hi,i took my smooth coat chihuahua puppy to the vet yesterday to get his second innoculation,i am only 15 but before buying one i did alot of reasearch into the breed and doing this discovered that chihuahuas get very cold easily so it is best to have a coat or jumper for them so i bought a couple of jumpers and when i walked him down to the vet , as he was shivering and it was quite cold i put his little hoody on but the vet who was a woman didnt seem to like this and said to coco(my chihuahua)'maybe one day your owner will realise you dont like being dressed up'i told her he gets cold easily and thats why he was wearing it but she just told me that was what his fur coat was for.i dont see my dog as a fashion accesory and i was upset to think that this was what she thought.what does everyone else think about chihuahuas wearing jumpers?
i would be interested to hear your thoughts
xxx

I am really sorry, but I hate to see dogs in jumpers. Whether a chi needs one or not I cannot comment - but if it did I would go for a functional dog coat, rather than some of these awful Burburry chav like tops that some folk inflict on their animals! I even saw a range of rain coats complete with rain hats the other day in yellow - Captain Pugwash stylie - with a belt and everything! Now what is THAT all about?!

Unless it was snowing I wouldn't think it necessary ... they may be little but they're still dogs! ;)

i understand what you mean but what i have are just normal fleecy red jumpers and he doesnt protest if i put it on...dont worry he doesnt look like tinkerbell hilton!

LOL :D

I know a boxer who loves to wear shirts :) I bought him an England football shirt at crufts.As long as your dog doesn't mind wearing clothes then why worry what anyone else thinks ?:)

Both my dogs have 'liked' wearing a Father Xmas outfit at training club parties - but it doesn't mean that they 'want' to wear them all year round :D :D

Daisy

Coco,

Firstly, it's your dog.  Secondly, my dog is the one that Charlie is speaking of.  Out of 5 dogs, he is the only one that wants, yes, 'wants' to wear shirts.  As soon as his football shirt or his sweatshirt is taking out of the cupboard he runs to me to have it on.  When I take it off he sulks.

It's none of your vet's concern if you put a jumper on your Coco or not.  Fur does not protect every breed of dog from the elements.  I have 3 Boxers, on very cold days, they either don't go out or they wear a sweatshirt.  Greyhounds have specially made coats because their fur is too thin to protect them from the weather.

There are too many forms of animal abuse going on in this world for anyone to care if you put a coat, a tiara or fingernail polish on your dog.  Some may find it silly but it's up to you.  If you feel that Coco needs it, isn't harmed by it and enjoys it...more power to you. 

Any vet that made such a stupid, unasked for comment, wouldn't be seeing my dog.

thanx mr spock!

I have to say personally that I cannot stand to see dogs wearing anything other than a collar.  Bandannas, hats, sunglasses, coats, jackets etc etc etc leave me cold.

A dog is a dog.

You asked for thoughts and you got mine. ;)

However, at the end of the day it is your dog and quite honestly what you dress it up in is nobody's business except your own as long as the dog is not distressed by it.

Look at this way, you are keeping someone else in employment! :D

I'm not keen on the parkas and burberry stuff, I must admit - but the lil guys can look cute sometimes!  My sister has a longcoated chi (only 6 months, not too long yet!) and she has a couple t-shirts - one says "security", the other is a black and white stripy T she bought for a car show on Sunday - she sets her 2CV up on a French theme :)

Seriously though, if it's serving a purpose and it keeps your pup warm, who cares what other people think?  My doberman has a fleecy coat - dobes in general don't cope with cold well, and he is a fawn (so less fur) with possible alopecia (so even less fur!), so it is definitely a functional thing for me.  Good thing too, he hates it... I get all sorts of looks when he has it on (it is a big black one, home made, only leaves his lower legs, tail and head uncovered!), but if he's warm, I don't care.  Could be because I feel the cold badly myself of course, I feel sorry for him!

we have just purchased a Chihuahua and will be buying coats for him He will wear them whenever the weather is cold regardless of what any one thinks.

i see no harm putting on a jumper if its cold i think your opinion is the most important than what other people think, because the most important thing  is that you care for your dog .i thought your vet should not of made the comment like that.

Just a thought, but pehaps the vet has several clients who treat their dogs as babies or dolls, not as dogs, and wanted to gently hint that it's not a wise thing to do? I could be wrong though.
:)

I can see where the vet is coming from though.

If it was me and I saw a chihuahua in a jumper, I would think it was someone using it as a fasion accessory or trying to look cool aswell.

