Dog cooling vests: what a study on Spanish military dogs actually measured
Published by Planète Pets · managing editor: Clément Lacaille · how our guides are written
The cooling vest promises to bring down the temperature of a dog struggling to cool off in summer. Mila Benito, Diego Lozano and Francisco Miró tested that promise in dogs from a military police battalion in Valencia, Spain, and published their results in 2022 in the journal Animals. The rest of our picks sit in the dog accessories section.
Three conditions compared on the same effort
The researchers compared three situations: no vest, an evaporative-cooling vest and a phase-change-material vest (a cooling technology based on the controlled melting of an internal gel). Core body temperature, blood pressure and pulse rate were measured before and after a 20-minute exercise session in a moderately hot environment, then again after a rest period in a kennel at around 30°C.
A measurable drop, but around half a degree
Right after the 20-minute run, the average temperature gap reached about 0.6°C between dogs wearing a cooling vest and those running unprotected. Fifteen minutes after exercise, resting in the kennel, the phase-change vest still showed a gap of about 0.7°C against no vest at all. Across the measurements, the evaporative vest came out generally ahead of the phase-change model, with significant differences by condition and by time point, both for temperature and for pulse rate.
What it does not replace
A gap of 0.6 to 0.7°C is real but modest next to the temperature swings that define heatstroke. A cooling vest is a support during or after exercise, not protection against prolonged heat exposure: water, shade and avoiding the hottest hours remain the priority measures, especially in brachycephalic breeds, for which our article on the risk of heat in a parked car covers the dangerous thresholds.
- Wet the evaporative vest properly before use: its effectiveness depends directly on sufficient, regular soaking.
- Reserve the vest for exercise sessions or short trips, not as the sole answer to prolonged heat exposure.
- Watch for heatstroke signs even with a vest on: excessive panting, very red gums, heavy drooling, disorientation.
- Remove the vest once back in the cool: fabric left damp and compressive can turn uncomfortable once the effort is over.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cooling vest enough to prevent heatstroke?
No: the measured gap stays around 0.6 to 0.7°C, a useful support but not enough against prolonged exposure to high heat.
Which vest type performed best in this study?
The evaporative model generally came out ahead of the phase-change model, provided it is properly soaked.
Does a cooling vest suit every breed?
The study covers trained working dogs in a moderately hot climate; brachycephalic breeds stay the most vulnerable and need extra precautions. Find all our guides on the dog hub.
This guide is part of Planète Pets’s Dogs universe. Our advice is general in nature: for any health concern, your veterinarian remains the only reference.