I remember visiting my parents with Ayla in tow and my mom saying something akin to, “Isn’t her sweater a little small? Are you going to get her one that actually fits her?” “She’ll get a new sweater when she stops growing,” I said. Ayla got her first sweater the first week in April. She wore that sweater until about October. In all fairness, it was a little small by that point.
Luckily, right about the same time we started getting overnight frosts, my breeder texted me to let me know there were some cheap dog sweaters, coats, and booties at TJMAXX; so off I went. I was bummed not to find the booties, but I did buy a couple coats and a sweater. I took them home and discovered that dog clothes are a pain in the ass because sizing is super inconsistent. The sweater fit. The coats couldn’t even velcro shut. Ayla may have long legs, but her actual girth isn’t that large. You’d think she’d fit something that said it would fit a cocker spaniel. Nope. Returned both coats. However, I had my eye on another coat.
Recall how I said I followed Windamir Kennels on Facebook? Well, they often posted pictures of the lives of puppies from their litters. I remembered seeing one such Pinscher out in snow. “Lily of Canada” had on a baler winter coat. German Pinschers don’t like the cold. 50% of German Pinscher photos I see, especially in the winter, are German Pinschers under blankets. I figured anyone who owned a German Pinscher in Canada in -7 degrees F knew what they were doing when it came to clothes. They had purchased their coat and snood from Chilly Dogs.
Chilly Dogs is a Canadian-based company, so unfortunately, shipping to the US can be slightly pricey, but the coats are totally worth it. You measure your dog and pick from a long list of measurements and they are on point about it. I sent in my measurements and they wrote back telling me that I shouldn’t use the sight hound measurements even though those measurements were – at the time – a closer match. They recommended a different set of measurements for my German Pinscher as they had obviously clothed several German Pinschers. We did have a little back and forth because I asked for the next size up and they thought my German Pinscher would not like having her tail covered. I thought she’d like having her bum wet even less, so eventually they agreed and sent me the larger size (Ayla does not care that it covers her tail at all.)
For booties, I ended up using Amazon and buying Xanday Dog Boots. I initially bought boots because I live in an HOA and figured the side walks were likely to be salted. This was not so much the case and while I was able to occasionally get Ayla to walk in them, she really wasn’t a fan. The one time that I put them on her because it had snowed, the snow was actually too deep and got inside the boots and I felt that defeated the purpose. However, buying dog shoes might be worth it just for the videos alone.
So 2/10 for booties. 7/10 for TJMAXX dog sweaters, 0/10 for their coats (sorry ASPCA.) 10/10 for Chilly Dogs’ Great Northern Coat and while the snood is adorable, sized well, and seems functional, Ayla doesn’t seem to appreciate my extra effort to keep her ears covered. If it’s snowing, she’d prefer no hood, if it’s raining, she’d prefer we just not be outside, period.
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