Burrito Wrangling #22

Burrito Wrangling Update # 22: We took our first walk tonight with Murph wearing his neW LAGuard Vest @laguard1945 (www.laguardvest.com; $100). I needed a way to get some extra exercise for Murph on short walks (or in the yard) because: 1) he's hard to walk and always anxious outside; 2) we need to avoid other dogs; and 3) I am crazy busy. This seemed like a good option and was recommended by @_mrdiesel_. We got a size medium (the chest circumference range is 27-32", he is 31" and ≈73lbs). It fits pretty well; my only issue is that it is a bit long for him and the velcro part that attaches under his rib cage is literally one inch away from the tip of his penis so I have no doubt there will be some sort of urine incident in the near future. There are multiple weight slots so that once all of the individual weights are inserted they can be evenly distributed. I really like that it lets you increase or decrease the weight at small increments (the medium holds 13lbs total). Murph was totally happy to wear it, and didn't notice it at all after he was all strapped in. We started with the minimal weight today which was probably about 1lb. I draped it on Mila and she freaked out, so we are going to have to take some time to acclimate her to it. Her chest size is 27" (she's 47lbs and a short sausage-hippo) so technically she is supposed to wear a medium too, but I doubt it will fit her as she's quite a bit smaller than Murphy. She also might be too sausagey for the small, so I might have to look into a different brand for her. Seems like these vests would best fit lean dogs with a higher body length to chest circumference ratio. Overall I think this is going to be a really great exercise tool for Murph (and hopefully Mila) and would definitely recommend it for your dog if it fits properly. The one caveat would be that adding weight must be done slowly and carefully. Personally I know how easy it is to get injured through overtraining, so it is probably even harder to properly add weight safely when you are dealing with an animal that doesn't show pain or complain... #burritowrangling