Boston terrier and Frenchton coat and sweater sizes

If you have read our French bulldog page, most of it applies: round chest, thick neck, short back, a face that makes pullovers a negotiation. The Boston is the lighter, leggier version, with a less extreme chest and a thinner coat. The Frenchton (Frenchie × Boston) is wherever its parents put it, usually in between. One page, with the Boston's numbers as the base and the Frenchton reading an inch up.

Numbers

• Boston terrier: 15 to 17 in at the shoulder, 12 to 25 lb in three weight classes (AKC standard). Chest 18 to 21 in (DogChart), 18 in (Doggie Style Store); neck 12 to 18 in (Doggie Style Store); back 11 to 13 in (DogChart).
• Frenchton: no standard; crosses of the two breeds run 15 to 25 lb and tape an inch rounder than a Boston of the same weight, so chest 18 to 23, neck 13 to 17.

Coat makers' charts, measured dogs, an inch or two of disagreement between them; the tape wins.

Our sizes

Worked out from the size charts on the product pages for the measurement range above. Your dog's own tape measurement is what decides it.

A typical Boston (19 in chest, 13 in neck) is a jacket M, a vest S, a Heritage Turtleneck L. A Frenchton at 22 in and 16 in neck is a jacket L, a vest M (the neck pushes it past the S), a Heritage XL. The Fireside stops at 16.5 in and the trench at 16 lb with an 11.4 in neck, so neither is a Boston size.

The neck decides everything

Both breeds carry a neck that is thick for the chest. On the jacket that means reading the neck column before the chest column: a Boston with a 19 in chest is M by chest (18.9 in, a hair over, and "a hair over" means L anyway) and the M's neck is 13 in; a Boston neck of 14 or 15 is already a size L on neck alone. On the vest, the S neck range is 12 to 14 in and the M is 17 to 19; a 15 or 16 in neck sits between them, and the answer is M with the belly strap pulled in.

On a pullover the neck is also the head. The Heritage Turtleneck has to pass a wide skull and prominent eyes, and the right size is the one whose neck number is comfortably above the dog's, stretch or no stretch. Bunch the collar, tip the head down, over in one movement. If the dog resists pullovers, the jacket's chest zip removes the problem.

Thin coat, cold dog

The Boston's coat is short, fine and single; the Frenchton's is usually the same. Neither has an undercoat and both feel cold early, at the same time as they overheat easily in warmth because of the short muzzle. The practical version: a knit on cold dry days, the jacket in cold rain, nothing on a mild day, and a short walk when it is hot. A Boston shivering at the door in November is not being dramatic.

The All-Weather Jacket is the piece to own for the breed: lined for the cold, rain-shedding, zipped up the chest so the face is never involved, and the leash clips to the harness built into the chest rather than to a collar on a throat that already breathes through a short airway. The product page says it plainly: for strong pullers, use your regular harness under the jacket. A Boston with a squirrel in view is a strong puller.

Shipping and returns

Free US shipping; ships in 1 to 2 business days and usually arrives 4 to 9 business days after that; 60 days to return a wrong size (Shipping & Returns). The measuring guide is two minutes; on this breed, measure the neck carefully, because it is the number that decides.

Questions

My Boston is 15 lb. M or L jacket?

Measure the neck. Under 13 in with a chest under 18.9, M. Over either, L.

Can a Frenchton wear the Frenchie sizes?

Usually one size smaller. A Frenchton's chest is between the two parents'; measure, and use the table above.

Will a sweater make the breathing worse?

A tight collar on a flat-faced dog can. Choose the neck size with room, wear the fold-down collar folded, and never leave a knit on a dog that is panting.