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Quotehey guys, i am needing some oppinoins….. One of the SAR dogs i work with is a small german shorthaired pointer, she is our cadaver dog, she has to be trained for water work and to do so she has to have a life vest/swim vest……. i have this harness http://www.ruff…..w_Zoom.jpg it is a ruffwear and i really like it…. but…… poor Quizy cannot put her head down when she is in the water because of the chest floats, which is something that she needs to be able to do….. can i get some ideas on how to alterate this or ideas of another water vest i may could invest in. thank you
boy, I don't have a single idea….good luck to you….it amazes me those cadaver dogs…wow…and in WATER!!!! incredible
9:22 pm
Moderator
18 October 2009
Online
What if you folded the two parts of the chest floats in on themselves so that only the web strap went across her chest? It might be too bulky on her shoulders so if it works in concept you could then cut the 'float' part out of them and just fold the empty material in, or leave it where it is supposed to go for support under the web strap.
If you do it though you should make sure it doesn't unbalance the vest or cause her to not be able to keep her head up at all.
Most float coats I have seen have some type of the chest floats. The one or two I saw without the chest floats didn't have much support under the chest or belly for hauling them out of the water.
Karen
our cadaver dog, is wonderful, there is a lake in the area whtat was filled 75 years ago on a 100 year old graveyard, some of the graves didnt get moved couse thier familys could not get contacted and these dogs can tell you where the bodys still are and the water is 45ft deep in places, its very facinating…
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i have tried to put it on her without the velcro but the chest floats are still in an aquward place. its a nice float and slightly expencive so i was trying to avoid cutting it up too bad, but it looks as if that is my only option
8:44 pm
Team Tripawds
25 April 2007
Offline
Float coats are designed to keep dogs' heads above water to prevent choking on water. I wouldn't mess with the design, doing so could cause a scary kind of unbalanced coat. I would look into others but like Karen said, all the ones we've seen are made to keep a dog's head above water.
Can you join a SAR discussion forum and ask how others handle this sort of thing?
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that is kinda what i though…. main reason why i didnt just alter it….
12:30 am
23 August 2010
Offline
Post surgery I was giving our dog home water therapy (aka our swimming pool 
) I purchased a foam "noodle" from Walmart for $2.00 and cut it into two 14" sections and stuffed them under on each side of the ruff wear webmaster harness. It supported her for the 10-15 min she was swimming. If something like this works perhaps you cound use zip ties to secure them to the harness??
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