Dog clothes and long coats: the cold hard truth
 

Okay, I just have to have it laid on the line for me... Can my dog wear clothes and grow out her coat or am I living in a fantasy world?

Lilah is almost two and we have grown her coat approx half out a couple few times then I messed up our great progress with tangles and shaved it off and started again. I love grooming- much more than lilah does- but have a lot of skills to learn , technique to master and consistency to practice. That said, the goal is to master the skills required to keep my girl in a full proper coat and to practice doing wraps and flat irons and all that jazz. I hear stories about these coats that don't tangle and that is definitely not my gal but her coat parts and lays flat on the back nicely and she has grown out a lengthy strong top knot so I think the opportunity for a nice long coat is there- if I do my part in meticulous care and grooming (still working on being good at that as stated above).

All that said, I sure enjoy dressing my little gal up! :) I mean my goodness what a cutie! And the real conundrum comes as the cold weather is setting in- okay okay, turn up the heater but that gets expensive and my general statement is put on a sweater! But for lilah it really tangles up her hair. One day- just during the day mind you- and it's side/belly tangles like crazy. I like to indulge and turn up the heat and I will if that's what's necessary to keep my four pound single coated love bug acting like a normal dog instead if a blanket warmer ;) (and I will do a secret happy dance and take my sweater off-unti the bill comes) but I thought I would fish for some feedback here first.

I have purchased and sewn some silk and satin clothing for her and that helps but it's not a fix all and she has a lot of non silk satin clothes that I really like. Plus im a knitter and I love to knit her sweaters but that seems like the ultimate coat tangler! I have considered knitting with silk yarn but the way the stitch comes together when you knit an item (your basicly tying little knots wth two sticks) I wonder if that would even do any good? Anyone tried that?

Okay, I know this post is getting lengthy- if you got through it, thank you. Lookin forward to any replies :knitting:

My boys are in full coat and I put winter coats on them every day for cold weather walks. Satin, silk, or microfiber linings are best to prevent tangles. Soft cotton sweaters work well for us, and our polyester lined coats are not bad. Layering a soft tee underneath may also help.

I also have used Gemy/Gail's suggestion to braid the saddle hair before putting on a coat.

Definitely helps to be tangle free when the clothes go on. It you start with tangles, clothes will make them worse.

There really is no way around it: long Yorkie coats and clothes produce a lot of work. :D

What a great answer! Thank you :) :thumbup:

Sweaters really are the worst for knots, I'm a knitter (and crocheter) too.

Lola's coat is a few inches shy of the floor and I'm planning to cut it level with her body like I did a few months ago. She gets cold very easily so she lives in clothes during the winter. I don't see the sense in dealing with the extra tangles when it's going to be covered.

It'll grow back by spring and then I'll cut it again when it gets really hot.

Very logical advice...

So far so good with Galen's coat and clothes. I really have had no matts and maybe a little knot or two. He doesn't wear it often. But as it starts to get cold I am going to start putting clothes on him more.

I myself had to make a decision of keeping Leiloni's coat short. I dress my girl almost everyday. Especially in the Fall and Winter months. She is also my model for advertising my new lines. Getting in and out of her dresses and or sweaters really knotted her coat. My Gus's coat was kept long. I kept him in tees jerseys and sweater quite a bit as well but I have way more time on my hands to brush him out twice daily.

Your little girl is so cute! I swear her image is what comes to mind when I imagine cutting lilah's hair :lv32:

Thank you! Leiloni is very flattered.

I've grown Cuddles and Cookies hair out, and it's almost touched the floor. Thier hair isn't natually straight, it also gets tangles easily making it hard to manage. I have them shaved on thier bodies now, and it's so much easier to put clothes on them. Grooming them is also easier, less than 10 min a day and I'm done. Before, I took half an hour a day at least. To me, I prefere to have my babies cut short, but I would go back to their long hair, only if I could give up their clothes.

You can wrap the sides w/wrapping paper, like for Show dogs...it will help, no tangles.

I've been wrapping Turbo's top knot bc it tangles & is breaking his hair. Wrapping really helps, no tangles & no breakage. Attachment 402791 I used tissue paper loll! Need to make a trip to Sally's to get some perm paper.

Wrap the sides is a good start to helping that coat grow long, and to avoid tangles. I have also when pressed on time, used soft baby ties to gather the side coat up, and then put on the silk wrapper, and then the winter gear. You also could braid the side coat that does help as well.


My Yorkie is just fine in my centrally heated home - and we keep our home about 68 degrees, and lower at night time when we are sleeping. He sleeps on a silk bed with a comforter underneath the silk.


But if you are not going to show, why go through all the bother of wrapping? It is a developed skill for sure. You need to make the wraps tight but not too tight otherwise they can fall out, or slide down the hair, etc.


But the key is first in the genetics of the coat, then in proper exercise and nourishment, fine quality shampoos, and conditioners. Leave your conditioner on for at least 15 minutes. I use IOD heavy duty conditioner. And do not rinse out all the conditioner. Wrap pup up in warmed towels, and have a cuppa tea while you wait cuddling your dog.

I think it comes down to the genetics of the hair. ZoE's hair doesn't really tangle. Certainly nothing that takes more than a few seconds to brush through. Her hair is silky, but very very slow growing and seemed to break easily no matter how much I conditioned it. I grew her coat for three years and it only got to be 3/4 length. My preference is for a full floor length coat, but I just didn't see it happening. So finally, this past summer I shaved it off for the first time. Now there is nothing to tangle, but the kicker... Zo doesn't like to wear clothes. She'll tolerate a hoodie or coat to go outside in the cold, but she wants it off as soon as she's back inside.

My last yorkie, Chelsea, had a super fast growing coat. Her coat was silky too, but much thicker and stronger than ZoE's. For most of her life I kept her in a long coat and trimmed it about 1/2 inch off the floor. All that hair would tangle in sweaters, but Chelsea liked wearing sweaters (she would bring one to me from her sweater bin...sooo cute!) my aunt gave me a pair of silk doggie pjs she bought on a trip to Singapore. While I hardly ever used them as a set, I put the silk shirt underneath the sweaters in the winter. It made her hair messy, but it didn't tangle and was easy to comb out.

So basically the dog I have with no hair doesn't like clothes and the one I had with long hair did like clothes. They can be such contrary personalities!

The boys wore their hoodies on our walk today. Wish I had taken photos when the hoodies came off. With the static, they looked like giant poof balls, lol! I always give their hair a little time to settle before giving them a quick combing down.