Whats your view on doggy Coats?

A few people saw me with my puppy recently and said "aw bless, he needs a coat the poor feller" he was shivering but a Patterdale is tough isnt he?

Just wondered what people though as to whether coats were a yes or no? Dont want to make him soft but it is really cold at the moment so dont want to torture the little guy

Thanks
Dave

Tilly is a ''tough terrier'' as well but she will wear a coat in cold or wet weather. She has quite a soft fluffy fur coat and does seem to feel the cold so I dont have a problem with putting a coat on her. And the way I see it, I wouldnt go out in t his weather without my coat so why should she!

We clip Duncan (yorkie) so he doesn't get too muddy in the winter so he has a jumper and a coat. Mollie as she is aging seems to feel the cold more this year so will have one soon too. Duncan also has a t.shirt for the summer as his allergies are worse then.

I think it depends on the coat the dog/puppy has themselves. A thick double coat or really good wire coat wouldn't necessarily need a coat...dogs like Greyhounds with thin single coats do when it's cold/wet...
Personally I think it's personal choice, if your dog isn't shivering, etc, then it should be fine

i think its EXTREME weather atm.& anything under 0 dogs shgould really be wearing coats unless they dont stop running & have a good coat.

I almost lost flynn on Xmas day, as he lay down alot in the snow & also eats it, his core temp dropped so much in 45mins that it took from 12.30pm to 2am to get his temp back to normal

I agree with the others, down to personal choice and the dog. I wouldnt put one on to look fashionable I put them on for specific reasons. In the rain I leave them but snow and extreme cold they have full body suits I put on them. I put them on because Muffin has problems walking in snow because of her coat (beardie cross) picks up snow balls and she finds it difficult and frustrating to walk. The coat keeps her warm (she shivers) and because its full length at legs prevents a lot of snow build up. Little Totts I dont want her belly getting a chill so the bodysuit completely covers her belly.

I get some dodgy looks and people thinking im dressing up my dogs, but its purely for purpose. There not even like fur trimmed or anything lol theyre reflective 3 peaks jackets.

If the dog is shivering he needs a coat. It has nothing to do with being "tough."

All of mine are short haired but none of them wear coats, they are young fit and healthy and we keep moving in cold and wet weather, they give off quite a bit of steam so would probably overheat in coats, but old, ill or infirm dogs probably would benefit from a coat so then I would have no problem with them having one.
I think it's something dogs get used to, to a certain extent. If they never wear one they get used to not wearing one and vice versa. Not all shivering is down to the cold either sometimes they do it from excitement, nervousness etc.

I've always poo-poo'd dogs wearing coats, especially border collies but I have to admit that I have recently bought a coat each for my five, mainly to keep them dry so I have less drying off to do before I go to work. I also have a couple of Back on Track coats for two of them who are coping with injury problems and one also has a Swamp Cooler coat for the very hot weather as he's epileptic and does seem to suffer when it's very humid. My old girl also has a jumper for the very cold weather so I guess I would have to say that it's a good idea for a specific reason but, like the others, I wouldn't get one just to dress them up!

The 2 patterdales I've got now don't wear coats but we are always on the go when we are out and about and they would get too hot in coats.

Our new russell pup will be getting a coat/jumper as soon as I can get to the relevant shop, then get it back up north. She's only 14 weeks old, and was only going outside for the toilet, as the snow was too deep for her, but she's getting braver and the snow is starting to thaw/get hard so she can walk on top of it, and she has been getting cold!

It's personal choice, if you think your pup is getting cold, get him a coat. Midge, my patterdale, that was 6/7 year old came out on a shoot day with me in the cold once, and he was cold by the end of the day, so he got carried inside my coat, then put on his bed in front of the fire when we got in. Patterdales are little softies too!