Keeping Slobber-Gob Safe In The Sun (Ruffwear Swamp Cooler Dog Coat)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Ruffwear Swamp Cooler Dog Coat
Date:	15/05/09 (404 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Helps keep dogs cool in warm weather, very effective, very well made, good price

Disadvantages: Care still needs to be taken with dogs in the sun

*What is the Swamp Cooler Dog Coat?*
This high tech cooling dog coat is produced by the Ruffwear company, the up and coming expert manufacturers of professional outdoor equipment for dogs including coats, leads, collars, travel crates, portable beds and on the go feeding equipment.

*The product itself*
When it comes to companions, in my opinion, they don't come any better than the Bernese Mountain Dog (well, okay, expect for Rottweilers aswell, can't leave Grace out can I?!). They are loyal to the bone, will protect you with their life, will love you unconditionally, provide with a big fluffy head to cry in to when you are upset and entertain you everyday of their lives. However, during the warmer months of the year, the owners of this fantastic breed are faced with a potential nightmare.

The Bernese Mountain Dog originates from Switzerland and has a gorgeous, prominently black, very thick fur coat for keeping them warm in the snowy Swiss mountains. So, of course, for the Bernese living in England, even the relatively mild British summers can propose a problem, and create a lot of misery and discomfort for the dog if some special care isn't put into place.

With Benson, we manage quite well, only going out for walks only very early in the morning and late in the evening during summer, and letting him chill out completely during the heat of the day and always try to walk routes where we will come across a source of water, where he can get in to have a little swim and a drink to cool down. However, there is times where some other extra measures are needed to ensure his comfort, so that's why I went in search of a specially designed dog coat that I had seen advertised, but didn't really know a lot about.

There are many different ones produced by lots of different companies available but I found exactly what I was looking for in the form of this Swamp Cooler coat by Ruffwear. The Swamp Cooler coat acts in the opposite way to regular dog coats, instead of keeping dogs warm on cooler days, this Swamp Cooler is designed to keep dogs cool on warmer ones.

It is advertised as a ''wearable air conditioner'' and has been tested for effectiveness in the warmest of climates and helps to prevent potentially fatal heat stroke and very uncomfortable heat exhaustion in dogs who are being active during warm weather,

The coat has three layers and works in a very unique way. The top mesh layer generates evaporation, releasing heat which has been drawn away from your dogs body, the middle layer absorbs the heat which has evaporated from your dog, turns it into cooling water and then redirects the coolness back to your dog via the bottom layer which creates a continuous cycle of absorbing evaporation and releasing heat from your dog, and then sending back a cooling effect.

The coat fastens around your dog using strong plastic fasteners which lock securely to keep the coat in its exact place and comes in a selection of sizes to cater for all breeds of dog. Lastly, the light coloured material reflects sunlight, further cooling your dog and has UV protection, reflecting ultraviolet rays away from your dogs body to help minimise the risk of skin damage and sun burn in thinly coated breeds.

*Packaging*
The Swamp Cooler comes attached to a large cardboard tag which tells us all about the technology involved in making the coat work and also care instructions, helping you to get the best possible performance and longest life from the coat. There is also contacts details for Ruffwear, should you have any questions or comments.

*Price & Availability*
Ruffwear products are widely available across the internet although I have never seen them stocked in offline pet stores. I purchased Benson's Swamp Cooler coat online from www.innerwolf.co.uk for £35.

The coat is available in six sizes from XXS to XL so there should be something to suit most breeds and all sizes are one price on the Inner Wolf site, making a nice change for owners of large breeds who normally need to fork out more for equipment than those with small dogs!

*My opinion*
Although I do take every care possible with Benson to ensure he is kept happy, healthy and comfortable on warmer days and make sure he doesn't unnecessarily overdo it when its warm, trying to make a dog as bouncy and lively as Benson sit down and take it easy more often than not results in failure!

