What are your tips for having a dog in the winter - what are you wearing? What are they wearing? How often are you washing them? Etc

[Iamtryingtoignorethespider]

DPup is 9 months old and, apart from going through a teenage phase when it comes to recall, is generally a delight. As he’s 9mo old, he’s a heatwave puppy - we got him just before the Easter holidays and so had very little experience of rain until recently and now it’s dark and cold as well and I am feeling slightly thrown. On yesterday morning’s walk, I had cold fingers but I’m not sure my usual leather gloves are quite what I want to be wearing. I have some waterproof trail shoes which have been great until now but they are just trainers so no use if I’m in long, wet grass or in mud or puddles. I have only just realised you can wash dog harnesses.
So what are your practical tips for having a dog in the winter?

Depends on the dog.
An obedient chocolate lab with a bit of chub can probably be washed annually, never need a coat and just a quick paw rinse when necessary.
A skinny pointer with lots of white bits and a penchant for bog snorkelling might need a few washes a week and a jumper for any slow walks when it less than 5 degrees.
A large trug by the door makes for quick paw washes.

A good point @MrsPernicious! We have a cockapoo.
Location probably also matters - we live on the edge of surburbia so have a lot of open country side and woods within half a mile and more countryside and a river a short drive away. He has an hour or so there every morning. His evening walk tends to be in the local park or around the local streets.

What did you do in winter before you had a dog? Just do what you did then, wellies if it’s very wet, coat, gloves, hat etc
I don’t wash mine but as you have a mixed breed with a difficult to manage coat you need to be going to the groomer on a regular basis.-

Mud on dog: I let it dry and then brush it out (dogs have a little store room off the utility room!) However, I also have the Equafleece summer suit for the cookerpoo. That one is a mud & water magnet with very fine hair and the added bonus of hating brush time!
I have various coats, hats and gloves plus a pair of these:
www.shuperb.co.uk/products/mud-dogs-brooke-womens-wellington-boots-black-1?option1=UK%203

Equafleece for the dog if its muddy. I keep a mat by the back door for muddy boots/shoes (im eyeing up a pair of short wellies for this year) and a basket with an old towel in it.
Equafleece (one of the ones with legs) then when we get in I chuck the towel down for her to stand on while I take off the fleece, them towel her feet, chuck towel in the basket, equafleece on top to dry, job done.
Works a TREAT. I have a boot rack outside the back door to hang my boots upside down on, rain cleans them (they occasionally get a hose spray)
We also have blankets etc over our sofas that catch the rest of the gunk. Wash everything regularly.

For me ive not found a better combo than fleecy lined leggings/jeggings/joggers and a big long puffy coat on top. I have a sacrificial dog walking one that I bought on Vinted that I dont mind if it gets grubby.

(Obviously this isnt all the height of glamour but I dont see anyone!)

Im also toying with those gloves that are also mittens this year, gloves annoy me as i end up taking them off to wrangle phone/poo bags!

Brush, old towel and a drying coat for the dog.

For you, Muckboots, thin waterproof coat for milder days, warm waterproof coat for when it's freezing, Sealskinz gloves (iirc they're for motorcyclists, they're waterproof and warm). In theory you can get by with two dogs walking coats, but I have 4...

I find a pure wool woolly hat can get soaked, but my hair will still be dry underneath it.

Good waterproof walking boots and several waterproof coats/hats for us. Waterproof cross body bags. Fingerless mitts/wristwarmers.

Spare harnesses, collars and leads so we can wash and dry them when they get muddy.

Couple of big towels for each dog. We have one dog coat but it rarely gets used because it's a faff.

Our dogs never get bathed.

Layers under a raincoat, wellies, couple of old towels.

I don't wash the dog unless he is absolutely disgusting, otherwise he just gets groomed once a season.

2 working cocker spaniels here take them through the woods every day, I have walking trousers/ legging that are water resistant and a good paid of wellies and a big changing robe coat right down to my wellies, I love walking but I hate being wet and soggy. I have a mixer tap outside and rinse them off after each walk then pop a drying coat on indoors

I have a schnauzer whose fur is like Velcro so she has to wear coats or fleeces in wet muddy weather otherwise it’s daily baths!!she has a couple of all in one fleeces, and an all in one raincoat (zip up under her tummy).
I have a long padded hooded raincoat, warm
lined wellies, thick walking socks, and waterproof trail shoes. I need new gloves so I’m looking online for waterproof lined ones.

We have.a warm water tap out front with a hose attached, much easier to wash feet (and still allowed despite hosepipe ban - animal health). We come in through the garage in the winter as the pooch loves a last shake indoors and I don't want to have to keep washing the hallway walls down.
I have hooks in the garage for dog towel, equafleece and my coat if it's soaked, so it can drip dry.
I give her a full on shower and blow dry about once a month, or earlier if she finds a particularly skanky mudpatch. Any longer and she starts to look beige and gets a bit stinky. Groomers every 10 weeks.,

I have an elderly retriever. I have ready now, fleece lined craghopper walking trousers, revolution race walking boots, bareback leather boots (for mud), long sleeve T-shirt and fleece, plus waterproof coat, bobble hat or sports cap, gloves and scarf. For the dog, she wears nothing,she’s double coated. When I get back,towels already down on the floor to dry her feet, fleece towel for the rest and if she’s particularly wet a Ruff and Tumble drying coat. Throws on the sofa and I’ve got hard floors everywhere.

