Gun Dog Forum

Thursday morning I took my Vizsla out for a quick hunt. He ended up walking into a barb wire fence that was laying down and covered by grass and snow. I ended up having to take him to the vet and have a rip in his chest fixed. Will a skid plate stop this from happening again. I have been think about getting one anyway because he gets rubbed raw on his chest a belly. Also is there one thats better than the others. Thanks for any help

You just learned they way most of us have, injured dog = buy a chest protector.

Make sure that the one you get does NOT rub in the dogs arm pit as you will see a different kind of "injury" from friction in the pit.

It will be one of the best items that you can purchase for your dog and well worth it.

I bought a Browning Upland Vest for my GSP and I really like it. Protects most of her underside and chest. Check out the Health forum. It has a lot of posts about the topic

I would go with the title of your thread...the skid plate. I have one for each of my dogs and they are bullet proof!

The "skid plate" brand is great! Easy to adjust, easy on and off, affordable, lasts a long time, really saves on vet bills. We run all of our dogs in one, both in farm areas with barbed wire, and in the woods for those sharp oak sticks. Our girls don't mind 'em a bit, they shove their noses right into 'em, because they know that then it is their turn to hunting. Hope your dog heals quickly.

don't know if a vest could of prevented this but it might have. the dog ran something right into the left side of his chest. nearly killed him. still recovering. you guys think one could have prevented this. it was most likely a branch of some sort.

ooooouuuuuuuccccccchhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I'll go buy a chest protector tomorrow!!!!!!

I hope he recovers well.......

I got the Cabela's ripstop protector for my viz and I love it. It is also nice because I can spot her easily in the filed (and you know how hard it is to do that with the color of the viz).

See my post on the ratings and reviews board.....

viewtopic.php?f=91&t=15531

Some of the skid plates are more front chest to belly protection. But I noticed Cabellas and another brand wrap more up the neck and side, similar to a neoprene vest. I have a cheapo Remington now, but am looking to upgrade to a better made brand with more coverage........maybe some bubble wrap too! After seeing all the posts lately, I would'nt run without one. If the offending object hits the vest, the vest should at least deflect some of the penetrating or cutting energy/power of the object. Even if the vest gets cut in the process, it should still lessen the resulting injury. That being said, stuff can still happen, but at least you'll know you tried to prevent it. Denise