Keep Your Dog Warm this Winter with a Summit Parka from Hurtta! Review

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic day! Today I have an exciting new review on some beautiful coats from Hurtta. The brand new Summit Parka is the new and improved version of Hurtta's best selling winter coat!

In Oregon, when it rains it pours. In winter, if it's not raining then it's cold and windy. Sometimes the girls' coats are still wet from our first outing by the time they need to go outside again! We can't do laundry every single day because Zoe is afraid of the washer and dryer. My dogs absolutely hate the cold so having extra coats is very helpful.  I've heard so many wonderful things about Hurtta's coats, I was definitely thrilled when they asked me to review the Summit Parka!

The Summit Parka is a great coat! It's designed to keep your dog warm by complementing the thermal insulation capacity of short-haired dogs and dogs with no undercoat, preventing them from freezing in cold weather. The coat is also great for longer haired dogs as well, especially if you live in a cold climate. Wearing a coat has added benefits of keeping a dog fairly clean! When the girls played in the mud, I only had to hose off their legs and belly versus having to do a whole bath, which saved me a lot of time.

This coat has the same great qualities as Hurtta's old winter coat but with new features: a neck cover for added warmth and protection, new design of the front leg holes for added protection, re-closeable opening on the back to feed a leash through to a harness (on sizes 12"-35"). The two smallest sizes has an integrated harness (on sizes 8" and 10"). Another amazing feature on this coat is the adjustable back length. There are drawstrings that help you to shorten the coat to the perfect length to fit your dog, even if your dog is in between sizes, as my dogs generally are. The coat comes in two colors: Raven or Cherry. 

Phoenix shows the opening for the leash and the adjustable back length.

Being able to easily access their harnesses is a major plus for us!

The coats are made with Houndtex laminated outdoor fabrics. That means that the jackets are smoother, softer and quieter than many other jackets. This really improves the comfort of the jackets and is helpful for dogs who are not used to wearing clothing. The inside of the coat is a soft fleece lining and between the fleece and Hountex outer shell there is a thick insulating layer. These coats are definitely designed to keep your pooch warm on cold winter walks!

Phoenix gets some air jumping the fence at the park!

The Summit Parkas are dirt resistant and waterproof. The materials used in the Hurtta Outdoors collection were developed for very demanding conditions and heavy wear. My dogs like to be really active, so these coats are perfect for them. The coats are breathable and light. The dogs had full range of motion while wearing them. The dogs were able to run, play and jump like normal, as if they were not wearing anything.

The dogs ran, played and jumped as usual as if they weren't wearing anything.

Zoe plays on the freezing beach in her Summit Parka

The Summit Parkas are easy to put on and take off. You just need to slip it over your dogs head, bring the chest flap between the front legs and snap it closed on the back with the plastic buckle. With previous coats that have a chest flap (not from Hurtta), we've had issues with the dogs being rubbed in the armpits. I was really pleased with the Hurtta Summit Parkas, the fabric is so soft! After running 8 miles (two different outings) the coats did not rub their legs and they did not have any chaffing or irritation in their sensitive armpits!

Zoe shows the elastic hind leg straps.

The coats feature elastic hind leg straps to ensure the coat stays in place. The elastic hind leg straps were the only issue we encountered with the coats, my dogs are girls and the elastic sits right in their private areas. They didn't pee on them, though but Zoe did show signs of being a little uncomfortable wearing them. Depending on if she gets used to them or not, we might not use the elastic straps anymore for this reason. The coats seem to sit just fine without them being used, they didn't blow up in the wind, so it's not really that big of a deal for us. If they were boys, it probably wouldn't be an issue at all.

Phoenix shows off the reflective material!

The coats feature 3M reflectors for added safety on night or early morning walks. Even the drawstrings glow! Being visible is so important when you're walking around in the dark. I love the added safety this provides us with since we go on a lot of late night walks.

We tested these coats on one of the coldest days of the year, so far. It was 35f degrees with a windchill of around 32f. The girls were nice and toasty warm. They even decided to play a little in the river and if these dogs are cold they will not touch the water.

The coats also held up to the girls running and playing in the forest. Even though the coats are made from durable materials, they are not made from rip-stop nylon. I made sure to keep them out of the blackberry bushes while wearing them. (I've been trying to keep them out of the bushes, anyways, because they keep cutting themselves and coming out with injuries.) Blackberry bushes have killed a previous coat that was made from ripstop nylon so I am extra careful now. These coats are made with lightweight materials, they are durable but not indestructible.

I would also like to note that the bungie cord in the neckline was not designed for a leash to be hooked up to it. This bungie was made to cinch the neck down so the wind can't get in and will not hold up to a dog pulling. The best place for you to hook your leash is to a well fitting harness, through the recloseable snaps on the jacket or to your dog's collar. (I don't recommend walking dogs with leashes attached to collars. You can go here to find out why.)

I love how visible the dogs are out in the field, especially since it's hunting season!

The coats are machine washable on a gentle cycle, I would recommend using a lingerie bag. The Summit Parkas should be air dried. I've put the coats through one wash cycle prior to this review and they came through just fine.

My dogs do not like running around in the cold at all! The Hurtta Summit Parkas have made them very happy. Instead of dragging me back to the car, they were eager to run around the park and play like normal, even though it was freezing. The Summit Parkas also kept them dry in all the wet weather we've been having! The coats are high quality and stylish. They are well made and we really like them! I think it's also great that they added so many features that make the coats more customizable so that they fit the dogs better!  

I would recommend checking out the Hurtta Summit Parka! 

You can find retailers in North America by going here: Hurtta247 Stockists.

I would also highly recommend checking Hurtta out on Facebook and liking their page. They often look for product testers and run their own giveaways. The best way of finding out all the Hurtta news is by liking their page. 

ZoePhee was provided with (2) two Summit Parkas in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are our own and Hurtta is not responsible for the content of this blog post.

Coats By De "Cool Coats" Review

Hi everyone! Happy Monday Mischief to you! As you all know, my dogs are pretty good at making mischief. They love to run and play and sometimes hide from me in the name of hunting bunnies. The girls can be pretty intense about their exercise and as the weather warms up that intensity is a bit of a concern for me. 85% of the park that we go to is in full sun. Not only that, it doesn't even have to be warm out for Phoenix to get really hot from being overly excited. Additionally, we don't have air conditioning in our apartment. So I was very excited when De contacted me about reviewing two of her Custom Made Cool Coats! We received our cooling coats in exchange for an honest review but we were not monetarily compensated.

It's okay to put a coat on your dog, really.

Yesterday I saw a picture of a beautiful German Shepherd. I don't know exactly where I saw it but the dog was totally stunning and was sitting in a field full of flowers. I really wanted to hit the like button until I read the comment that went with it. It said something along the lines of: "I'm so sick and tired of seeing all of these tiny dogs all dressed up. Here's a picture of a real dog." Seriously?? Sigh.