I’m new to the pittie world, I’m wondering if my guy with extremely short hair (like crushed velvet) needs an outdoor jacket.
He seems kind of cold now that the weather is in the 40s. He comes inside and heads right for the REALLY hot spot near the fireplace; my baby pit has slightly longer fur, she may have some lab in her and doesn’t seem to get cold. My yeller lab has polar bear fur, she could live in the Arctic 
What sayeth People of the Pit?
Mine doesn’t seem to mind. He’s 5, plays in the snow, doesn’t seem the least bit bothered by the cold. Heat seems to get to him more.
When I worked at a stable years ago, the two pitties that were regular guests, both wore coats in the winter. The farrier’s dog wouldn’t get out of his truck if she didn’t have her coat on. I got a hard time for not blanketing my own dog, so I made her a coat, though she didn’t seem fond of it and managed to remove it. After I found it in the manure pile one day, I decided she didn’t need to wear it anymore.
Current dogs, both shepherds, have winter coats, but I rarely put them on. As long as they’re moving, they stay warm, but if for some reason they have to be in the car for a while when it’s cold (training one, while the other waits), or we’re going to be standing around in the cold, out come the dog coats. Strangely, the shorter coated dog seems to be less affected by cold than the fluffier one.
If they look cold, regardless of breed, I have no problem putting a warm winter coat on my dogs. I have boots, too, lol.
Yes, our pibble is very slender- heck, she’s built a lot like a greyhound, just with the huge pit bull head- and with such thin hair she gets cold very easily. She likes wearing her coat, especially if we’re going to be outside in the cold for long.
A lot of Pibbles have low body fat. My PB/GSD cross had mostly Pibble fur, and pretty low body fat, but she did have some slightly thicker hair over her butt and legs and tail. She loved to play in the show, and hated really hot days. If it was above 90’F I took a spritzer and wet her down on walks. If it was over 98’F I didn’t take her out, or I waited and took her out after dark. But she was a black dog, and bigger than most female Pibbles. My full Pit didn’t have a coat either, and and pretty low body fat, and typical Pibble fur, but she was also black, and a super-active dog. Active even for a Pibble.
So there are some considerations: how active is the dog when out, and what color is it? I light-colored dog might need a coat.
My pibble is mostly white (with a blue mask and a couple of brindle spots). She lives in Florida and is overweight enough that chilly temps don’t seem to bother her. She’s got a very lightweight fleece “jacket” that she seems to appreciate when it’s below about 35-40 – which doesn’t happen that much here so I’d also say acclimation is a factor. She’s used to 90+ F most of the time. We have a saying down here: you know it’s cold when the pitbull is shivering.
Now when I had Bostons, they were very sensitive to heat and cold, so they had quilted coats that they loved and wore at anything lower than 55-ish.
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I have a Beagle with a coat similar to a Pit. It’s fairly easy to tell when a dog is cold because they shiver. After your Pit has been out in the cold for a while and you suspect it may be too cold, go outside and observe it for a while to see if it’s shivering. If so, it would probably appreciate a coat.
We currently have two pibbles, and have had two pibble/hound mixes in the recent past.
Both “straight up” pit bulls (I can’t claim they’re purebred, they’re rescued) are definitely NOT all-weather dogs. They have very short, velvety fur with a lot of white, and their bellies are almost bare.
They not only dislike temperatures colder than around 40-50 degrees F, they also tend to flinch away from rain and snow. Our newest girl, Luna, went outside on a windy 38-degree day last week – despite sporting a pullover hoodie, she made a face and an immediate U-turn back toward the door. We still haven’t shopped for a real coat, but it’s on our to-do list.
Our older girl, Simone, is notorious for being active only in a narrow temperature range. Below 50 and she slows down and pouts unless she’s got her heavy coat on. Above 75 degrees and she lies down in the sun to bask; it’s hard to get her moving again.
Both hound mixes were more temperature-hardy, although still abjuring rain. The pit bull/plott hound mix in particular seldom seemed concerned about cold, despite having no visible body fat and a short, although slightly coarse, coat.
I recommend coats (and other clothing) if your pit seems cold. Plus the hoodie is ridiculously cute.
Ours is the typical ‘pit bull’, shelter dog, who knows her actual pedigree? She looks like a small Dogo Argentino but calling her ‘pit bull’ is fine with us. She has short hair, with pink underside where you can see right through it. We started with coats shortly after we got her when she shivered waiting in front of a store with one of us while the other went in. Our previous hound humored us at best wearing a coat when it was extremely cold. She wears her anytime below ~40 deg F. Also a raincoat, she can’t stand getting wet, much more sensitive to that than cold. Also she now pretty much demands her boots if expected to walk in the snow. Big tough ferocious looking girl (somebody cut off her ears to make her look even fiercer, despite which she still loves all humans), weather sissy.
I have a 100lbs short haired mutt. Vet labeled him boxer/mastiff. He wants to go out with me regardless of temperature. He just gets mopey if it’s too cold.
He hikes with me though the winter. 40 degrees or so I start using his fleece jacket. 15 is normally the lowest temperature I have him out hiking, he’ll do it but he starts getting ice build up on his paws and that frustrates him.
He is a huge baby about weather. If there is stuff falling from the sky he wants a coat or he’ll high tail it back to shelter. I’ve had him on hikes where it started raining and I didn’t have his rain coat, he stops listening to me and goes back to the truck, furthest was 5 miles out chasing my dog back to the trailhead… He doesn’t care about thunder and lighting, just getting rained or snowed on. He’ll wade in water on his own but won’t swim.
I have to come back to this and re-state that it’s really a YMMV situation. It’s frickin’ 5F out right now and has been frigid the last couple days. My pit is begging to be let outside multiple times a day (and we have the temp indoors set to 72F) where he stays out until I call him in five to ten minutes later. He’s got short hair and all. I think the dog’s fucking crazy, but he seems not to mind.