“My dog is around 45-50 lbs, a mix of lab, golden, collie, and pit bull. He has shorter legs and a longer back. I followed the size chart and got him a medium and it fit well. He has free movement of his front legs, nothing pulls on his somewhat broad chest.
However, the vest has a few flaws:
1. Twisting / Leg Loops. The leg loops are necessary to keep the vest centered on my dog's back. (See the photo for what happens immediately after putting the vest on my dog if the leg loops aren't around his back legs.) However, the leg loops, even fully extended, are way too short. When they're on his legs, they restrict his movement. When he sits down, they fall under his "knees" and then prevent him from standing back up. Additionally, the stomach strap isn't tacked down anywhere, so the top half of the vest is free to rotate around that strap, which further exacerbates the twisting.
2. Heating. High does seem to produce a noticeable light warmth, but it automatically switches to low after 15 minutes and low doesn't seem to produce any heat. I understand this is for safety, but high is just warm and low is basically nothing. Something in between that stays on would have been helpful so I don't have to keep remembering to switch it back to high to keep my senior dog warm while he's napping, which wakes him up.
3. Return Policy. In order to learn the above things, I had to test it out, which meant using it on a camping trip and removing the large "keep this on in order to return" tag. I understand the reason for this, but I feel a little duped, since the product isn't actually particularly well designed.
So, no, I don't recommend this vest, unless perhaps it fits your dog differently than mine and you're able to really test it out well at home with the tag on. I'll be trying to rig up a different way to keep it centered on his back, so I can still get some use out of it. Really disappointing, since I love my own vest so much.”
Hi Katie, thank you so much for sharing such detailed feedback about your experience. We’re sorry to hear the vest didn’t work as smoothly for your dog as you’d hoped. Your insights on the fit, heating function, and overall usability are incredibly valuable, and we’ll be sure to share them with our product development team for future improvements. We truly appreciate the time you took to provide this thoughtful review and your support for ororo.
“My 30 pound SBT loves this jacket (she hates the cold) but it is absolutely huge! I am sad that she just drowns in even the smallest size. I was hoping to have it sewn to make it more appropriately sized, but I am a little nervous with the wiring inside. I hope they make smaller sizes!”
Hi, Cassie. Thank you for your review. We appreciate your suggestion and will take it into consideration for future designs. If you have any other suggestions or questions, please feel free to contact us at support@ororowear.com if you need any assistance.
“I love this vest but really expected it to fit my small dogs. I did not look at the sizing guide closely. I would love this vest in a tiny/toy breed size. The small fits my 30 pound dog.”
