Even though we've sold Fido Fleece at BaxterBoo.com for over 2 years, I've only recently become a rabid fan and started singing Fido Fleece's praises. I've blogged about how Fido Fleece helped in nursing my sick dog back to health. I've also talked about how Fido Fleece can help contain shedding because it nabs much of your pooch's falling fur before it can get deposited around the house.

So what is it with me? What is it about Fido Fleece that makes it such a great dog coat? There are lots or reasons, but I've boiled them down to these:

Fido Fleece is Not Just Any Fleece

The fleece fabric used to manufacture Fido Fleece dog coats is great quality. It's 380 gram fleece, meaning it's very dense and tough. A typical North Face fleece (for humans) is a light, high loft fleece meant to trap lots of air and keep people warm. They're not designed to hold up to the abuse that dogs can dish out.

If you know outdoor clothing, you know that Polartec is the leading fleece manufacturer. Their fleece layers are available in outerwear from not only The North Face, but Columbia, Marmot, Mountain Hardwear, Cabella's, Patagonia, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer and, well, just about every quality coat manufacturer out there. Yet the heaviest duty fleece that Polartec manufactures is just 300 gram fleece, compared to Fido Fleece's 380 gram fleece.

What's that mean? It means you can wear a $400 coat, and your dog's Fido Fleece dog coat may well be tougher than yours. It truly wears like iron.

Fido Fleece Fits

Lets face it. Dogs weren't designed to wear dog clothes. (We probably weren't either, come to think of it). But as dogs have become more and more a part of our lives, they're often out and about in weather that would make their ancestors hunker down and sleep in their den (be it a cave or living room).

When my dog, Dexter, was recovering from his near-death experience a few weeks ago, I chose Fido Fleece to keep him warm is because the dog coats fit so great. Unlike typical dog coats, it is wonderfully stretchy, but not too stretchy as to become loose with age. The fabric itself allows for the freedom of movement that dogs need.

Fit goes beyond just the fabric, however. Premier Pet, Fido Fleece's manufacturer, has also gone to great lengths to ensure that their designs can fit almost any dog perfectly. They're sized according to length and width. Most dog clothes are just sized according to length. If your dog has proportions that vary from some manufacturer's idea of normal, then you just have to deal with a baggy fit in some spots or a too-tight fit in others.

Dexter is an odd dog. Not only does he have only one eye and no tail, he has a super-skinny waist and a wide chest. Fido Fleece dog coats come in standard and in "broad chest" variations. It was easy to measure him from collar to tail and around his chest, then find the perfect size for a perfect fit.

Fido Fleece Balances Warmth and Flexibility

Fido Fleece isn't the warmest dog coat out there. The warmest-dog-coat honor goes to the Muttluks Dog Snowsuit, which we also carry. However, for the best all-around dog coat that will keep your pet toasty warm in the widest range of conditions, Fido Fleece dog coats are your best bet. The only time I've taken Dexter's Fido Fleece dog coat off of him has been to wash it occassionally. It keeps him warm inside the house and out, and in almost every condition.

Fido Fleece Stays In Style

The canine fashionistas responsible for Fido Fleece come out with great new patterns every year. Wherever the dog fashion runways are (Milan? Paris?), they seem to find them and come up with designs that look great, year after year.

We have lots of dog clothes that come in maybe 2 or 3 colors or patterns, and you can sort of get bored with what's available from many manufacturers. Fido Fleece has lots of pattern at any one time, and more come out every year.

Fido Fleece is Hand Made by Great Folks

It seems like every week we hear stories of some product that's mass-produced by some big-box retailer that ends up being harmful to our pets. When pet companies outsource and offshore the production of their products, they often lose sight of the whole reason they're supposed to be in business: for the love of our four-legged friends.

Fido Fleece is designed and manufactured just outside of Richmond Virginia. It's made by Premier Pet, a company that started over 20 years ago by one a stay-at-home mom who simply wanted to make a better collar for her rescued greyhound. Now the company has 90 employees, whose extended family (at last count) includes 93 dogs, 53 cats, 94 fish, 8 birds, 6 horses, 3 rabbits, 2 tortoises, 2 iguanas, 2 guinea pigs, 1 snake and a hamster.

When the Premier folks heard about Dexter's brush with death, they passed the story around their office and told me there were quite a few misty eyes around the company.

I Choose Fido Fleece

As I blog this, I'm sitting next to a warehouse filled with every imaginable type of dog clothes. I can pick and choose from any one of them. Next to me, Dexter is taking a very comfy-looking nap. What is Dexter wearing?

That's all you really need to know.