When I brought our Corgi Teeny home for the first time I had no idea that she had two coats of fur, it just looks like one thick and warm brown and white coloured coat. Since then I’ve learnt and experienced a lot about dressing a Corgi.
In this article I’m going to share my experience with our Corgi Teeny in Winter and show you some of my favourite Corgi winter coats and sweaters from brands including Touch dog, Hurtta and Ruffwear.
I will also share some of my experiences of dressing teeny in a winter coat and show you some cute photos of Teeny in her winter jackets.
Corgis are one of a select breed of dog that have a double coat of fur. These two coats of fur don’t only provide a Corgi with a natural furry and beautiful Corgi winter coat but also keep them cool in the summer months.
Sometimes in winter the temperature gets really cold or it begins to snow. When it does get cold, it’s important to think about dressing your Corgi in a winter coat to keep them warm and also protect them from the damp and cold ground under their low belly and chest.
Do Corgis need a winter coat?
Yes Corgis do need a winter coat in certain conditions. Whether or not your Corgi needs a winter coat depends on the weather, your dogs age and whether it’s rainy or snowing.
Corgi’s have a double coat which gives them better cold weather and wet weather protection than single coated breeds but they still get damp and cold in winter weather conditions.
If you have a Corgi puppy and you are taking them outside in cold or wet weather it is a good idea to dress them in a warm jumper or coat because they will get cold much quicker than a fully grown dog and they are also much more sensitive to getting sick at a young age.
When Teeny was a puppy it felt like we were always visiting the vets to check on her health and to get advice on different health and skin conditions that popped up. Even though we were very careful about what she ate and how much exercises she got Puppies can still get sick.
Don’t take any chances in colder weather and dress your Corgi puppy in a warm winter coat when it’s cold or shelter them from the rain when it gets wet.
The length of time you take your dog outside and whether it is raining or not are both actors that influence our decision and also have us spending time choosing between Teeny’s jumper, coat and raincoats.
Corgi’s have their own double coat which offers much better protection than smaller single coated dogs have outdoors. Even so, in winter the temperature can drop uncomfortably low and even their fur isn’t enough to keep them warm for a long time.
In cold weather, dress your Corgi well and make sure you don’t spend too much time outside. If the weather is extremely cold and you feel uncomfortable when wrapped up warm, limit the time spent outside to 5 or 10 minutes and be sure to wrap, cuddle and dry your Corgi when you bring them indoors.
Now that you know a coat is important for your Corgi, take a look at the dog coats Hurtta, Ruffwear and Touch dog have created and see if you can find a coat that fits your corgi. Choosing
Teeny’s favourite Corgi winter coats & sweaters
Teenys has worn winter coats from brands including Japanese dog clothing brand Touch dog, Ruff wear and Hurtta. In the photo above she is wearing the ___. This is one of my favourite winter coats because it’s both cute and warm.
Ruffwear winter coats
Ruffwear are now a famous brand and have a lot of experience creating harnesses, water proof dog clothing and Corgi winter coats. Even though they aren’t cheap, we have found the quality of their products to be second to none and we have used a number of Ruffwear coats and harnesses with our Corgi Teeny.
We love their dog swimming life jackets, summer cooling vest and harnesses but their powder hound insulated cold weather dog jacket that is also waterproof, is the ultimate water proof winter coat for any Corgi even though it is as expensive as my own winter jacket it is durable and will last for many years.
The smaller S size is usually suitable for most Corgis, but be sure to measure your dogs chest size.
Hurtta Winter dog coats
Choosing winter coat sizes with Hurtta is difficult because they offer so many different sizes that it’s difficult to find the perfect fit. In the city we live we have to buy from Hurtta online and we can’t try the clothing on Teeny before buying it so we have bought the wrong size on a few occasions.
Even after measuring, the size wasn’t a great fit and due to health and hygiene reasons we couldn’t return or exchange our dogs winter coat.
Measure your corgis chest girth, neck and back length and look carefully at the recommended size because when we used a Hurtta harness we found it didn’t stretch and allow for growth in the sizing choice when compared to Ruffwear harnesses which do allow for movement in the size and are more adjustable which is great when wearing a winter coat underneath the harness.
We have spoken to a number of our Corgi owner friends and comparing the size that fits their Corgis with teeny is difficult because Teeny is longer then their Corgis and the size choice that fits their female Corgi doesn’t always match with Teeny.
