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Knitting dog sweaters is not insane
By Phyllis DeGioia
September 22, 2009
I love dogs and knitting, so knitting dog sweaters is a natural inclination – far more natural for me to knit sweaters than it is for some dogs to wear sweaters. However, toy dogs, low body fat dogs (greyhounds and whippets) and elderly or ill dogs can all benefit from a little help keeping warm this winter. If you know how to knit, or want to learn, try to knit or crochet a dog sweater.
My friend Chris O’Rear’s elderly basenji, Kissy, benefited from an Icelandic yoke sweater I made for her. Basenjis like warmth: They’re kind of like heat-seeking missiles, and this sweater helped keep Kissy snuggly warm in her last year. Knitting for elderly dogs is a similar but somewhat opposite feeling from knitting a human baby sweater, but still a good feeling.
I’m not talking about insane little costumes with froo froo touches, or leopard skin patterns, all of which make me gag. I’m talking about keeping dogs warm in winter. Sweaters get a bad reputation because people associate them with toy dogs carried around in purses. Toy dogs have to wear sweaters in cold weather, but they don’t have to look like one of Paris Hilton’s woebegone fashion accessories. Knitting sweaters for dogs is not insane. That said, I have not spent the time to make one for my Great Dane friend Jack no matter how many times his mom asks. Jack is just too dang big.
I think I have every book on the market about knitting for dogs, from the classic (and my personal favorite, where I found the pattern for Kissy’s sweater and Ginger’s plain one) “Dogs in Knits” to “Puppy Knits” to Vogue Knitting’s “Knit for Pets” and even “Men Who Knit and the Dogs Who Love Them.” There’s a really cute baby sweater with paw prints in “The Gift Knitter: Knitting Chunky for Babies with Four Legs and Two,” and I have made several baby gifts with that pattern. Ginger has a solid burgundy sweater, although she’s never been fond of getting it off or on. There’s also “Top Dog Knits,” “Knitting for Dogs,” “Doggy Knits,” “Stylish Knits for Dogs” and so on. Many yarn manufacturers, such as Lion Brand and Patons Yarn, and online magazines such as www.knitty.com provide free patterns on the Web (although I would never, ever ask a dog to wear Lion Brand’s King of the Beasts Lion sweater. Get real. Lion Brand patterns give dog sweaters a bad name).
When my dog Fred was treated for anal sac cancer, he lost almost all his hair from chemo and had a baboon butt from radiation; he absolutely had to wear something outside in Wisconsin in February. Almost every dog in the lobby at the vet school in winter had sweaters or jackets covering up huge shaved areas. I knit a sweater for Fred, but it was too difficult to put it on because of his treatment, so he wore a fleece jacket most of the time. I was upset when some jerk in the vet school’s parking lot said “aww, mom, let me wear my birthday suit.” That guy had no idea Fred had lost his coat from his legs, face, throat, belly and most of his back. He also had no idea how exhausted, tired and cold Fred was.
Not to mention: Knitting a sweater for Fred was something I could do for him when I was feeling helpless.
Practically speaking, the problem with sweaters is that most of them have to go over the head, which most dogs don’t like. Many dogs dislike sleeves. Also, the sweater can get snagged. However, unlike most jackets and coats, the sweater covers the belly and keeps it free of ice. Nonetheless, knitting a dog sweater is a labor of love, and Ginger always gets compliments on her plain burgundy sweater. I beam with pride the few times a year she wears it.
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Living in Southern California and having herding dogs, I’ve never had a dog who needed to wear a sweater. My dogs have great natural double coats and let’s face it, Southern California doesn’t get that cold.
However, a friend’s Rottweiler has a terrible spinal/back disease and she puts a sweater on her in the winter - even our So. CA winters. I used to make fun of her but then one day I saw the dog ask for her sweater - she was chilled and wanted to warm up. After seeing that I quit laughing.
Knit away, Phyllis, knit away! smile….
Comment by Liz Palika — September 22, 2009 @ 10:28 am
Totally not insane. Our older dog definitely gets chilled in the winter, and even our younger, little guy likes to play in the snow longer with his fleece on.
Comment by Meryl — September 22, 2009 @ 10:50 am
Aw c’mon Phyllis! Don’t’cha think that lion sweater would make a darling Halloween costume? VBG!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 22, 2009 @ 11:02 am
Uh, yeah, Pat, it would make a funny Halloween costume…but aieeee for winter wear! Oh my God!
Kissy, the darling basenji, lived in N CA, in Monterey. Hardly a winter wonderland. Liz, I love it that the Rottie asked for her sweater. See, not something they have to wear just because mom is cold…
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — September 22, 2009 @ 11:09 am
My dogs have sweaters for when we visit my family over Christmas. It can be pretty cold in Iowa during December, especially for my little southern dogs! They are definitely willing to stay outside longer with them on and wait patiently at the door to get them off and on. They have no problem with them.
