Canine Capers: Dressing the Dog

By Lesley Liddle

Lesley Liddle is a certified service and pet dog trainer. First Mate Lulu is a Corgi/Red Heeler with spots like a baby harbor seal; Crewman Leonard is a Chihuahua/Doxie with tall ears like a rabbit. Both dogs have very short legs and were originally found in California shelters.  Lesley has average legs and can be found on Orcas Island.

The day started out windy, cold, and drizzling, so I put a jacket on Leonard, Chihuahua that he is, who seems to be of a delicate constitution, at least when he is not leaping onto Lulu, growling and being a formidable wrestling Rotweiller.

So on this blustery day off to town we went for a brisk walk when suddenly Leonard just stopped all forward movement.  He stood like a stone carving of a Chihuahua in mid stroll. After a moment of astonishment, I bent down and thought to take off his coat, whereupon he gave a good shake and began trotting along again. Then a little wind came up and he began to shiver and his rabbit ears drooped and stuck out sideways.

Once again he stopped all forward momentum so I put his jacket back on. He was happy for half a block, until the sun came out and after another block he repeated the stone sculpture pose . I removed the jacket and watched him recover his jaunty gait. Then I stopped to say hello to someone and after a few minutes Leonard began to whine pitifully and only ceased the embarrassing noise when the jacket was replaced securely upon him. We proceeded  without further incident down the hill to Pawkis.

Inside it was very warm so of course the jacket needed to come off. By the time we left Pawkis the clouds had returned so the jacket was reapplied, but then needed to come off as we gained a little altitude and got as far as the school. We arrived at Buck Park for a final romp without the jacket and had a bit of a time with someone’s soccer ball.

All this while Lulu was just ambling along happily with never a care. She is a rugged no nonsense kind of gal, never seems to mind hot or cold weather nor does she really need a jacket when it snows. Of course she does have a fancy red one with racing stripes but it is really more for looks than anything. Anyhow she thinks it’s silly.

But the real thing of it is this: If a dog is busy moving at a good clip outside he doesn’t generally need a jacket, unless he is possibly running the Iditerod at night in a blizzard because he will be generating plenty of heat. Dogs that are ambling along on their own usually do so fairly quickly and are preoccupied by what they are interested in. They can easily become too hot with a jacket under normal ambling circumstances.

Even Leonard does not need a jacket in cold weather when he is busy doing his own thing outside.  When we interfere things get pretty complicated for the dog’s natural temperature system. Living both inside and outside, dogs have to shed and grow fur constantly since they are always in between hot and cold weather. Unseemly amounts of fur drift about in our houses. Of course it is our own doing with our over-heated homes.

This beleaguered modern companion dog is really at our mercy. If you do use a jacket on your dog for heaven sake take it off when you go inside unless you live in an igloo. And I’m not at all sure about raincoats for dogs. They look really uncomfortable to me and most of them don’t breathe. What is wrong with a little water on the dog anyway?  It is imperative to be vigilant and notice your dog’s comfort level.

And it certainly isn’t enough to pop a jacket on a Chihuahua and figure you’ve done your job.