Monday, August 17, 2009

Product of the Month

My pick for Product of the Month is Ruff Wear's Float Coat. The models that I happen to have are now their older model and no longer available. I haven't had a chance to test out their new style of life jackets, but I'm sure they've got to be at least as good as these ones. As you can tell, they've been well used. Well, Heffner's has, Bess has just worn hers around on shore and a little bit in the water. As far as finding a life vest that will fit a giant breed dog, I don't really think that there are many if any that will beat Ruff Wear's design and sizing options. I found a super "deal" on a life vest a long while back and figured that I would just go ahead and buy the jacket since it was so cheap. The size was an XXL and this is how it looked on Bess:
First of all, I highly doubt that it would be all that helpful for a dogs this size. And secondly, I doubt that it would be all that comfortable for very long. Ruff Wear just really has a great design and sizes that are actually appropriate. Here's the jackets on the dogs:

And here's how the coverage looks on their bellies (they're bellies are a little pink and red from rolling around and wrestling on the carpet for a bit before I put them in the jackets):

The top picture is Heffner and you can see that he doesn't get quite as much coverage as Bess does in the bottom picture. They don't have complete coverage of their bellies, but it's the best that I've seen so far. And the jackets definitely help to keep them afloat. I also haven't noticed any chafing or sores developing on the dogs, even after a couple of hours of swimming and running around on the shore.

4 comments:

The 'splorin' Wolfies said...

that is the best i have seen so far too. do you have some videos of them in action ?? that would be kewl to see!

Lindsay said...

I'm going to be taking the dogs out this week at some point and I'll try to get some video then!

Unknown said...

I second your Ruff Wear recommendation. PLUS, they're a Northwest company (located in Bend, OR). In fact, the vest I bought Vegas is actually almost too big. How often do we have that happen! I hope she gets to break hers in some day. However, seeing this coat in action on Heffner, I know it's a great product.

Unknown said...

I almost forgot...that "XXL" coat you got for Bess...yeah, I got the same one. It fits my dad's Wirehair Pointers but it's certainly no XXL - Dane sized! LOL