Having a life vest for your four legged friends plays a big role in keeping your pets safe in and around water during the summer season. Not all dogs like water or can swim, but even those breeds that are swimmers should still have a life vest. Whether you are just going to the beach for a quick dip or if you’re going to spend the day on a boat, they should have one on the whole time. For dogs riding in boats there is always the risk they will jump off into the water and it may take a while to get turn around and get them out. Think about it as if they were your kids, would you let your kids just swim around the water without a life jacket when they could easily get tired?
A great example that actually opened my eyes to the importance of having a life vest for dogs was my dog who is a Chocolate Labrador Retriever, a major swimming breed. I never realized the importance of her having a life vest when we are going to the lake until the night we encountered a very severe accident that happened while we were swimming. My dog loves to swim and she will swim for hours if you let her. The issue with this is she does not know when it is time to stop and will go until she is exhausted. We were swimming near the dock at which my dog was trained as a puppy to use the ladder. That night she had become so exhausted from swimming that she did not have the strength to pull herself up and relied only on us to pull her up. Suddenly I lost my grip on her and at the same time her collar slipped off her neck and she plunged into the water, right under the dock. We had to jump in as she was just sinking because she was so tired and could not swim anymore.
If my dog happened to have life vest on she would have been able to float and the handle on the back of the life vest allows for easy lifting. The life vest is strapped on their bodies and will not slide off. Simply buying a life vest can save your dog’s life. Help them to still be able to enjoy a day at the beach with the family and relax knowing that they are safe when in the water.
