[Byron Musick]

I bought a CABELA'S NEOPRENE ARMOR-FLEX FLOTATION DOG VEST XXXL for my dog, chest size required the 3XL size, but everything is skewed! The chest portion fits fine, but where his waist is, well the vest is WAY too large!! See below pic.

Any good idea's on how I can tailor this vest for a better fit?

How tight should a vest be? He seems to like wearing it, it does help with swimming, but with the loose waist a lot of water was able to get inside and it allowed algea to cake up underneath, so it seemed too loose.

Could use some advice on this one?

 

[Lynn Hanigan]

Byron
I suggest you send it back. The armor coating will cut the dog under his legs and the floatation is not necessary. Get one that goes far enough back to cover his kidneys with velcro so you can adjust the waist portion to fit.

 

[Jason Glavich]

I buy mine so they are tight everywhere then cut to fit. They don't fit everydog perfect so they need to be cut. I went 1 size smaller then cut the armholes to make it fit perfect. Now it is tight everywhere, and still providing arm movement.

 

[Rick Hall]

The vest you have will be fine, you just need to tailor it a bit. Here's a quick how-to I posted a while back:

...if you want a vest that fits as well as one can, you'll need to purchase the correct chest size and then tailor either make. It's easy to do if you use "neoprene cement" like "Block Surf" that rapidly melts the neoprene and welds new seams while you hold them. (NOT "Aqua Seal" or other slow drying glue type sealant.)

Just fold excess material onto itself, mark the excess and cut out the marked "darts" with scissors and weld the new seams with neoprene cement by applying some to each edge and holding them together for the few minutes it takes the melted edges to bond and dry. No stitching is needed on the new seams. (Unless you try Aqua Seal or some-such slow drying glue - the sewing of which is a mess.)

I've used both Avery zippered vests and Cabela's with its wide Velcro fastener, and much prefer the ease and adjustability of the later. My Cabela's vest doesn't have flotation but does have the "armor," of which I'm a fan. Though the armor mesh doesn't look like much, after four seasons of hard use there are number of gouges above the armored portion of the vest but not a mark on the armored lower half that takes the real beating. (If a vest is chaffing a dog's arm pits, it simply needs trimmed there, unarmored vests can chaff, too.)

 

[RuffWater]

Good info there... Thanks as I just picked up the same cabela's floation vest yesterday and was wondering the best way to custom fit it...

 

[Byron Musick]

Thanks Rick, good info for sure, I was hoping for that type of info (especially since I've done enough trimming I doubt I could send it back!)

 

[Benjamin Ber]

How cold enough for a dog to have to wear a vest?
Ben

 

[Byron Musick]

How cold enough for a dog to have to wear a vest?
Ben

\

I'm trying to get ready for a hunt I was invited, Hog Island VA, the date is January 27th, so I'm thinking COLD, water possibly around 33-40 degree's F?? If there is ice the wife has already laid down the law, no hunting.. Just wanting the added protection and not take any chances, if something were to happen to my boy, I would have to go out in the woods and shoot myself, cause if I went home, the wife would do it! (In a very slow and deliberately painful way I am sure)....

 

[2tall]

Is it just me, or does anybody else NOT see a vest on that dog in the thumbnail???

 

[Byron Musick]

No pic of dog in vest, the pic was showing his physique and how my boy is a little different than the average dog, especially what I got from Cabella's, his stomach would have to be much larger. So I was just showing his waist to stomach difference, hope that helps?

 

[2tall]

Whew! I feel better

 

[Rob Paye]

Cold for some dogs is not cold for others. Each dog needs to be acclumaded to the cold. Our dogs hunt on deep water sets when it is well below zero without any problems, but you have to keep an eye on them and monitar them closely. the water temps can be down in the 50's. Remember, each dog is different !!!