Following on from my (now successful ) hunt for a set of panniers, I now feel that Dexter needs to add a life jacket to his wardrobe!

We have a kayack, & Dexter loves to either swim along side it, or ride along in it, then belly flop into the water whilst we snorkell.One of us always stays with him, whilst the other one snorkells, but even so, he swims very fast & VERY energetically, & Im always afraid that he'll suddenly get tired without warning & start to sink!
I've looked around for doggie life jackets & there seems to be an awful lot to chose from, has anyone had any personal dealings with any that are being sold at the moment?

R.x

My deerhound has a ruffwear one but Freddy and Mugi use a different make for their hydrotherapy sessions this is the linkie http://www.canine-spirit.com/shop/detail.a...=68&prodsecid=4, Freddy does not appreciate swimming but this seems comfy and non-restrictive

Oooh, thanks for the link! Had to laugh at the sales pitch....wonder if they sell many life jackets for cats, & more importantly, how on earth would you get a cat to sit still long enough in order to truss it up into the jacket?!?

Love the pic btw!
R.x

I've heard lots of good reviews about the canine spirit ones but never bought one, but as we have just rehomed two springers who will be going sailing ergularly I'll pass the links on

Dont have a life jacket yet (although I fancy a kayak big time kayaking down the Wye!) for paddy but we do have a ruffwear webmaster harness for when we take him hill walking/mountain climbing . I also have the little shoes they do for the same reason. Both were from caninespirit.

I think the lifejackets help them to swim if they get tired and I think if I took paddy out on a boat regularly or swimming with me more regularly (he likes to hitch a ride!) Id get one. They use them for hydrotherapy too.

The ruffwear gear isnt the cheapest but paddys harness fits him really nicely and is really well made and thought through in terms of handles, fleece padding for the straps, strap sizing etc so I imagine their lifejackets would be good too.

You can sometimes find them on ebay slightly less expensive.

Haven't got one yet but will be investing in one soon.

However, from experience of paddling with a wet springer regulary ( ok he didn't actually do the paddling but did go out of the way to capsize us at every opportunity), look closely at the way it handles when its on him, ie, does it give a good grip and a tight hold of him when he's tired and you're trying to haul him out of the water onto the jetty or even worse onto your deck. Them springers way a lot more wet, are a lot more wriggly and slippy!