Just like you and me, sweaters and outerwear are so important for us, so I donÂt see why it would be any different for your pet when theyÂre outdoors this winterÂ. Yesterday, I saw this article online and I think it would appeal to you and answer your questions. ItÂs online at www.petproducts.com

nizam and petloverus, you "both" just registered today and posted together here, the second poster recommending a commercial site. Please tell me this is not a spam ad placed by one person registered under two names.

That being said, I'm glad the subject was brought up. My hubby wants to put a dog sweater on our 70 pound boxer to keep him warm when he's outside on chilly days. I worry that our dog will hate it or chew it up. Does anyone have experience with putting clothing on a larger dog?

What is the breed and coat of your dog?

Many dogs are already wearing a fur coat and additional outwear isn't necessary for weather protection. Though a coat may be necessary to make a fashion statement. ;-)

A lot of the tiny dogs (chis, min, pin, toy breeds) have thin coats and low body bass, they would definitely benefit from wearing a jacket.

When I lived in Buffalo, NY I definitly had a coat for my english bulldog. I think the short hair breeds need clothing while the longer haired breeds like huskys are fine without it. That being said if your pup looks cold it probably is and you should get a coat.

I think trinigemini is right. My mom had a sweater for her schnauzer because she would get shaky / shivery when they went on long winter walks, but she never put anything on her husky, who would stay outside for hours without appearing to feel any discomfort. If you can tell your pup is cold, definitely get a sweater so he can enjoy the outdoors :)

Get a coat, and watch the dog for a bit. If the coat helps and is not chewed up - then you have your answer. If you are really worried about your pup chewing a coat, provide your dog with a kong filled with treats to allow it to chew on something good for it. Good luck

Ya know, petaloid, I was in the checkout the other day and the cashier commented on a dog toy that I was buying. I explained that I have a puppy, so I buy LOTS of chewy toys, and she said that she buys "way too many clothes" for her dog. When I asked her about her dog, she said that it is a 175 pound Great Dane, which I found surprising, since I always think of sweaters/clothes, etc. as being for small dogs - that is mostly what you see in the stores. But apparently that is not the case - and she said that there are plenty of large dog clothes online!

Just thought I'd pass that along...

About the coats, I have found that my dogs prefer the coats that just have the velcro strap across the chest and belly, leaving a slit for the legs.

The flannel shirt and sweaters that I have bought that have leg holes have to be sized just right. If the leg holes aren't proportioned exactly right the dog doesn't like it. Miss Tillie stands frozen when wearing something with leg holes. When wearing the others with the straps, she prances around, showing off....

I am thinking about taking apart the lined flannel that I bought, to remove the leg holes and convert it to straps. I think it would be nice a warm for her, she just doesn't like moving in the leg holes.

I've found that people clothing works better for me - roomier throughout the shoulder/eg area and much cheaper than specialty dog clothing. My dane wore a sweatshirt this morning for our walk. It was 4F w/o factoring wind chill and she's fond of her walk and not at all fond of the cold.

The cold doesn't seem to bother my GSP, but I still put a sweatshirt on him as well - he's very thin with very little body fat and, with the ice, wasn't going to be moving fast enough to really warm up. He likes to "dress up" because he associates it with hunting (he wears an orange vest in the woods/fields to increase visibility and protect his chest and belly)

The hairy dogs are another story - the LGD's will move snow in order to lay directly on the frozen pond or water tanks and the border collie is bulldozing and cavorting around like a puppy.

It depends on the dog. One of our dogs (a mutt who was our companion for 16 years) was extremely sensitive to cold and would shiver on her walks. We put a sweater on her for every walk in the winter. Other dogs we had seemed not to even notice the cold.

Our current lab pup would stay outside until she got frost-bite if we let her, I think.

