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I have a 11month old Black lab, I started training/playing fetch with him at about 4 months.later at about 7 months I bought a vest from cabelas and every time I go to put it on him, he cowers away as if its the worst thing in the world, it was a size large and it fit pretty well, it wasn't super tight yet, but he still coward away. I trimmed it to the best fit. Then I thought that it was getting to tight for his comfort, maybe thats why he didn't like it? So I bought a XL same style. again i trimmed it up but his man hood hangs in the vest, and it wont hang below cuz its too long on the belly, again it is trimmed as short as you can go to the stitching. So how do I help him to like the vest? he loves his collar, but hates his vest. (the wife says he has to wear one if he is going to hunt, so goin with out it is out of the question) HELP!!!!!

This is the first time I've heard of this one, SOMETHING had to have happened to make the dog afraid of the vest. What you need to do now is approach it the same way you would a gun shy dog.

You need to introduce the vest in a very positive way for very short periods of time. If it were me I would start just by setting the vest next to the dog and giving it praise. Only for a few minutes once a day. Then after the dog seemed okay with that I would maybe drape the vest over the dog without securing it and again giving lots of praise. If the dog were to run away don't give negative tones but also do not praise it. Just try again later in the day. I would continue this until I could put the vest on the dog. Once the vest is on the dog I would then try and keep the dog focused on something it loves to do like retrieve and not focused on the fact it's wearing the vest. Remember take it slow and in steps, never ever force the vest on the dog.

This process is probably going to take a long time and cannot be cured over night. Again something had to have happened to make the dog afraid of a simple vest like that so before you start I would try and identify what it was you did or someone else did and make sure it doesn't happen again or you might send the dog backwards.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Well what I think had happen was, when he was a pup the wife bought both dogs a( a five year old golden) and Hank she put both of them in harnesses and put them on the same leash, now he was still a pup like 2-3 months old and the golden kinda drug him around, so I think that, that was what made him terrified of any vest/harness, cuz he does the same thing with a harness, I was thinking we start with a new harness and then proceed to the vest,

Mine have all initially been uncomfortable and even felt compromised in their vests. First time I put a vest on the current Brittany, his "brother," our then Chesapeake, came over for a sniff and about got his nose chewed off. Only time either was ever cross with the other, and I believe being vested made the little Britt feel like he was in a bind and better get the first lick in. The "trick" to getting them to like vests is simply to put it on them immediately before doing things they like that will take their minds off the vest. Soon they come to associate the vest with fun and are anxious to get it on.

As for trimming the vest to properly fit: don't worry about the stitching, if the vest is well made that's eye-wash for buyers, just cut the poor dog a notch for it's pecker to clear the vest.

Here's a copy of my method of tailoring:

Getting an off-the-shelf vest that actually fits your dog correctly (snug everywhere, but not tight anywhere) would be a remarkable fluke. Even with a design like Cabela's wide Velcro fastener that affords an inch or two of adjustability zippers don't, the vest won't be fully functional without tailoring.

The drill is to buy the correct chest size and break out a marking pen, straight edge, scissors and a can of "neoprene cement," like Block Surf (not Aquaseal or Goop or any other substitute), and go to work.

With the vest on the dog, pinch out the excess material and mark both sides where the pinched material meets and the tip of the triangle the pinch creates.

Take the vest off the dog, and using the straightedge, draw lines from each "pinch" mark to the "tip" mark, which will create the triangular "dart" that needs removed with your scissors.

Having removed the darts of excess material, you're ready to close the gaps they created. This is where using neoprene cement, which melts the neoprene edges and essentially welds them together quickly enough that it's no strain to hold them together while it works pays off. Other types of adhesives will require stitching to hold the new seam edges together while they dry and perhaps even for support. I have never had an unstitched neoprene cement seam separate.

You'll also likely need to remove some material that will otherwise chaff Pup's arm pits and an opening around a male dog's penis. Don't worry about cutting beyond the bar tacking on a vest's stitched seams, as on a properly made vest the stitching is really just eyewash for buyers, rather than necessary.

May sound complicated, but it took me longer to type that than it would have to properly tailor a vest.

the wife says he has to wear one if he is going to hunt, so goin with out it is out of the question

Sounds a lot like you have a wife training problem along with your dog training.

I don't deny that a vest helps the dog stay warm and aids the dogs buoyancy but ask yourself how they hunted before they had neoprene?

Labrador Retrievers don't usually need a vest, usually just a good diet if they are hunting really cold conditions. Other dogs that don't have the Labrador's thick oily coat probably would need some sort of vest.

Lets not address hypothermia while wearing a neoprene wetsuit in cool windy conditions.

I dont know Ron I think duckdudes wife has him trained quite well

firewokey wrote:I dont know Ron I think duckdudes wife has him trained quite well

I bow to your superior insight!

Just put the vest on the dog and let him wear it until he forgets he's wearing it. My dog always acts as if I'm cramping his style when I go to put the vest on him, then we go on our way to hunt and he forgets all about it. Let him associate the vest with good times.

@ron, I dont think any dog NEEDS a vest (especially in south Texas) but I'll lay money down that it does help keep their core temp up during a cold hunt. I also believe that the added buoyancy helps them on long retrieves.

RonE wrote:the wife says he has to wear one if he is going to hunt, so goin with out it is out of the question

Sounds a lot like you have a wife training problem along with your dog training.

I don't deny that a vest helps the dog stay warm and aids the dogs buoyancy but ask yourself how they hunted before they had neoprene?

Because everybody knows that before Al Gore and global warming, the water was frozen all winter. So they didn't even get wet, just walked across the ice. But now that mankind has warmed the planet up enough, the water only gets down to about 35 degrees, making it dangerous for a dog to swim in it. So it's global warming's fault that your dog gets cold.

Anther thing you could try is putting it on him to eat if he is very food motivated

Mine loves his vest.If I pick it up he will run in front of me and sit to have it put on.its getting a lil small tho,only a 3x.Not even sure they make a bigger one.

firewokey wrote:Mine loves his vest.If I pick it up he will run in front of me and sit to have it put on.its getting a lil small tho,only a 3x.Not even sure they make a bigger one.

Mine does too. He grew up hunting only MI winter Duck hunts so a vest was almost always worn and he associates that with hunting.

To the OP good luck with getting him to wear it.

Get the wife to put the vest on. (the dog)

aunt betty wrote:Get the wife to put the vest on. (the dog)

Or, put the vest on the wife and find out if you have a neoprene fetish.