Shetland sheepdog rain jacket and coat sizes

Nobody buys a Sheltie a sweater. The breed carries a long, straight outer coat over a dense, furry undercoat, with a mane at the neck and feathering on the legs, and a healthy adult is comfortable in cold that sends other 20 lb dogs indoors. What that coat cannot do is shed a real rain or dry afterwards, and a wet Sheltie is a heavy, matted, slow-drying, strong-smelling thing. One piece earns its place here, and it is sized over the coat.

Numbers

AKC standard: 13 to 16 in at the shoulder, 15 to 25 lb. The TARIGS breed chart gives a chest of 50 to 55 cm (20 to 22 in), a neck of 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 in, which is the mane) and a back of 42 to 48 cm (16.5 to 19 in); the Doggie Style Store chart gives an 11 to 18 in neck. The useful reading: 18 to 23 in around the chest over the coat, 11 to 15 at the neck under the mane where a collar sits, 15 to 18 along the back. Coat makers' charts of measured dogs, with the coat inflating every figure; measure over it as it lies, because that is what the jacket has to close over.

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.

Jacket M at the small end, L on most Shelties over the coat. Vest S or M by chest, with the belly strap taking up the mane-to-summer-coat difference. The Heritage Turtleneck fits by the numbers and is in the table for an old or clipped Sheltie only; the Fireside and the trench are too small.

Why a shell and not a coat

The Sheltie's double coat is insulation; adding more is a dog panting at the first corner. The job is keeping water off, so that the undercoat, which soaks and holds it, stays dry. The All-Weather Jacket does that for the back and sides with a rain-shedding shell. It has a warm lining, which on a Sheltie makes it a cold-rain coat specifically; in mild rain the Quilted Vest without the lining is the better choice. Both open without anything passing the head (the jacket zips up the chest, the vest fastens with a belly strap and a collar toggle), and both are cut short at the back to free the hind legs, so the feathering on the legs and the long hair on the rear come home wet whatever you do. The dry part is the part you would otherwise towel for ten minutes.

The mane under a collar

A Sheltie's mane sits exactly where a jacket collar sits. The jacket's neck opening on the L is 15.4 in; the mane compresses under it for a walk and springs back. Size by chest, zip the collar over the mane, and brush after. The vest's collar toggle gives more room.

The one case for a knit

A Sheltie shaved for the summer, or for a skin condition, or a very old one with a thinned coat, is a different dog in November, and the Heritage Turtleneck in L or XL by chest, worn with the collar folded under the mane, is right for the walk. Otherwise, no.

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 size, which over a coat that changes with the season is the honest way to buy (Shipping & Returns). The measuring guide shows where the tape goes; on a Sheltie, over the coat as it lies, with the neck taken under the mane.

Questions

Jacket M or L for a 20 lb Sheltie?

L, almost always: over the coat the chest is past the M's 18.9 in.

Does the jacket mat the coat?

Not for a walk. Brush the back and the mane afterwards, as you would after a harness. A wet coat left unbrushed mats; a dry one under a shell does not.

Spring and autumn, vest or jacket?

Vest. Save the lined jacket for cold rain and sleet.