Product Review : Winter Coat Search

I've recently been trying to find Molly a good winter coat.  I know some people will scoff at the idea of clothes for dogs, but given her hair/fur style and size I'm afraid that she will get cold in the winter.  Her one experience with prolonged temps around 40 degrees (outdoor movie night in a friend's backyard), she was shivering quite a bit until I put a blanket over her.  Also, she's from Texas and I don't think she's probably seen much (if any) snow, so I'm a bit worried about how she'll feel about the Colorado winters!

My main issue so far has been that for her neck and chest size, she's actually quite long.  Her ideal coat length is about 14 inches, but usually coats that long are made for dogs with around a 20 inch chest diameter and hers is only 16 inches.

Ruffwear K9 Overcoat

The internet consensus on the 'best' coat seems to be Ruffwear.  I agree they make really high quality clothing, but their sizing doesn't seem to work at all for Molly.  The first coat we tried was the Ruffwear 'Overcoat'.  It was super cute, and I loved how it attached (two buckles rather than the complicated velcro structure of most coats).  When I tried it on I knew right away it was too short but I talked myself into it anyway, and even sewed a harness opening in for her since they don't have one (another pretty big flaw in my mind, but moderately easy to remedy if you have a sewing machine, even with my beginner sewing skills).  She has worn it a few times and it works, but her whole back half still gets wet.  I think it would maybe work better for keeping warm purposes since it does cover her 'core', but as a raincoat it's not very effective.

Here's Molly modeling her new coat when it first arrived.  It's a little hard from this picture to see how short it is, but trust me - it only covers about half her back when she's walking around.

In spite of my sizing issues, this is a great coat and I would definitely recommend it if your dog happens to fit the standard sizing a little better.  Although, I do think it would be greatly improved by a slot for leash/harness access.  When researching it I found a lot of people bemoaning the lack of one and saying they had to put on their harness *over* the coat which seems like a pain.

RC Pets Venture Coat

When we were at our local pet store & groomer for a nail trim the other day I decided to try on one of their stocked coats - the RC pets 'Venture' coat.  RC Pets sizes their coats by length, so I was able to try on a 14" coat.  As expected, it was a bit big in the chest, but not so big I though I couldn't work with it - and it was finally long enough!

The first thing I did when I got it home was to move the chest velcro in by about an inch.  Again, this is easily accomplished if you have a sewing machine, but probably not something everyone would be willing or able to do.  On the bright side, this coat comes with a nice leash access and flap already sewn in!

A picture of the velcro after moving it in:

And Molly modeling her newly custom fit coat!  I gotta say, I think she looks pretty cute in red.

Custom Coats

Of course, if you have a between-sizes dog like me, custom coats are always an option as well.  There are a ton of options on etsy, and before finding the RC Pets coat I had actually ordered this coat, as well as this hoodie (because I just couldn't resist).  They haven't arrived yet but I will be sure to post a report when they do!

Winner:  RC Pets Venture Coat for now, but also excited to try custom coat options!