Gordon,

The Chandler P.D. has it. It was purchased through the trainer I work with. I will see if I can get some details and e-mail them to you. If I can talk them out of it I may also be able to get some pictures with it on. They didn't have any good clothes for covering it up on Saturday or I would have some.

As for the hidden suit, I have one also, feel free to contact me off list and I'll be happy to get you one. I help a friend in Europe who is a vendor for the co that makes them.

Very interesting post. As a 'civilian' I never thought what the vests are like for the dogs. I just read the articles in the paper, and their arguement was that these dogs cost thousands of dollars for training and raising that spending $500+ dollars per vest seemed like a bargain in comparision to loosing a dog that so much has been invested in. If this isn't already an article in the Leerburg Library, it definately should be!Then maybe the money could go where its needed in PD Programs.

I have a question about these vests. Has anyone, i.e. a vet, done any tests to see if the dogs would survive the blunt trauma associated with being shot in the vest. I know for a human it not only leaves a hell of a bruise but in cases will break a couple of ribs as well. I agree with everyone else on this topic, you are putting the needs of the dogs first. The reason these dogs do what they do is to save officer's, like myself,lives.

I understand fully why the general public would think the vests would help protect the K9s but in reality it puts them in greater danger. I do however wonder what could be done to help protect the K9s. Perhaps stiffer penalties for injuring a service dog would make them think twice before injuring a K9 or any service dog for that matter. I have heard that certain states carry the same penalties for shooting a K9 the same as shooting an officer. Personally I think shooting a K9 should carry the same harsh penalties as shooting a human police officer.
Just my $.002

Stiffer penalties are good for revenge but do little for a deterant. It doesn't stop people from killing people in Texas and they have a pretty stiff penalty for murder. The best thing to protect a service dog is good training. Teach the dog to fight humans - thats the best protection. Hanging a heavy vest on them just slows them down.

I am in agreement with most of the responses on the vests for you street guys.....

However, in the prison we have found an excellent use for them. We deploy with them on for certain situations. They are not the "save-all", but aren't worthless either.

They protect the dog from the inmates and do not effect speed, as our enviroment is always polished concrete which slows the dogs anyhow....

Vest example

I had NO IDEA they were this gaudy... Umm.. Might as well stap a pack onto the poor dog while you are at it, you know for the picnic after the apprehension :rolleyes:

WOW, those things ARE BULKY. I don't know about you guys but here in Vegas it gets up to about 115 degrees in the summer and I don't think a working dog could last too long with that thing on. They have a hard enough time keeping them cool without all that extra weight. Besides, it seems to me that if a suspect shot at the dog it would be a chest or head shot because the dog would be headed straight at them. It looks like all of the protection is on the sides. The web site even states the dog has full mobility, that just tells me they know that the dog doesn't have very good mobility. Oh well, they used to sell rocks as pets too, marketing can do anything.

I agree that vests are not the end all for protecting your dog, and no you dont send in a dog after a baracaded armed subject, and no you don't leave them on all the time. But there are newer designs that I am impressed with, that are cut better, weigh a hell of a lot less, dont slow down or interfere with motion, but probably are still hot in the summer. I did a track a couple of nights ago of a subject (urban) who was carrying a tech9 (gun), and would have loved to have had a vest in the trunk for that one. For those of us that are police officers, we still wear ours even though we dont get shot at everyday, and it may be hotter than hell out. Our vests don't protect our heads either, but we still wear them. Most of the officers killed in the US are killed wearing vests, but we still wear them. Most officers killed with a gun are killed with their own gun, but we still wear them on our hips. My point is that they may not be useful in every situation, but that does not mean they dont have a use at all. That being said, I don't have one for my k9 right now either. But there are certain situations where I would love to have one. Check out http://www.k9storm.com, they make vests for dogs, and it looks like someone who actually works dogs designed it. They have some action video, showing them working with them on, and it sure doesn't look like it slows them down at all.