When measuring your dog for clothing, you take 3 measurements, the neck, the chest and the length. 

The Neck 

This is pretty easy, measure around the neck as if you were measuring for a collar, not too tightly though.

 

The Chest

This is THE most important measurement. Put a tape measure around your dogs chest just behind his front legs where the chest is the deepest. 

 

This is from the base of his neck all the way down to the base of his tail. Don't measure the length from behind his head, just from the base of the neck where it joins the spine above the shoulder blades. 

Once you have all three measurements and you've double checked them you should be able to get a perfect fit. 

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Not all dogs are the same, as we know, so if you can't decided which size to buy, because only one or two of the measurements match the standard size or is in-between 2 standard sizes, always choose the larger size.

 

The only time you would need to take a different tack is if you have a short legged breed like a Dachshund or Corgi and other short legged breeds. For example, if you wanted to buy a jumpsuit or pyjamas for your short legged pet you would need to buy a short legged version, or if not available, be prepared to cut some length off the legs and hem the bottoms.

 

You don’t need to be Stella McCartney or Giorgio Armani, a simple running stitch or any kind of stitch that will hold the hem up, or iron on hemming tape will do. Short legged clothing is not easy to come by and long short legged dogs can be difficult to get clothes for unless they are custom made or you can make them yourself.