my last shorthair. He had a pretty sparse undercoat and would get chilled if it was under 40 duck hunting. The vest was a bit loose in the waiste and billowed at the arm holes but sitting in the blind if I shoved a hand in there it was toasty warm and steam would billow out. It helped him hunt late into the season. Otto my current shorthair as a med dense med harsh coat very thick undercoat and I havent used a vest on him. We were in the duck blind a year ago with air temp of 34 degrees and he hit the water as hard as he ever did. After one long retrieve he did start to shiver uncontrollably so I pulled him between my legs unzipped my coat and leaned forward and wrapped it around him he was fine in under two minutes and did fine the rest of the morning. I'm not so sure you would need a vest with a dog that has the coat you mention you dog having but I'm sure it would keep him warm. k

As far as custom fitting most of the models you can purchase today have double stiched seams that allow you to cut them without having to do anything further. I accidently purchased a female vest the first time out and just took a scissors and cut a gap for his unit so he wouldn't pee on himself (yeah it happened). That vest lasted 8 years and never had any issues for me and when he passed on I gave it to friend with a lab and as far as I know its still going strong. That was an Avery (before they had the handles) I picked up on clearance.

[Jagermeister]

Here's my two cents worth.all the vests I have seen are made for big thick retriever type dogs. I now hunt Drahthaars,and the all the vests I've tried fit terribly.
Also, be careful with ANYTHING on your dog while retrieving. When I was between dogs I was retrieving ducks with a friends kayak. Somewhere in the area we were hunting we heard someone screaming bit couldn't hear what they were yelling. I couldn't take it anymore and went out to see what was going on. As I arrived there was a guy with a fishing boat trying to free a dog that was stuck on something. He ended up taking off the dogs vest , grabbed the collar and drug him free. The dog was so tired he couldn't swim back. The guys had to load him in the boat.
The dogs owner tried to go and get the dog and the water was too cold, he was near hypothermic, the dog was exhausted. If that guy didn't show up the dog would have died and the owner was near trouble as well.
The dog had a submerged branch the size of mans finger caught in the vest that washed in from a storm at some point. It was not visible from the shore. That dog would have swam himself to death while the owner watched. My dogs swim naked and I put the vest on when they get on shore.
Off topic but useful, when my dog gets in they sit,lay on a plastic feed bag filled with packing peanuts and sown shut. It stays dry,it insulated well and is comfortable.
Sorry for the long post guys but I wanted people to know the dangers of a dog swimming with anything that can get tangled up.