Dog PFD recommendations

[rfdvm]

Does anyone have a recommendation for PFDs for my lab?
Seems like a 2 handle one would be best.

[rslifkin]

We have one of the generic shark shaped ones from Amazon for our poodle. He can swim without it and almost floats too high with it on, so he swims a little awkwardly, but it's not much of an issue.

It's a single handle and he can be lifted just fine by it (assuming you have the strength to lift a 55 lb dog one handed). It's not an ideal lifting method as it does kinda squish the air out of him, but he doesn't mind it.

[Comodave]

I use this double handle PFD for our lab. Got it on Amazon.

Outward Hound Granby Splash Orange Dog Life Jacket, Large

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by rfdvm

Does anyone have a recommendation for PFDs for my lab?
Seems like a 2 handle one would be best.

We're dog-less just now, but I think we used Outward Hound models.

Lifting handle, important. Good ribcage support on the underside, ditto.

This was for a Pretty Good Pyrenees and a couple of Golden Receivers... so we needed lifting capability that helped us but didn't hurt them at the same time.

-Chris

[rslifkin]

I did a little digging, and although I'm not sure it's the same brand, the PFD our dog wears looks just like this: https://www.amazon.com/Queenmore-Rip...95&sr=8-2&th=1

[PierreR]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

I did a little digging, and although I'm not sure it's the same brand, the PFD our dog wears looks just like this: https://www.amazon.com/Queenmore-Rip...95&sr=8-2&th=1

I like the looks of that one. I may look again for a decent life jacket for my dog. It's tough to find a preserver for a tall slender 4 pound poodle. Her current walking harness was meant for a ferret.

[Rob]

We’ve been using a “”RuffWear” Pfd for a few years now. Our dog is on the small side and wears an XS @18 pounds, but we’ve met other boaters with much larger dogs using this style. Never heard anything but good about the product. As you can see Zelda is more than happy to wear her PFD all the time, and yes she’s fallen overboard a time or two just to test it out!

[rfdvm]

Thank you!

[bottomscraper]

We were using Ruffwear but we had problems with our beagle working his way out of it. We are now using Bay Dog https://baydog.com/collections/life-jackets

[Cargile]

Originally Posted by bottomscraper

We were using Ruffwear but we had problems with our beagle working his way out of it. We are now using Bay Dog https://baydog.com/collections/life-jackets

I looked at all mentioned in this thread. Yours is the only one with flotation/support along the chest. Besides flotation when retrieving Fluffy you are lifting him by the chest/stomach and not neck and chest. For me yours is the best. Also the most expensive.

[Cargile]

Originally Posted by bottomscraper

We were using Ruffwear but we had problems with our beagle working his way out of it. We are now using Bay Dog https://baydog.com/collections/life-jackets

I looked at all mentioned in this thread. Yours is the only one with flotation/support along the chest. Besides flotation when retrieving Fluffy you are lifting him by the chest/stomach and not neck and chest. For me yours is the best. Also the most expensive.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Cargile

I looked at all mentioned in this thread. Yours is the only one with flotation/support along the chest. Besides flotation when retrieving Fluffy you are lifting him by the chest/stomach and not neck and chest. For me yours is the best. Also the most expensive.

In practice, the one I linked does end up lifting by the chest, not the neck. It's hard to say on flotation though, as our dog floats pretty well to start with. With the vest on, he floats high enough in the front that his front paws break the surface as he paddles around.

[Cargile]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

.....as our dog floats pretty well to start with......... .

Fluffy may be more aptly named Fatty

[Comodave]

Originally Posted by Cargile

I looked at all mentioned in this thread. Yours is the only one with flotation/support along the chest. Besides flotation when retrieving Fluffy you are lifting him by the chest/stomach and not neck and chest. For me yours is the best. Also the most expensive.

No, the one I referred to has support under his chest and stomach area and lifts by that not the neck and the chest. It does a great job of spreading out the weight so it isn’t concentrated in a small area. It has a sort of stretch fabric that goes under the belly and velcros together. Then there are 2 snap straps under the chest and belly.

Outward Hound Granby Splash Orange Dog Life Jacket, Large

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Cargile

Fluffy may be more aptly named Fatty

If you meant ours, not at all. He's got great self control with food and keeps himself just heavy enough not to be called skinny no matter how much food we offer. But he's a poodle, so he's a pretty light build with big lungs (making him fairly low density).

[Cargile]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

If you meant ours, not at all. He's got great self control with food and keeps himself just heavy enough not to be called skinny no matter how much food we offer. But he's a poodle, so he's a pretty light build with big lungs (making him fairly low density).

Of course I meant yours and it was a joke. Fat is lease dense than water. You described Fluffy/Fatty as floating pretty good or something like that. It was a joke. A thousand pardons if I insulted your dog.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Cargile

Of course I meant yours and it was a joke. Fat is lease dense than water. You described Fluffy/Fatty as floating pretty good or something like that. It was a joke. A thousand pardons if I insulted your dog.

No problem. So many dogs are overweight that it's a pretty easy assumption to make. And most breeds are denser than a poodle anyway. We just met a friend's golden retriever that's about the same size as our dog, but almost 20 lbs heavier. Still not overweight, but he's built much more solidly.

[Cargile]

Originally Posted by Comodave

No, the one I referred to has support under his chest and stomach area and lifts by that not the neck and the chest. It does a great job of spreading out the weight so it isn’t concentrated in a small area. It has a sort of stretch fabric that goes under the belly and velcros together. Then there are 2 snap straps under the chest and belly.
Outward Hound Granby Splash Orange Dog Life Jacket, Large

You are so very right. I can see why you say it lifts from the chest/stomach due to the positioning of the handles across the back. I must say though however functional it may be it reminds me of body armor. I would never subject my pooches to canine ridicule.

[mdstrum]

We have 135lb Newfoundland we love the Ruff Wear Life jackets (he is water rescue dog naturally and swims great but we put life jacket on if gets really ruff or when doing from mother ship to dingy to shore when he was younger and would jump out or fall off dingy when excited.
https://ruffwear.com/collections/dog-life-jackets

[AboveBlue]

Glad to have come across this thread. Our girl a 95 pound lab took an unexpected dip last summer while trying to get aboard the boat. We try to keep her nails trim, but were a bit lax. When she jumped onto the wet swim platform with long nails, well, lets say she slide into home plate and kept on going. We use the PetStep boarding ramp from the dock to the boat that works great. The issue was, even with the life jacket on, I couldn't pull my 95 lb wet soggy dog back up on to the swim platform that sits a bit high off the water. I had to get help from a fellow boater to get her out. I'm trying to come up with a portable system that could work to get the dog out of the water in a pinch beyond my getting into the water and trying to convince her to climb the swim ladder Looking for suggestions.