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deployed with the vest on. I have
found the speed and agility of the dog
in most search settings is more necessary than the limited amount of
protection offered by a ballistic vest.
That is not to diminish the vest’s
protective capability; however, dogs
lead with their heads and are often
shot while advancing, and the vest
offers little protection to that area.
The bottom line is: having a ballistic
vest for your PSD is a great option and
may one day protect him from avoidable injury or save his life. It also is a
great way to foster strong community
relations, and that is always a good
thing. If you get a vest, train with it to
determine its pros and cons, but understand its limitations. Once again,
during a critical incident is not the
time to expose your PSD to the challenges of working in a ballistic vest.
Mary Davis replies: I have a vest that I
purchased for my dog when he first
started patrol work in 2005. In our
area, there are only a handful of teams
that have or use them. I did an experiment to see whether the vest would
significantly affect his body temperature while working in the heat. I took
him on a run for 30 minutes one day
and recorded his body temp before and
after. The next day, I repeated the
same routine, except this time he was
wearing the vest. What I found was
that it had minimal effect on his core
temp. I did feel that the extra weight
made him a little more tired.
A vest does the dog no good if he is
not wearing it. However, I believe you
must balance the value of the equipment against the effect it will have on
his long-term health and workability. I
was concerned that the extra weight
would put too much stress on his back
and shoulders, especially getting in and
out of the SUV, over the long haul. I
have no scientific proof to back this
up, just intuition and my own
experience. If you are very diligent
about conditioning your dog and he
has no injuries, then it may not be a
factor.
