How to measure
How to Measure Your Dog for a Coat
Back length and chest. That's all the size finder needs, and you measure them the same way for the raincoat, the snowsuit and the fleece. Most sizing mistakes happen with the tape, not the chart, so watch where it starts and stops.
Back length
Pull the tape snug around the chest once. What the fur does tells you how to measure.
Fur presses flat
Lab, Golden, most Shepherds, Doodles
Keep it snug, one finger of room. Use that number.
Fur stays puffy
Samoyed, Husky, Malamute, Old English Sheepdog, long-coat Shepherd
Let the tape rest on top of the fur. Don’t press it down.
The coat has to fit over the fluff too. Puffy fur adds about 2″, and the finder takes it from there.
Common mistakes
Where the tape usually goes wrong
A bigger number means a bigger coat. That's why "too big" is our most common return. Orange = wrong, dashed green = right.
Starting at the head or collar.
Start where the neck meets the back, just in front of the shoulder blades.
Running the tape out to the tail tip.
Stop where the tail joins the body.
Letting the tape drift off the spine or sag down the side.
Keep it on the center line of the back, flat, start to finish.
Leaving the tape loose around fur that would press flat.
Pull it snug, one finger of room. Only fur that stays puffy gets measured on top.
Starting at the shoulder blades instead of the neck.
Start just in front of the shoulder blades, where the neck meets the back. Short numbers mean a tight, high-riding coat.
Wrapping the chest in front of the front legs, around the base of the neck.
Go behind the front legs, where the ribcage is widest.
Before you start
Tips for an easy, accurate measure
Start: run your fingers down the back of the neck until it flattens into the back, just in front of the shoulder blades. End: lift the tail a little; the end is where the tail bone leaves the body. Put a finger, a clip or a small piece of tape on each point, then measure between them.
All four feet square on a flat floor, head straight ahead, not turned or sniffing the ground. A dog that twists or leans makes one side of the back shorter and the other longer. A helper with a treat at nose height makes this easy.
Take the middle number. If two results differ by more than an inch, find the two points again. Don't round up: a bigger number means a bigger coat.
Use a phone charger cable or a piece of string, pinch where it ends, then lay it on a ruler.
Pull the tape snug once. Fur presses flat: use that number. Fur stays puffy: measure on top of it. More above.
Leg length doesn't change the size. Short legs? The snowsuit sleeves may run a little long: roll the cuffs up like a shirt sleeve.
Switch the finder to cm. It also spots numbers that look like the wrong unit.
- For almost every dog, the chest is bigger than the back length. Back longer than chest? Check where the tape started and stopped.
- Most dogs we fit have a 22–33″ back. Way outside that? Measure again with the dog standing square.
- Results differ by more than an inch? Find the start and end points again, and check the tape runs down the middle of the back.