How Did You Help Your Dog 'get Over' Wearing A Coat?

[kelpiecuddles]

I bought my girls some jumpers today, they are a jumper/jacket style as opposed to a coat and have little legs, etc, they are lined with polar fleece(kind of like a baseball jacket style). I expected Josie to crack it but she has accepted it like she's always worn one and happily curled up and went to sleep. Sascha on the other hand is sitting on her bed giving me a kelpie death stare and refuses to lie down. It doesn't seem to be too tight on her but she's certainly in a mood about it. I need to get her used to wearing something as she's nine years old and is starting to feel the cold a bit more than she used to, also I'd like them to be able to wear them when we travel in the car to reduce fur on the seats.

Does anyone have any tips to help get her over the indignity of being 'dressed up'? She's not particularly food motivated so I'm not sure treats are going to cut it.

[blakkjackal]

Do everything you normally would but with her wearing the jumper. Behave like it doesn't even exist. Maybe go for a walk or do something else that takes her mind off it. She'll get over it.

[Mim]

Just ignore her and go on about things as normal. She'll get used to it.

To speed things up you could have her wearing it while she does things she enjoys. Perhaps slow short walks (don't want her to overheat) or while she eats dinner or plays with a treat dispenser.

Edited August 15, 2013 by Mim

[Maddy]

I'd agree with what others have said- don't make a big deal out of it.

I get a lot of greys that have never worn coats (or pajamas) and I just put them on and leave them to it. Without an audience, they stand there for a few minutes and then just go back to whatever they were doing. By the next day, you'd think they'd been born in a coat.

[Leah82]

When we first put a jumper on Collie he looked so cute and was absolutely lapping up the attention from the store staff and customers. Sarah on the other hand would just wait until you weren't looking and take it off...still no idea how she does it, it's a knitted jumper and probably a bit too big for her but still.

One cold Melbourne winters day however I put on Sarah's jumper after she was still a bit damp from a bath, she spend all day in the jumper and even lasted all night, usually if I left it on her at night I would find it sitting next to the dog bed in the morning. I think being that it was extra cold she finally realised it's advantages :p

But like everything else just give it time and Sascha will come round, at least she hasn't taken it off yet :)

[Rascalmyshadow]

Lol sorry had to laugh, Rascal my silky x shihtzu goes stiff and will barely move if I put any sort of jumper or jacket on him, if he does he walks like a robot.

[fuzzy82]

I tried the approach of just putting it on and let them get used to it, but they were rolling around on the floor and trying to rip it off and would have ended up destroying it.

So I did a quick training session, first click and reward for looking at it, then for nose targeting it. Then click as I lift it over their head, remove it, lift it again, click. Repeat until they don't care (3-4 times), then click as I touch their side with it, remove, repeat. Then put it over them but without doing it up, click, remove, repeat. Baby steps like that until it's on them and done up, feed treats while it's on them, then take it off. Once it's on them, you can take it off and put it straight back on several times. Reward every time it's on them, rewards go away when it comes off. After 2-3 times they stop caring about it. Ask for some normal obedience behaviours while they're wearing it, then take it off.

Then you just put it on them before doing something else, like training or going for a walk, so they're a bit distracted, and then soon enough they stop caring that they're wearing it. Took me 2-3 sessions over 2 days. And we got to do some training too, so it was all fun.

Edited August 15, 2013 by fuzzy82

[OSoSwift]

Just put it on and feed them, then let them do their thing - and then they look very cute, like this :)

[Andisa]

Lol sorry had to laugh, Rascal my silky x shihtzu goes stiff and will barely move if I put any sort of jumper or jacket on him, if he does he walks like a robot.

I had a little fluffy years ago who did the same thing. 2 hours later he was still standing in the yard where I left him like a cardboard cut out. I took it off him and away he went, he never took to a coat.

[Andisa]

Just put it on and feed them, then let them do their thing - and then they look very cute, like this :)

I am not really a cat person (allergies) but that really is cute.

[Allerzeit]

Nova goes and sits behind the curtains if I put a coat on her *insert rolly eyes*

Like others said, just pretend there's nothing different and she'll get used to it :)

[Agility Dogs]

It took Wikki one really cold night to get used to hers. She just hated it - did the cardboard cut out thing. Then one night we were camping in -2 deg temps and guess what - she's never complained about her coat again. :)

(She even wears a back on track at agility without complaint.)

