Gun Dog Forum

What are your feelings on hunting vests for dogs? Will be hunting Pheasant this fall with new pup, should I get him a vest and should I go neoprene or cotton or what has worked for you all.

I only use a neoprene vest when I'm waterfowl hunting with my dogs. I used to use a blaze orange saddle type vest when I hunted with my chocolate lab/pointer X because with her coat color she was hard to spot in thick brush when she was on point. I guess I never had alot of trouble with my dogs getting there bodies scraped up. Muzzles, noses, eyes and ears are another story.

I have had my dogs tear themselves up something fierce. I have a dog who has a scar from the base of his neck, to the end of his rib cage. When the weather is not to warm, my dogs wear vests. One of my dogs sliced right through a neoprene vest, it has about a 4 inch long slice. The vest did do its job however, he was not injured. I can only imagine how serious that one would have been.

In certain types of cover I use a chest protector (thin, saddle type) on my Shorthair bitches. I'm more careful with its use during warm weather. I never use neoprene except for water work. Although I have a couple of neoprene vests I never even use them on the shorthairs when hunting in five degree below zero weather. Just be careful with any vest and watch for chaffing, especially just behind the front legs or underneath straps (depending on the design).

i run skid plates on my pointers in the feild and if im hunting in cold temps i will put the neoprean ones on but those are usually set aside for duck hunting

I use skid plate vest on my dogs and recommend them highly. They plently of adjustment for smaller dogs..................Scott

Does anyone have any thoughts or comments on brands of neoprene vests?

Thanks!

I don't have a comment on the brands per se. However, I've found chaffing behind the front legs to be more of a problem with neoprene vests, especially with shorter haired dogs. Often one needs to enlarge one or more openings in the vest with a scissors to customize the vest to your dog.

i have both avery and cabelas neoprean vest and i like the avery one alot better it seems to be made to a higher quality beter stitching heavyer material and its got a nice handel on the back if you need to pull adog into a blind or boat. it also has a d ring you can clip a leash to built in the back near the neck

I just bought the Cabela's hunting vest. http://bit.ly/DNhvP Here's a picture of it on Guinness:



another

Thats a chest protector and serves a different purpose than a vest.

Ezzy

In what sense?

vests are used for warmth, more often than not when doing cold water retrieves or in etremely cold weather. Neoprene is the material of choice. I find them more trouble than they ar eworth for upland hunting and when it gets too cold for the dogs it is way too cold for me too. We get along pretty well when it stays above zero but below that it gets a little rougher on all of us.

The chest protector works pretty well when hunting any kind of stubble that has been cut high enough to rub the chest and stomach of your dogs and can get them pretty raw if hunted in it for longer periods of time.

Ezzy

Never use a vest, see no need to. The one time I saw one used it caused more harm than good, chafing behind the legs, burs undereath etc... Best advise is to get a second dog and rotate them.

A couple of posts that helped change my mind regarding the usefulness of vests and chest protectors.

http://www.retrievertraining.net/forums ... prene+vest

Peak wrote: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.

from
http://www.gundogforum.com/forum/viewto ... 69&t=15911

I don't believe chest protectors/skid plates are made of Kevlar so they could not protect the dog from a metal spear sharpened to a point but I've never had a dog's skid plate perforated by any object.