Friday 13 March 2015

The battle of the titans.

(note the small t).

We awoke this morning to snow and a temperature of one degree.   Everywhere was slushy and wet and the sky was a dark grey.

Remember that Tess had a haircut yesterday - quite a close haircut after having a winter unshorn where her hair had got long and shaggy.   What to do?   

Nothing said the farmer.  She is a farm dog, she will take it in her stride.   I reminded him that when the weather took a turn for the worse he put on an extra fleece not went out in a T shirt rather than an anorak.

So when I was out for our coffee gang meeting this morning I bought her a little waterproof, fleecy lined jacket.  I guessed at the size, got it home and found it was too small and had to go back into town to change it for the next size up, which is marginally too big.
Does she appreciate it?   No she does not.  She absolutely hates it and her lunchtime walk really was more of a lunchtime drag.   But she must wear it for a day or two while this weather lasts.   I cannot risk her getting a really bad chill.   Hopefully she will become more accustomed to it.

What was the farmer's reaction?   "How degrading" was his only comment.

16 comments:

Cro Magnon said...

I tend to agree with The Farmer. I think exactly the same thing every time I see a Burberry coat on some treasured lap-pooch.

Barbara said...

How funny!
It seems that Tess should have been somewhat appreciative of all your effort on her behalf.
But, isn't that always the way?

Gwil W said...

I hope there's photo coming. :)

Mac n' Janet said...

I would have bought the coat too. We make our cat wear a harness and leash when she's out and about. She hates it, but puts up with it in order to get outside.

Yael said...

We have 1 or 2 days of snow (1 CM) SO i dont have to buy a coat for the dog but i bought an igloo for the cats outside and they never used it.

angryparsnip said...

I am making coats for The Square Ones more for show and the 4 really cold days we have here.
When I was a child my Mum would cut the sleeve off of an old sweater and waalaaa a nice warm coat for our little short hair Dachshund. She despised any slightly cooler weather. She would shiver. She even wore it in the house.

cheers, parsnip

Rachel Phillips said...

You should have listened to the farmer.

Joanne Noragon said...

Well, I suppose she would have attended to business sooner has she been freezing. That said, I would have bought the coat, too, and felt much better about it.

Frances said...

We've got bright sunshine here in New York today...but it's quite cold. I was very glad to have my down coat handy.

I liked an earlier commenter's suggestion about recycling an old sweater for your newly shorn Tess. Maybe she would not have liked that any more than the coat you bought for her.

Surely we will have warmer days soon!

Virginia said...

I'm with you, Weaver! I would have bought one too. I wanted to get a beautiful coat for our son's golden retriever and got a definite NO ... "She's dog, Ma" - imagine the "Ma" in a drawn out disdainful "Maaaa" To be fair to him, we don't get snow, only cold, and by your standards, pretty mild at that. And she loves the rain, so it would have been quite unnecessary.

thelma said...

Well I have decided which coat to wear as we are coming up to Yorkshire today, did not realise it had snowed. Keep Tess warm in her new coat as well.

The Weaver of Grass said...

I have to report that Tess and the farmer have won. It is about three degrees warmer this morning, although still cold. Yesterday she went round in the coat but reluctantly on the leash. This morning as soon as the farmer opened the door she was out before he could put her coat on. She spent the walk doing her usual rabbiting. I capitulate.

Gwil W said...

Why not turn it into little coats for the rabbits?

Heather said...

He obviously didn't see any of those ridiculous doggy 'fashions' which I think may have been on sale at Crufts. I remember that our cat hated having a collar and invariably managed to get if off and lose it. In the end we gave up.
Hope the weather improves and spring returns to Yorkshire soon.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks to you all for calling in.

susie @ persimmon moon cottage said...

In the past we had a Collie and a Sheltie. They were hardy outside dogs and, with their heavy, multi-layered fur coats, thrived outside in cold weather. Their coats had undercoats that were so thick that even when bathing them, it was very difficult to get them wet to the skin. They had a warm dog house, but only slept in it at night. Manmade coats for them would have been preposterous.

The little Pomeranian we have now only weighs 8 pounds. He is an inside dog. Even though he has a lot of hair, he shivers if we are out too long. When he starts to shiver, I figure it's time for me to come in, too. I never have bought a manmade coat for him, but if he ever had his hair cut, I think we might have to.

He would probably like a doggie coat alright. He likes having his harness collar on at all times and worries if I take it off of him to wash it. He continually worries about it and comes back and forth between his harness collar as it hangs to dry and me, huffing and whining to have it back on. I have noticed that Pomeranians are little dogs that are very prone to be dressed in all kinds of outfits, even in warm weather.

At least now you have a doggie coat on hand in case everyone involved ever decides one is needed for some reason.