Cold weather

Razor · #1 10-01-2009, 06:02 PM

I live in Michigan where the winters can get quite cold. I have an 8 month old male boxer and was wondering how to protect him from the snow and cold during our walks and play time. I know that they make dog clothes but need some suggestions on what to buy and where to find what he would need. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

johann · #2 10-01-2009, 09:05 PM

I'd steer clear of doggie "outfits" and go more for blanket/coat style. Unless you want him to be fashionable.

I personally thought it was hard to find normal looking coats for medium/large sized male dogs. Lots of pink, ruffled, faux fur lined toy poodle coats though. I eventually found a water/wind proof coat (lined with fleece) that kept Johann warm through the winter. Since you have a male, don't get one with a belly band on it.....we had to modify Johann's coat because he kept peeing on it. He was fine all winter with the jacket outdoors for walks and playing. I may get him a t-shirt this year because we keep our house cool and he was miserable last year (always burrowing under blankets).

Smartpak Canine (do a google search, not sure if I can post a link) has a decent selection of dog jackets. Also, they have great customer service and can help you figure out the right size for your dog.

Gatorblu · #3 10-02-2009, 11:56 AM

You might consider booties to protect the feet. Especially if you're somewhere where they use a lot of salt. The salt can be very drying on the pads and cause them to crack and bleed. I've only used them on one dog and she was less then thrilled at first but adjusted. I've been fortunate enough to live somewhere the last few years that they weren't needed. I think that's going to change this year. (oh joy.)

Razor · #4 10-30-2009, 08:34 AM

Thanks for the advice. I had no idea that dog coats were so expensive.

**Jan** · #5 10-31-2009, 07:26 AM

You can easily make a horse blanket style coat out of fleece. It doesn't take a lot of sewing skill. You can check out Moto wearing his coat here:

http://www.boxerworld.com/photo/show...=500&ppuser=26

kayboxer · #6 11-01-2009, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jan

You can easily make a horse blanket style coat out of fleece. It doesn't take a lot of sewing skill. You can check out Moto wearing his coat here:

http://www.boxerworld.com/photo/show...=500&ppuser=26

How cool is that!!! You need to post the directions on how to do it for us stupidly sewing incompetent people.

Sablegirl · #7 11-01-2009, 11:21 PM

I bought our boxer a fleece lined faux swade blanket type coat for only $15.99. It has kept her really warm and she doesn't mind it at all. I got it from a mail order house...not sure if it was Collections Etc., or one of the other mail order houses.

dieselnallie · #8 11-02-2009, 01:54 PM

Dog shows would also have vendors that you can shop at so you can try different ones on to see what style would work best.
We got Allie a coat for only $20 at a vendor. I order Miss a coat and it cost over $35. And Miss is so much smaller too! didn't make sense to me.
I've never had good luck with the coats with the sleeves...they seem to restrict their movement too much and they aren't impressed.