# Help! Chaffing from vest or skid plate!!!



## bobbyh09 (Sep 4, 2009)

Everytime I take my boy Mason out to hunt I usually use a vest or a skid plate for him to help protect his chest from the land we are hunting. Well he always seems to suffer from extreme chaffing from either the vest when I'm duck hunting or the skid plate when I'm hunting upland birds.
My question is does anyone have any tricks to help stop this or some advice on how to stop it from happinging? 
What is better to have a vest or skid plate and deal with the chaffing or go with no vest or skid plate at all and risk injury to the dog? 
It seems like once we hunt and he gets chaffed he doesn't want to hunt the next day and it takes almost a week before he is back to normal!...
Thanks for the help.


----------



## Aimless1 (Sep 25, 2011)

I've never used a vest or skid plate so I can't speak to prevention. However, Bagbalm is a wonder for chaffing. Originally developed to prevent chaffing in cows from being milked every day. Even works well on humans


----------



## DougAndKate (Sep 16, 2011)

+1 on bag balm. we use it all the time on Elroy, and on our hands and feet when they get dry and cracked during the winter.


----------



## KashagLake (Sep 27, 2010)

hmm we put a chest protector on holly too and have never noticed any chaffing, sounds like he gets it pretty bad. We do use bag balm a lot as well...heals most small wounds over night.

What type of material is your vest? This is the one we have and never had a problem.

http://www.cabelas.ca/index.cfm?pageID=71&section=1795&section2=1797&ID=4809


----------



## bobbyh09 (Sep 4, 2009)

This is the skid plate I used the other day.. I don't know if I will use it again unless I can modify it to not rub on him.. 
http://www.gandermountain.com/modpe...&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=343032393737&cID=GSHOP_402977

The one you posted looks good too.. looks like there is plenty of room between the material and armit area. I think I might have to try that one out..
Thanks.
With the balms how do you get your dogs not to lick them right off? I feel my dog would just sit there and lick it until is was gone.


----------



## Aimless1 (Sep 25, 2011)

The skin absorbs Bag Balm, much like hand lotion.


----------



## KashagLake (Sep 27, 2010)

Ya I try to rub it in a bit (it looks like Vaseline)...if it is in a spot that Holly can reach she'll lick it off, I still put it on her though. When its in a spot i know she can reach I'll make her lye down with me for a couple minutes so it can be absorbed as much as possible. It really works wonders! I just recently read an article saying that every hunter that hunts with dogs should have bag balm, that's when i decided to try it out.


----------



## bobbyh09 (Sep 4, 2009)

Thanks for the advice.. I tried the bag balm and it worked great.. 
I haven't used the vest since.. Not sure I will.


----------



## Coya (Aug 20, 2011)

I have a similar problem with my pup. We recently purchased and started using the Gentle lead leash (best $30 EVER spent) but we've noticed that after walks (usually ones longer than 30 min) she gets really red in her "arm pit" area. It doesn't seem to bother her, but it can't feel good. Anyone deal with that? If so what solutions do you have?


----------



## Fox_Trot (Mar 15, 2010)

i cant wait to buy some bag balm...never heard of it till now. We tried the skid plate and it worked well but did give the same problems... w/out the vest = lots of problems... i cant wait to get it in the mail!!! thanks guys


----------



## Skywalker (Jul 10, 2011)

@Coya, I have a pup too (~6 mos) and was having the same issues with the chafing in the armpits on walks and hikes with the Gentle Leader harness. I tried using another back attached harness but she just pulled and pulled Im sure there is no surprise there... so I came to the conclusion that she needed to be trained how to walk properly with me... enrolled and started last night... because with the gentle leader they arent really being trained how to walk, just forced not pull without any rhyme or reason and so are free to go left, right, back, forward... just not pull (which Leia still manages to do albeit in a angular direction forward and not straight.)

So we are now using the standard chain training collar to get down basic commands, heel sit stay, and then I have a really good feeling a lot of the Gentle Leader issues will be alleviated if I still decide to use it (which based on last nights and this mornings progress Im not sure I will need to).


----------

