Fleece Winter Dog Coat
22 Jan 2006
I’m not much for dog apparel. But last year Nancy got Mr. Peabody
and Milo some fleece dog coats on sale that I can best describe as winter track suits for dogs. They are made by Fido Fleece. What makes these coats different from turn-out style coats is they fit snugly around the dog and have a velcro strip up the back to close. This means the dog’s chest and trunk are fully covered and there are short “sleeves” that cover the dog’s biceps. But the underside of the coat is cut up so the dogs don’t pee on it. The nice thing about this design and the snug fit is the material doesn’t flap around as they move. The light weight fleece is stretchy too so it doesn’t constrict or bind when the dogs move.
Since the coats have mini sleeves you have to guide the dog’s feet through the arm holes. I feed my hand backwards through the sleeve, hold the dog’s foot and pull my hand and the foot back through the sleeve; like you would help a small child put their arms in a sweater. Then you pull the coat up and seal the velcro on the top. Mr. P doesn’t care about the foot holding, but Milo will get antsy and “smile” at you if you have to hold his feet “too long” to get his coat on. Once the coats are on they ignore them.
It was about 10 F (-12C) a few weeks ago with a little wind and I had both the boys out in the snow charging around after their toys. The coats stayed in place in spite of their frenetic activity. The material is light fleece so they don’t overheat and it protects them from the wind, wet and the ice/snow that would normally build up on their undersides when they flop down in the snow. In the pictures below you can see the beginnings of the ice forming on Milo’s back leg and where it would have been on his belly.
So I have to give a thumbs up for these coats. I think you could even consider outdoor agility in them since they don’t have any openings or seams to get caught on the equipment. Hmmm extending the outdoor agility season…
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