Little kids might start wanting cute little chihuahuas to dress up instead of dolls!!

And also teens for their reputations..

I'm sure you don't mean it at all, but the general public don't know that and you have to look at it from both sides... could you not use a dog coat, or a blanket instead?

Anyone seen legally blonde? *cringes*

I really hate celebrities with their stupid little 'tiny dog' phazes.

I'm the same, I don't like all the silly 'fashion accessory' chis with sparkly jumpers and tiaras LOL

BUT if it serves a purpose then fair enough. My pup wears a coat when it's very cold or it rains.... Well he used to anyway, I tried to put it on him the other day and realized how much he's grown!! :D

My chihuahuas wear jumpers and do get very cold and shake a lot, the smoothcoats who weigh only 3 1/2lbs each and who hardly have any fur wear them more than the 7 1/2lb longcoat does.Dont worry about what the vet says,i have had chihuahuas for 21 years (bought and rescued ones) and dont use them as fashion accessories!

I think it would be even worse if you saw your little dog shivering with cold,and didnt put a jumper on him because you were worried about what other people thought :( Your vet doesnt sound like a sensitive soul at all!!

I have boxers and when it's really cold they tend to shiver,they each have a jumper that they love wearing,as they come bounding up to me when i get them out,they lift their paws and everything to make it easier to get them on :)

A person would have to be a cold hearted so and so,if they saw theyre dog shivering with cold and did nothing about it

I'm with the others when it comes to those stupid little *fashion* outfits,some are made out of flimsy material or silk etc. that couldnt keep a dog warm anyway :rolleyes: If it serves a purpose then i say go for it,it's better than letting you little dog shiver from cold :(

I doubt the looks you get are anything compared to the ones i get with my boxers,LOL :) ;) They just have plain old woollen ones,i bought the least conspicuous ones i could find ;) They also have raincoats to keep the rain and snow off of them,they wont go out in it without them on,they are the same colour as their fur,you cant tell theyre even wearing them from a distance ;) . If my ten layers of clothes arent enough to keep me warm on a freezing day then my dogs thin fur is not going to insulate them properly either!! However if my dogs ran away when they saw their jumpers comin gout i probaly wouldnt *make* them wear them,i honestly think they appreciate th extra warmth!

I think you a great dog owner and you little dog is very lucky to have you :)

thank frodo and i think your boxers are very lucky to have you!

I have Chinese Crested Hairless and mine wear coats or Jammies if it gets really really cold or if they are going to be out in cold weather for any length of of time.Must say though Toy Breeds do tend to shiver whether they are cold or not. Just seems to be a Toy thing.But hey you do what you want and don't let a Patronising Vet put you off.After all it is your Dog and you know what is best for it.

Unfortunately the term 'Toy Breed' seems to give some people the idea that they are not dogs at all but some kind of furry fashion accessory - we really should be questioning why we are breeding dogs that have to wear 'clothes' in MAY  - it is not the depths of winter at the moment and the temperature is surely not so cold that you have to dress your dog up - I'm afraid that I'm with your vet on this one :(  - there may be a case for a proper waterproof dog coat in December but please no fancy 'hoodies', 'jumpers', bandanas etc he is a DOG !

Yvonne

Some dogs tend to shake/shiver at the slightest thing so please make sure they actually feel cold, between thier front legs otherwise you could be overheating them.
In the depths of winter fine but a small dog walking with its owner has to move everything much faster than a big dog so this time of the year should be plenty warm enough trying to keep its little legs up to speed.

Bev

I should have mentioned,mine only wear their gear when it's freezing outside,i leave their raincoats on if it's raining as they wont walk in the rain without them :o And their jumpers i put on before we leave,but once they are warmed up i take them off :) Because as Bev mentioned,they would no doubt over heat if i left them on my dogs for the whole walk :(

Not into the fashion clothing for dogs at all.  If you want to dress your dog up buy a doll!  If your dogs are getting cold get a proper fleece dog coat or waterproof one, there are plenty on the market.  I personally just dont see the need for it.

Our staff shakes all the time and its not because he is cold, but because he is just too damm lazy to go for a walk.

Don't you think we are becoming very americanised!!! There are too many fashion accessories for dogs these days, it a real little earner.

