Two Dog Tales

As I stopped by Wylie Wagg in Clarendon last week to pick up dog food, a colorful display of what looked like reusable nylon shopping bags caught my eye. But I was wrong, the display actually featured rain ponchos for dogs.

Genius! With all the rain we’ve had lately, it’s been a pain having to towel off two dogs after walks, especially in the morning when I’m rushing to get to work. And if I don’t thoroughly get them dry, you know what that means. The dreaded wet dog smell.

The poncho comes in a compact nylon pouch.

The ponchos are made by RC Pet Products of Vancouver, British Columbia, and are made in a range of colors and sizes from XXS to XXL. They are lightweight, waterproof, and come in a compact reusable nylon pouch that has a handy strap on the end so you can snap it onto a leash or a belt loop to take with you on walks.

After talking with the salespeople and taking one out of the pouch to see the size, I bought two XXLs in a cute design with blue, white and brown paw prints on a black background. Other colors included a pink paw print design, and solid yellow, red and pink.

The ponchos fit both my dogs, covering them from the base of their neck to a couple inches beyond where their tails begin. They are both retrievers that weigh about 60 pounds each. The picture on the tag shows the poncho on a long-haired German Shepherd, and not fully covering the dog’s back, so the XXL probably would cover a lot, but not all, of the back of a giant breed dog such as a Mastiff or a Great Dane.

The XXL poncho covered the entire back of a 60-lb. retriever mix.

There is a hood on the poncho, but both dogs couldn’t see to the side when it was on their head, so I pulled it down to rest on their necks. The poncho attaches with two snaps across the chest, and a widestrap with Velcro under the belly.

I recommend fastening the Velcro strap right against the belly; I found that the poncho shifted to the side if I left it loose.

When we got home after our first walk of about 20 minutes in a steady rain, I just pulled off the wet ponchos, and voila—dry dogs were underneath. Of course, their paws and some of the feathery fur on their legs were wet from walking through puddles, but it was a vast improvement from the full-body toweling that I normally have to do.

I hung the ponchos up to dry, and they were easy to fold back up and store in the pouches until the next rainstorm.

The ponchos cost $12.99 each at Wylie Wagg. You can find other local retailers that carry their products on the dealer locator section of RC Pet’s website.

By the way, I bought the ponchos, and am not being compensated for this review. I just wish I’d thought of inventing them myself!