I admit they each have a doggy college shirt for big game days too. They get really excited to see those come out because they know the hubby and I will be cheering loudly. They often add their own cheers, our house gets pretty loud on Saturdays in the fall! But that is extent of their wardrobe.
Comment by Dani — September 22, 2009 @ 11:19 am
I had a nylon outfit with legs and it zipped up their back that I’d used for several of my dogs for the days when the weather got really bad here in Michigan. Then this last winter, Petey, the schnauzer came to live with me and he wore the outfit because it kept his belly and legs from getting snowballs stuck to his hair. Alas, he was so rambunctious in his play, he broke the zipper. Can’t find anything like it. I keep looking.
Comment by VJ — September 22, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
I’m a knitter and dog lover too and I’ve knit and bought (before I started knitting) sweaters for my dog before. He does ask for them in the winter and actually gets real excited when he sees me open the drawer where I keep them!
Comment by ana — September 22, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
VJ, was this it?
http://www.k9topcoat.com/
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 22, 2009 @ 12:57 pm
Or maybe this?
http://www.fidofleece.com/View.....escription
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 22, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
I have a couple of the K9 Topcoats we got in for review. I really like them! They look stylish and chic on the ‘trievies. FayBee was wearing one the other day, and I swear she was Vogue-ing. :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — September 22, 2009 @ 4:31 pm
Thanks The OTHER Pat. The k9topcoat.com site has similar to what I’m looking for. Thanks again.
Comment by VJ — September 22, 2009 @ 4:36 pm
I knit a sweater for Miss Kittywippet, the elderly mother of my Whippet Moose. After that I decided to spend the time knitting for myself and purchased coats and sweaters for the dogs.
Comment by Cate — September 22, 2009 @ 7:40 pm
If I had a basenji or a whippet, I would consider a jacket, like the kind horses wear when their winter coats are clipped. Like this one: http://www.zooplus.co.uk/bilde.....l_tc_1.jpg
Knitted sweater— no.
Plus, retrievers need an undercoat and when they wear coats, they don’t develop the undercoat they need.
Comment by retrieverman — September 22, 2009 @ 7:58 pm
I like dogs that you can actually make yarn out of their undercoats and make sweaters for yourself! I’ve never done it, but it sounds awesome. http://www.amazon.com/Knitting.....0312152906
I find that most of the robin nests around my house have yellow hair in them for a reason.
Comment by retrieverman — September 22, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
It’s called “chiengora”:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Usin.....8;id=61671
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 22, 2009 @ 8:20 pm
I have a couple of coats I made for the older dogs (corduroy lined with fleece), and regardless of undercoat, they get used when we have our nasty Wyoming winter windchill. Even a herding breed or sled dog can use extra warmth at 14 or older in our climate!
Comment by Maria Shanley — September 22, 2009 @ 8:24 pm
Wouldn’t it be possible to knit a sweater that buttons down the dog’s back with a few large buttons? Would that be easier to get on and off? (I love to knit too, but I have 2 indoor cats—it’s hard enough to keep collars on them, let alone sweaters!)
Comment by Diane — September 22, 2009 @ 8:39 pm
@Retrieverman - the problem with the horse-blanket style coats is that they cover the dog’s hairiest areas and leave the parts that are going to get wettiest and snowiest uncovered. :P
Kaylee, my rough collie, is getting a k-9 topcoat to keep burrs from getting stuck in her legs, not because they bother her, but because I’m sick of having to pick them out!
Comment by Cait — September 23, 2009 @ 5:24 am
I thin out the feathering on my goldens for the autumn to keep the burrs down, but during the winter, their coats are allowed to develop in full glory.
Goldens come from the same country as collies, and what’s more, they had to swim once in a while. That one reason why I don’t believe in shaving goldens, even in the summer. Believe it or not, it gets quite cold here in the winter, and long walks are impossible without a thick undercoat.
I could never seen myself walking a dog with a sweater. I think putting one on a dog just starts you down the road of anthropomorphism— and there is a reason why I like dogs better than most people!
Comment by retrieverman — September 23, 2009 @ 5:37 am
A few years ago, I was in Sedona, Arizona in January. Sedona actually gets a cold winter, and it was relatively cold that day. It was about 45 degrees.
I saw a golden wearing a coat, and the dog looked miserably hot. It was panting hard, and it wanted to drink out of a fountain.
Remember, these dogs can swim in very cold water, and their skins don’t even get wet.
And that’s why I think people should be more cautious about putting coats on dogs. A lot of working dog breed from relatively cold climates have coats that can handle virtually any winter conditions.
Comment by retrieverman — September 23, 2009 @ 5:42 am
I take the dogs out in freezing weather. The one is so thin, I put coats on her.
