Spending quality time outdoors with your dog is essential to his mental and physical well being. Summertime can be the most rewarding fun time, but we need to take care in the heat. Bringing your best four legged friend along for a boat ride, a trip to the beach or a swim at the local watering hole can allow your pet to get his needed exercise without overheating in the summer sun. But just as flotation devices are important for people, they are equally important for our canine companions.

Dog life jackets are essential, especially in waters with strong currents, undertows and in areas of high boating activities. Your dog may be a strong swimmer, but accidents do happen. A life vest can support your dog should he suffer an injury that temporarily incapacitates him. Swimming is hard work for dogs and great exercise, and dog flotation devices can minimize exhaustion, while allowing your canine companion to safely spend more time with you in the water. Additionally, brightly colored life-jackets and flotation devices can improve visibility for boaters, jetskiers and skiers that might not see your dog until it’s too late.

When choosing a life jacket for dogs, look for one with good buoyancy, strong handles to aid in dog rescue, bright colors to improve visibility and adjustable straps that will holdup if you should need to lift your dog from the water by the jacket. The best built dog life jackets are an investment in your dog's well being as it will last your companion for several years to come.

• To properly fit it: measure the girth of your dog by wrapping a tape measure around the widest part of his girth.
• The length of the life jacket does not need to extend over his whole body in order to be effective.
• The secondary measurement is weight. After selecting a size that will accommodate your dog’s girth, be sure that his weight is within the life vest's rating for lifting him from the water.
• If your dog is going to be out of the water for an extended period of time and on land, remove the flotation device to avoid overheating in the sun.
• Introduce your dog to his new life jacket at home before a trip to the water. Let him adjust to it over several short dress rehearsals, so he can get used to wearing it.
• When fitting him in the life jacket, you want it to have a good, snug fit so that it will support him upright in the water.

• To minimize strain on your dog's back, you want to purchase a backpack with a weight-forward design. Packs that carry the greatest amount of load near the shoulders will reduce strain over the weakest part of the dog's back, the loin area.
• Look for fully adjustable 5 point chest and girth straps
• When sizing the pack, you want the pack to rest over the shoulders and rib cage area; beyond the ribs is the loin area.
• When packing your dog pack, be sure to balance the weight on both sides of the pack. Even the best fitting pack will list and rub sores if the packs are out of balance.
• If you are using the pack for a calming effect on neighborhood walks, add a one litter bottle of water to each pack. For smaller dogs, bags or rice or beans can add enough weight to improve concentration.
• A dog should only carry up to 25% of his body weight in a backpack.