Touch dog winter sweater
We used Touch dog clothing a lot when Teeny was a puppy but even the brands largest sized clothing is small and doesn’t fit Teeny well on Teeny when she is fully grown.
Choosing the right size winter Corgi coat (dog measurements )
Before buying a coat, make sure you measure your Corgi. When we first measure Teeny she had fun trying to eat the tape measure and it took a while to measure her. You’ll need to measure your dogs chest, neck and length and compare it to the size choices Touch dog, Hurtta and Ruffwear coats provide.
Does a Corgi have it’s own winter coat
Corgis are a doubled coated dog, along with dogs including the Alaskan Husky, shepherd dogs, sheep dogs and lots of other breeds. These double coated breeds are usually great in the outdoors herding or living in the mountains.
Corgis shed less in winter so their coats, especially the outer coat, remains thicker and offer a lot of warmth. In my experience with Teeny her coat offers her a warm layer of protection against the cold winter weather.
Even so, I’ve noticed Teenys’ belly and chest has much less protection from the cold and they sit so close to the ground.
When does a Corgi need a winter coat or sweater
I recently wrote about taking our Corgi in the snow and shared my experience of dressing and walking Teeny in the snow. I considered how you can tell if the weather is too cold for a dog and whether dogs should wear winter clothing. Let’s look at some situations when a Corgi needs a winter coat so you can be prepared.
On a few occasions we have found that if we walk Teeny without her coat or underbelly cover that her underbelly hair gets wet very easily and we have to spend time carefully drying her when we get home.
Even if you don’t have a dog coat, an underbelly cover or tummy warmer will stop the most sensitive area of your Corgi from getting damp and becoming cold faster because there is less hair.
Teeny has surgery on her stomach when she was younger and also was spayed, both which require an incision in her belly area. Hair in this area doesn’t appear to grow as long as it used to so she has a very small layer of hair on her belly. for this reason we like to make sure we protect her belly area with a winter jacket or dog jumper when it’s cold.
I have noticed that the male corgis in my area often have more fluffy hair and a little bit more belly hair than our female Corgi has. After researching this I wasn’t able to find out whether this is common and whether it affects whether there is a temperature difference between when male and female dogs need to wear a coat in winter.
Keep Corgi Puppies warm in winter
In the first 4 weeks of a Puppies life they have a body temperature that is lower than a fully grown dog. During the first 4 weeks of a puppies life you should be keeping them indoors, this definitely isn’t the time to be taking them out in cold weather.
After the first 4 weeks Puppies in the first year of their life are still growing and are more likely to catch diseases and get sick than an adult dog.
If you are taking your corgi puppy outside in winter I would definitely make sure they are wearing a warm winter coat and only walk them outside for a short time. With Teeny we were lucky that she was around 5 months old during her first winter so she was much bigger and stronger and less sensitive to cold than she would have been had we taken her out in the first months of her doggy life.
Taking Corgis outside for a long time
When we walk Teeny in the cold weather we don’t usually walk for more than half an hour if the temperature is below 5 degrees and we make sure she is wearing a warm dog coat.
If the temperature drops below zero we put on her winter coat and only take her outside to use the toilet and come back in again within 5 minutes or less.
Protection from winter rain
We use a raincoat with belly protection to stop water on the ground from soaking into Teenys fur, belly and chest. This often happens with Teeny if she is going to the toilet on the grass and she squats low down where the wet dewy top layer of grass wets the fur around her hind legs.
If your corgi gets wet in winter they become colder much quicker so we often dress Teeny in a dog rain coat in winter and sometimes we place a warm jumper underneath.
Can dogs tolerate cold weather?
Dogs are often better than us at tolerating cold weather because of their natural fur coat. This is especially true for dog breeds that have longer thicker coats of fur, such as Huskies that have adapted to live in extremely cold weather conditions.
Corgis are a medium sized dog with a double coat so they have more protection against the cold than smaller dogs or single coated breeds.
The pedigree foundation suggest that all dogs should be wearing coats when the temperature is lower than 20°F but for thinner haired breeds and smaller dogs you may want to think about dressing your dog in a jumper or coat when the temperature drops below 45°F.
We have found that with Teeny we like to dress her in a warm winter jumper or coat at around 40°F.