Most Christmas jumpers are bought by breed, on the logic that he is a cockapoo so he takes a medium, and most of them go back. Breed tells you almost nothing about the two measurements that actually decide fit: the length of the back from the base of the collar to the base of the tail, and the girth of the chest just behind the front legs. This one comes with a full chart for both.

Acrylic is the sensible fibre for a dog jumper. It holds its shape through repeated washing where wool felts and shrinks, it does not drink water in the same way, and the black ground here hides the grey smear that pale knitwear picks up off a wet pavement within a single walk. The poinsettia sits across the back, which happens to be the part of the dog anyone taking a photograph on Christmas morning is actually looking at.

• XS: back 18cm, chest 30cm, neck 20cm
• S: back 21cm, chest 33cm, neck 22cm
• M: back 25cm, chest 38cm, neck 24cm
• L: back 30cm, chest 43cm, neck 26cm
• XL: back 35cm, chest 48cm, neck 28cm
• XXL: back 40cm, chest 53cm, neck 30cm
• Acrylic knit, black with a poinsettia design

A knitted jumper is indoor warmth. Acrylic is neither waterproof nor windproof, and a soaked jumper on a dog is worse than no jumper at all, so keep a proper coat for the walk and use this in the house, in the car and for the photographs. Note too that the largest size here is a 40cm back, which puts a labrador or a collie out of range entirely.

Who it's for: small and medium dogs, terriers, dachshunds, pugs, cavaliers and cockapoos, in houses that are cold in the morning and families who take a photograph every Christmas.