Now that spring is coming upon many of us, the weather is turning wet and dogs are prone to get cold if they get too wet. A big thing that I use when I take them on walks during this season are raincoats for dogs. I want to be sure that my pets are safe and warm when I walk them on a rainy day like it’s been lately. There are many options for all sizes of dogs when it comes to buying the right raincoat.
In order to know what your dog needs, be sure you already know your dog’s size for clothing. Since raincoats aren’t stretch fabric (generally speaking), you want to get the sizing right. Having a little lee-way is important as well. Think about how you size yourself for coats with no stretch; same principal.
How To Determine What Size Your Dog Needs.
A few articles ago, I went over sizing for your pets and how to measure them appropriately. In case you missed that article, there are some simple guidelines to follow in order to know the right size.
- Have a fabric measuring tape ready, or use a piece of string and use a standard measuring tape available.
- Measure from the tip of their tail to where their collar sits for the length.
- To measure around the widest part of their rib cage for their chest size.
- Measure around their neck where their collar sits for the neck size.
Being sure to have their accurate measurements will ensure that you order the right sized raincoat so you can alleviate the possibility of having to return an item because it’s too small or too big and sags to the puddles while walking them. Having to return items can cause a lot of headache as well as a loss of money.
Once you have their proper sizing, you can then determine what style of raincoat you might want for them.
Different Styles Of Raincoats.
One of the websites that I use on a regular basis to shop for my dogs personally, is Bitch New York, there are a lot of styles of coats to choose from. For myself, because I have 2 short haired dogs, I like coats that cover their stomachs. Sometimes, that’s difficult to find with coats, so you may need a sweater if it’s an especially chilly day you’re taking your pets for a walk. Be sure you know the temperature to determine your pet’s needs first.
So what are the different styles of raincoats out there? Some coats will only provide coverage on their backs and have a strap that wraps around their chest/waist. Other coats will have very short sleeves and some longer sleeves. If the coat has long sleeves, then you’ll want to know how long their legs are. To measure that, you measure from the top of their paw (where the dewclaw is if you’re pet still has theirs) to their chest. If the coat measures the height of your dog, then from the floor to the highest point of their shoulder (not the head).
Some raincoats will go all the way around their chest and waist and button up or zip up, so give just a little extra when measuring the size of their chest. Remember, the widest part is what you want to measure.
How To Know If You Need A Raincoat.
If you live in a warm climate, and you really don’t care whether your dog gets wet or maybe your dog just loves playing in the water, you may not even be reading this article, because frankly, you don’t care. But, if your dog hates water, or maybe it’s a little chilly where you live and you don’t want your dog getting a cold, then rain gear and sweaters may be necessary – read here for cold climate needs. It all depends on where you live and situation you live in.
I live in the cold and if my dog gets wet when it’s cold out, then my dogs get sick. You can tell a dog gets sick when they start coughing, sneezing, having an extra runny nose, etc. Dogs get colds like we do, and I always know when I can see my breath when it’s raining that my dogs will get sick if I don’t put them in a raincoat and sometimes even a sweater underneath.
Generally speaking, if you get cold without protection and your dog has short hair, then they will also need something, even just a thin coat.
Is Just A Raincoat Enough?
As mentioned above, if you get cold, they’ll get cold. I don’t have dogs with long fur except my small Chihuahua and she gets very cold, very fast, so she always needs sweaters/coats. If I had a husky, then they wouldn’t need any protection except for booties in the extreme temperatures because that’s what they’re bred for. They’re used to very cold weather, so they would actually get too hot if I dressed them up. It all comes down to the breed of dog you have and the temperature where you live. Dogs fur is a natural coat for long haired dogs, so beware dressing them up too much, they can overheat and start to pant excessively.
Just the raincoat itself is very thin and not meant for warmth like some humans. Long-furred dogs are able to wear these even slightly warmer temperatures if all you’re doing is trying to keep them dry during their walks. Let’s face it, a wet dog smells like a wet dog.
Undecided on what your dog needs? You can either contact your vet, or, put on a sweater that’s about as thick as your dogs fur, go outside, and wait to see if you get cold. If you get cold, then your furry friend may need protection. Fine? Then they should be too.
Enjoy Your Walk With Your Friend.
In the end, if your furry friend is comfortable then the walk will be enjoyable for the both of you, or all of you if you have more then one. You know when your dog isn’t having fun on their walk if you have to always pull them around while you’re walking them. I can usually determine how much my dog is not having fun by the amount of pulling I have to do from behind me. If my dog is wagging their tail, sniffing everyone, ears perked, then they’re having fun. If their ears are droopy, laid bag, tail isn’t wagging; all these sign’s means your dog is miserable. Dogs give away their feeling through body language, so paying attention to what they’re telling you is important.
This is also how you can determine if they’re cold as well. If they’re picking up their paws, then they have cold feet. Shivering when it’s raining out, they’re not protected enough and you’ll want to get them warm as quickly as possible. Basically, they exhibit the same sign’s we do when we’re cold. Just be mindful of your pets and you’ll know what they need.
Hopefully you enjoyed this article and now you know whether your dog needs a raincoat! Place your questions or comments below on what works best for your friends!
I love the raincoats in the photo on top of the article! They are so adorable!
