Cuz he shaved him naked a few weeks ago, see? And then it was his birthday….
Here’s the confluence of events: Winter arrived late. Thus deer sticks were still active. Barnum’s long, thick coat made attached ticks hard to find. Thus we shaved him down. I had a fleece coat from Gadget that I put on Barnum, but it didn’t stay on well because it was too small. I modified it unsuccessfully. With Barnum’s birthday was coming up it was the perfect time to buy him a new coat. I I gave Voyagers K9 Apparel Barnum’s measurements and requested they use “Sea Blue” polar fleece to make a “tummy warmer” for him.
Let the fashion show begin!
Lounging in bed: Front view
Does this fleece make my head look big?
Comfortable enough for a dog to check his Twitter stream in!
It’s like I’m on the cat walk! (Though I’d prefer a cat chase.)
Two proofs that this coat is snuggly warm:
1. Barnum does not smoosh up against me in bed every night now. Often he does, but he will also sleep on his own bed or on another part of my bed. (And it was three degrees Fahrenheit when I went to sleep last night.)
2. When wearing the coat he went out and threw himself into the snow and rolled around, snorfled, and romped. Fortunately, the fleece is light and dries out very fast!
Happy winter, everybody!
– Sharon, the muse of Gadget, and Barnum, SD and Fashion Hound
After Gadget 
Creative Clam makes the best service dog patches if you ever want him to wear this out as a vest. I think I’m going to order one of these next winter and a raincoat now, for this spring. We warm up faster here!
Oh, which style did you choose for him? My SD is about his size and shape (tall labradoodle, 85 lbs). He’s a little wide across the breastbone/chest. I’m thinking Weimeraner?
I did the “custom order” (which is more expensive, unfortunately), because 1. they say all over their website that if your dog is not of the breeds they list, get a custom one, and 2. I really wanted to make sure it fit. “Off the rack” dog coats don’t tend to fit because Bouvs are so deep-chested, everything is too small. I think manufacturers generally assume more of a Lab/Golden build for his size/weight, which are not as deep-chested and small-waisted. But my guess is that one for a Weimeraner or a Doberman would have fit Barnum just fine. Still, I’m hoping this will last him for his lifetime and possibly for Dog #4, too, so it should be worth it in the long run, I think/hope. (The custom hunter-orange coat I had made for Gadget is still in terrific shape and fits Barnum very well, too.)
I have never heard of Creative Clam. Mostly I hear about Raspberry Field. But I don’t plan to put any patches on this because this is home/loungewear. He doesn’t wear it for walks, either. He has his visibility coat for walks, which is heavy enough. At this point, since his coat has come in more, he just wears the fleece at night when I turn the heat way down, and soon he won’t need it for that, either.
I think you’re right–if it’s going to fit under the belly, custom’s what will work best. My dog is very wide across the shoulders. Gadget’s coat is very beautiful.