GentleLake Posted December 19, 2017 Report Share Posted December 19, 2017 Aussie coats are pretty similar to border collie coats. But, no, not as water resistant as Labs'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted December 20, 2017 Report Share Posted December 20, 2017 Not only is coat length (rough versus smooth) a possible consideration, but so is the presence or absence of a significant undercoat, along with the texture of the guard hairs and undercoat. Two of my dogs have guard hairs that shed the rain somewhat well, and the third has very soft guard hair (and a good bit of very soft undercoat) and her coat just soaks it up (and takes much longer to dry out). My longest-coated dog has hardly any undercoat. If he was not so active outside, he'd benefit from a dog coat when the temperatures drop. As it is, I only coat him when it's under 20 F. And while rough-coated dogs can have lots to little coat, so can smooth-coated dogs, varying from little undercoat to a very dense undercoat. The Aussies we have had, all working-bred, had much thicker, denser coats with hairs that were slightly crimped if you looked very, very closely - they were mud magnets, did not self-clean like the Border Collies tend to do, and once they got wet, took plenty of time to dry out. Variability - it's what happens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted December 23, 2017 Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 I have never been the type of person to put clothes on a dog. Oh, maybe a bandanna for a special occasion, or for Freestyle dancing. But not otherwise. But now I have this little terrier. I live in a very warm place, but I noticed the first 2 years I had this dog that all the hair fell off his ears every year around April. Figuring it was the cold, even though it only goes below freezing a few times each winter, I designed an ultra-warm hat for him which, along with a warm coat, he now wears every time he goes outdoors any time the temperature is below 45 degrees. I know it sounds really silly, but since I have been doing that the hair never falls off his ears any more. My border collies have never had hair fall off their ears. Nor any other dog I have had. I suppose it is because their ears are thicker, maybe have more fur, but it still puzzles me that this happens to my terrier. I have not heard of this being a common thing among terriers. (but I really don't know a lot about terriers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted December 23, 2017 Report Share Posted December 23, 2017 ^ I wonder if your terrier has some metabolic issue that make him less tolerant to cold. Perhaps low thyroid? I'm in the Northeast where it can get pretty cold in the winter (though nothing like the upper midwest. I think Fargo ND's forecast high for today was -5F!) but I never really used to get cold in the winter. Now that my thyroid's low I get cold, really cold, at temps I wouldn't even have registered as cold before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Elle Posted December 24, 2017 Report Share Posted December 24, 2017 Hmm. Had not thought of that. Just in case, I will call the vet hospital where he had his recent surgery to ask them if thyroid was included in the pre-surgery blood panel that they ran. thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraV Posted December 27, 2017 Report Share Posted December 27, 2017 We use pawz booties and sweaters. It's pretty cold here in Illinois, and they have trouble walking outside without the booties. What's nice about the pawz booties is that they are rubber and the dogs aren't bothered by them. They are also easy to put on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlesisright Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 On 12/14/2017 at 9:15 PM, waffles said: Yikes, what a reaction. I never said they were the same temperature. I answered the OP's question of "when do you put clothes on your dogs in the winter" and the answer was never. I then typed a little antidote about today's weather and walk. The OP is free to do as they wish but I responded to their question. Guess I'll go back to not responding much on these boards as no one enjoys being called out by name for such a benign post as winter clothes on dogs. Oh relax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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