5 Reasons Kurgo Dog Coats are the Best

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It's been raining for more than a month here in the PNW and outfitting the dogs with Kurgo coats and sweaters turned out to be THE BEST idea. [Kurgo Review]

This year, I outfitted my dogs with a Kurgo dog coat and sweater. I’ve lived in the Pacific Northwest my entire life, so the weather isn’t surprising to me. Despite the quote in Sleepless in Seattle, it doesn’t rain nine months out of the year here. However, it feels like that right now. It’s rained daily with a few spots of sunshine to keep us from packing up and moving to Arizona.

It’s beautiful here because of the weather, so I don’t have much to complain about – except walking dogs in the rain. It sucks. It’s not the rain – PNW born and raised – it’s that we can’t escape wet dogs and muddy paw prints. Last year was La Nina, and we received cooler/wetter weather. It got so bad that I purchased 15 towels (there was a sale) just for the dogs because we were going through them so quickly.

La Nina is back this year, so I bought everyone a coat. I have no clue why I didn’t think of dog coats years ago, but dogs in the Pacific Northwest need a coat (or, at the very least, a sweater).

5 Reasons Kurgo Dog Coats Are the Best

1 – My dogs are pets and spend a great deal of time indoors, so they don’t have a thick winter coat to protect them from the elements. So, dressing them in a coat or sweater on cold days to keep them warm isn’t out of hand. Especially Scout and Zoey because of their short coat. Some may think that this is my attempt to humanize my dogs – I disagree.

2—The rain is insane this year, and dressing our dogs in coats before walks keeps them dry. It also takes away the task of drying everyone and reduces the amount of laundry I have to do (towels and more towels).

3 – Sweaters and coats keep my dogs cleaner. Although they are pets who spend more time indoors in the winter, we allow them to walk, run, and explore. When they come in from a walk, I remove the coats and go about my day. Easy peasy.

4—Coats and sweaters help me spot the dogs at a distance. We live on five acres surrounded by forest, and the dogs tend to blend into the landscape, especially during these shorter days. Bright coats help me spot them quickly.

5 – Coats let people know that these are pets. Three of our dogs don’t wear dog collars, so when I’m out with them, a coat shows strangers that the dogs belong to a home which gives me some security should one get lost.

Shopping for Dog Coats SUCKS!!

Have you shopped for a dog coat recently? It’s not easy. Petco and Petsmart in my town have limited their inventory to small dogs only. Only one independent pet store carries the larger sizes, and they aren’t cheap. Shopping online is a crapshoot because if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you can end up with a cheap coat that is either too small, despite being an XL, or too big.

It’s been a frustrating journey for me. Then I received an email from Kurgo offering to send me a sweater in exchange for a review—this review.

Kurgo Gear I Ordered for My Dogs

Do you know those charts that will help us determine what size our dogs need? I suck at using those. I get the size wrong EVERY time. So, when Kurgo offered a free K9 Kore Sweater, I requested an XL after reviewing the chart. I should have ordered a large or medium to fit my dogs. But despite having the wrong size, I quickly saw that the sweater was perfect for what I needed.

So, I hosted a giveaway for the XL and placed an order for the following for my dogs:

Kurgo K9 Core Sweater

The K9 Core Sweater keeps my dogs warm without inhibiting their mobility or falling off when they race across the property. These sweaters are made with 10 oz. knit fleece, which is slightly heavier than the average sweater, making them great on cool days. I also plan to use them as a liner beneath a coat of a larger size on freezing days.

Kurgo K9 Core Sweater, M (for Zoey/Rodrigo) – Heather Blue (more of a turquoise)
Kurgo K9 Core Sweater, L (for Scout) – Heather Orange
Kurgo K9 Core Sweater, L (for Apollo) – Heather Black (more of a gray)

Kurgo Loft Jacket/Dog Coat

Like the sweaters, the Kurgo Loft Jacket is versatile, comfortable, and doesn't slow our dogs down. These coats and a sweater can be worn year-round for more winter protection. I've primarily been using these coats on rainy days.

