Unecessary Fussing

There's a lady who lives in my village who owns a poodle. She's had it as long as I can remember. By chatting with her over the years it's clear she absolutely adores it and thinks the world of 'her baby'.

Nothing wrong with that.

But there's one aspect of how she treats it that I totally disagree with (though of course I've never said anything to her about it as it's none of my business).

At the slightest hint of rain in the air or weather cool enough that you'd want to wear a coat, she gets the dog dressed up in its own little waterproof jacket.

You could argue that she's just being the concerned owner and doesn't want the dog to come to any harm.

But the fact of the matter is there are *very* few breeds of dog that actually need a coat. And poodles *most definitely* do not fall into that category. They have a thick, harsh waterproof coat. Why? Because they were originally bred to retrieve shot ducks and other waterfowl from water. They are descended from a now nearly extinct French water dog, the Barbet and possibly the Hungarian Water Hound. The name "Poodle" almost certainly comes from the German word "Pudel," which means one who plays in water.

So putting a coat on a dog like this is totally inappropriate.

The only dogs that really need coats are those with very fine skin and little, or no hair. Breeds like the whippet or Mexican hairless. And I would go further and say that even those breeds only need a coat if you live in a very cold part of the world and/or the dog is likely to have to stand around immobile outside.

Lots of people coat greyhounds. But I haven't bothered with Molly and it's been very interesting to see what's happened with her this winter as a result. (Incidentally here in the UK we've just had the coldest winter for years with a long spell of probably 2 months of frosty, sub-zero weather.)

I found that at the start of winter as the temperature began to cool off Molly would start shivering almost as soon as she stepped outside. I made sure she was never left standing around; I'd put her on the lead and off we'd go at a brisk walk. Once we got moving she was fine.

Quite quickly as winter progressed she obviously got used to the lower temperature. Her coat appeared to thicken, and she was no longer shivering; the only time it ever happened was if she stood still for any length of time.

I regularly give her meaty bones (always raw - *never* give your dog cooked bones). She's always given them outside. And depending on the size of them they could take her anything up to about 20 minutes before she's finished chomping her way through them. And obviously while she's in the process of eating them she's pretty much immobile. Yet even in the coldest weather she wasn't shivering at all during 'bone time'.

I'm not trying to imply that Molly will just have to put up with the cold and that I don't care - that's not the case. In very cold weather I make sure she's not just left outside and forgotten about, and I always keep a close eye on her. But I have found that so long as she keeps on the move her natural body heat keeps her perfectly well insulated, even in temperatures as low as about minus 8.

Going back to the poodle; the point I'm trying to make is that you should treat your dog appropriately. If you remember in "How *Not* To Treat Your Dog" I talked about the importance of understanding what sort of behaviour is genetically 'pre-programmed' in your dog. This is just a different slant on the same principle.

Recommended reading - "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

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