Wtf! I've just been for a stroll around Cassiobury Park on this fine day and there were loads of dogs in coats trotting about. Mainly small dogs admittedly. So rats in coats then. The bigger 'dog-shaped dogs' were mostly coatless and doing more pwopa running. But does any dog really need a coat? I don't remember any having coats in my yoof. They've got a warm, natural coat after all and surely the object of the exercise is to run about a bit and work up a bit of a sweat. I didn't notice any players on the pitch yesterday wearing coats although admittedly there were a few pairs of gloves on show. So what's it all about? Is it 'keeping up with the Jones's'? My dogs got a posher coat than yours? Or could the lack of a coat be construed as cruelty to an animal i.e. your dog? Maybe there's something more robust to it though. It's well known that animals in the arctic tend to be bigger than individuals of the same species further south. The bigger an individual animal is then the less its surface area to body mass ratio is which means it radiates proportionately less heat. So perhaps wee dogs do benefit from a bit of extra cladding.
I've got a French Bulldog and they're not so good a regulating there body temperature. So it's needed especially here in Norway.
I've got a Malemute and their limit is about -5o degrees. I'd probably consider a coat below that tbf.
Did the Park Run around Cassiobury yesterday for the first time, and there were a few dogs with coats, but many with out. Were the dogs with coats on leads and therefore restricted from running a lot?
Depends on the breed. All dogs will need a coat if it gets cold enough. Certain breeds are far less (fewer) tolerant to lower temperatures than others. For example, Greyhounds and Italian Greyhounds have very limited body fat and their natural coats are built more for speed than warmth, so they are much more susceptible to low temperatures than e.g. the Greenland dog, a breed that originated with the indiginous Inuit tribes. Size is also a factor, as noted above. Small dogs will chill far more quickly than large ones, and similarly older dogs will experience the effects of the weather much more quickly than younger ones. If you factor in all this variance there's a lot of room for confusion. A 15 year old chihuahua's tolerance is significantly different than a 2 year old Alaskan Malamute's would be. Chances are that most of the dogs you see out and about in the UK probably don't need a coat. The UK just doesn't get cold enough for it usually. The simplest rule of thumb: is the dog shivering? If no, they probably don't need a coat. But most dogs are unlikely to be harmed by a coat they don't need, either.
Maybe not physically, but I can only imagine the mental anguish that comes from being paraded around a park dressed like that.
Some little'uns on leads some not. None seemed very active though. I doubt if Ismaila would be as keen to scoot down the wing at maximum revs in a parka ...
We had a Cairn Terrier, small in stature, but a great pet dog. Never needed any coat, its own seemed impregnable to cold and rain. But her replacement the Parsons Russell Terrier has a very smooth coat - she shivers to death. Why anyone bred a terrier that could not cope with an English winter is a mystery.
We had a lurcher that needed a coat. Never saw him shivering without it aside from the time he got stuck in the pond.
I’ve got a miniature dachshund, for him it’s not so much about just the cold, but obviously his little belly is very low to the ground so when it’s very cold and wet it’s unpleasant for him. Equafleeces are both warm and waterproof, so he’s much happier in one during the winter months than he is without one.
Personally, I've never considered a coat for the dogs we've had, and I never noticed any of them being too cold to enjoy a good walk around the park? They don't make dogs ( or owners) like they used to in my day! Wimps.
My brother's dog has a Barbour jacket. He also has a rugby kit, purchased by me, mainly to wind up my welsh sister in law.
Does it wear foxgloves too? We have a border collie - against all my protestations that the breed don't need coats as they thrive in the cold, my wife went and bought one. Watching my wife and daughter fight to get it on the dog is one hilarious sight - as is said dog's refusal to go outside wearing it.
Was that from Bang Bang it The Smell Of? Either way I’m heading to amazon now to order both because it’s been way to long, I was brought up on that stuff.
Most dogs in coats don’t need them, like their owners didn’t need lip fillers. If you’re dog needs a coat, you’ve bought the wrong breed of dog. I feel for most of the poor buggers I see being walked in Cassiobury Park trapped in a fashion item dog coat. Their owners also are mostly allergic to letting their dogs socialise with other dogs or even people , and often wonder why their dogs snap and bark. It’s cos you’re ever strained, rising voice calling Fudge to desperately return to your side lest it follows its instinct to wag and say hello to the other dog or human only serves to tell the dog that it stresses its owner out to act normally. So it turns into stressed defend the owner at all costs barking and snapping machine. Young parents with little kids are worst at this and the most stupid (and most scared of interaction).
I thought this was a culinary thread. Aren’t dogs in coats the Korean equivalent of pigs in blankets?
Dogs don’t sweat. We don’t put usually put our dogs in jackets for the cold, but we do to protect them from the biblical rain, especially for our poor canis africanis.
Mine is an idiot on the lead, we’ve tried everything but she’s a rescue and there’s obviously some kind of damage there. She’s very protective of us and hates dogs coming near us when there’s a lead attached to her collar. Let her off the lead and she’s the life and soul of the party, I love taking her to the park and watching her play with other big dogs, all chasing each other and play fighting. It’s beautiful really because as far as we can tell she spent the first year of her life cooped up in a tiny flat with very little stimulation. Then of course when there’s a big dogpile in full swing a little ratty thing will come yapping over perused by a woman screeching ‘Noooo noooo, Penelope come back! Oh my goodness!’ Of course that just puts all the other dogs on edge and ruins the fun. We send to a group play thing once a week, basically a woman shoves 20 dogs in a van and takes them to a big field. We get pictures after and it they look like they’re having the greatest time ever.
It seems to be a thing now to get a small dog and give it a 1950’s name. There’s a Penelope, an Arthur and a Barbara at our regular park. None of which can behave themselves around other dogs and have owners with an aversion to picking up their turds.