Too bad it's spam. Still the topic is interesting. We have a miniature poodle puppy and have found we like the same sweater that joepyeweed does (Velcro at neck & waste) on colder winter days. Pup has actually started making it easy for us to put it on cause he knows he's going to get to go on his walk.

When it's snowy out, he tends to get hail sized ice pellets between his paws so we can't take him on very long walks. I saw little booties at the pet store, but I can't imagine they're very practical or easy on and off. Has anybody tried them?

I did try the booties once. When I was living in Buffalo, my bully needed them. The landlords and city would salt the sidewalks and streets. She stepped on the salt once and I never heard her cry like that in my life. I ended up carrying her back home. I bought her the booties the next day. Her paws were fat though and she did not like them. I think I ended up returning them. She just never walked on the sidewalk again when it snowed.

trinigemini - Thanks for your response!

I have 2 different brands of booties, and my dog can't use either of them. They just don't fit right. Just like a pair of shoes, booties have to fit perfectly in order for the dog to be able to walk in them.

I recently ordered a pair of custom made booties (not too expensive for the quality) because my dog drags her back paws (she's getting a wheelchair soon due to a disability, and the person at the wheechair manufacturer highly recommended this place). I spoke to the woman and I was worried that I took the measurements incorrectly. She told me that if the booties don't fit right, she will make new ones free of charge - great deal!

I will post the link below...the ones that seem best for the salt issue is the 3rd one down on the "products" page.

Hope this helps..

Here is a link that might be useful: Booties

I live in Minnesota and have a coonhound/GSD mix, she has a thin coat and very little body fat-gets cold easy and starts limping within 1/2 block of walking on snow. She does not like the "dressing" process but is fine once we go outside, I do have problems finding coats that fit as she is very greyhound shaped, but get booties at 'dogbooties' because it's local and they make them for dogsledders.

maybe when she grows up she will be able to be outdoors in winter, as a pup, you could walk your dog on a treadmill, as long as its supervised.

Greengirl have you tried just using people clothes such as sweat shirts on your dog? You could even tailor it so it would fit him....a little stitching nothing fancy.

I had my sister make a dog coat for my older dog this year, he's a yellow lab/husky mix. The coat is fleece, and wraps around his chest and just under/behind his front legs ... he won't go to the bathroom when it's on .. no matter how bad he has to go. So I have to take it off.

I just laugh, try to do something simple and it creates problems!

Trinigemini I've tried putting shirts on her but she has a very deep narrow chest, the shirt is stretched across her back and I have to slit the arm holes and it doesn't work very well.

Try cutting off the sleeves and using a bigger shirt? The winter coat I had for my fur baby had no legs and she was fine with it. I think as long as their chest is protected they feel warmer. Cutting off the sleeves may also make the shirt fir on his back better as it will not be pulled by the legs.

Shroppie- you made me smile! I used to have a Great Dane- lost her at 13 years of age, about 5 years ago.
I am in northern Wyoming- we used to live in Florida, so here,in the winters she got cold. I like to sew, so I made a couple lined fleece 'jackets' for her. When she was younger she only wore them to go outside in the winter. When she was old, she wanted to wear the things inside 24/7.
She was just like a little kid who was having their favorite blanket/toy washed- when I washed the jackets, the Dane would stand at the washer/dryer- waiting-waiting-waiting. I finally would put an old sweatshirt on her while doing her laundry. When the jackets were dry- she couldn't wait for me to put one back on her! Danes don't really have much thickness to their coats- she wanted a 'second' one.
The Rottie, on the other and could have cared less- even in old age she didn't want a jacket- I guess it would have spolied her 'vicious look'.

I learned this the past year: Some big dogs do need coats. Great Danes, Greyhounds, and other very lean dogs have little body fat nor fur to insulate them. My friend has a 140 pound Great Dane, and she cannot take him out in cold weather (I live in NJ :() without a fleece "jacket."

Whether this is spam or not, we have used the post well, to inform others! I wish I had a dog. I have learned so much here.