Measuring dogs when buying gear online
The Covid19 crisis has changed our shopping habits: we are all doing a lot more online than in the past. This is easy for some aspects of pet care, like pet food, treats and toys. The range of items and the affordability of online stores, combined with free delivery if you spend over a threshold amount (like €50) means that websites offer a very reasonable alternative to visiting a local pet shop, especially when you are trying to avoid social contacts.
There is one area that is trickier online: just as it can be difficult to choose clothes that fit you well, you need to get the size right when buying items to fit your pet. From weatherproof jackets and coats to keep pets warm, to collars, leashes and harnesses. How can you be sure that they are going to fit?
It’s particularly important that these latter items fit your dog properly: if a harness or collar is too loose, your pet may escape from you. And if it’s too tight, you can’t even put it on them. We all know that it’s easy enough to send products back to online stores: in Europe, even if you just change your mind or are not happy with any online purchases for whatever reason, you can return an item free of charge within 14 days. And so if it doesn’t fit, it’s very easy to order a different size. In many cases, even the postage is covered for you: you genuinely can return the products for free, and get a replacement, for no extra charge at all. You should double check on the website for precise instructions, but this is the default position unless they state otherwise. If they expect you to pay for the return postage yourself, they need to tell you in advance, before you purchase. So the chances are, it won’t cost you anything.
This is better protection than you get for products bought in a bricks-and-mortar shop, where you can only ask for a refund if a product is faulty. Many shops, out of goodwill, may give you a refund just because you don’t like something or because it doesn’t fit, but they don’t need to do that. Online stores are governed by different, stricter regulations, which should give some reassurance if you do worry about making a mistake.
However, nobody really wants to go to the bother of returning something because it doesn’t fit: it makes far more sense to do a little practical groundwork before ordering anything that needs to fit your pet.
The first step is to weigh your dog, in kilograms. With a small dog, you can do this on your bathroom scales, by standing on the scales, weighing yourself, then picking up your pet and weighing yourself again, subtracting the first weight from the second. But with a bigger dog, you really need to go somewhere with walkon electronic scales, such as your local vet clinic or some pet shops. You may not even need to visit your vet for this information: many vets weigh pets routinely, at the annual health check. So if you don’t know your pet’s weight, you may be able just to phone your local vet, and they can check your dog’s health records to let you know how much they weigh.
Once you know their body weight, this may be enough. Some clothing, collars and harnesses are sold on a body weight basis: dogs are generally classified into extra-extra-small (less than 3kg, or teacup sized), extra-small (3 - 6kg, which is around the size of a cat), small (6 – 12kg, or terrier-sized), medium (12 – 20kg, like a medium-sized spaniel), large (20-35kg, or Labrador-sized), extra-large (35 - 50kg, like a large German Shepherd or Rottweiler), or extra-extra-large or giant (over 50kg, like a St Bernard). The precise weight brackets vary from website to website, so it’s worth checking online to see if there are specific guidelines for the product you are buying.
It’s easy enough when your dog fits in the middle of a weight range, but if your dog is on the threshold, it’s tricky: is a 35kg dog large or extra-large?
For these cases, and ideally in all cases where you need something to fit accurately, you need to take out a soft measuring tape and make some basic measurements. Alternatively, you can use a piece of string, and measure that against a ruler or a rigid measuring tape.
Start with the neck: while your dog is standing, place the measuring tape or string around their neck where they normally wear a collar. Add 2 – 4 cm to this measurement for their correct collar size: the aim is to be able to insert one or two fingers beneath the collar when they are wearing it.
Next, the chest girth: this is the measurement around the thickest part of the dog’s chest, with the tape going around their body, just behind their front legs. Again, add 2 – 4cm to allow a harness to fit snugly, but not too tight.
The abdominal girth is next: this time, place the tape around the abdomen, just in front of the back legs.
You should also measure their height: for this, you can almost follow the vertical line of the front leg in a standing dog, from the ground up to the top line of their body around the level of the shoulders.
Finally, the length of the body: measure from the point on the back of the dog’s neck where the collar rests, along the spine, to the point where the tail meets the body.
Write all of these measurements down, and keep a note of them with your pet’s records. Now, whenever you need to buy something new for your pet, you’ll be ready to go: you can just click, pay, then wait for the postman to deliver.