Dog hoodie size guide: chest, back and neck, S to 5XL

Every number on this page is a measurement of your dog, not of the hoodie. The room to move is already cut into the pattern, so measure the dog and read the size straight off — do not add anything on top of what the tape says.

One chart, both units. The centimetre is the figure the pattern is cut to; the inch is that same figure converted, not a second size.

The chest picks the size. The back length and the neck are checks on that choice, not the choice itself. If the chest falls between two sizes, take the larger one.

How do I measure my dog for a hoodie?

Three figures, one soft tape, about a minute with the dog standing. Take the chest first and take it twice — it is the only one of the three that decides anything.

• Chest. Round the widest point, immediately behind the front legs. Keep the tape level and let it lie flat — snug, not pulled. This is the figure that decides the size.
• Back. From the withers — the bump you feel between the shoulder blades — to the base of the tail, along the spine, with the dog standing.
• Neck. Low down, where the collar already sits, not up under the jaw.
• Long coats: flatten the coat under the tape. You are measuring the dog, not the winter.

My dog is between two sizes — which one do I order?

Take the larger. The chest figure carries about 1.5 cm of give either way, so a dog one centimetre over a size still wears it — but a dog one centimetre under the next size up is far more comfortable than one squeezed into the smaller. If the chest says one size and the back says the next, the chest wins and the longer back is the thing to write to me about.

Should a dog hoodie be tight or loose?

Neither — the room is already in the pattern, so you order the measurement and nothing on top of it. Nothing in this line is cut tight. A fleece that has to be stretched across the ribs to close stops the dog lifting its front legs properly; one that hangs loose at the chest turns under the belly at the first fence. Measure the chest, read the chart, order that size.

Is there a dog hoodie with a longer back?

Yes, in four of the eight sizes. Dachshunds, whippets, sighthounds and corgis are ordinary dogs with an extra hand-span of spine, and a hoodie cut to their chest normally stops halfway along it. Four sizes are cut with a longer back for exactly this:

• M — +7 cm (+2.8 in)
• L — +10 cm (+3.9 in)
• XL — +7 cm (+2.8 in)
• 2XL — +7 cm (+2.8 in)

Write to us before you order if your dog needs it, and say which size and how much back you are missing. The same four sizes, and how the stitching works on a long-backed dog, are set out on the page about having a name embroidered.

What size dog hoodie for my breed?

A breed is a starting point and the chest is the answer. Two beagles from two litters can be two sizes apart, and nothing on this list beats a tape measure. Each row gives the size I would start from and the chest that size is cut to — so you can hold the figure against your own tape before you order.

Dachshund: M at 44 cm chest, L from 52 cm — and both are cut with a longer back

The miniature starts at M, the standard at L. This is the breed the longer cut exists for: M carries +7 cm of extra back and L carries +10 cm, the largest step in the whole range. Measure the chest behind the front legs and ignore how low the dog stands — a dachshund is short in the leg, not small in the ribs.

French Bulldog: XL, 60 cm chest

A frenchie is a barrel on short legs, and the chest almost always reads a size larger than the owner expects. Start at XL, 60 cm round the ribs. The neck at that size is 38 cm; if your dog measures more round the neck than round the chest allows, write to me before ordering rather than after.

Welsh Corgi: 2XL, 67 cm chest — the size with the +7 cm back

Same story as the dachshund, one size band up: long in the spine, deep in the chest, short in the leg. 2XL is cut to a 67 cm chest and a 47 cm back, and it is one of the four sizes available with the longer back. A corgi in February and the same corgi in July are two chest figures — measure on the day.

Labrador and Golden Retriever: 3XL, 76 cm chest

Both start at 3XL: 76 cm chest, 53 cm back, 47 cm neck. The golden carries more coat on the neck and shoulders than the labrador, so flatten it under the tape. Neither is cut with a longer back — at this size the standard back length already reaches the croup.

German Shepherd: 4XL, 84 cm chest

4XL, cut to an 84 cm chest with a 58 cm back. The shepherd is the breed where the difference between a working line and a show line shows up on the tape, so the measurement matters more here than the name of the breed.

Chihuahua, Yorkshire Terrier and Pomeranian: S, 36 cm chest

S is the bottom of the range — 36 cm chest, 24 cm back, 24 cm neck. Below 36 cm round the ribs I have nothing that fits, and I would rather write that down than sell you the smallest thing I make and hope. The pomeranian measures over the coat, and the coat is most of the dog.

What the hoodie covers

The front is shorter than the back on purpose: the belly is covered to the ribs and left open behind, and the back carries on past it as a skirt over the croup. A raglan sleeve takes the shoulder, so there is no seam sitting on the joint where the dog moves most.

Embroidered, not printed

The words are embroidered, not printed, because a printed name on a working coat lasts one winter and a stitched one does not care. The fleece is made to order in Prague, one at a time, which is also why the size has to be right before it is cut rather than after.

Which thread colour stays legible on which of the eleven fleeces, what the stitching costs and how long it takes are answered on the personalised dog jumper page. That page explains the choice; the eleven colours themselves live in the hoodie collection.