Hmmmm. Spaniel. If filthy, cold hose down outside, rubbed down with a towel and drying coat put on so I don’t get soaked if he sits on my knee.

Found ski gloves the best thing for keeping fingers warm.

Boots. Just purchased a pair of Bareback footwear boots which are bloody fabulous.

I have a Cockerpoo. Her coat picks up every twig and leaf we pass and she loves mud and water . I bath her about twice a week or when needed. A dog coat which covers her tummy keeps her cleaner.

Really depends on the dog, our lab is happy even in snow and will choose to jump into water as long as there's no ice on it! So he wears nothing and is fine. I wear a big puffa jacket and shearling lined wellies plus gloves. In the very cold it's actually easy as there's no mud, it all goes hard. After a muddy walk I just wash off any bad bits and pop him to bed to dry in a drying coat, then brush any dried mud off. He generally is ok though. Recommend hard floors though! We've no carpet which helps

I have a bog swelling spaniel who also rolls in EVERYTHING. He generates more washing than the rest of the house! We also canicross, so we are both basically muddy all winter. We have tried many options, but what works the best for us is - hot tap out the back (not expensive and honestly the best investment). I can deal with muddy dog, boots, harness before we get in the house. Horse bucket thingy for the car to chuck anything muddy in. Many many towels. Dilute some dog shampoo in a spray bottle for targeted cleanup if you aren’t doing a whole wash down. We have a ruff and tumble drying coat. It was pricey but has lasted and is double layered, so they don’t sit around soggy and it also stops him rolling all over everything in the house. Has a high neck for soggy spaniel ears. I put it on once he’s towel dried and it’s cosy. The cheaper ones were a waste of money and didn’t really dry him.

For boots - I have a short pair of Lanx and a long pair of Bareback boots. They are pricey, but mine are several years old, waterproof and I have walked miles and miles in them through the mud and wet. In the same time, my husband has been though multiple pairs of crap walking style boots, which never seem to last or dry out properly.

We had a mud daddy, which was ok, but is a bit of a faff to fill and lug around to the car.

Look at Rydale for fleeces - cheaper than equafleece and pretty decent. Get the zip one as easier to get on and off.

Dog walking kit - fleece lined leggings, walking boots and thick socks, good dog walking coat (that goes on with an XL fleece over my pj top) with lots of pockets and places to hang things on carabiners from.

Then i come home and get changed into my public facing clothes like a civilised human being 🤣

For the dog, if she is really muddy and it has been a quagmire (sp?) she gets a rinse down in the bathtub from the belly down

I love the winter walks - you can just put a huuuuuge coat on over some bloody awful "outfit" and no one is any the wiser....

These answers are just what I was after - the detailed explanations of some really practical ideas. I have learned a lot! Thank you —but keep the ideas coming!—

Springer here who loves any mud and River gets ears full of brambles etc... no coat of any type was born to be wild! ..
We have a spray wash thing at the front step which fill with hot water on way out (mud daddy idea but from Screwfix i think about £10 ) sometime squirt shampoo but advised not to wash too often as ruins the oil in the coat. So often just feet and lower body.ruff tumble drying coat..
Washable rugs from Dunelm from front to back and wood floors...
Dh has muck boot wellies as does most of long walk and waterproofs with layers under..
I have fitflop wellies plus decent socks as crap feet...didrickson waterproof parka which is thermal and brilliant..turtledoves cashmere snood for whén cold as doesn't flap and super warm.. although not cracked gloves yet!

Get very used to what your dogs paws are meant to be like.
Poodles have webbed paws, Cocker spaniels don't. You could have any variation. Webbed paws can be a bugger to clean.

Pop a Mud daddy filled with warm water in the car before going on a walk in the woods/muddy places. Then after the walk, before getting back in the car, quick hose down before putting a dog drying coat on. When they get home, they are usually completely dry and clean!
Only discovered dog drying coats last year and can't believe how good they are! My dogs fur used to take ages to dry but dries in minutes with the coat.

Yes I recommend the mud daddy as well.

I have 2 cockerpoos, one with thick curls that absorb water like a sponge and one with thin wispy fur that easily knots. Another vote for equafleece, we have both the 4 leg and 2 leg suits and they’ve been absolute game changers. You wouldn’t think a fleece is waterproof but somehow it just is. Muckboots and thermal leggings for the adults

We have this instead of a Mud Daddy. we use in the garden to spray mud away as well as on the dog.

I have a decent coat from Craghopper, and also walking trousers as they repel rain better and dry quickly.

www.karcher.com/gb/en/home-and-garden/products/oc-3-foldable-p15993040