Swimming with life jackets - Page 1

Just wondering if any of you use life jackets on your dogs when swimming.   My 1 year old got introduced to the river last week, first time in, and he went under!  He came back up but headed right to shore.  After another day at the river he became confident and enjoys the crud out of it, but makes me nervous some times....rides very low in the water.  He's slim and trim, no fat at all.  I am thinking about a vest for him until he (or maybe me) becomes a little more confident, but I dont want to create a "crutch" for him... Just wondering, maybe being a little crazy?? 

I would want to make sure he was safe and came home at night.  I take my guys to the lake and I use jackets on them as they enjoy the water and go farther/ deeper than I'm comfortable with.  If anything happened with them out to far it would be to easy for them not to come home.  Better safe than sorry.

What about being safe rather than sorry is a "crutch"? I use life jackets on dogs in a pool. They swim just fine, but i don't have to worry about them getting swept under or downstream or breaking a leg on a rock or otherwise hurt or ?????? A life jacket seems a reasonable approach unless the river is not deep, slow moving, etc. etc.

I use a life jacket on my dog when canoeing or boating.  It is my choice to be out in the middle of the lake, not the dog's.  On the beach I don't worry about it as the water is fairly calm.  A river, with its currents would make me nervous to.  Sounds like good a wise idea to me.  I'm with Hodie...better save than sorry!

I have never used one on a dog before. Very little current where we go, and I am in with him, but i am not one to take any chances.  I am just wondering if he will become dependent on the vest for flotation, and if so, will that actually make him a weaker swimmer when he doesnt have  the vest on.   I would think that like anything else, he will get better at swimming the more he does it.  I plan on swimming him several times a week, as he has bad hips.  My last GSD was a great swimmer - he used to grab a rope pull us around in a canoe!  But he was a fatty, ate purina and cheese burgers and had no problem floating!

I see what you are getting at now snowman!  I can say that my dog is able to swim on her own and unless there is danger (IE being in the middle fo the lake) to her I let her work it out.  Just as I don't medicate my dogs unless there is dire need.  I don't want the dog to do more than they are capable of becuase the meds have made them feel better.

I don't know that the life jacket would be a crutch but it certainly would limit the work the dog has to do.  That could be good, allowing a weak dog to work with in its means but it could also allow a strong dog to be lazy thus not reaping the full benefit of the work out.

 Life jackets do not interfere in any way, if properly sized and fitted, with a dog's ability to swim or swim vigorously. 

I like the construction of the jackets from ruffwear.

I do not use a life jacket when I swim my dogs, as I always have them swimming in range, as in my pool. A life jacket will make it easier for them to swim, thus they wont get the full aerobic work-out. Now, when I swam Jack Flash, in the latter stages of DM, he always wore a life jacket, as his legs werent strong enough to keep him afloat. If I was swimming a dog that could go out of my range, I would choose a life jacket with a handle, so if need be, I could grab that handle to stop the dog from going under.

Life-jackets are a good idea on a dog that is out boating with you, or one that isn't the best floater/swimmer. I don't think it's a crutch. I could also see it as a confidence-builder in a weak swimmer.

My runtweiler... (a rottie with dwarfism) wore a life jacket. She was a strong swimmer, learning from my lab, but due to being in keep (12 mile runs, weight training, and water-training) she had too little fat to be particularly bouyant. She was just eyes and a nose above the water. I put a life-vest on her to keep her above the waterline. It never hindered her muscle developement of her workout. She didn't mind it once she got used to the feel of it, which didn't take too long either.