I took the dog pheasant hunting yesterday, went through some farily dense cover off and on , but didn't see a thing. Still... with temps in the mid-30s it was a great day to be out. After we came back home, I noticed that Grady had several marks on his chest and stomach. None were bleeding, but a few of the marks were fairly raw.


Upshot of it is, I am going to get a chest protector for him before we go out again, and have been looking at Cabela's Ripstop Chest Protector. It looks like it has received fairly good reviews (at least on their website), but didn't know if anyone on this site has used one on their dog.

If not that particualr one, does anyone have any recommendations on another one to look at? Or ones that I should try to avoid?

Gene

Haven't used the Cabela's brand, but I use the Mendota Skid Plate. Works great, protects the dogs well. and is light weight so doesn't overheat them.

If you are talking about the one with straps that go over the dogs back I tried one of my buddy's out this weekend, I know it was cabelas but didn't really look for a style name) and it worked great, I will probably pick one up before next years season starts.

I haven't tried the neoprene one, but I have a strap version and I can highly recommend it.

I have two and used them quite a bit.

One is the neoprene one with the zipper in the back, velcro flap over that, I think the chest is kevlar. It had two flat flotation pads in the back that I removed. I used it basically to protect his chest in hard water-entry situations, you really do not know what is under the water line and I have a friend that lost his retriever to some submerged re-bar. Secondly, when really cold, the neoprene helps them maintain body temps, particulaly for a dog like mine that lives in the house and does not have the true "outdoor" winter coat. Third, it is good camo on the dog. I would not put this on him to run upland.

Upland Vests - I didn't use one until Cody had surgery and the scar ran down the middle of his chest and ribs. Hard to notice it but it would eventually get raw after a couple days of hard hunting. I bought an inexpensive orange upland vest at Gander Mtn. here in Indy with a Remington brand name on it. It has velcro straps in front and back of the front legs and another one in the mid-section. This one has seen nearly 30 days of upland hunting and still is in pretty good shape. Side benefit is that it really makes the dog easier to see in cover. Didn't seem to bother him a bit.

I too recomend the mendota skid plate. Very durable and fits well when adjusted properly. We tried a differant brand with velcro strapps and it did not provide the protection that the mendota protector did. Neoprene vests can work but will chaffe badly if your dog works as hard as myn when upland hunting(even when fitted). JMO Good luck !!

I have the Cabelas rip stop one. It works Excellent! Plus it makes it easy to see her in the brush(yellow dog) Fit is good and easy to put on.

KC ended up with about 10 stitches last weekend. I used to use a vest on occasion and it may have helped but the most common place they seem to get cut in the upland is right at the top of the leg-and the upland vests don't typically cover that area. None the less I will be lookin' for that old vest to put on her this weekend to help protect those stitches....well found it and stuck it on and you can see what I mean-but it still may have helped

Havent had much need for one in the uplands, but I wont hunt a duckdog without one, regardless of the weather. I really wish all of the testing venues would allow them, they just give so much protection to sticks, thorns etc, especially if you have a hard charger. My last dog had a big water entry and about impaled himself on a submerged fenceline no one new was there, put a big gash in the neoprene, which I believe was 3.5 or 4 mm thick, but didnt tear the skin. He really yelpled and Im convinced the vest kept him from being laid open. I hunt flooded fields, farm ponds, irrigation lakes, flooded timber, rivers and drainage ditches and it never ceases to amaze me how many sharp, pokety things there are out there. These vests will save you big on the vet bills. Also be prepared with first aid kits and emt gel, the dogs life you save may just be your own.