Weighted Vest (for a Dog)


My dog has been driving me nuts. Not sleeping through the night. It’s winter, I’m not doing as much cardio (running outside) as I used to. He’s ending up with too much energy. I was thinking if I could stick a weighted vest , he’d both bulk-up and I’d have a ripped manly dog, and he’s be much more tired at the end of the day.

Do such things exist?

Obviously I don’t want to hurt him, just tire him out, so I’m a little wary of just throwing something together.

Thoughts?

Get a harness and hook a sled to him. It will probably be better for his joints in the long run.

bpeck

Get a prowler and you can both workout together.

I have seen dogs wearing saddle bags for carrying their own food when taken on backpacking trips. Check with REI or a place like that.

Step 1: Purchase harness
Step 2: Attach weight
Step 3: Find tennis ball
Step 4: Throw ball
???
Step 5: Profit
Step 6: Enjoy your new quiet sleep.

I use to have 2 pitties and to keep them in shape I would harness them to an old tire to drag in the snow/rain/sunshine while I threw a Kong. On a hill is even better. When they get home its sleep till time to go out and do it again.

I have one. We have 4 of the small bottles of poland springs water in it.

It makes a difference, but not much. It calmed him down markedly while walking, which I assume is because he feels like he is working doing it, but as far as extra exercise it isn’t overly effective. (Now we don’t even need the back pack, he is calmer in general.)

I wouldn’t load it up with 85lbs right away. Start with 5 or 10 and work your way up.

From what I understand, your dog’s musculature is more defined by genetics than a human. What he is, is what eh is.

Also, and I’m no expert, but if he is acting out it could also be dominance issues, and you are slacking in the pack leader department. Again, I am just a novice dog dude throwing out shots in the dark. But the more dominant I am, the happier and calmer my dog is.

My friend has a Rottie and she puts her dog in a vest that has a bunch of compartments for carrying things - I suspect its some kind of hunting vest. She does it for the exact same reasons you stated, for exercise and to tire the pup out.

Anyways, sometimes the vest is used to actually carry things, but mostly she just tosses in a couple of bottles of water to weigh it down. Then she takes the dog for a long walk or a light jog. And then after an hour of being home, eating, etc. its sleepy time!

I’ll check out REI.

I actually have a harness for the dog used to secure him in the car (not used as often as it should be). I’ll try hooking a little weight for him to pull and running him around a bit.

Having a ripped dog would be cool, but manly I just want him to sleep through the night.

He’s a weimaraner, so I don’t have high expectations.

yes, they make things like this… Most “working dogs” like huskies, collies, german shepards and the such need to work / do something. I have a cart I built for mine out of an old golf cart caddie he pulls around when I do yard work and the shepard loves it. Otherwise get a dog backpack and put progressively more water bottles in it until they calm down and then let them walk around. I do that with my boarder collie (pet thread) when I go camping and when I do he basically follows me around because he thinks he has to since he is carrying stuff for me.

I was actually doing some research for some good quality dog vest. I did find one called xdog veststhat looks decent but I haven’t tried it. Curious to know if anyone has any recommendations on vests that are safe?