A DIFFERENT TRAINING VEST

We have been using training vests forever. They weren't just handy for keeping equipment, but also allowed the handler to manipulate the dog in training with features on the vest. These included Velcro strips to hold tugs or balls and big pockets for extra large gear used in rewarding the dog.

In the beginning, the Army surplus stores had a pretty nice selection, but dog equipment designers have, more recently, come up with some clever and useful innovations. These vests are lighter, more durable and address most of the needs that those of us who train working dogs.

The designers have now come up with an even more interesting idea which is now being incorporated into training vests. One of the problems with attaching a ball or tug to a vest is that the handler would have to raise a right hand to release the toy. Soon, the dog learns to key, not on the toy, but on the trainer's right hand, taking away the focus of the dog.

Recently, we were working with a German training helper, let's call him “Speedy”, who pulled a black nylon training vest from his car to show it to us. For all outward appearances, it looked like many of the high quality, nylon training vests used by hundreds of working dog trainers. It had ample pockets on the chest, sides and back and even though it had been used for many months, showed no signs of wear. It was certainly of superior quality, but little different from many of the other ones we had seen.

But, there was a difference! On the upper left hand chest, there is a standard pocket with a bellows construction and a trap door in the bottom of the pocket. It is large enough to handle a ball or medium sized tug. The trap door is loaded to a steel cable that goes inside the vest to the trainer's right side. On the end of the cable is a small loop.

As the trainer is working, the vest looks no different from any other training vest. But, when the trainer wants to release the dog, he pulls the loop with his right hand and the toy drops through the trap door at the bottom of the pocket. During the training, the dog sees neither the toy nor the hand motion until the release comes. (See photograph left).

Okay, we thought, another training gimmick that sounds theoretically great, but probably doesn't work that well in practice. We imagined that the release mechanism would hang up, the pocket not open consistently or the toy getting caught in the pocket. Well, we were wrong; it worked perfectly every time. We used the vest for about an hour, trying different toys and it worked 100 percent of the time. Our experience was that it took a few times for the dog to learn that the toy would magically appear from a given spot, but, once learned, the rest was easy. While we didn't try it, there is no reason that food couldn't be used just as easily.

Speedy had used the vest for several months and said he had given up on using toys conventionally in much of his obedience training. He uses it for heeling, finishes, recalls, front sits and even retrieval.

If the trainer doesn't want to use the drop function, the upper left pocket can be folded flat so it looks and functions like any other pocket.

The vest we tested is sold through Sporthund International, a German company, and can be found at http://shop.leroi.de/shop/index.qx2?par_id=2403000&QXSID=f72443da309e81272d2b98b7f0f272fd. The price is about $70. U.S. They also offer another version with long sleeves where the sleeves can be zipped off.

There are some other products on the market that use this same idea, but we haven't tested them. In reviewing the promotional material for these other vests, it seems they were designed principally for this one drop function and didn't have some of the other general training vest features that we like, like multiple big pockets. One vest does have Velcro strips so that the drop pocket can be moved to different parts of the front and rear of the vest.

If you are in the market for a training vest, you won't go wrong with this one. Even if you don't use the drop pocket function, it is still as good as any training vest we have seen on the market.