[Little Gifts]

Tempeh was quite terrified of having anything over her body. Last winter she was a pup and with litter mates for warmth but this winter with us she had no clue about how to get warm and she was shivering constantly in her blanket fortified soft crate. I bought a heat bed, a reflective heat pad, those heating discs, I tried to cover her with a light blanket (panic!), I tried to get her onto my bed and snuggle into her, I tried to build blankets around her, I tried to put a light coat on her (panic!). Peristence and colder weather is all that worked for us. Now she sleeps on the bed with me and Stussy and snuggles so close I often find myself without leg room. After making coats specifically for her that are warm but lightweight, can be put on very quickly and easily, leaving them lying around her a lot and just sleeping with them myself we got one on her. She has 3 now that I can get her to sit (rather than run and hide) and put on over her head and tie around her belly. She needs to sniff them first and they need to smell like everything else (rather than new). I also leave them lying around the bedroom. If she is not cold enough though she will avoid me if I have the coat so I just leave her be. I can now also get a light fleece blanket draped over her body and I can cuddle around her without her jumping up and running off the bed. It has taken us months of work to get to this stage but I am very pleased with her progress because she was so cold and just didn't seem to know how to warm herself.

[Vehs]

Leah - same! Dieter loves wearing clothes, he really fancies himself in them - and yes I do make a big deal about how cute/studly he looks

Taz on the other hand hates his jumper and he has worn one since a pup, when you take it off him he tries to grab it and shred it

I agree with the idea of putting it on her and then doing something she likes

[kitkatswing]

If they don't like wearing it, just don't put it on.... dogs don't need clothing. ...

[Salukifan]

If they don't like wearing it, just don't put it on.... dogs don't need clothing. ...

If there is no other method of ensuring they are warm enough, they do. Ask Sir Walter what a Whippet left to "keep itself warm" outside in a Victorian winter ends up looking like (a toast rack). When you modify an animal's coat type or deprive it of natural methods of keeping warm (like a den and pack mates) then a coat is the answer!

Not all dogs have double insulated coats, or indeed, enough fat to keep themselves warm in winter. And senior dogs sometimes need a bit more warmth. I actually coat my aging poodles in summer for sun protection as their coats are thinning.

As for the "how". Same as for horses - put coat on, ignore reaction of coat wearer and proceed as normal. Just before feeding is always a good time.

Edited August 16, 2013 by Haredown Whippets

[Zombie Bait]

I was lucky with Brembo - we used to dress him up in my Ex's tshirts as a laugh and he loved the attention. Plus he loves being covered up with a blanket at night.

So when I bought a coat for him he thought it was awesome!

I just hold it up now and he pops his head through the head hole and waits for me to do up the belly strap.

I would use treats and praise to traln them to accept the coat or mayber extra blankets in their beds instead?

[Little Gifts]

If they don't like wearing it, just don't put it on.... dogs don't need clothing. ...

Tempeh's shivering from the cold could shake the whole bed. She just didn't seem to know how to make herself warm by burrowing into bedding (inc the heated stuff) in her crate, lying next to me or one of the other dogs or how to shape her body to protect it from the cold. I've never had a dog who didn't know how to warm itself before! She is a horse coated pei (surrendered to rescue as a pup) so has very little fur on two thirds of her body and none on the other third. She was miserable being cold and wasn't sleeping (neither was I worrying about her). Here she is fast asleep in one of the coats I made her, and on my bed. Also a hint of snuggling with a blanket! All new experiences for her and I am so proud of what she has achieved!

My sbt girl Stussy on the other hand demanded coats from when she was a puppy as I used to put them on my old sbt girl when she started losing her hair with age and Stussy would be nudging the coats and sticking her paws up wanting one on too. Stussy has always had a very healthy and thick coat but not only likes a fleece coat on in winter but also gets under all the doonas and blankets and lies right next to me. No idea how she breathes under there and sometimes she makes it very hot. She'll even lie on top of me but under a blanket on the lounge, with the heater going and a coat on.