Best vest for upland dog

[chadcharb]

I'm looking for recommendations for a vest for my gsp. He hit a fence a while back and ended up with quite a few stitches so the next time out I threw a vest on him I had laying around but it didn't fit him well and rubbed him pretty bad and he managed to still get a pretty bad scratch through it. What do y'all use that has worked well?

 

[OctoberGold]

Mendota skid plate worked well for my cousin's GSP.

 

[GrayGoose]

I have a lab that is pretty small framed and wears the Mendota skid plate for pheasant hunting. It covers the chest and underside of the dog and has held up well after two years of use. Luckily I haven't had to find out how well it'll protect against a fence.

 

[DJB]

I just purchased CUGA vests for our dogs after they both had run ins with barbwire this year (2 vet visits). They both are very good at avoiding fences. The problem was were the fences were down and grass and weeds had grown up so they were not visible.

 

[tgus59]

Another vote for Mendota Skid Plate. I with there was a little more coverage for his back, just for visibility, but it offers great protection on the chest and belly.

 

[Kindo]

We’ve used a vest from Lion Country the last two years until I lost it and had to borrow a Mendoza skid this year. Day 1 the skid worked awesome and no rubbing. Put it on for day 2 and didn’t think to check. Poor girl wore all the hair off her left front shoulder. I should’ve checked but figured it was fine after the first day.

The Lion country has been great and I’ll probably try the newest model after we wear out the older one. If I know there won’t be much of any barbed wire, I’ll forego the vest entirely.

 

[DmrbigEshotT]

We used a Ruffwear harness for our 40lb Britney for a while, but just upgraded to the Sylmar Dog Guard Vest. I went with that over the Mendota Skid Plate because of the Dog Guard's coverage on the side and armpit area. We've used it a couple times in the Michigan grouse woods since buying it and I'm sure glad we did. You can hear all the saplings, briars dragging across the nylon fabric and before that vest, that would have largely been our boy's hide.

 

[chadcharb]

If I know there won’t be much of any barbed wire, I’ll forego the vest entirely.

Between abandoned fencing laying in the brush and old farm equipment left in heavy brush it's cost me more than I care to admit in vet bills. I'll run a vest on him full time now to avoid it as long as I can find a good one that doesn't chaffe him or cause him any trouble. If there's a fence to run through my dog will find it

 

[jmez]

Get a surgical stapler. You see the cut right away and staple it before it gets full of grass etc.

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[chadcharb]

Get a surgical stapler. You see the cut right away and staple it before it gets full of grass etc.

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I talked about this with my vet who also runs upland dogs and he recommended against this outside of a true emergency situation. I bird hunt for my dog and not for myself so calling the hunt is never a problem for me if something like this pops up which in my 20 years of running dogs always seems to. I'm typically never more than 2 hours away from home so it's not the end of the world if I have to leash him up and run for the truck.

I just ordered a cuga vest for him just now mainly because it's made here in Washington and Amazon could have it to me tomorrow before our next hunt on Wed. Hopefully it fits him well. Otherwise I'll return it and try another.

 

[MTPipeliner]

I use sylmar vests that I got from dun dog supply and have been pretty happy with them for my labs.

ORANGE Sylmar Vest

ORANGE Sylmar Vest. #1 Best Seller. Extra Visibility. Protection from the Thick Stuff We actually sew these ourselves Measure your dog's CHEST GIRTH $47.95. Not recommended for hog hunting. The Sylmar Body Guard Dog Vest gives your dog additional chest and body protection with increased...

www.gundogsupply.com

 

[Wib]

Got a Mendota Skid Plate and tried it with my 70 pound Draht, no matter how I adjust it I can’t get it to not rub him raw in the arm pit area. Bought a neoprene Banded vest, one you can cut to fit. Many adjustments (cutting) later, still gets rubbed bad. Can’t cut too much more off it.

 

[Marble]

I'm looking for recommendations for a vest for my gsp. He hit a fence a while back and ended up with quite a few stitches so the next time out I threw a vest on him I had laying around but it didn't fit him well and rubbed him pretty bad and he managed to still get a pretty bad scratch through it. What do y'all use that has worked well?

I'll get the name of the vest I use and let you know what it is. Be a day or so til I'm home. It's my second one on my second GSP and I like it because I can cut the arms to fit with scissors. For my male, I cut a big spot by his weiner so he wouldn't pee in it. It was too long and he would pee and it would run right down the vest out the arm pit....pretty gross.

No more superglue on cuts to the back and belly from barbed wire. And thistle only gets their face not their chest and belly.

Made out of neoprene with a fabric type outside. It zips up the back and has a handle at the top of the shoulders I can grab and pick my dog up if needed.

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[Marble]

Got a Mendota Skid Plate and tried it with my 70 pound Draht, no matter how I adjust it I can’t get it to not rub him raw in the arm pit area. Bought a neoprene Banded vest, one you can cut to fit. Many adjustments (cutting) later, still gets rubbed bad. Can’t cut too much more off it.

For mine I cut quite a bit off the arms/shoulders on the outside and underneath. Probably only an inch left in the center of the chest.

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[540-Virginian]

Mendota Skid Plate upvote here. Used them on all three of my dogs for the last 8 years. I have two goldens and a wire haired pointer. They are tough vests! I understand the complaint of lack of blaze coverage for visibility closer to the dogs back, but then the dogs would get hot from having more material covering them.

 

[lks2]

Mendota skidplate has been working great this season. It took a hunt or two to get it adjusted.

 

[twall13]

Some options I'll need to check out on this thread, thanks for bringing it up. For the last 6 years or so I've used one of the Cabela's vests the OP posted on his GSP in the first post. It's pretty tattered at this point and needs to be replaced but it's worked really well for my Boykin. It happens less now that my dog is more experienced but I've watched him bounce off a few barbed wire fences with that thing on and come away no worse for wear. If I'm upland hunting, it's on him. I like the orange so he's more visible as well. I also like a bit more coverage than the skid plates offer, for burr protection more than anything. I spend enough time brushing burrs out of his ears, I don't need to add more to the rest of his body.

After seeing mine, my brother bought one for his GSP pup and it rubbed him raw in a few places the first day. It didn't matter much as he left the vest on the dog while it was in the kennel too long and it ended up with all the buckles chewed off in short order. I feel like some of the breeds with a bit thicker hair have less problems with fit, etc. I've seen several GSP's get rubbed raw from vests but I've never seen it on my Boykin or the labs I've hunted with. I know it can still happen and it's important to get the fit right, I'm just saying I think fit is even more important for the breeds that don't have as much natural protection. I'll also note that my current dog vest is quite pliable from lots of use so if it looks like it might work I wouldn't give up on a vest before it's "broken in" so to speak. They can come pretty stiff but do soften up over time. A few shorter sessions before you'll be hunting with it daily would likely help in that regard.

 

[chadcharb]

Alright so I got the cuga vest I ordered and am definitely returning it. Decided to trim the cabelas vest i have and order a few different ones and see which works best. I already ordered the momarsh versa vest with orange side plates because a few of my buddies run them and love them. Also a Mendota skid plate from all the recommendations here. Maybe I'll keep them both and have an early and late season vest, maybe I'll return one. Who knows!

 

[Mosby]

I recently bought.a Sylmar vest for my GSP. I also have a couple neoprene vests that I have used in extremely cold weather. One has a fence cut going right down the back of it. The vest saved my Vizsla from a huge cut several years ago. Normally too warm for the dog but when I hunt in windy, single digit weather, it is nice to have.

 

[mwebs]

What’s everyone’s vote for waterfowl? Had cabelas, banded and gander brands. Lots more options out there now.