Best Christmas Jumpers for Dogs in the UK

The best Christmas jumper for a dog is a knitted one cut for four legs, bought by chest measurement rather than by breed, and worn for the walk rather than the whole day. For a thin-coated dog, a whippet, a staffie, a dachshund, or an older dog who has started sitting closer to the radiator, a proper knit earns its place in December. For a husky or a collie it is a photograph and nothing more.

Every jumper in our Christmas dog jumpers range is a dog garment, not a human one shrunk down, and prices run from £7.99 to £15.99 depending on the size and the knit. If the jumper is a present, Christmas presents for dogs covers what to put alongside it.

Which dogs genuinely need one

Thin, single-coated and short-haired breeds lose heat fast: greyhounds, whippets, staffies, dachshunds, chihuahuas and most small terriers. So do puppies, who cannot regulate their temperature yet, and old dogs, who stand about more on a walk. Below about 7°C these dogs are visibly happier in a layer, and a knitted jumper is the lightest layer there is; a medium in the heaviest knit we sell weighs 87g.

Double-coated breeds do not need one. A husky, a German shepherd, a border collie or a golden retriever is already wearing the right coat, and a jumper on top traps heat the dog cannot shed. For the photograph, a Christmas bandana does the job with no risk of overheating and fits by collar size. Do dogs need coats in winter? goes through it breed by breed.

Knitted, fleece-lined or printed

• Knitted, in acrylic or wool. Cable knit, Fair Isle, roll necks. Warm in dry cold and a draughty house, but with no membrane it is neither windproof nor waterproof, and a soaked jumper is worse than none. Most of our range, from £8.99 for a cable-knit gingerbread design to £12.99 for a wool roll neck.
• Fleece-lined. A knitted or fleece outer with a teddy-fleece layer underneath. Warmer for its weight and softer against the skin, which suits thin-skinned dogs and cats. Our fleece-lined knitted vest is £7.99; the reindeer fleece jumper and hat set is £9.99 to £10.99.
• Printed. The design is printed onto a plain knit rather than knitted in. A sharper picture, nothing raised to chew loose, and it washes cool without felting. Our printed reindeer turtleneck is £10.99.

The collar is worth more than the pattern. The throat and the front of the chest are where a short-coated dog feels the cold first and where most jumpers give up; a rolled collar closes both, and nearly half the range carries one.

Measure the chest, then go up a size

Two numbers decide whether a dog jumper fits: chest girth, around the widest part of the ribcage just behind the front legs, and back length, from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. Breed tells you almost nothing: a stocky 4kg pug and a leggy 4kg papillon are different shapes, so the weight bands on a size chart are a cross-check at best.

Knitwear runs smaller than you expect. Knitted fabric has less give across the chest than fleece or a padded coat, and a jumper that is tight across the front legs is rejected within a minute. If your dog sits between sizes, go up, and check the armholes once it is on: rubbing behind the front legs is the commonest reason a dog stops walking in a jumper; the dog simply stops.

The size letters mean less than the centimetres behind them. An XS in one of our knits is a 32cm chest; in another it starts at 26cm. The chunkier knits run from 32cm at XS to 57cm at XXL; the striped core-spun knit goes to 68cm, the one for anything bigger than a cocker spaniel; the puppy jacquard starts at a 30cm chest. Every product page carries the maker's own table, and where a maker publishes no centimetres the page says so rather than inventing them. How to measure a dog for a coat shows the method.

The human jumper with a dog on it

Much of what ranks for "dog Christmas jumper" is human knitwear with a dog printed on it, and much of the rest is a shrunk-down human jumper with four holes. Neither is cut for a dog. A dog garment has a back longer than its front, an open belly so the dog can toilet and stay dry, and armholes placed for front legs rather than arms; the human shape rides up the back or fouls the undercarriage. Look for it photographed on a dog, with a chest measurement in centimetres rather than a breed name.

Indoors versus the walk on Christmas Day

A knitted jumper is for outside, a cold hall, a draughty car and the photograph. On Christmas Day, with the oven on and the house full, a dog in knitwear gets uncomfortably warm long before anyone notices, so take it off once you are back through the door and always for a nap. Knit is right for a dry frost; in rain a proper coat goes over it or instead of it, and our everyday dog coats and jumpers cover the waterproof end.

Not every dog will wear one, and the photograph is not worth the stress. If yours freezes the moment it goes on, is it cruel to dress up your pet? is the honest read, and a bandana is the answer.

Which jumper for which dog

• Whippet, greyhound, lurcher. Long back, narrow chest, so size by back length. The reindeer knit with scarf runs to a 44cm back on a 38cm chest, which is exactly that shape.
• Staffie, French bulldog, pug. Short back, broad chest. Size by the chest and expect to go up; the striped core-spun knit runs to 68cm and the high-collar knit to a 64cm bust.
• Dachshund. Sized by back length, always; chest bands are generous, so length is the number that goes wrong.
• Chihuahua, Yorkshire terrier, puppy. The puppy jacquard starts at a 30cm chest and a 24cm back; the seven-size winter acrylic starts at XXS.
• Old dog who feels the cold indoors. Fleece-lined, worn in the house rather than on the walk, and taken off for naps.
• Cat or very small dog. The turtleneck for cats is sized by number from a 17cm back, with all three measurements published for every size.
• Husky, collie, retriever, shepherd. No jumper. A bandana, and the walk as normal.

Order in time

Every product page shows its own delivery window. Jumpers shipping from overseas need 8 to 13 working days, so the first week of December is comfortable and after the middle of the month is not. If you are late, a bandana or a Santa hat arrives in time, and the rest of the festive range is on the Christmas shop.

Buy the knit for the dog that feels the cold, by chest measurement, a size up if in doubt, and take it off indoors. Everything else is decoration.