I have a 4 year old, female black lab. Still a fairly high energy dog. During the hottest and wettest part of the summer, she only has 1/2 - 1 hour outside. In addition to the time in the yard, my dogs are walked approximately 30 minutes in the early morning and 45 minutes to an hour after sun down, 7 days a week.

The weighted vests appear to be a good idea but I do have a concern about using one in the summer time.

Please let me know your thoughts/opinion.

What for, do you want to use a weighted vest?

Any "safe" places to take her swimming? Does she retrieve well?

If so, that is a great alternative to utilize during hot weather.

Here in SD it is averaging 92+ daily, so I use a 3000 gallon water storage tank (the shape of a square and over 3' deep) to swim my dogs.

It would certainly help use up some energy. You can try it and if it looks like your dog is over heating then you can carry the vest the rest of the trip.
If you introduce the vest slowly you shouldn't have any problems. Just just keep a close eye on your dog for stress.

I have a three-year-old Chocolate Lab in South Florida too. He's an avid swimmer and he loves to swim in our pool. We play a lot of "fetch" in the pool and he loves it and he's in great physical shape. As you know, be careful of lakes and ponds for swimming in South Florida because of the constant threat of alligators. I don't believe that any lake or pond is safe in Florida for dogs because of the alligators.

As a thought, why not allow the dog to wear the vest while just hanging out around an air conditioned home. NOT the full ten pounds, but one or two at first.

I own the vest sold here at Leerburg (and LOVE it!), and regularly have one dog or the other wearing it. Great for a long walk or hanging out, but I don’t need the dog jumping around with that extra weight ... I also have doggie backpack that allows the dog to carry water for all of us while out running around.

Be aware that the vest is made from heavy material, and will act like a blanket while on the dog. For your heat, I would make sure that the dog is kept cool and comfortable at all times… Be very careful with that.

 Quote: Dave Wysocki

Still a fairly high energy dog. During the hottest and wettest part of the summer, she only has 1/2 - 1 hour outside. In addition to the time in the yard, my dogs are walked approximately 30 minutes in the early morning and 45 minutes to an hour after sun down, 7 days a week.

Keep in mind that a vest, does nothing to exercise the dog's drive, or it's mind.
It may tire the body out, but that's the extent of it. It's not a substitute for you working your dog. Walks and free time in the yard is awesome. Where's the training time? This is the same dog you had aggression issues with, right?

How is that coming along?

I have a high energy dog too, and own the 10 lb vest sold here. I use mine if I only have 1/2 hr for a walk instead of an hour, or if I'm very sick or the weather is beyond inclement, etc. just help to burn off some of the physical energy. With or without it, I keep the bulk of the exercise in the early morning or late evening to avoid the heat of the day.

As someone else said here, it's not a substitute for training and I wouldn't have my dog running around and jumping in it, just walking. If I really want maximum impact and don't have a lot of time, I'll walk to the field with the vest, take it off when we get there, play Frisbee until my dog has four on the floor, THEN train, then put the vest back on and walk back. Within an hour my dog is a content pile of gelatinous goo. Some dogs train better before exercise, mine needs to burn off a little steam first.

I know how hot it can get in Southern Florida, and would say the vest is fine if you keep to the coolest part of the day and monitor your dog. You might want to keep looking for a place to swim. I don't know if there is one in your area, but north of you in the New Smyrna/Deland area there is a dog park with a swimming area. Though I would avoid the fenced, loose-dog areas, this place is HUGE and has lots of places to walk, and an alligator-free man made pond for swimming dogs.

I realize this is probably FAR north of you, but is it possible they have something similar farther south?

Thanks for all the comments. My lab does swim in the lake and yes I'm very concerned about alligators. So, they are never outside unsupervised. Between the possiblity of alligators and the poisonous frogs, the dogs are never outside alone. Luckily the development has alligator screens in all the piping that connects the lakes in the community. I've never seen a gator in any of the lakes. If that changes, they will never go in again.

Right now, 4 - 5 swims to fetch her toy is usually enough to take the edge off. And, 90 - 95% of the agression issues have been worked out.