AIBU to wonder why so many dogs wear coats these days?

[DogCoat]

I am quite old, so in my day, you never saw dogs wearing coats. These days, a high percentage of dogs are dressed in coats to go out. What is this all about? Why did dogs not used to need coats, but now they do?

My greyhound needs a coat for the cold because unlike other breeds he's super skinny with paper thin skin and not a great amount of fur. Just the way they're built and it does mean they feel the cold very easily!

That makes a lot of sense.

My Sister's whippet definitely needs a coat. She also has a fleecy snood during very cold weather. Most sighthounds need clothing both outside and inside the house.

Because some owners are twats.

Why? Because dog owners are, in the main, fucking stupid and dress the poor creatures up like dolls. Any shred of dignity that dogs used to have has been well and truly eradicated.

Coats, jumpers, seasonal costumes. Utterly ridiculous. The same type that refers to their pet as 'my fur baby'.

Pathetic.

It depends on the dog, Some dog breeds need coats in bad weather. We have sighthounds including a tiny Italian greyhound, who has aspirations to be a yard dog, and comes out to do the horses in all weathers. In winter she wears a fleece lined padded waterproof coat, with a chest and belly flap and a funnel neck. Without it she would freeze. She doesn't wear clothes indoors, but does spend most of her time asleep on a heated pad under fleece blankets.

I have 2 greyhounds who shiver when it is cold.

I've always had hardy terriers that hate coats, never used them...but recently added a poodle cross to the household. Terrible decision, as much as I love him.

His bloody curly coat is like a sponge, he soaks up gallons of muddy water and take hours to dry, plus EVERYTHING sticks to his coat and gets ferociously tangled/knotted in a nanosecond. I have him trimmed every 6 weeks but mine and his life is much easier if I keep him covered for off-lead walks as much as possible. He has three onesies, a fleece one and two lightweight suits. Keeps him drier and less clogged with grass seeds, mud and burrs.

I've tried putting a light raincoat on the border terrier when its really wet out, but he refuses to move for sheer embarrassment. The curly one gives no shits, fortunately.

My lurcher wears a coat at this time of year. Whippets, lurchers and greyhounds should all be wearing them.

Mine had a coat as he didn't like bad weather. He also had an equifleece for mud. It was easier to was a muddy jumper than to wash and dry a muddy dog.

It's winter at the moment so dogs are cold. I think there has been a station for short coated breeds recently (e.g. pugs, Frenchies, dachshunds, Staffies etc) who will get cold more easily.

I like to keep my dog dry and clean.

Is your dog a Yorkie/Dachshund cross?

Not at all.
At least I don't have a double-coat fur that insulates and protects against sun, moisture, heat and cold like my own dogs' natural coats.

Whippets and greyhounds fair enough though.

I think maybe a PP upthread who mentioned how dogs used to run around free has something here. If a dog is running around it will not be as cold as a dog tied up outside a shop for example.

Here is my Weimaraner dressed so that I can stay sane on muddy days 😮

I have one too. She absolutely hates a coat. She also hates the rain but will happily go outside coatless in the snow. She's weird.

Because we learn?
Because they're available commercially so don'tso don't be homemade? There was some demand though, I have a couple of knitting and crochet patterns from the 70s for greyhound type jumpers.

My grandparents wouldn't have put coats on their dogs.
They also fed them table scraps including food we now know is toxic, left them outside all day, would have assumed crates were used for cruel punishment, didn't take them to the vets for preventive medication/vaccinations, and thought 7 years was 'good going' for a dog.

My dog doesn't like wind in her ears or being rained on. Neither do I, so I don't think it's unreasonable for her to wear a snood over her ears in the wind, and a raincoat (with hi vis stripes) when it's wet.
I also have shoes for her for icy weather, mostly to avoid road salt and other toxic substances from sticking to her paws and then being ingested. Given the amount of broken glass around, I'm starting to wonder if she needs them on every time we walk on pavements, though for now we're sticking with grassed areas instead.

She's in her late teens now, a bit blind, mostly deaf, and likes her comfort. She was 'stealing' my oodie on cold mornings, so I treated her to her own. Mostly so I could reclaim mine guilt free.

And probably to the horror of some of the commentators on here, my dog has socks and likes wearing them.
It started as a gag-gift from a secret Santa, I put them on expecting that they wouldn't stay on long enough for me to take a photo for the gift giver, and entirely unprompted, when the first one came off, my dog brought it back to me to put it back on. She knows where they're stored, and on cold/wet days, will sit next to the shelf, looking at them and back at me.

Anyone who says dogs can't talk, isn't paying attention.

My dog won't walk if we put a coat on him, he just stands stock still looking miserable.

I don't think he needs one anyway he has a nice fur coat.

I didn’t have appropriate wet weather clothing when I went to school 40 years ago, my kids however always had appropriate wet weather clothing - I wonder why that was? Can you have a thought towards why that was the case OP, I’m sure you are not too old for that brain of yours to function.

I have an all black full size labradoodle so this time of year he wears a reflective coat and LED collar so people are aware of his size! His fur coat is also a pain to clean and matts easily if muddy so protects from the worst of the dirt he gets himself happily into! My smaller rescue is lower to the ground so gets wet and cold quicker - she loves her coat for walks and it saves all the cleaning when we get back.

If we're going to be discussing dogs in coats, people, let me introduce Bobby the Whippet.

I love the shift in the bloke's voice, from the urbane, 'Toast of New York having a canter' to, 'Bobby! BOBBY COME ERE!'.

Ours wears a thin raincoat in the wet because it’s easier than fully drying that thick spitz fur after a walk. She’s not a fan of rain/water/puddles so she prefers it too. No need for a coat to keep warm though.

That's a coat?

Curly haired dogs require a lot of coat maintenance and getting wet or very muddy can make matting more likely so when it's wet I put a coat on mine to limit the wetness