USE:
Daily walks (X6) - ~2 mi / 3 km on cold/windy/snowy days
“Cleaning Day” wore (X2) – back yard of our home
Dog Park (X2) – cold and windy with a little snow
Snowshoeing
(X2) Central Cascades 5 mi /8 km round trip, a little below
freezing and overcast, packed trail with deep soft snow off trail
Overnight backpacking – short ‘shake down’ hike, Umtanum Creek Trail ~2 mi/ 3 km each way
Since
the Initial Report Yakima has experienced some record cold and record
snow falls (sadly in the valleys, not in the mountains where we really
need it). We had the opportunity to use the coat on some of our daily
walks at home (Yakima Washington) as well as while on a trip to Bend
Oregon when temperatures were well below freezing and there was wind
and snow. While in Bend we also found an amazing dog park and let Meg
run around for a bit. While there she found another dog to roughhouse
with and before I knew it the other dog had a mouth full of the coat
and was attempting to wrestle Meg to the ground with it. I managed to
get the coat off of her so she could continue to play unhindered and
was expecting a large tear where the dog had chomped down on the coat,
but I was amazed to find the coat was totally undamaged?!?! So the coat
seems to be far less fragile than it would initially appear!
Our
cleaning person does not like to have Meg in the house, so on Thursdays
(Cleaning Day) she spends most of the day outside in our back yard. At
the beginning of the test, I would have her wear her old coat as I
worried she would do something (like crawl under the deck) that might
damage the Puff Doggy coat, but after seeing how tough it really is the
last two cold Thursdays I put her out with the Puff Doggy coat and not
only did she not damage it, I had a little less stress that she might
be cold while out (I don’t recall the specific weather but do recall
they were colder than normal days and snow in the yard was up to my
knees).
For our one and only overnight trip, we did a short trip
on a trail in a sheltered valley that I like to use for early season
“shake down” trips and/or to try out new gear. While this area was at
least not as frigidly cold as most any other place we could have gone
(above freezing during the day and just below at night), the warmer
temperatures meant a muddy trail. Meg wore the coat to sleep in.
Note to self: Dog + muddy trail + tent = dirty sleeping bag.
As
for fit, it seems to fit her quite well, no rubbing nor binding. The
rear leg and tail loops help to keep the coat in place when she is
moving about as well as allowing it to wrap around her when she curls
up to sleep, but does not hinder her movements, and yes I also mean
movements in the literal as well as the euphemistic sense.
So
far the buckles have not slipped or moved during use as I had
originally anticipated and their ease of adjustment more than makes up
for having to adjust them each time I put it on her. I also have found
the lack of an opening for her leash as mentioned in the Initial
Report has not been an issue so I am going to retract that as a dislike.
When it comes to
insulation…well…obviously Meg can’t tell me how warm/cold she is but my
impression from how she acts is that the coat provides a significant
level of insulation and she seems quite comfortable when she has curled
up to sleep or nap while wearing it.
As for likes and dislikes,
I would echo the likes from the IR, add durability to the likes, and
say I no longer have any dislikes.