Your opinion on doggy coats

[neilsmom2000]

Well we're freezing here this morning, and Lara is stuck to me like glue to keep warm, and my thoughts are turning towards wintery things. Lara is pretty sucky about the cold, and who could blame her with so little fur! Last year it took lots of coaxing to get her outside for a pee and even for a walk. I thought maybe a little coat might help things, but my breeder thinks it a bad idea. She said that Lara might not grow a proper winter coat if we dress her up. But I'm thinking she won't grow a nice warm coat anyways if she retreats to inside the house all winter. And I admit, part of me just wants to dress up my baby so she looks real cute :p So what do you think, coat or no coat?

Btw, we live in Barrie, Ontario, where the snow banks are taller than people! We get REAL winter here!

 

[lola]

I live in Canada and I know how cold it can get. Benson wears sweaters or coats in the winter (check out my gallery he is sporting his GAP sweater in one of the pictures, he wears a GAP size small). I have heard that Boxer's never really grow a winter coat (please correct me if I am wrong). I think that I am going to get him boots this winter too...

 

[buddy'smom]

Kailee wears a coat in the winter. Last year I purchased her a new coat made at an Equine supply store. It resembles a horse warming blanket, it is waterproof, and is fleece lined to keep her warm. This style of coat fits a boxer very well.
Now, I don't rush into putting on her coat in the fall, but she does wear it once the snow is flying and the temps are sub zero. I too live in Ontario, and in my opinion boxers need something to hold in their body heat whether they have managed to grow a winter coat of their own fur or not.
We did have a thread on this issue last year, and that is where I found the supply store that made Kailee's coat. A few of us ordered one from them, we used the one called In The Ribbons. Here is the link to that thread
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=16382&highlight=Canadian+Climate

Jean

 

[cynthia rolfes]

Well, this is something I never heard of. Maximus fur is thicker than Mercedes. I wondered if that is normal for a fawn boxer to have a thinner coat compared to a reverse brindle?
I always put sweaters and coats on Mercedes. Her and I have matching clothes!

 

[peanutlee]

Peanut wears coats and sweaters all winter. He hates the cold. Last winter he would bring his coat to me when he wanted out. I'd put it on because I had to force him out without it on. He loves his coat.

 

[VTbxrFan]

I don't really need a doggie coat here in NC, but I definitely would get one if I lived up north. (And in fact, I've thought about buying a light weight for cool-weather camping around here). I can't imagine that an indoor boxer dog is going to have a significantly different coat from summer to winter. Now if you were going to leave your dog outside all the time, you would probably see it develop as much of a "winter" coat as possible for a boxer, but of course that is definitely not recommended and even with a "winter" coat, a boxer would not survive a canadian winter outside. I say definitely get a coat for winter walks -- maybe even some little boots if she will be out in the snow for more than a really short time. When I was growing up, we had a bad experience with our boxer -- we were home from school for a snowday and of course we wanted Sally to play outside with us. She wore a coat and that kept her body warm, but unfortunately we did not think about her feet. She was outside for a good long time in the snow with us and that night my parents had to rush her to the emergency vet because she had frostbite on her feet.

 

[penny&seth]

I live in northern Alberta, Canada. When winter came for Seth for the first time he didn't really like it. He has barely any fur (very pink.) We bought him a sweater and booties. It seems to work well except sometimes his legs get red from the rubbing of the part that holds the back of the sweater down. I think when it's not too cold (anything above about -10c) he doesn't really need a sweater. He hated the booties and would rip them off the first chance he got so we returned them (be careful with booties, sometimes it's not worth it, especially when they get lost).

He's now great in the winter. We usually take him to the dog park for about 15-25 minutes in the winter and he runs like crazy to keep warmer even with the sweater.

Penny hates winter and is more sensitive to cold eventhough she has more fur. She's also getting a new sweater this winter. I think she never got used to it from before. (we rescued her)

I think easing them into colder weather is better so they kind of get used to it but a sweater or coat is great to keep them warm.

Look for licking of paws.:p Then they're really cold and should go inside.

 

[Scrapper's Mom]

Definitely, I put a coat or blanket on Scrapper on those frosty days. He's an inside dog, so his winter coat is going to be pretty thin anyhow. And on the coldest days, I don't even take him outside. Even though we have a mild climate here and don't get snow, we do get below freezing in the night and early morning in the dead of winter.

 

[Tucker's_mom]

Originally posted by mikeyp21
I thought you meant coates made from dogs. Like 101 dalmations. I'm pro coates for dogs, but against coates of dog.:cool: just kiddin

a spotted poopy coat

My husband and I say this all the time. I thought it was sooo funny the first time I heard it!!!

P.S. I too am against the coats of dog.

 

[neilsmom2000]

More on coats..

I too, am against coats made of dogs LOL

Thanks to Penny&seth for the heads up about licking paws being a sign that they need to go in. I will definately watch for that!

I wanted to clarify that I have not and will not leave Lara outside for any length of time during the winter months (or any other time for that matter. I try not to leave her alone for too long in the back yard, otherwise she becomes mischievious and sometimes belligerent.). I am thinking she might like a coat on her walk so she can stay out long enough to get a goodly amount of exercise. I want to make sure she gets all the exercise she's used to in the winter, so she doesn't get all squirrelly indoors!

Last winter Lara was really just a wee babe (we brought her home in November), and she really, really hated walking outside. She wouldn't touch her feet to water or ice, which pretty much meant I carried her half the time (when she was small enough to carry!). Now that she's older I think she's toughened up a bit, but I still worry because she is practically bald in spots. Her fur really is quite thin.

Anyhoo, keep those opinions coming. I'm leaning towards getting a sweater now.