Tips on How to Measure and Dress Your Dog

The mere thought of your dog in a cute and snug shirt, hoodie or baseball cap makes you wish you had dressed up your dog five minutes ago, doesn’t it? Besides making your dog look stylish, clothing helps to keep your dog dry, warm, and clean. It also protects your dog’s paws, prevents insect bites and protects it against sunburn. In order to get clothing that will offer all those benefits, you need to measure your dog first.

Things you’ll need

Before you get to the actual measuring, you need a couple of basic supplies: a bowl of treats, and a soft tape measure. If your dog is too wriggly, you may also need an extra pair of hands.

Getting him into position

Once you round up your dog, place the treats on a surface as high as your dog’s head, or if you have a helper, have him or her grab a handful of the treats and hold them at a similar height. Remember, the goal here is to keep your dog still in the upright position during the whole process so you should use as many treats as it takes.

What to Measure

• Girth

As your dog is kept busy by the treats, take the tape and wrap it around the widest part of the chest, just behind the front legs. If you don’t have a soft tape you can use a rope, mark the spot where the rope overlaps, then measure the length from the end of the rope to the marked spot using a tape measure.

• Back

If your dog is still calm, you can get into measuring the back immediately but if not, give him/her a short break then get back into it.

Using the tape measure or the rope, measure from the base of the neck to the base of the tail (not the tip). This measurement tells you how long the cloth must be to cover his entire body.

• Legs

Although you won’t need the leg measurements often, it is important to include it. There are rain gears for dogs and snowsuits that require the length measurements of the leg.

This one is pretty straightforward. Just measure from where the leg joins the body to the point where the paw starts to extend outwards, the ankle if you will.

• Head

If you are looking for a stylish hat for your dog, you might want to measure his head first. So hold the tape measure over his head and measure from the base of one ear, up and over the head to the base of the other ear.

How to Choose your Dog’s Clothing

Unfortunately, choosing dog’s clothing isn’t as simple as walking into the dog clothes store and picking the first ‘I-am-a-loved-pet’ hoodie you come across. There’s a lot that goes into picking clothes for your dog. If you dress it in clothes that don’t fit well, you’ll make your furry friend uncomfortable. It is better if you book a consultation and ask the professionals such as Fluffy’s Pet Shop. Click here to check their website.

Clothes that are too tight can even chafe, and lead to skin lacerations. If this happens your dog could become aggressive and bring a dog bite lawsuit your way! Someone could get legal advice from personal injury lawyer in such an instance. Those that are too loose could get caught on something and cause serious injuries to your pooch as he runs around. Some clothes could have choking hazards.

If your dog is in-between sizes, it is advisable to go for the slightly bigger size to ensure comfort. Clothes made of stretchy materials such as cotton or spandex are better as they give your pooch more room and freedom. Room and freedom is important for any dog, if you’re dressing them don’t forget to make use of Dog Product Picker’s recommended dog playpen if you need to separate dogs from small children or other dogs but still keep them outside.

Whether you want to keep your dog warm or to make a fashion statement, you need to prioritize the comfort of your dog above everything else.