My dog Lally hates the rain. When I open the front door and she catches a glimpse of that horrible wet stuff falling from the sky, her demeanor changes immediately. Pre-walk, she’s usually excited and alert. Once she sees or feels those first few drops, her ears go down, her head drops, and she seems to draw herself in — as if to be a smaller target for the rain.
Nothing bothers Moose, mind you. Rain, snow, hail… he’s unfazed.
But considering how the Pacific Northwest is known for being somewhat rainy, I started thinking that maybe Lally would like a raincoat to wear on walks.
My dogs are both pretty okay with wearing clothes… at least, as long as both of them are wearing clothes. Once, I put a sweater on Lally and found Moose trying to take it off her — until I put one on him, too. Then he was happy, and left her alone!
So I suppose that means if Lally gets a raincoat, Moose gets one, too.
I was looking at coat styles at PetSmart the other day — and keeping an eye on a family trying coats on their cutie dog. The first one they tried was too small, and the dog kept shaking his legs one at a time. (The coat had arm and leg holes, to keep it in place.)
Ideally, I want one that’s super easy to get on and off… especially if I’m dressing two dogs before walkies. So the insert-arms-and-legs model probably wouldn’t work too well. I think I’d prefer a cape-style, with Velcro at the chest and under the belly to hold the coat in place.
The only problem with that style is that Lally’s head would still get wet. But I’m not sure she’d like wearing a hood, either. It’d be nice if I could test out a coat for a few days — not just try it on in the store. That would give me time to see how hard it is to get on and off four times a day, and whether or not she would get used to a hood.
The other problem with coat shopping is Moose’s size. He’s WAY too big for most of the coats I saw in the store, so I’d have to custom order something and hope it fits when it arrives. (For example, the “large” sized dog Snuggie I saw fit dogs twenty pounds and over. My dogs are both WAY over twenty pounds!)
I think what I’ll do is see if I can borrow a dog coat from a friend to test it out… I know enough dog people that I bet I can find one to fit Moose and Lally! That way, if they both hate it, I haven’t spent any money. And if they love it, I can buy with a little more confidence.
I must be a crazy dog lady if I’m agonizing this much about dressing my dogs up for the weather! Hah!