Kurgo Loft Jacket/Dog Coat, M (for Rodrigo) – Chili Red/Charcoal
Kurgo Loft Jacket/Dog Coat, M (for Zoey) – Deep Violet/Charcoal
Kurgo Loft Jacket/Dog Coat, L (for Apollo/Scout) – Coastal Blue/Orange

There were so many options and cool colors, so it was hard not to go crazy, but this is what I ordered for my dogs to cover in the fall, winter, and spring weather in the PNW. My dogs have two other coats they wear on walks, which are great, but I prefer the Kurgo gear.

The Kurgo K9 Core Sweater offers a great fit, high quality material, and adjustments to add more comfort and to accomodate a harness.

Why I Prefer Kurgo Dog Gear

QUALITY AND FIT: The quality of Kurgo dog gear is phenomenal. Especially considering the price. I was able to get a Kurgo dog coat online for half of what I paid for the other dog coats (which are high quality).

The coats fit each dog comfortably without cutting into their armpits or choking them around the neck. The dogs can run around without the coats falling off or the Velcro loosening/detaching. There is some leeway with the size, allowing Rodrigo, for example, to comfortably wear a medium or a large.

The best part about Kurgo coats and sweaters is that they make space for attaching a leash to a collar or a harness, something many coats don’t do well. On many coats I’ve considered, the hole for the leash is on the back at the neck. On Kurgo gear, there is a zipper that opens long enough to allow us to attach a leash to a collar or to the harness.

And if the neck is a bit snug, no worries; you can unzip the area beneath the chin to create more room. Plus, the sweaters and coats are easy to put on and take off my dogs.

PRICE IS RIGHT: The Kurgo dog coats and sweaters I purchased cost between $30-$35 each, which was perfect for my budget. I know that this is still an investment for some. The reason I think it’s such a great deal is that I have two coats that I purchased in 2020 as a comparison. Despite being the same quality given the economy right now, I was surprised that the Kurgo dog coats were half the price.

PLENTY OF COLOR OPTIONS: My dogs don’t care, but I like having different colors for each dog. For instance, Rodrigo’s things are usually red. This makes shopping fun. But this time, I chose bright colors that stand out for safety reasons. The coats are reversible, adding more color options.

These bright colors (and reflective accents) announce our presence to joggers, cyclists, and other dog walkers. They allow me to quickly locate my dogs when we’re exploring the forest around our property, and the colors are bright enough to catch a driver’s attention if my dogs manage to make it out on the road (which, knock on wood) doesn’t happen.

The Kurgo Loft Jacket offers a great fit, high quality material, and adjustments to add more comfort and to accomodate a harness.

What I Don’t Like About the Kurgo Coats and Sweaters

My only issues with the Kurgo coats and sweaters I’ve tried are figuring out the sizing (which is a “me” problem) and availability (which is just life). But both of these issues were easy to overcome.

FIGURING OUT THE SIZING: So, I’ll be honest and own that this is more about me than about Kurgo. I couldn’t figure out the sizing and have learned that after measuring your dog’s neck, back, and chest, choose the size UP from what you’d think. So if your numbers jive with a medium, order a large to avoid returns.

On the flip side, the sizing of the Kurgo coats and sweaters I ordered is pretty consistent. Ordering a medium-sized coat helped me figure out that Zoey is a medium, Rodrigo is a medium or large, and Scout and Apollo wear a large.

AVAILABILITY: We can easily order Kurgo online. Their products are available on the Kurgo website, Amazon.com, and a few products are sold through Chewy.com. However, I recommend shopping through Kurgo, where you can take advantage of discounts not offered on any other website.

Now that I've been dressing the dogs before walks (on rainy days), the “issues” I listed above are genuinely non-issues.