Every dog person knows them. The seven stages between “I’ll get the coat” and “we are going out now”. A field study from our own hallway.
Stage 1: The freeze
You hold up the coat. Your dog turns into a statue. If I don’t move, the coat does not exist.
Stage 2: The lawyer
The look. That one look that says: we had an agreement, and it did not include textiles.
Stage 3: The noodle
All bones leave the body. A dog that does not want a coat weighs three times as much and has the consistency of cooked spinach.
Stage 4: The still life with coat
The coat is on. The dog stands. He will never walk again, and he tells you so purely by standing there. Some dogs keep this up for an impressive four minutes.
Stage 5: The test step
One leg moves. So it works after all. Interesting.
Stage 6: The forgetting
Once outside, the coat is history. There are more important things. There is that one corner where another dog was yesterday.
Stage 7: The enlightenment
After about a week it happens: the rustle of the coat means walkies. From now on the coat is cheered. Congratulations, you made it.
The serious part
The stages can be shortened: first just put the coat down and let your dog sniff it, then put it on briefly with a treat, then head straight out. Never put it on and stay indoors, or the dog learns that the coat means nothing good. And: a coat that fits properly and pinches nowhere shortens stage 3 considerably. How to find the right size is explained here.