by Rick » Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:05 am
Mine have all initially been uncomfortable and even felt compromised in their vests. First time I put a vest on the current Brittany, his "brother," our then Chesapeake, came over for a sniff and about got his nose chewed off. Only time either was ever cross with the other, and I believe being vested made the little Britt feel like he was in a bind and better get the first lick in. The "trick" to getting them to like vests is simply to put it on them immediately before doing things they like that will take their minds off the vest. Soon they come to associate the vest with fun and are anxious to get it on.
As for trimming the vest to properly fit: don't worry about the stitching, if the vest is well made that's eye-wash for buyers, just cut the poor dog a notch for it's pecker to clear the vest.
Here's a copy of my method of tailoring:
Getting an off-the-shelf vest that actually fits your dog correctly (snug everywhere, but not tight anywhere) would be a remarkable fluke. Even with a design like Cabela's wide Velcro fastener that affords an inch or two of adjustability zippers don't, the vest won't be fully functional without tailoring.
The drill is to buy the correct chest size and break out a marking pen, straight edge, scissors and a can of "neoprene cement," like Block Surf (not Aquaseal or Goop or any other substitute), and go to work.
With the vest on the dog, pinch out the excess material and mark both sides where the pinched material meets and the tip of the triangle the pinch creates.
Take the vest off the dog, and using the straightedge, draw lines from each "pinch" mark to the "tip" mark, which will create the triangular "dart" that needs removed with your scissors.
Having removed the darts of excess material, you're ready to close the gaps they created. This is where using neoprene cement, which melts the neoprene edges and essentially welds them together quickly enough that it's no strain to hold them together while it works pays off. Other types of adhesives will require stitching to hold the new seam edges together while they dry and perhaps even for support. I have never had an unstitched neoprene cement seam separate.
You'll also likely need to remove some material that will otherwise chaff Pup's arm pits and an opening around a male dog's penis. Don't worry about cutting beyond the bar tacking on a vest's stitched seams, as on a properly made vest the stitching is really just eyewash for buyers, rather than necessary.
May sound complicated, but it took me longer to type that than it would have to properly tailor a vest.