[mudpuppymama]

Today Karen Becker discusses how to tell if your dog needs a coat. Mia is hot blooded and loves the cold but I do have a lightweight coat for when it is super cold. I think dampness makes a huge difference as well as wind and sun.

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2021/01/18/signs-your-dog-is-too-cold.aspx

 

[krandall]

Today Karen Becker discusses how to tell if your dog needs a coat. Mia is hot blooded and loves the cold but I do have a lightweight coat for when it is super cold. I think dampness makes a huge difference as well as wind and sun.

https://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2021/01/18/signs-your-dog-is-too-cold.aspx

Trouble is you can't read the articles without giving them an email address... no thanks! LOL!

My take for my dogs...

Havanese are small dogs with low body mass and although they do have an undercoat, it is not thick or protective. Nor do they have a harsh, protective outer coat. If it's wet, they suck up water like a sponge. If it's cold but DRY and it's not windy, mine do fine outside for short periods of time, like for pottying without coats. They will even play in those conditions and are good at self-limiting.

If it's very wet or windy, or if we are going for a walk, when they will be out in the elements for longer, they get coats. Lighter coats if it's not too cold, if it's below freezing, they get puffy coats. Above 40 and sunny they go nekkid.

Oh, and Kodi wears a puffy in his crate in the car in the winter. It takes a while for the heat to get back there, and in his puppy cut and at his age, he definitely get chilly sitting still back there. Panda doesn't seem to, but she has a lot more coat. Pixel's crate is a RuffTuff Kennel, and much more enclosed. It traps heat better and is also in the middle seat. I throw a blanket over hers and she stays toasty.

 

[mudpuppymama]

Trouble is you can't read the articles without giving them an email address... no thanks! LOL!

My take for my dogs...

Havanese are small dogs with low body mass and although they do have an undercoat, it is not thick or protective. Nor do they have a harsh, protective outer coat. If it's wet, they suck up water like a sponge. If it's cold but DRY and it's not windy, mine do fine outside for short periods of time, like for pottying without coats. They will even play in those conditions and are good at self-limiting.

If it's very wet or windy, or if we are going for a walk, when they will be out in the elements for longer, they get coats. Lighter coats if it's not too cold, if it's below freezing, they get puffy coats. Above 40 and sunny they go nekkid.

Oh, and Kodi wears a puffy in his crate in the car in the winter. It takes a while for the heat to get back there, and in his puppy cut and at his age, he definitely get chilly sitting still back there. Panda doesn't seem to, but she has a lot more coat. Pixel's crate is a RuffTuff Kennel, and much more enclosed. It traps heat better and is also in the middle seat. I throw a blanket over hers and she stays toasty.

I did not realize that folks cannot read the articles without submitting their email. That is a bummer.

I think wetness and wind make a huge difference. We can get cold nasty springs here...I feel the springs here are worse here than the winters! My main problem in winter is the feet feeezing up if it is super cold and there is snow on the ground. On those days we are in and out quickly! I have not been successful with booties. We have a pooping trail and I try to keep them on that so their feet stay as dry as possible. They do not wear coats in the car and seem to be okay. In fact, to avoid car sickness we actually drive in winter with the windows cracked. They do have some towels on them in the car. But your winters are colder than ours. I think too as they get older having a coat on helps keep their joints warmed up. My yorkie appears to be getting some occasional stiffness upon getting up thanks to a pit bull attacking him and hurting his shoulder a few years ago.

 

[krandall]

I did not realize that folks cannot read the articles without submitting their email. That is a bummer.

I think wetness and wind make a huge difference. We can get cold nasty springs here...I feel the springs here are worse here than the winters! My main problem in winter is the feet feeezing up if it is super cold and there is snow on the ground. On those days we are in and out quickly! I have not been successful with booties. We have a pooping trail and I try to keep them on that so their feet stay as dry as possible. They do not wear coats in the car and seem to be okay. In fact, to avoid car sickness we actually drive in winter with the windows cracked. They do have some towels on them in the car. But your winters are colder than ours. I think too as they get older having a coat on helps keep their joints warmed up. My yorkie appears to be getting some occasional stiffness upon getting up thanks to a pit bull attacking him and hurting his shoulder a few years ago.

Yes. This winter is different, of course, because we hardly ever GO anywhere! But in a "normal" year, it's not at all uncommon to be putting the dogs into a car that is in the teens or single digits. _I_ wear heated gloves or my hands HURT before the car warms up. So they do need coats.

