I have a 13-pound Italian Greyhound named Pip, and he has almost no body fat. On a Flagstaff morning below about 50 degrees, he stands at the back door and gives me a look that says he would rather hold it than step onto the cold grass. I had hand-knit him a sweater years ago, but it was thin, the kind of thing that works in the house and not much else. So in late November, as the first real snow came in, I ordered the Dogcheer winter coat, and it changed our whole winter.
This is not a list of fancy features. It is ten plain reasons why a winter coat suits a short-coated dog, learned on one-mile morning walks with a shivery little dog who would rather be inside.
A winter coat that stops the shivering in the first block
The Dogcheer winter coat covers the back, chest, and part of the belly, zips along the side, and has a leash opening for a harness. It is the coat Pip wears every cold morning now.
Amazon Check Today's Price on Amazon →A short coat cannot hold warmth, and a winter coat can
Pip's coat is thin and close to his body, the kind of coat that looks sleek and feels like nothing. He has almost no undercoat to trap air, so on a cold morning his body heat just leaks away. A winter coat adds a layer of insulation that traps his own body heat, and the Dogcheer coat is insulated and has a waterproof shell, so the warmth stays in and the snow stays out.
It covers the parts a sweater misses
My hand-knit sweater was a house layer, and it soaked through the moment it met snow. The Dogcheer coat covers his back, his chest, and part of his belly, which is exactly where the cold hits when he squats in the snow. That bare strip of skin meets the snow first, and a coat that reaches it makes the difference between a dog who shivers and a dog who trots. It is the part of the coat I notice most on the coldest mornings.
A waterproof shell beats a wet sweater
The first time Pip wore my knit sweater in snow, it soaked through and he came home shivering under a wet layer. That morning the snow was the wet, heavy kind that sticks to everything, and within two blocks the sweater was soaked and sagging. He spent the rest of the walk lifting his paws high and the rest of the day curled on Gene's lap while the sweater dried on the rack. The Dogcheer coat has a waterproof shell, so snow slides off and he stays dry. A dry dog is a warm dog, and a warm dog is a dog who will actually finish the walk.
It stops the shivering within the first block
The first morning Pip wore the Dogcheer coat, late November, first snow, he stopped shivering within the first block. I remember the date because Gene had to scrape the car twice that morning, and the trail was pure white. Pip did his usual back-away-from-the-door dance, so I zipped him in and we stepped out anyway. I almost laughed. He went from a trembling little creature to a dog with his ears up, sniffing the snow like it was the most interesting thing in the world, and he finished the whole mile without once lifting a paw to complain.
A zipper along the side is easier than pulling things over a dog's head
Pip does not like things going over his head. The Dogcheer coat zips closed along his side, so I lay it open, set him on it, and zip it up. No wrestling, no ducking, no offended dignity. He stands there like he is getting dressed for a formal event. The Gooby vest he wore before this one closed with a hook-and-loop strip across his back, and that was easy too, but the zipper feels more secure when we are out in deep snow.
The leash opening works with a harness
Pip wears a harness on walks, and the Dogcheer coat has a leash opening on the back for it. I clip the leash through the opening, and the coat stays put. Before I figured that out, I tried clipping to his collar once, and the coat bunched up around his shoulders within a block. No bunching up around his neck, no fighting to find the clip under a layer of fabric.
It fits from the chest measurement, not the breed name
I ordered the Dogcheer coat from the chest measurement on the size chart, and it fit on the first try. I measured the deepest part of his chest with a soft tape measure while he stood over a biscuit, then measured a second time to be sure. The chart said small, and small was right. That is the whole trick with a short-coated dog. Their chests are deep and their legs are thin, so a coat sized by breed alone is a gamble. The Gooby vest I bought earlier in November fit fine but left his belly bare, so I knew the chest measurement mattered. Measure the chest, read the chart, and the coat fits.
It wipes down and washes well
After snowy walks, I wipe the Dogcheer coat down and it is ready for the next morning. One morning a snowplow had pushed a bank across the trail and Pip plowed straight through it, coming home with the coat streaked with grit and slush. I wiped it with a damp cloth and it looked new again. Over the winter I machine washed it on gentle a few times and hung it to dry, and it held its shape. The zipper still runs smooth and the shell still sheds water the way it did in November. For a coat that gets worn every single cold day from late November to March, that matters.
It keeps a short-coated dog willing to go outside
Before the Dogcheer coat, Pip would refuse to go out on cold mornings. He would stand at the back door, shiver once, and turn around. One morning in January it was 9 degrees, and I braced for the usual argument. He walked out like it was nothing. Now he walks to the door when I pick up the coat. A short-coated dog does not need to be forced into winter; he needs a layer that makes winter tolerable. That changes everything about a morning routine.
It is the first layer of a full winter kit
The Dogcheer coat was the first piece of Pip's winter kit, and it made the rest easier. The boots came in mid-December, after the sidewalks were salted, and the stretch onesie in early January for the coldest nights. Each piece solved one problem, but the coat solved the first one, the one that kept us from leaving the house at all. The coat is the piece that gets him out the door, and the rest of the kit handles the details.
What I'd Skip
I would skip a winter coat that does not cover the belly, and I would skip one that has to go over the dog's head if your dog hates that. I would also skip a hood. The Dogcheer coat has no hood, and I have never once wished it had one. And I would skip anything so thick that the dog cannot move normally. A winter coat should make a short-coated dog comfortable, not turn him into a stiff little statue.
He stopped shivering within the first block, and that was the moment I stopped worrying about winter walks.
Give your short-coated dog a warmer winter
If you have a short-coated dog who shivers, this is the coat I would start with. It is the one that got Pip through a Flagstaff winter.
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