#dog coat

[sayhowdycountrycritters]

Atlas got a new winter coat!

[pawsitivevibe]

I finished it!! Proud that I knocked it out in one day.

Little plaid cape coat for my little Englishman. Wool blend with a corduroy lining. I think he looks very fancy. I'll have to get better photos outdoors.

[megpricephotography]

I am CRYING!! LOOK who finally has his very own jacket! Flynnie does!! I am so proud of him.

I never, ever, ever thought I'd see the day when this little scaredy-dog would be brave enough to let me put a jacket on him - complete with a worrying velcro strap, wrapped around his tummy. This dog - who used to be so terrified of me touching him, that he'd bite me if he suspected I might even try to pat him... never mind put clothing on him!

As he's got older, Flynn's made it increasingly clear that he really doesn't like getting rained on, & he's not a huge fan of being cold either. He still wants to go out but strongly objects to bad weather. With any normal dog, I'd have happily got them a jacket, long ago... With Flynn, I've spent ages agonising over whether the potential stress of me fiddling about putting the jacket on & off him, would outweigh any comfort he'd gain, by wearing it on cold/rainy days. Flynn's ability to cope with handling has improved a lot over the years but the trust between us is hard won & easily lost - on both sides. It's not like the weather here gets so awful that a coat is essential... it's just something I felt Flynn might like (if he could tolerate it going on!).

However, after looking at a sad, soggy Flynn once too often this autumn, I decided if I could find a cheap coat in the sales, then I'd just order it & see what he thought!! The jacket arrived this week & so far, it's been a success! I am so happy!

Flynn's been standing beautifully for me to put it on (I can do it up one handed, while feeding him snacks with the other!). The noise of the velcro being undone after, has made him jump slightly but nothing terrible & he's calming down now he expects it. I took this pic today, on Flynn's 1st proper walk in his jacket - thought I'd better take a photo while it's still looking nice & clean! Flynn was initially a little uncertain if he could run around in it but once I threw a toy for him, Flynn quickly realised it was all good. He came home happy & cosy!

Anyway that was a long post about putting a jacket on a dog... but I celebrate small successes with Flynn!

[photozoi]

What do you see?

A sighthound on a sighthound.

This spot is one of the Young(ish) Prince's (Borzoi).

[thecrochetcrowd]

Crochet That's Bananas Dog Coat Pattern

Crochet That’s Bananas Dog Coat Pattern

Crochet That’s Bananas Dog Coat Crochet That’s Bananas Dog Sweater It’s so ridiculous I’m itching to crochet this even though I don’t have a dog! I know Riverstone, our kitty, would most likely scratch my eyes out if I tried to put that on her. This is the Banana Split Dog Coat. This is a super cute and memorable dog coat! You will be the talk of the town. The dog will get a lot of attention. A…

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[darkwood-sleddog]

Not sure if you've done this before, but can you explain the differences between "useful" and "useless" coats (like in beauty lines with wooly malamutes and huskies) ?

I've talked a lot about coat type & quality before, but Siberian Huskies & Malamutes have a "short dense double coat" as being correct "never long and soft" (this language is taken from the malamute standard, but the siberian is similar). The normal short coat is dominant (LL for length) and long coat is recessive (ll for length).

The reasons for this is because the correct short double coat that is coarse in texture is water & dirt repellent and insulating, almost never mats, and allows airflow through the coat at all times. It is low maintenance, blows coat in summer without assistance and snow almost never balls up on it. This is essential to a working sled dog existing in the arctic where bathing would be dangerous and modern grooming would not be common.

With a long or soft (or both) coat as is common in "wooly" siberians and malamutes is often very long and very soft. The hair is very prone to snowballs being collected on it. This separates the hair and keeps the dog wet and cold, increasing the potential for hypothermia. In addition, long soft coats mat really easily. This is painful for all dogs and dangerous in the arctic as airflow cannot be maintained (correct double coats work a lot like a down jacket where air trapped & flowing beneath the layers is warmed by the body). Mats increase the potential for discomfort and hypothermia. Long hair is prone to not blowing coat on its own and often needs the assistance of grooming to rid it of undercoat. In some indigenous arctic cultures, long coated sled dogs are considered functionally disabled.

Here is a wooly siberian with an impacted coat, unable to blow coat on its own:

You can see that the hair is clumping together and not releasing from the skin, causing mats and buildup of hair (often seen by that wavy pattern around the neck where the hair is all compressed together). Compare this to a short coated siberian blowing coat naturally:

The hair is released from the body forming tufts as it blows out from the skin of its own accord. You can see there are no wavy ridges or compressed hair, it just looks like the dog is molting.

Below is Vada, a long coated Malamute from a well known Canadian show kennel. THIS is her instagram she shares with her related, correct coated pack mate. Notice below how Tusk (the pack mate on the left) Has no snowballs on his feet vs Vada who is experiencing some foot trouble. They've gone the same distance in work and on a relatively packed, firm trail:

In deep snow it can be even worse:

A correct coat should have a coarse, oily texture that feels clean to touch. It should be difficult for moisture and dirt to penetrate as it should be dense (especially in winter), but will never have mats that sit against the skin. A correct coat can come in many functional lengths, but regardless of this length the feathering should not be so profuse that the feet get "grinchy" or overly hairy. Coat should be fairly short on the legs, increasing in density over vulnerable areas such as the neck.

Here are some correct malamute coats (short haired on the left like my dogs and a long coat carrier on the right):

Here is a short coat (left) vs a long coat on the short-medium spectrum:

Here are some varieties of long coat dogs:

All these dogs are all long coated, but modifiers in their genetics make it so that they all have different lengths. Some are more functional than others, but the big issue is that we can't predict that at birth AND additionally if the dog is not being worked on snow it will also be impossible to tell if shorter long coat dogs experience snow balls. Here are the same dogs as puppies, can you tell which puppy will have the longest coat?

Now there are some sled breeds where long coat is acceptable such as the Yakutian Laika & Samoyed, but the soft texture and overly profuse coat can still be a big problem for these breeds. Most country of origin working Yakutian Laika aren't prone to the overly profuse coat that we see in some Samoyeds and the long coated varieties of Siberian & Malamute and I would be concerned that as the breed gains popularity as they are very beautiful that many people will not work the breed in snow conditions and they too will be prone to overly long soft coats).

Because the fact the modifying genes for length variation across the spectrum of Short coats (LL) - Carrier coat (Ll)- Long Coat (ll) exist amongst all coat types it's important to understand that breeding for flashier, more profuse short coats will also make long coats prone to the same modification of flash & profuseness thus creating a massive amount of long coated dogs that are functionally not able to do the job they are supposed to be able to do. It's crucial to understand that long coated malamutes & siberians can be prone to such massive coats because the breed also prioritizes a certain density & profuseness amongst correct coats in the ring. On the other side of things you also do not want dogs with coats so short they lack functionality (such as many Alaskan huskies bred for racing need coats in temperatures normally coated Malamutes/Greenland/Inuit dogs would not need them).

[sammythesheltie]

Sammy got a new coat and he loves it ❤.

[winterleapingfrog]