And yes, feet. And no, boots are a BIG "NO" as far as they are concerned! Especially with multiples! LOL!

And I will admit it freely. I use the cold (AND the rain!) to my advantage in the mornings to get them to hurry up and get things done WITHOUT coats! LOL!

 

[NickieTwo]

Not in Arizona. They could use a light raincoat on the very infrequent occasions we have rain, but since they won't venture off the covered patio when it is raining they don't get wet. I don't allow them out in dust storms (danger of valley fever) and only very briefly when it is very windy.

 

[mudpuppymama]

Yes. This winter is different, of course, because we hardly ever GO anywhere! But in a "normal" year, it's not at all uncommon to be putting the dogs into a car that is in the teens or single digits. _I_ wear heated gloves or my hands HURT before the car warms up. So they do need coats.

And yes, feet. And no, boots are a BIG "NO" as far as they are concerned! Especially with multiples! LOL!

And I will admit it freely. I use the cold (AND the rain!) to my advantage in the mornings to get them to hurry up and get things done WITHOUT coats! LOL!

I would love to see a video on your YouTube channel putting boots on 12 dog feet! I have not even figured out how to get a boot on one dog foot.

 

[krandall]

I would love to see a video on your YouTube channel putting boots on 12 dog feet! I have not even figured out how to get a boot on one dog foot.

I GUARANTEE you that is NOT happening. You are more likely to see a YouTube of me slitting my wrists! LOL!

 

[mudpuppymama]

I must confess, when the weather is miserable I sometimes leave their coats off in the morning hoping they will go potty and come right back in, and they will NOT want mom to take them walking! This does NOT always work though and then I feel guilty leaving their coats off!

 

[krandall]

I must confess, when the weather is miserable I sometimes leave their coats off in the morning hoping they will go potty and come right back in, and they will NOT want mom to take them walking! This does NOT always work though and then I feel guilty leaving their coats off!

Not me! But I'm mean! LOL!

 

[ShamaMama]

Thanks for the coat info, although I didn't take the time to read it. Maybe I will at some point. (I always like it when you summarize the main ideas of an article ...)

I have not been successful with booties. We have a pooping trail and I try to keep them on that so their feet stay as dry as possible.

I have been meaning to post about the "leggings" that my niece puts on her shorkie. They are called Walkee Paws and actually stay on even when Trixie runs with complete abandon!

I need to remember to post the video of her running. I was amazed!

(I don't intend to buy any for Shama. I think she'd mat underneath the leggings, and we don't go out in the mud very often. She seems to be fine on the snow and ice.)

 

[mudpuppymama]

Thanks for the coat info, although I didn't take the time to read it. Maybe I will at some point. (I always like it when you summarize the main ideas of an article ...)

I have been meaning to post about the "leggings" that my niece puts on her shorkie. They are called Walkee Paws and actually stay on even when Trixie runs with complete abandon!

I need to remember to post the video of her running. I was amazed!

(I don't intend to buy any for Shama. I think she'd mat underneath the leggings, and we don't go out in the mud very often. She seems to be fine on the snow and ice.)

Good point about making a summary. I will try to do that going forward.

I don't think you need to read it. Being from Minnesota you could probably teach Karen Becker a thing or two about keeping dogs warm in cold weather!

As far as booties go, the main reason I checked into it once was to protect their feet from the salt chemicals they put on the road.

 

[ShamaMama]

As far as booties go, the main reason I checked into it once was to protect their feet from the salt chemicals they put on the road.

The Walkee Paws would be great for that. My solution to the salt problem is to just not walk Shama on streets and sidewalks. Lately, I've been taking her to a county park where there are groomed trails but no salt. I highly recommend the Walkee Paws if your dog has a short coat and you have to walk on salt.

 

[mudpuppymama]

The Walkee Paws would be great for that. My solution to the salt problem is to just not walk Shama on streets and sidewalks. Lately, I've been taking her to a county park where there are groomed trails but no salt. I highly recommend the Walkee Paws if your dog has a short coat and you have to walk on salt.

Thanks so much for suggesting these. They look good. We hope this is our last winter here and that we will be in our new house in the spring. This means I will never have to deal with salted streets again or many other things I have to deal with here. We will have 210 acres of our own land to walk around on and a fenced yard too.

 

[krandall]

Good point about making a summary. I will try to do that going forward.

