Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:55 pm Post subject: Dog Coats
One of the things that I noticed at the championships were the number of people who had their dogs wearing a dog coat, Youn John had all three of his Heather had a very racy number on her dog and Kirsty Cousins had one on her fluffy, she wanted to be quoted as the first to use a coat at this level.
Labs hav (or should have) a double coat and therefore have an insulating layer between outer coat and the skin.
Can any one give me a good reason for a coat or is it advertising space to be sold in the future.
It baffles me! A dog is a dog - it doesn't need a coat made by a human. Some will no doubt cite that it is to protect areas of the dog or it's to prevent arthritis etc etc but if you ask me it's piffle just another ploy to sell stuff to tricky-woo's.
I've seen this dicussed across other fora and mostly the argument pro coats is that the dogs are considered athletes in a way. The nature of the stopping and starting leads people to believe that a coat would keep the dog warm and in ready to go mode in between activity in much the same way you would see and athlete wrapped up warm before and after their event.
I'm not sure if its entirely necessary, but if it makes people happier then hey ho. I wouldnt' say its completely left field. Interesting you mention future advertising space! Wouldn't be surprised if you see that next year! How many people have slip leads with various food companys, or clothes, dog boxses and on.
I've used a dog coat on Pasco - he had most of his body hair shaved for surgery and it didn't grow back for the best part of a year. That coupled with a loss of body fat left him susceptible for the cold. I've not used it since he's been well though. I'll towel him off after a shoot day and he jumps into the back of the car with the other two whereupon they create the toasty warm slightly damp sauna environment I'm sure we are all familiar with on returning from the beater bothy after a wee drink!
I might feel differently when he gets older though .... who knows.
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A dog is a dog - it doesn't need a coat made by a human. Some will no doubt cite that it is to protect areas of the dog or it's to prevent arthritis etc etc but if you ask me it's piffle just another ploy to sell stuff to tricky-woo's.
Well, I very much care for the health of my dogs and after a hard day's job picking-up they do wear coats (made by a human ) - considering the temperature at its "best" may be some -20 C in my corner of the world...
However when working/competing they'll have to do "au naturel"...
Mine wear coats, but only in the Landrover after we've finished, to dry them and keep them warm whilst I'm offloading the game cart and chatting.
But I wonder if you have something when you mention "Advertising space?" I can certainly see that taking off in the future. Dont think I'm happy though, not if commercialism creeps in.
I have never put a coat on Charlie (labrador), as I have never seen the need. His coat is thick and has plenty of downy undercoat. He has never appeared cold to me. Obviously I would reconsider if he developed some problem affecting his coat thickness, or if he did seem to start feeling the cold.
My cocker spaniel is a totally different kettle of fish though. I have to groom and clipper her coat regularly, including during winter months, otherwise it becomes horribly matted. She is not undercoated at all, and certainly can really suffer with the cold, especially after grooming (literally quaking with it). So, I have a coat for her and it helps a lot. It isn't a fashion item (I don't do bling things for dogs), just functional.
Gillie wears a thermatex coat during lunch and after beating. He has a really fine coat and gets very cold and if it keeps him warm and helps him dry I don't care what anyone thinks!
Labs hav (or should have) a double coat and therefore have an insulating layer between outer coat and the skin.
My Labs have a decent under coat, in fact my black has tons of the stuff. However, if they have been in and out of the water, they still gets wet through to the skin. Ok, not as much as some other breeds, but it still makes them cold if they are sitting around afterwards.
I'm not into dog "clothes" but I would put a coat on a cold dog, just as I would put a rug on a cold horse. Maybe that makes me a "Tricky Woo", but I'd rather that than be hard hearted person who is happy to sit and watch their dog shiver.
My two wear toweling coats in winter after lots of swimming in cold environments! Especially Lux as he has a much thinner coat than Bea he also over heats quickly in summer? and he definitly does feel the cold very quickly, I'm not happy to let him sit there shivering when I can do something about it!
Last edited by helen2003 on Sat Dec 10, 2011 8:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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just another ploy to sell stuff to tricky-woo's.
) - considering the temperature at its "best" may be some -20 C in my corner of the world...
