Best Places to Get Therapy Dog Vest

[Tetley's Mom]

Any recs for where to get a Therapy Dog vest? I am looking for one that will have the clear ID/card window for my girl's cert/license #. Thanks!

[3K9Mom]

I'm not sure about clear i.d. card windows specifically. But for all my service dog needs, I go to either activedogs.com or sitstay.com.

Both are good reliable companies with good products and excellent customer service. I use activedogs.com mostly. But sitstay is right up there as well.

I do know that activedogs.com has vests with clips that you can clip your i.d. to. You could hole-punch your i.d. My SD vests have those, if you can't find a plastic window.

[rjvamp]

Thanks for the info on activedogs.com as well. I ordered a vest for Angeles from sitstay.com.

He is not a therapy dog, but I use the vest frequently as it says "In training....Do not pet" I don't like people trying to pet him to death when we are in public. It is so annoying! Plus I get tired of say "no" when people ask if they can pet him.

I did check and there are no laws against wearing a vest when you are training your dog....it does work as a good way to keep people away since folks know - don't touch a working dog.

[AbbyK9]

What Therapy Dog organization or group is Tetley registered / certified with, and what are their guidelines regarding therapy vests and/or wearing her ID during visits?

A lot of Therapy Dog organizations ask that their handlers don't put any vests on their dogs for visits, because it keeps people from petting the shoulders and back of the dog, which is where most people pet unless they pat on the head. Those organizations usually have bandanas for ID, or special collar tags or collar IDs that the dogs wear during visits.

The organizations that have vests, usually want their handlers to use a vest from their organization, and they'll either provide it or tell you where to purchase it. PAL (People Animals Love), for example, has its own blue vests with the PAL patches that they wear for visits.

Just a thought.

As far as nice vests, ActiveDogs makes some very nice equipment and have great customer service. Vests are also VERY easy to make yourself, as long as you can sew straight lines on a sewing machine. I made the one Abby wore when she came out for Army Recruiting.

[Tetley's Mom]

Originally Posted By: HistorianWhat Therapy Dog organization or group is Tetley registered / certified with, and what are their guidelines regarding therapy vests and/or wearing her ID during visits?

It's a long story, but there is no protocol. This is for training purposes with her trainer.

[AbbyK9]

If the vest will be used only or primarily for training, I would get a harness rather than a vest, like the orange one shown on this page - http://www.elitek9.com/Harnesses/index.htm Those have Velcro panels on the side and you can get Velcro-backed "Therapy Dog In Training" patches for it to ID her during training. You can even get pouches for it, if you need her to carry anything.

[ladylaw203]

http://www.things4yourdog.com/page/1078985

I ordered two from these folks for service dogs in training for dogs that I am training for folks