By Too hot for hiking? Let’s go swimming and beat the heat!
I started working with Xena with her fear of water since last year. She’s gotten a lot better now and she walks in the water by herself as long as she can feel the floor. So it’s time for the next lesson. Swimming! So off we go with our adventure buddies to this remote place where the water is calm and clear as crystal.
Since she is not a swimmer (yet!), I took the Hurtta Life Savior vest that our friends at Hurtta North America sent over for testing.
Product Specs
- Size: 1-160 lbs (click here for sizes)
- Color: Orange (think mango orange)
- Retail price: $75
Design – 4.5/5
- Floats
- Extremely light
- 3 adjustable straps ensure a comfortable fit
- Sturdy handle
- Name tag loop
- Bright color for high visibility
Function – 5/5
The life vest is light. Although it was a short hike, she had no problem hiking and exploring with the vest on.
It has a sturdy handle that was useful in the water and other situations. To get to this water hole, we had to scramble over boulders. The boulders were too big and Xena couldn’t climb on them on her own at times. I used the handle to lift her up and my friend would take the handle from me to put her on the top of the boulder. It also worked great when I had to help Xena getting up on slippery rocks.
The vest has 3 adjustable straps – two around the body and one around the neck – and it was easy to put on.
Getting overheated wasn’t a concern with the water to dip in to but still helped her by covering her black coat when she basked in the sun between the playtime.
Quality – 5/5
It’s made with high-quality material and the stitching is flawless as I would expect from the Hurtta products. It’s easy to care for. I just hosed it down the sand and debris when I got home and air-dried it. I didn’t find any damage to the vest.
Fashion and Fit – 4/5
Finding the right size is easy. No measuring different parts of the body required for this. Xena’s 35 lbs and she is wearing 20-40 lbs.
The bright mango orange color is eye-catching and pretty. It would look good on any dogs but the bright color was especially appreciated on a black dog.
The neck strap was a tad long for Xena. Although it wasn’t much of an issue for us (you can’t even tell in the pictures), it may be too long for a smaller dog? For example, if a dog that weighs 20 lbs tries on the same size vest as Xena’s, I think that part would be too long. In that case, you can pull down the vest closer to the chest. But I am not sure if that would reduce the movement of the forelegs.
Xena seemed to be comfortable wearing the vest. I didn’t notice any chafing and her movement wasn’t restricted in any way. She had no problem playing in the water with her best bud River. She surprised everyone including River by beating him to the toy. The big boy’s expression was priceless!
Overall – 4.6/5
Hurtta Life Savior is a high-quality performance water safety gear that is light and functional for your active dog in the water and on the land. I was really pleased with the product. It is suitable for all fur-types and good for swimming, SUP, boating, and kayaking. Remember, regardless of the swimming skill, a life vest can save a life in an emergency.
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Happy Hiking!
Hiking Girl with Dog 
Xena looks great all wet… she’s a Lab! If you pushed her off a dock in 4′ of water, she would swim… guaranteed! Try having her chase a ball/stick… then throw it off the end of a dock… she’ll go right after it… and swim. Try it, she’ll like it! 😉
Oh Mike….if I saved a dime every time we lost her favorite fetch toy to a lake and ocean because I threw it in hoping she would go after it …. 😂😂