Does your dog needs a coat?

I am writing this article as I have genuinely been asking myself this question as I was seeing more and more dogs wearing coats on social media.

After a lot of thinking and some research I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no easy answer (as per every question in life!). But I came up with a few guidelines; so, here is what to ask yourself before putting a coat on your dog.

• What breed are they?

There is a lot of different type of breed and a lot of different type of coats. Some breeds are more cold sensitive. Breed with short, single coated fur will benefit more from a coat than breed with long, double coated fur.

• What is the weather like?

A number on a weather app will give you an idea of how cold it is but there is also a lot of different variables to take into consideration.

If the sun is out, your dog will warm up quickly but if the wind is up or if it’s raining, your dog might feel colder. One of the way dogs use to keep warm is to trap warm air in between their fur. Gust of wind or rain can lead to that warm air escaping and therefore your dog’s temperature will drop.

• What is your dog used to?

As per us, humans, dogs are really good at adapting to their surrounding conditions. This means that rescues from Portugal who are used to extreme heat will, within a few months, be able to change their fur and get used to the colder temperature in the UK. On another hand, if you like to keep your home toasty, and your dog is used to that warmth, they may be more sensitive to the cold outside.

• What kind of walk are you having?

The type of exercise your dog is having during a walk will be very important for their thermo-regulation. Working muscles produce a lot of heat. So if you know your dog will be running constantly, a coat might not be necessary. Conversely, a dog that will be walking and sniffing most of their walk might get chilly.

• What is your dog body score (are they under or overweight)?

Fat is a really good insulator so if your dog is a little overweight, they will get hot quicker than a slim dog. Being a little cold will force them to use some of that energy stored in fat and could help them loose weight. A lean dog with very little fat will loose heat quicker and may benefit from a coat.

• How healthy is your dog?

Dogs with restricted mobility won’t be moving as much during the walk and may get cold. Older dogs or puppies might struggle with body regulation and might require a coat.

• How is your dog reacting with/without a coat?

If your dog looks very wary of going out in the cold or if they are shivering, it is a very good indicator that they may need a coat.

If your dog is healthy and they spend most of their walk panting with their coat on, they probably don’t need it.

All the above should help you decide if your dog needs a coat or not during the walk. If they do, you now have to find the right coat. Here are the two most important thing to look at when buying a coat in my opinion:

• The thickness/material of the coat:

You may have to get a few different coats to adapt to the temperature/weather condition. As an example, a fleece coat in the rain will retain the water and may make your dog colder than if they didn’t have a coat on. And, a thick coat on a sunny winter day may lead to your dog overheating.

So, if the type of coat doesn’t match the weather, a coat can become detrimental to your dog.

• How it fits:

I have seen many dogs with coats that restrict their shoulder, tail or hind limb. This will change the way that your dog moves and can with time create skin irritation and musculoskeletal issues. It’s easier to buy a coat online but it might be worth going into a shop, try the coat on and get your dog to walk in the coat to make sure that the coat is well fitted.

In conclusion, all dogs are different and I don’t think we can create a set of rules on when a dog needs a coat. I believe that the need of a coat should be reevaluated each day instead of automatically putting a coat on from November to March. I also believe that choosing the right coat is very important if you don’t want the coat to become detrimental to your dog.

How to look at your animal standing

It is interesting to look at your animal standing from the front, the side (both), the back and the top (mainly for dog and very small pony).

View from the front:  

➡️ Head carriage: is the head carried more the left or to the right?  

➡️ The front legs: are they vertically underneath the animal’s body or more sideways towards the inside or outside of the body?

Front paws/hoofs position: are they straight or rotated internally/externally?

➡️ Muscular mass: is there the same amount of muscle on both shoulder? Are both side of the pectoral muscles symmetrical?

➡️ Eyes: are they aligned horizontally?  

➡️ Abdomen: Can you see the ribs and/or abdomen more to one side?  

View from the side (needs to be done on both sides):  

➡️ Front and back legs: how are they compare to the body? Aligned vertically underneath the pelvis/shoulder (blue arrow on photo), brought forward, backward compare to the vertical (red arrow on photo)?

➡️ Head carriage: Is it low, high?  

➡️ Back: is the back straight? Hollow? Arched?  

➡️ Tail: is the tail held high ? (not as significant for dogs)  

View from the back:   

➡️ Pelvis: does one side of the pelvis looks higher than the other? 

➡️ Back legs: are they aligned underneath the body or are they held to the outside or inside of the body?  

➡️ Back foot: are they straight or rotating internally, externally?  

➡️ Tail: is the tail held to one side more than the other?  

➡️ Muscle mass: Are the gluteals muscles symmetrical on both sides?  

➡️ Abdomen: is the abdomen more to one side or another? 

View from the top (mainly for dogs):  

➡️ Back: does the back have and S shape or does it look straight?  

Abdomen: is the abdomen more to one side?  

➡️ Muscle mass: Are the gluteals, shoulder muscles, back muscles and neck muscle symmetrical on both side?  

➡️ Pelvis: does one side of the pelvis seem forward compare to the other?

➡️ Shoulder: does one shoulder seems forward compare to the other?  

This is a lot of information so if something doesn’t seem clear, please feel free to ask for more details :)

Hip Dysplasia

Hip dysplasia is a common pathology in dogs, a lot of you have heard of it but not everyone knows exactly what it is; so here is a resume of this condition.

The hip joint is a ball and socket joint (ball = head of the femur; socket= acetabulum of the pelvis). For the joint to be functioning, the socket and the ball need to fit perfectly with each other, and they need to be tightly held together by ligaments and a joint capsule.

In the case of hip dysplasia, there is a laxity of the soft tissues holding the joint. This allows more movement of the ball in the socket. This excessive movement and rubbing will damage the joint.

If the joint is damaged, the ball and the socket won’t have a perfect fit anymore, the acetabulum (socket) will become less concave, and the head of the femur (ball) will be flattened. This will allow even more movement and aggravate the situation further.

With time, this will lead to arthritis which can be very painful. You will often realise that there is an issue with your dog’s hip when this arthritic pain starts to show (except if you have done a control X-ray).

The laxity of the soft tissues appears a few weeks after birth, which means that even if your dog is diagnosed later in life, the dysplasia has always been there. Some dogs will have symptoms, some won’t, and this is due to a lot of different environmental factors. Two of those factors are growth and nutrition.

The treatment of hip dysplasia depends on its severity and symptoms, it can go from surgery to management.

The management will include different areas:

• The weight management will be extremely important as any extra weight will make the joint and dog suffer.

• Having an exercise plan will also be important as it will help builds the necessary muscle to support the pathological joint.

Osteopathy can also help greatly with arthritis; Here is what the Osteopath would do:

• Passive range of motion of the hip joint: Moving the joint in a pain-free way will help maintaining or gaining some range of motion in that joint.

• Myo-fascial release: The muscles around the hip must work harder to protect the joint, they may become over contracted. Those tensions needs to be worked on as they can create more instability and pain around that hip.

• Passive range of motion of other joints: The Osteopath needs to make sure that all the surrounding joints are functioning properly as they will work harder to take some of the stress and strain off the arthritic joint.

• General balancing of the body: Keeping a body generally healthy and balanced will always help in case of pathology. Any issue somewhere else in the body could put more pressure on the hip joint. On the other hand, the malfunctioning hip will create compensation elsewhere which needs to be worked on for the body to be able to cope.

• Advice: The Osteopath will also be able to give you advices on environmental factor and exercises for your dog.

Osteopathy can also help in a similar way for rehabilitation post surgery.