A badly fitted coat is worse than no coat. It rides up over the shoulders, rubs the armpits raw, and teaches the dog to hate the sight of the thing coming off the hook. Three measurements and two checks avoid all of that.
The three measurements
- Back length: from the base of the neck, where a collar sits, to the base of the tail. This is the number coats are sized by.
- Chest girth: around the deepest part of the ribcage, just behind the front legs, with two fingers of slack.
- Neck: where the collar sits, again with two fingers of slack.
Measure the dog standing square, not sitting. If the two numbers land in different sizes, follow the back length and take up the girth with the straps. You can tighten a coat, you cannot lengthen one.
The two checks
First, walk the dog around the room in it. The coat should not shift forward over the shoulders or bunch into the armpits; if it does, the front is cut too long or the chest strap is too far forward. Second, watch it squat. A coat that covers the belly all the way back is a coat that will be soiled by the end of the week.
A coat should end where the dog does, and clear everything that bends.
The usual mistakes
Buying by weight is the biggest one. Two twelve-kilo dogs can be entirely different shapes. Buying a size up "to grow into" is the second; a loose coat is a hazard on a lead. And treating a waterproof shell as a warm coat is the third: a shell keeps rain off, but a thin-coated dog standing still in January also needs an insulating layer under it.
Finally, introduce it indoors. Put it on for two minutes with a treat, take it off, repeat over a few days. A dog that has never worn anything will not enjoy being wrapped in fabric at the door in the rain on the first attempt.
