Tormenting small animals

October 13, 2007 3:38 PM

What is the kindest way to dress a long-haired dog?

I live in Montreal and have two small (5 to 10 lbs) dogs who are cranky in cool weather, shiver in cold weather and obviously suffer outside in cold weather.

The smaller one is a short-haired chihuahua. I've made him a few undershirt/overshirt combination outfits that seem to work for him. He doesn't object to putting them on and then is content to sleep on a fluffy pillow instead of demanding to be carried under my shirt.

Poupoune is the larger one and has long spiky terrier hair. She gets cold because she's small and doesn't have much of an undercoat - and of course her belly is almost completely naked. In the past she'd mostly be ok in the house without extra layers. We'd wrestle her into something warm to take her outside in the snow, and she'd forget her humiliation and misery once she was outside scampering about. She's getting older now and it seems that her old bones are starting to complain in the cold drafts even indoors. However, if I put her outdoor sweater on her inside she doesn't like that either, especially without a Walk to distract her.

A two-layer system seems to help. The undershirt is smoother so as not to catch on her fur too much. The overshirt is bulkier and traps air.

I use knits.

I need to keep it fairly snug around her chest so that she doesn't pull her arms out of the sleeves. This clearly doesn't help in the comfort department, but I don't see much choice.

Any other thoughts?

Oh - also - Poupoune wears Muttluks outside in the winter to keep the ice and snow out of her pads, but they catch on her dewclaws. She hates them. Any thoughts other than keeping her inside all winter or having her dewclaws removed?

posted by maremare to pets & animals (5 comments total)

If the larger dog mostly stays still inside (or is mostly only cold when she's still) one of those pet bed warmers could do the trick. Our elderly cat seemed to really enjoy his.
posted by anaelith at 4:32 PM on October 13, 2007

yeah, a heating pad set to low and covered with a folded towel keeps my elderly cat happy in the winter.
posted by thinkingwoman at 4:36 PM on October 13, 2007

For a pair of tiny little dogs a "foot-warmer" might be of the right size to give them a warm bed. A former flatmate of mine had one of these, and her cat loved it.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 4:42 PM on October 13, 2007

my dog is basically his own sweater so i can't help you with clothes, but you can protect your dog's feet in the winter with musher's secret—just smear a little on her feet before you go out and the ice and snow (salt or chemicals too) will won't bother her feet anymore. jarvis won't wear shoes and so this stuff is a winter necessity for us.
posted by lia at 5:26 PM on October 13, 2007

She's not humiliated, she's just not used to it. Find something that fits her well, feed her lots of treats when she has it on and go for a walk, she'll get used to it. There are lots of dog coats out there, find one actually made for keeping dogs warm (like Obtrack or Foggy Mountain) rather than one made for cuteness.
posted by biscotti at 8:58 PM on October 13, 2007