Do People With Full Coated Breeds Use Coats In Winter?

[Bjelkier]

My lab doesn't seem to have as much coat as other labs? She has quite a thin/sparse undercoat. She seems to get cold at night and doesn't object to having a blanket placed over the top of her (my aussie shep would get up and walk away if you did that) and lies by the heater and tries to snuggle up to you. Not that it is even that cold in sydney at the moment...

I don't worry too much as she is still jumping in to the ocean which is quite cold (to me anyway :laugh:). She is fine when she is out and about, its just at night she seems to seek warmth.

It seems a little silly to put a coat on a breed that is used to retrieve game from freezing waters etc :laugh:

My Lab wears a coat all winter long he looses too much condition if he doesn't.

[Alyra]

We foster Shar Pei and use coats on them in winter if need be - they don't have very thick coats. That being said, when we had our bearcoat Shar Pei, he did sometimes wear a rain coat on the really cold rainy days :)

[Dame Aussie]

Ours are both double coated and Lili gives me the evil eye if I try to put anything on her, so nope. They do sleep inside though.

[LizT]

Most of what I have read about artificial coats on coated breeds has been negative. Many get overheated and it is damaging to their natural coat. Even a smooth, short coated breed can get overheated quite quickly apparently.

A light unlined raincoat for a quick trip out in the rain would probably be the extent of it for me, I've thought about getting one for the nursing mother so she doesn't go back to the babies damp, but then a quick towelling down is just as good afterwards.

I do use a satin coat to polish the fur before they go into the show ring though, they are not heavy and certainly not made for warmth or weather protection. I also use a 'drying jacket" after a bath to settle the coat down smoothly.

[luvsdogs]

I did make a tartan lined coat & a rain coat for April many years ago. She only wore each one about twice. I have't bothered with Tilba & Panda my JS definitely doesn't need a coat, he wears his own. :laugh: My son's short coated cross breed dog loves to wear her coat on a cold day.

[Poodle Mum]

my Std poodle have jackets....i use them when its chilly here in Sydney and when we go camping. They r in a very short lamb trim though! I dont use jackets on my 2 boys in show coat....

[W Sibs]

Emmy, my Jap Spitz, will be horrified if I put a coat on her. She loves the cold.. so much so she drop her coat in winter.

But she is a cuddle monster though. Mornings always starts with her cuddles

Edited June 3, 2012 by CW EW

[Little Gifts]

I started putting coats on my old SBT as her hair had thinned. She tolerated it for the sake of feeling better. My younger SBT (who had a healthy coat) just happens to like to wear clothes so gets upset if the coats don't come out on a cold night. As soon as she sees me with one she assumes the position for it to be put on! Even with a coat on she also crawls under all the doonas with me so we tangle legs. I think she is just one of those strange dogs as I don't even know how she breathes under there some nights! I also have a shar pei foster. He was not so healthy when he first arrived but his coat is nice and thick now except on his very wrinkly legs and belly. I decided to try and coat on him at night and not only does he seem comfortable wearing one but he sleeps more soundly. He is not the type to get under blanket or make himself a nest and sleeps on a very simple bed on the floor (his preference) and does have a tendency to get quite warm in the underbelly area as he has loads of extra skin so I keep a close eye on him and he is only coated if the night is really crisp.

I think if you pay attention to your dogs sleeping behaviours (are they snoring or restless?) then it will tell you if they are cold or comfortable. If they have the resources to make themselves little nests or lie against something warmer (like their mummy!) then they will. If you put a coat on them and the snoring keeps you awake all night then at least you know they felt good!

[LizT]

I think the thing to remember is if your dog wears a coat often it wont have the ability to grow a full winter coat and then you owe it to him to keep him warm since you upset his ability to do it himself.

Edited June 3, 2012 by LizT

[Life Of Riley]

My newfie only wears a light coat when in the rain and isn't too impressed when I put that on her :)

[pebbles]

Mick loves his coat/s when the weather turns cold. He doesn't wear it during the night as he's snuggled under the blankets in my bed but come morning he's waiting for it before he'll leave the house.

Abby doesn't need one with her coat, she sleeps on top of the bed but I can tell if it gets colder during the night as a little paw gives me a tap, I lift the blankets and she's under. I do put a light rain coat on her if it's raining when we walk but that's for me, not so much to dry off when we get home lol.

[Katdogs]

I think the thing to remember is if your dog wears a coat often it wont have the ability to grow a full winter coat and then you owe it to him to keep him warm since you upset his ability to do it himself.

What I don't understand is why my dogs shed so much at this coldest time? Stevie produced a whole other dog's worth of undercoat today! She does this every year. This is the first winter I've put coats on my 6yo girls, they just seem a bit stiffer and crunchier in the joints this winter.

[piper]

My theory is if they are young, fit and healthy and have access to suitable places to get out of the wind then they should cope fine with regulating their own body temperature. Old, injured or unwell and I decided on a case by case basis.

The arthritic beagle gets a coat on but only on cold, damp days and not every day, just those where it is particularly cold and damp/wet or she seems particularly stiff in the morning.

The border collies - I do have 1 coat in border collie size and have used it on Piper maybe a dozen times, most recently when she had hurt her back and it was a really cold day. I figured being outside in the cold all day would have been more harm than good. She doesn't like the coat going on though.

And Jazz, most definitely no - I battle to get her to grow a good coat anyway so the last thing I would want to do is rug her up. She still comes into the young, fit and healthy category :)

[Guest donatella]

I think the thing to remember is if your dog wears a coat often it wont have the ability to grow a full winter coat and then you owe it to him to keep him warm since you upset his ability to do it himself.

What I don't understand is why my dogs shed so much at this coldest time? Stevie produced a whole other dog's worth of undercoat today! She does this every year. This is the first winter I've put coats on my 6yo girls, they just seem a bit stiffer and crunchier in the joints this winter.

This is our first winter with an adult coat and I too have never seen so much hair in the brush

[Dame Aussie]

I think the thing to remember is if your dog wears a coat often it wont have the ability to grow a full winter coat and then you owe it to him to keep him warm since you upset his ability to do it himself.

What I don't understand is why my dogs shed so much at this coldest time? Stevie produced a whole other dog's worth of undercoat today! She does this every year. This is the first winter I've put coats on my 6yo girls, they just seem a bit stiffer and crunchier in the joints this winter.

:laugh: Yep, I brushed Mosley the other day for about 3 minutes and I swear to Dog, there was enough undercoat to fill a doona

[Little Gifts]

Same here - I knew it was going to be a cold winter because my sister's shep/husky girl has been shedding and growing and shedding and growing for weeks now, which is very different to most years where she just sort of thickens up and then sheds when it warms up. She constantly has dags hanging off her at present.