Although I live in a warm climate where it rains once a year during hurricane season, I do need rain coats for my dogs, because when we get the occasional rain, I like to keep my dogs dry, especially my little Maltipoo, Lucy. Like us, they can get sick if they are exposed to cold and wet weather for too long. Little Lucy also loves to wear her coats, she loves it when I put them on her 🙂
Bitch New York looks like a great company, they have some really cool and cute designs. I’ll check them out. I love their name 🙂
Christine,
They have awesome stuff! I have to admit! There’s nothing that I’ve ordered from there that I don’t love the quality of. In Alaska, it’s really hard to find good pet clothes. We’re pretty limited to Petco and Pet Smart only. The problem with those two companies (which, I love their selection online, don’t get me wrong) is that they have very little inventory in the stores. Most stuff, I have to order online and it’s hard with Atlas because she’s so bulky in her shoulders. Hence why I like stretchy things! 🙂
Glad you liked this one! I love their coats!
Katrina
The Galaxy raincoat most certainly caught my attention. I used to buy cotton jackets for my dog, but they got wet so quickly, so I decided to switch things up a little bit and ended up purchasing a raincoat instead.
Our walks are far more comfortable nowadays since Cooper doesn’t get as wet and I don’t get as stressed trying to wipe him off.
Great article, btw. I enjoyed reading it! 🙂
Gorjan,
Cotton tends to hold in too much moisture, even when it’s humid outside. The cotton fibers just absorb the moisture, and sitting against any length of fur on your dog can cause them to get wet and cold. Unless you live in a warm climate of course, but not too often we need to dress our dogs in clothing in warm climates.
Even in Alaska in the winter months with just snow, I tend to put a raincoat over my dogs sweaters to keep the snow from melting and getting them cold. What people don’t realize is that dogs can get sick quickly. Generally, a runny nose, or sneezing often is an indicator that they’ve caught a cold, and it doesn’t take long. Just like us, dogs need to stay warm in the elements and that usually means, protective clothing.
Hopefully, the raincoat you picked out works well for your walks! Thanks for stopping by!
Katrina
Wow! I didn’t know that there were so many options for protecting a dog from both rain and cold. I can see that you are a dog lover. I like dogs very much too. Here in Malaysia, we have a lot of street dogs and sometimes I save bones in order to feed them. Normally they are very friendly and show gratitude for caring for them.
Keep up your good work
Gorjan,
That’s awesome that you do that. I’ve read and watched a lot of videos of the dogs that are strays in your area. Generally, abused and often beat and left on the streets. It’s sad to watch. I try to donate to a lot of causes in areas where there are a lot of strays for the people that try to help them. It’s hard though, to know who’s actually legit, versus just posting videos to get money out of people. I’m glad that you’re one of the ones to help them!
Thanks for stopping by!
Katrina
We are glad that we found this website for our dog and see what the right fit will be for our dog’s coat; as you said, fall is coming, and we must be prepared.
The article was helpful and less stressful to make a decision on which one is the best. Once we buy one, we are going to pass this site on.
Raincoats for dogs sounds funny but, they actually work, and this will be our second raincoat this year. Our dog is growing.
We hope others find this interesting as well did.
Cheers,
Mathew& Deloris
Mathew & Deloris,
Yes, raincoats sound weird to anyone that doesn’t have a dog in a wet climate. In Alaska, most dogs don’t get walked in the winter without some sort of protective clothing on. It’s really important to keep dogs safe up here, especially since the elements can be hard on any living being. I’ve even seen people walking cats with coats on up here, but you just have to when it’s too cold out. With just -10 degrees, a dog can go into hypothermia in just 10 minutes if they’re short furred. Long fur isn’t so scary, but my dogs are all short fur coats, so I have to have clothing on them all winter when they leave the house. But, I don’t mind. It’s cute dressing them up anyways!
Thanks!
Katrina
Hi Katrina,
Reading your articles about dog apparel is so much fun. I love your picks, and the product images make me smile while landing on this post. Besides the raincoats for dogs, you also share tips to know whether our dogs are having fun or not by their body language. It’s a HUGE bonus for dog owners who read your article. 🙂
For the raincoats from Bitch New York, they all look nicely made and cute. I cannot wait for the Christmas season to purchase some for my friend’s dogs as gifts. They will be so happy if they get a gift too.
Cheers,
Matt
Matt,
That’s awesome that you buy your friends dogs’ clothes! I need friends like you! 🙂 You’ll love the clothing from BNY by the way. The best quality that I’ve found in a long time honestly. There are a lot of dog clothing sites out there that claim they have quality stuff, but dogs are hard on their clothes. Same as kids, basically. The cheap stuff tends to fall apart quickly, and with dogs, you have to have the quality, unless you want to just throw money away. I’m frugal, so that’s not an option for me. I buy the good stuff, even if it means paying a little more to have it last!
Thanks for stopping by! Glad you liked this one!
Katrina
Hi Katrina and thank you for putting a smile on my face with this article!
The pet dogs are just so adorable in their rain coats but also in everything else really 🙂
Although I never owned a dog, I can also imagine that each dog is different, not just personality wise but also ‘body’ wise. Some dogs get cold very quickly and others don’t get cold at all. It is indeed very important to know your dog and understand what his/her needs are also depending on the climate of the living area.
I also love your practical tips on how to get the right size coat, very useful.
Cheers,
Tatiana
Tatiana,
Awesome! I’m glad you liked this one. Even as a non-dog owners, it’s still fun to just window shop the cuteness overload of the dogs in clothing in pics! It’s like babies in cute costumes! My kids are all big, but I still love looking at baby clothes! I can’t help it, they’re just too cute! At least one day, if you get a dog or a cat, you know where to turn for advice!
Thanks for stopping by!
Katrina
I would love to get my dogs these raincoats! They are so cute! How do I order them?
Hi Alyse,
Click on any of the links in the article and they’ll take you right to them. The pictures are also linked up, so you can click on those as well. Hope this helps!
Katrina