My doodle is more poodle-like in her hair texture and I can see skin easily. It is not all that thick, iow.  I never had a dog who required a winter coat so I am unsure how to judge this. My Husband and I think she does but... what kind? How heavy does it have to be to really keep her warm? What about her legs? the hair on the legs is not thick either!

does she need it just to go out to pee? a little help, please? TIA, friends.

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I have coats for all my dogs but really have only been putting them on the little one's so far. When it's really cold and snowy, the coat will let you keep them dry and when you come back in they warm up faster. Plus, with my fleece coated doods, they take forever to dry off. I have the boots too but they don't keep them on. Legs, I don't think they even have anything for them. I have nice shearling coats for all of them.
I don't have coats or boots for my girls. In fact, I tried boots for my previous girls and it did not go over well. For walks, the girls let me know if it is too cold for outside - lift their paws off the ground, and sometimes it is obvious, like when it is -6C with a wind chill of -15C. But we usually do fine on walks when it is -1C to about -3C which is most of the winter. We usually walk no more than 45 minutes in the winter.

If you go on very long walks then maybe a coat would be a good idea. But, for potty breaks, out and in, I don't think so.

My poodle's fur is fine and silky and I can see his skin even when dry. When he's cold he shivers to the point of almost vibrating so I bought him a water repellant black nylon-type material with a polar fleece middle layer. He loves it. No more shivering. It's been pretty cold lately 8F-18F and even in the vehicle before it heated up he was too cold. My doodle's fur is fine and silky with no undercoat but he has more. He had no coat. He didn't shiver or seem envious of Rocky's but it's just too cold. We're on our way out right now to get one for Dandy. He lays way at the very back of the SUV where it takes forever to heat up. I say yes; if it's way below freezing very often and they have no undercoat and I haven't met a doodle yet that did...they need a coat.

Paula

It isn't way below feeezing yet... but a few really cold days made me think of how prepared I should be. I never had a doodle before. My others all have heavy long hair and thick insulating coats. They love lying in the snow! This doodle, maybe not so much. I will have to wait and see.

I'm definitely getting /sewing her a coat to keep her warm.

Thanks for your input, everyone.I appreciate it.

Look at you...sewing her a coat. You're my idol. Look at it like this, if she IS a doodle who loves the snow, as mine all do. Having the coat will keep her just a little drier and when you come in, throw it in the dryer and it's ready for the next outing.

Here's one of my foster girl, Dakota from last winter. Notice the cast on her leg? Putting the plastic bag on and off was more of a pain than the coat.

 

I cannot find any of my doodles wearing theirs. I might have to get a few to show their beautiful shearling coats.

I have found that for dogs that stay indoors primarily, you need to start taking them out or leaving them out for longer periods starting in early September. Even before the weather starts cooling off, the bright sun is vital towards a good thick coat, with the Vitamin D from the sun being so envaluable.

 

Then as the weather gets cooler and cooler, nature takes over and their winter coats will start growing. The more you can keep them out, the better it is.  The more you comb and brush their coats during this period the thicker and prettier the coat gets. I do this to my Golden Retriever several times a day, usually when he brings me a brush or comb! The coat not only is getting thicker, but the amount of hair left in the brush can hardly be seen at all, and my wife and I have both noticed hardly any hair on the floors when we are vacuuming and sweeping.

 

If you have never been to the zoo in winter, plan a trip this year. It's a whole new experience.  We went the last time New Years Day fell on a Sunday and there were no bowl games on TV. You will not recognize some of the animals with their winter coats and you get a better grasp of the situation. Horses really looked different, some having a completely different color coat.

 

It just goes to show that you don't need to put a silly, little, plaid coat on a big, ole German Shepherd when God and Mother Nature will take care of this for you!

that is so funny,envisioning a little flimsy coat on a GSD, LOL! Which I do not do. But a Doodle who goes outside to play? I can see her pink skin beneath her ivory hair. I'm going to clothe this dog. And Lynne, I am no hero... just thinking it is cheaper and it must be very easy to sew together a winter covering for a dog.

I can imagine the plastic bag aggravation. Ugh. But she still looks great in the pic!

 

I would like to see pix of the shearling coats. I was thinking microfleece next to the skin and a soft, flexible weather-replent on the outer layer. Nothing fancy. Maybe use an old woollen sweater or but a patch of coat material and just fiddle with it. There are probably even sewing patterns available to use. I'm Googling it. Thanks for all your help, everyone.

This is the coat I have for my dogs. They all have one:

Fashion Pet Suede Shearling Coat

I got them from a catalog that came in the mail, Harriet Carter has them pretty cheap: http://www.harrietcarter.com/pets/shearling-dog-coat/ Just $14.98 for the ex-large.

 

Amazon has them for $25

 

Little Brianna in her Winter wear- if it is super cold, or deep snow. 

 

How sweet! Both dogs look quite toasty in their winter-wear! Thanks for the link, I will def'ly check it out.

I bought Scout a water resistent, fleece lined coat. She seems to like wearing it.

I ordered the X-L fleece shearling coat for Kylie for the link I was sent. Harriet? It was only $14.99 or so. About as cheap as sewing one. I'll let you know how she does with it.

IN other news, I have a new rescue/rehome dog. Her name is Tara and we just love her! She is grey and black tipped fir on top of silvery to buff colored undercoat. A King Shepherd, not a doodle but we won't hold that against her, LOL! She was adopted by me specifically to keep Kylie happier and well exercised. My old dog is part the days of non-stop playing and romping. This new addition is just right. She needed a home with someone who can handle extra large herding breeds and I needed a large dog , spunky enough to play at the same level of intensity as Kylie. A match made in heaven, although the new dog looks rather severe and makes Kylie look like a toy store stuffed animal because she is just so huggably cute(which this new shep is definitely NOT, LOL)! My husband is thrilled, too. He had his doubts but after a week of working with the pack they are all trustworthy enough to be left free-roaming, alone in a room, in the whole house, whatever. Amazing how well dogs communicate with one another and form good association if given the proper space and time needed. I am sooo happy with my doodle-sheperd pair. . : ) Very content.

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