We tried putting a T-Shirt on sam and laughed our heads off, a staffie in clothes, although he quite liked it, I would not take him for a walk in it :). I can understand using jumpers and coats in the really cold weather, but the last few weeks have been wet, but not cold. Maybe he just doesn't want to go out at all.

it might be may but that doesnt mean you dont get very cold days,i go out wearing a fleecy coat in may if its cold,just because it should be warmer doesnt mean im going to go out in a t-shirt.when its raining and even i am cold and i see little coco shivering and wet,im not going to ignore it and all i have at the moment are a couple of fleecy hoodies which do just a good job as these other waterproof jackets out there.if i wanted to use coco as a fashion accesory i would make him wear blue glittery fashion tops!but  i asked for peoples thoughts and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
xxx

Nemo had a hoodie and some tshirts lol, He loved them and cos he was so tiny and his coat hadn't grown yet he did get very cold. I mean come on this is a breed that came from Mexico they aren't exactly suited to the english weather. So I'm all for chi's wearing jumpers if they dont mind too. All this fashion accessory nonsense is funny I think people learn pretty quick a chi is all dog no matter how small they are :)

Sarah

You would think so wouldn't you but I have to tell you that your poor little fella came from an altitude of 1400m/4600ft :) so the breed would have coped with some pretty low temperatures especially at night.  I have been up a mountain of about that height in the tropics, Mount Kinabalu, we got to the top at dawn and I admit I needed my balaclava and mittens but then I don't have a lovely, albeit short, double coat ;).  Fair enough for the very young, old or ill but I don't think a dog gets to develop a decent coat of it's own if you keep it covered up.

well you are all going to hate me!!!
flynn has a neckerchief thing from crufts its blue denim & has a yellow star on it.
he also has a full body equifleece in colbat blue for after swimming which keeps him warm & wicks the water away
he also has a racey green waterproof for when hes at work & we have to go through town when its raining.

hi!what sort of dog is flyn?
xxx

flynn is a border collie,if you click on my name you can see him!

Just out of interest I googled for the weather conditions in Chihuahua, and it's generally very very similar in temperature to the UK. So they're designed to cope with these temperatures, anyway.

Hope this helps.
:)

ohh michelle lol i never thought id see you into something like that. mine have worn the little bandana things, i saw then full fleeced dog coats if i had a chinese crested then maybe. I personally would put clothes on my dogs more because id be ashamed to walk out my door. But if people want to put clothes on their dogs and its not causing the dog any distress why not.

COCO Flynns a border collie dogs build for living in awful weather, Hopes michelle can take a joke ;)

oooooo!!! he has no undercoat,its just all fine hair!!! plus hes VERYYYYY sensitive you know!!!! ;)
his equifleece is lkie doggy PJs!

when i had hallie my horse she had 100s of rugs too,i think i must like him looking like a pony! ;)

It's not 100% known where the chihuahua originated from but it is believed to be around mexico and south america due to monuments etc bearing a resemblace to chi's, Chihuahua is just the state that claimed to be their point of origin no one knows for sure. They were also belived to orginally have been bred by the Toltecs and later the Aztecs so the breed was pretty widespred across mexico by the time the spanish came to the new world. Chi's do have a problem with the cold I dont know if it's because they have been bred a lot smaller than they originally were original chi's were over 6lbs and more leggy or if the coat type has changed but I can guarentee you when it's cold they feel it.

Sarah

ok reading that back I hope it didn't sound rude, I just wanted to point out some chi history :)

No it didn't sound rude :)  It's just I've been to South America a few times, an awful lot of it is high and cold, when the sun is not actually on you, they didn't develop the poncho for nothing :) so wherever they developed they are likely to have been coping with a variety of temperatures.  I certainly see a lot without coats, there is an enthusiatic shower here in the North West who attends a lot of outdoor shows with her large troup, all quartered in a pen, and I have never seen a coat of any of them so I remain unconvinced that an adult dog is incapable of developing a decent double coat.  Of course if a dog is kept covered up that just doesn't happen.  You see the difference in thickness of all sorts of breeds between the specimens housed in centrally heated houses and those kept largely outdoors. 

And the houses there aren't renowned for their splendid central heating ... ;)

I have to confess that I NEVER thought that my dogs would wear 'clothing'. However I have Labs and I am changing my mind. Firstly because at least one LOVES to show off, secondly because he is getting older and a bit creaky so I am now thinking that just as I would put a tracksuit on after a run perhaps I should have something for him to help him keep warm and dry off.

At the end of the day it is your dog and it is up to you. However I do have a problem with toy dog owners who never let them walk anywhere!