Also, she is so thin, she has had stitches several times from injuries playing with her canine friends (perhaps gets pushed against the fence), so in warmer months I use a lightweight coat. It is open on the under side, and she doesn’t seem to mind, and seems to not get too hot.
Warm Weather Coat: http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/.....id=0027206
Cold Weather Coat: http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/.....id=0027209
Comment by Erich Riesenberg — September 23, 2009 @ 5:45 am
Here’s another free pattern link I found. There’s a page of pictures of coats people have made, and it’s kind of fun to see how many variations they’ve come up with:
http://www.sewing.circleofcraf.....ttern.html
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 23, 2009 @ 6:56 am
The spaniel girls have never needed coats, even in the driving rain (not that we’ve seen much of that lately). They don’t seem to mind it and they dry pretty quickly with a little judicious toweling and shaking. But I’m sure if they lived in Wisconsin they might welcome a sweater, especially one knitted by Phyllis, for extended periods outdoors.
Comment by Kim Thornton — September 23, 2009 @ 7:34 am
Addy needs a warm coat in the winter, because even Powderpuff Crested coats aren’t designed for winter. Sunday morning, after Addy and her friend Josie were done playing, and we were all just standing around in the first-fall-morning coolth, Addy was shivering, and bounced over to me quite eagerly when I pulled her denim jacket out of my bag.
And rain, at any season, requires her raincoat, because she just will not walk, except to try to run back inside, if it’s raining.
But however much she might appreciate a hand-knitted sweater, she won’t get one from me, and that’s a Good Thing, because she’d look like a homeless dog forced to clothe herself out of the Goodwill bins, in anything I made by hand!
Comment by Lis — September 23, 2009 @ 9:38 am
anyone else have a clothes-horse? like, a tom-boy dust bunny that becomes a proud princess when you put a new collar on her, or some bit dog clothing?
Comment by eli — September 23, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
A friend has a male min pin who loves wearing sweaters and jackets so much that he sticks his legs out straight to get them on.
45F is not sweater weather for dogs! In Wisconsin, that’s still tank top weather (well, not for everyone, but warm people like me).
Anyway,there’s a world of difference between a 15-lb dog with a short coat out in snow on top of ice in 10F temps and a 60 lb long-coated dog in the same conditions. There are basic metabolic differences at play. Greyhounds need coats in fall and winter in Wisconsin, and I rarely see any Goldens with one because they don’t need it. Little guys need it to be outside in nasty temps for any length of time beyond doing a quick potty run.
My Katrina toy poodle Clint, who was old and weak, wore a sweater in the house in winter plus a jacket over it to go outside to do potty. And he just went in a wading pool on the porch, he didn’t even go outside in the snow.
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — September 23, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
Somebody has to have a pattern with buttons down the back that work and aren’t just decorative, but I haven’t seen it. I can see where the buttons would pop and a zipper would be a better choice.
I’m testing jackets right now for a product comparison article and waiting for this one to show up from Ruffwear: http://www.ruffwear.com/Cloud-.....ategory=12.
I like the Foggy Mountain snugglers: http://www.truefitdogcoats.com.....038;page=1
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — September 23, 2009 @ 3:43 pm
The little guys need them because their distance their body heat has to travel before it escapes through their skin is so much shorter. It’s the same law of physics that causes the time needed to defrost your Thanksgiving turkey to be SO much longer than time needed to defrost a capon or a small chicken. It’s not an indicator of weakness or wimpiness on the part of little dogs. It’s simply thermal transfer physics.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 23, 2009 @ 4:07 pm
I’ve knit my Standard Poodle 2 sweaters so far and plan on more. I keep his fur really short and we live in Maine. He shivers.
Comment by AmandaS — September 23, 2009 @ 4:18 pm
I wonder if strong velcro to secure the back area would do the trick instead of buttons?
I don’t own a dog, so I am probably silly in suggesting velcro, but it sure is easier than buttons.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — September 23, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
There are a lpt of commercially-made coats out there that use Velcro. In fact - if I remember correctly - that’s all the Fido Fleece coats use.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 23, 2009 @ 6:39 pm
An added comment - I would sew the Velcro on rather than trusting an adhesive backing to do the job.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — September 23, 2009 @ 6:40 pm
Our elderly basenji wears a froofroo leopard print jacket because it’s the only one I could find for him. The colors are great on him. It’s really very silly, but I can’t stand to watch the poor little guy shiver. The jacket velcros down the back, making it super easy to put on or take off. Just put it on the floor and walk his feet over the holes, then pull it up and close it along his spine. Lately we’ve had to add a diaper that looks like jester pantaloons. Quite the get-up.
Comment by Basenji-mom — December 16, 2009 @ 10:32 pm