I don't think you need to read it. Being from Minnesota you could probably teach Karen Becker a thing or two about keeping dogs warm in cold weather!

As far as booties go, the main reason I checked into it once was to protect their feet from the salt chemicals they put on the road.

Yes! That was the reason I looked into them too, back when we just had Kodi.

 

[Jackie from Concrete WA]

Gee, those Walkee Paws are a good idea. I also wonder how bad Willow's legs would mat with them. I wonder if they would help with snowballs in the winter.

 

[Ricky Ricardo]

It is coolish and windy outside today. Supposed to rain later this evening. I took Ricky on his regular walkies this morning in nothing more than his natural long coat. I had sweatpants, sweater, and hoodie on. Winds were 25-30 mph and the wind chill was 53F. I realize that is cold for us but for many of you it would be a balmy day. Ricky and I walk at a brisk pace for around 30 minutes. We both arrived home energized and ready for breakfast - Honest Kitchen for him and an oatmeal/fruit smoothy for me. We keep our house interior at 68F during the day in winter, so 53F was not that big a deal on our walk while exercising.

Ricky doesn't have any outerwear of any type - cold or rain. We don't walk in the very occasional rain, we both might melt. I think the decision to purchase outerwear for your dog is site specific. It just doesn't make sense for us.

Ricky's Popi

 

[EvaE1izabeth]

We have snow that stays on the ground in the winter, but it rarely feels as frigidly cold to me as it does in other places, maybe because it is a dry cold. I didn’t know we needed anything at first, but at some point I read here on the forum that a layer of some kind is often recommended when it’s below freezing. We had a couple of sweater type things that weren’t at all insulating, they were like clearance priced costumes, purchased for fun because they came with doggy hats or something. They were pretty terrible, but funny! I found a real sweater, with kind of a fleece lining, and it came in handy pretty soon after. We don’t use it for potty trips, we just hurry. Fortunately, if it’s really cold we can get him to go on the indoor potty tray. There are usually only a few weeks a year when the daytime temperatures consistently dips down low, and we avoid walks during those times because it’s too cold for us, too. But Sundance loves to walk in the snow, so we take him out if it hasn’t snowed for a while, and for fun once in a while if someone is feeling adventurous (not me). We still watch for when he’s ready to go in, but he seems to stay outside longer with the sweater. It also keeps his belly from getting wet. It gets used often enough that we should really have a backup, but not frequently enough that I remember to keep an eye out for a second sweater.

 

[mudpuppymama]

We have snow that stays on the ground in the winter, but it rarely feels as frigidly cold to me as it does in other places, maybe because it is a dry cold. I didn't know we needed anything at first, but at some point I read here on the forum that a layer of some kind is often recommended when it's below freezing. We had a couple of sweater type things that weren't at all insulating, they were like clearance priced costumes, purchased for fun because they came with doggy hats or something. They were pretty terrible, but funny! I found a real sweater, with kind of a fleece lining, and it came in handy pretty soon after. We don't use it for potty trips, we just hurry. Fortunately, if it's really cold we can get him to go on the indoor potty tray. There are usually only a few weeks a year when the daytime temperatures consistently dips down low, and we avoid walks during those times because it's too cold for us, too. But Sundance loves to walk in the snow, so we take him out if it hasn't snowed for a while, and for fun once in a while if someone is feeling adventurous (not me). We still watch for when he's ready to go in, but he seems to stay outside longer with the sweater. It also keeps his belly from getting wet. It gets used often enough that we should really have a backup, but not frequently enough that I remember to keep an eye out for a second sweater.

If you want something that is not super heavy, the snuggler coat from TrueFitDogCoats is great. It comes in a lot of lengths too so it works great for dogs of different sizes. I actually have the Daschund snuggler which works good for Havanese as well.

https://www.truefitdogcoats.com/dachshund-snuggler-coat.html

 

[EvaE1izabeth]

We don’t go out a ton when it’s wet, but when we do there’s no avoiding the salt. It seems a lot worse this year. I think it’s time to look into something for Sundance’s feet if he’ll tolerate it. In the past I could brush his legs and maybe clean them up with a warm cloth and they were manageable, but this year his legs feel more coated. I actually think we are getting less snow and I wonder if the salt stays more concentrated on the sidewalks instead of diluting. They did some kind of new seal coat on the roads that’s supposed to lessen the need for salt but we never walk on the streets.

 

[EvaE1izabeth]

Thanks, mudpuppymama! That looks great for us.