Also, whilst I don't exercise him and take him for walks during the heat of the day, I have no say in when activities such as flyball and agility competitions take place and they do occasionally fall on days in summer when it is particularly warm and Benson needs something extra, other than plenty of water to drink, to help keep him cool and healthy. This is where the Ruffwear Swamp Cooler comes in.

I'd seen many owners with similar items at various competitions and dog shows and decided one would be very useful for Benson, after a long search on the internet, reading up on all the pro's and con's of the various ones available, I settled on this Ruffwear one, based on supposed quality, price and the claims that the manufacturers made. I placed my order and waited eagerly for it to arrive.

When it did, I was instantly very impressed with it. It was a lovely icy blue and grey colour, which was very fitting I think, as it gave the impression of being a cool item and it was very well made with the Ruffwear logo stitched onto the back. I hadn't purchased any Ruffwear items before so was unsure as what to expect but the Swamp Cooler really pleased me, there was so loose stitching, the colours were very bright and vivid and it looked like an all round very well made piece of equipment and considering it wasn't particularly expensive, I was chuffed.

But of course only time would tell if it performed well at what it was supposed to do! I called Benson through to try the coat on him in preparation for proper use and it was very easy to fit. It is more of a 'vest' than a 'coat' I think, it needs to be pulled over your dogs head, then the panel needs to be pulled down over your dogs chest, and it then fastens behind each front leg. Benson wasn't keen on it going over his head, but once we'd done that he wasn't bothered by it whatsoever, I'd ordered the XL size and it gave a nice fit, it was fairly snug to his body but still gave him ample room to move around. The coat also looked lovely, the colours were nice and it looked great on Benson.

I brought the coat last year, around July time, and we had an agility competition the weekend after I purchased it so it was put to its proper use fairly quickly. It was a very warm July day and if I didn't have the coat I wouldn't have taken Benson to compete in the competition, as much as he loves his agility, it would have just been too hot for him but off we went with the coat in tow.

When we arrived, the coat was very easy to fit again, just simply over his head and secured behind his legs and that was it, the coat covered his chest and back but left his belly and back legs free so he was able to urinate with no restrictions and once again, he wasn't bothered in the slightest by the presence of the coat. There was lots of waiting around until it was his turn to compete and also more waiting in between his rounds, mostly in full sun with limited shade but Benson really was fazed, despite being the hairiest and thickest coated dog there Benson wasn't so much as panting, whilst all the other dogs had their tongues hanging half way out of their head! I was quite simply amazed, I had expected the coat to do a good job, but nothing anywhere as good as this.

I slipped my hand under the coat and ran it along his back and he was as cool as anything under there, so much so that I was tempted to whip it off him and put it on myself!

He is able to walk about freely with the coat and sit/lay comfortably but I do tend to take it off him whilst he is actually competing as it is quite snug fitting and when jumping and running about doing agility, he needs to be able to move with no restrictions. Although he is always hot after a round, I pop the coat back on him when he is done and he takes less than half the time to cool down again than he would without it and it even works in spite of all that incredibly thick fur he has.

Overall, the best £35 I have ever spent! Of course you still need to be careful exercising dogs in warm weather and although I'd still never exercise Benson in the heat of the day through choice, this Swamp Cooler coat has proved invaluable during competitions during the summer. Benson is mainly black so obviously even more prone to heat stroke than lighter coloured animals yet the coat still does an excellent job, helping to keep him comfortably cool, happy and of course, it reduces the risk of the dangers that the sun can inflict.

It'll soon be time to get the coat back out again and I'm looking forward to using it again this summer, knowing it will keep Benson comfortable and still enable him to compete in the agility and flyball competitions that he loves so much but would be out of the question during summer without this coat.

A massive well done to Ruffwear for this marvellous invention, absolutely recommended to all dog owners, especially those with dogs who have thick or dark coloured fur.

Summary: An excellent piece of equipment from Ruffwear, I'd pay twice the price for it!