Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 01-29-2023, 08:50 PM   #1
Member
 
City: Harstine
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 7
Dog PFD recommendations

Does anyone have a recommendation for PFDs for my lab?
Seems like a 2 handle one would be best.
rfdvm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2023, 09:58 PM   #2
Guru
 
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,554
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.
rslifkin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-29-2023, 10:17 PM   #3
Moderator Emeritus
 
Comodave's Avatar
 
City: Au Gres, MI
Vessel Name: Black Dog
Vessel Model: Formula 41PC
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 21,191
I use this double handle PFD for our lab. Got it on Amazon.

Outward Hound Granby Splash Orange Dog Life Jacket, Large
__________________
Boat Nut:
If you are one there is no explanation necessary.
If you aren’t one, there is no explanation possible.
Comodave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-30-2023, 07:01 AM   #4
Guru
 
ranger58sb's Avatar
 
City: Annapolis
Vessel Name: Ranger
Vessel Model: 58' Sedan Bridge
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 7,088
Quote:
Originally Posted by rfdvm View Post
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
__________________
Chesapeake Bay, USA
ranger58sb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-30-2023, 07:11 AM   #5
Guru
 
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,554
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
rslifkin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-30-2023, 07:47 AM   #6
Senior Member
 
City: Wadsworth
Vessel Name: Mar Azul
Vessel Model: 1977 Hatteras 42 LRC
Join Date: Oct 2022
Posts: 483
Quote:
Originally Posted by rslifkin View Post
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.
PierreR is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-30-2023, 10:36 AM   #7
Rob
Senior Member
 
Rob's Avatar
 
City: La Conner, WA
Vessel Name: Lady Anne
Vessel Model: Kadey Krogen KK42
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 127
Dogs Float!

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!
Attached Thumbnails
5EC0FEA3-71D9-4B4F-BD00-9F57E6EDA36E.jpg   CBFF2E4A-FD01-4E7D-BA16-5D6240FAD6A4.jpg  
Rob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 10:22 AM   #8
Member
 
City: Harstine
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 7
Thank you!
rfdvm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-01-2023, 12:41 PM   #9
Member
 
bottomscraper's Avatar
 
City: Gorham
Vessel Name: Tanuki
Vessel Model: Nordic Tug 34
Join Date: Jul 2022
Posts: 18
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
__________________
Former sailor transitioning to the trawler side!

Tanuki - Nordic Tug 34
bottomscraper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 09:25 AM   #10
Senior Member
 
Cargile's Avatar
 
City: Melrose
Vessel Name: Quasimodo
Vessel Model: Cargile Cutter
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 176
Quote:
Originally Posted by bottomscraper View Post
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 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 09:31 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Cargile's Avatar
 
City: Melrose
Vessel Name: Quasimodo
Vessel Model: Cargile Cutter
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 176
Quote:
Originally Posted by bottomscraper View Post
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 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 09:41 AM   #12
Guru
 
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,554
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cargile View Post
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.
rslifkin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 01:16 PM   #13
Senior Member
 
Cargile's Avatar
 
City: Melrose
Vessel Name: Quasimodo
Vessel Model: Cargile Cutter
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 176
Quote:
Originally Posted by rslifkin View Post
.....as our dog floats pretty well to start with......... .

Fluffy may be more aptly named Fatty
Cargile is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 01:42 PM   #14
Moderator Emeritus
 
Comodave's Avatar
 
City: Au Gres, MI
Vessel Name: Black Dog
Vessel Model: Formula 41PC
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 21,191
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cargile View Post
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
__________________
Boat Nut:
If you are one there is no explanation necessary.
If you aren’t one, there is no explanation possible.
Comodave is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2023, 01:53 PM   #15
Guru
 
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,554
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cargile View Post
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).
rslifkin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2023, 07:44 AM   #16
Senior Member
 
Cargile's Avatar
 
City: Melrose
Vessel Name: Quasimodo
Vessel Model: Cargile Cutter
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 176
Quote:
Originally Posted by rslifkin View Post
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.
Cargile is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2023, 07:49 AM   #17
Guru
 
City: Rochester, NY
Vessel Name: Hour Glass
Vessel Model: Chris Craft 381 Catalina
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 7,554
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cargile View Post
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.
rslifkin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2023, 07:51 AM   #18
Senior Member
 
Cargile's Avatar
 
City: Melrose
Vessel Name: Quasimodo
Vessel Model: Cargile Cutter
Join Date: Nov 2022
Posts: 176
Quote:
Originally Posted by Comodave View Post
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.
Cargile is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-06-2023, 09:54 PM   #19
Veteran Member
 
City: Alamitos Bay Marina
Vessel Name: DESTINY
Vessel Model: Bayliner 4588 Extend Hull & Hard Top
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 77
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
mdstrum is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-07-2023, 12:22 AM   #20
Newbie
 
AboveBlue's Avatar
 
City: NJ
Vessel Name: AboveBlue
Vessel Model: Sea Ray 480MY
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 4
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.
AboveBlue is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:57 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012