Who knew that finding a fleece jacket for large size dogs could pose such a challenge? Yes, I know I’m probably a bit late to the party on buying these, but wow – all large sizes sold out, or just not catered for? You other dog mums beat me to it! 🙂
I love walking into a pet store and looking at toys, goodies, treats and jackets. I love seeing what’s new, or new in squeaky or educational toys, food, bedding and clothing. Pet stores always have an array of colours to choose from, but for small dogs! Don’t they realise that larger dogs also get cold? 😛 Or is it that so few of us buy doggie jackets for our larger dogs?
Now ours aren’t what you would consider “big dogs”. They’re medium in size, but the measurements of their girth (chest) which most of these jackets/coats are based off is 75cm. And that classifies on most of these jackets as bigger than XL. It comes up as 4XL for Dogs Life products and varying sizes larger than XL on other brands. (Can we also talk about sizing for a minute?! Gosh I thought human sizing was difficult to understand, but there is zero consistency with dogs!)
I love the Dogs Life brand – it always makes me smile. I went to about 3 sites that stock their product today, including their own with no luck. Other sites maybe stock up to size XL and ALL the 4XL products on Dogs Life own site is sold out for their Winter range. 🙁
Huge Market for Custom Created Fleece Jackets
Many years ago my gran actually made my dog, at the time a collie named Fang, a custom fleece coat. It was nothing special. A plain charcoal fleece jacket that was warm and snug, and of course very nicely rounded off and neat with velcro straps around the waist. Back then dog jackets were not yet popular, not here at least! Now they are everything from a fashion statement to utility jackets!
If you Google “dog fleece jackets” the usual online store suspects come up, but there are also a few custom ones.
Sadly, of the three custom sites that came up, only two catered to larger dogs. And one of those was double the price of the 4XL Dogs Life jackets, and not as good looking if I’m honest.
I P found this Group on Facebook called Dogs Mums South Africa – highly recommend it if you haven’t found it yet. And yes, it’s just what you think it is: dog mums sharing tips and loads of photos of their furkids! Once a week they allow a “business promotion” day, and on one of these days I discovered two more custom dog jacket creators.
One, whose takings go direct to Great Dane Rescue medical bills; the other who actually started out creating custom horse jackets, but soon realised there is a big market for larger dogs too.
Sites where you can buy dog fleece/winter jackets online:
Custom made:
- Horsin About – totally custom, any size up to, and even for horses :p
- Leeanne Johnston (Great Dane Rescue) – Makes from size XS up to Great Dane size. Think this is only in Cape Town area as you have to collect. Contact: info[at]greatdanerescuer[dot]co.za
- Doggie Love Clothing – could find up to XL which is (68cm)
- Dog Online – have all sizes, but one category for larger breeds where the 3XL caters to girth up to 108cm
- Doggie Clothes – although the website is straight out of the 90s, she offers more of a “frillier” design, but only goes up to size L.
- DogzInStyle – caters up to 4XL which is 100cm, and is made from fleece and sheepskin. They even have a tuxedo section!
- Meggs Mutts – also a rescue organisation, proceeds go to help the shelter furkids. Only up to L size, which is 55cm.
- Glamour Dogz – seems mostly for small breeds – for the super fashion conscious. 😉
- Milla Moo – seems to have an array of products and loads of styles and colour options for fleeces. No sizing chart was available.
Online Stores:
- PetHeaven – variety of brands, currently up to size 6XL, however only have stock up to 4XL
- Dogs Life – the ultimate brand
- ePetStore – also currently up to size 6XL, however only have stock up to 4XL
- Absolute Pets – sadly their online shopping experience is super lacking, with so few products available to buy online. Available up to size L which is 60cm.
- Dog Wear – small select range of jackets, including Life Jackets, up to size of 70cm.
What are some of your favourite dog clothing sites or people that make custom in South Africa? Share in the comments!
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