Hark! Wet Dog Season Is Coming: How to Keep Your Pup Happy, Clean, and Dry This El Niño Winter

By Rebecca Gadd, Founder of Goldpaw Series

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I'm a Midwesterner in my heart, which means I have a complicated and borderline obsessive relationship with weather. We track it. We endlessly talk about it. We trauma bond through it. When a major climate event is brewing, our nerdiest instincts get riled up.

This year, the weather excitement is kicking off with the strongest El Niño in 140 years. Non-nerds, that means lots of things for the world’s weather but for the US, it means the Southern part of the country is in for a soaking. Not just more rainy days but unrelenting rain that turns the backyard into a swamp and the park into a mud pit. 

So let’s make like a wet-dog smell and linger on the finer points of thriving through a super wet winter!

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The Right Outerwear Changes Everything

Let's start with the old saying we hear every winter here in Minnesota from our Scandinavian-descended friends and neighbors: there’s no bad weather, only bad clothes. My dog Edith would disagree with this sentiment, as she rejects both. However she has come to accept that sometimes the very nice raincoat is the lesser evil.

The Rainpaw is our most serious wet-weather coat, and honestly one of my favorite products we've ever made. The bluesign® certified, high-tech waterproof shell is the star: a bonded stretch knit that moves with your dog rather than fighting them with a recycled poly mesh lining that works for all coat lengths and a brushed finish that eliminates that raincoat-related-noise-pollution. The shawl collar and extended hip coverage is stylish and effective. Reflective trim keeps you both visible on the grey, short days that define a wet El Niño winter.

For dogs who need full coverage — legs, belly, everything — or for owners who want something lighter and more adventure-friendly, the Flight Suit is a remarkable piece of engineering. It's windproof, water-resistant, and loose enough to preserve floof on thick-coated dogs while keeping coats clean and burr-free. Short-haired, chilly dogs can layer it over a Stretch Fleece for extra warmth. Great year-round, and particularly great when the trail is a slip-n-slide. 

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The Mud Hack Nobody Talks About

So let’s say the rain has stopped (it has to sometime!) and we aren’t worried about wet dogs anymore, just everyone’s favorite aftermath, the mud! 

Here's a style I didn't fully appreciate until a customer in Toronto showed me what she was doing with her German Shepherd, Charlie. She called it her "hiking suit" and I’m like, say what now?

She puts Charlie in a Sun Suit for muddy trail hikes. Not for UV protection (though that's there too). For mud! The Sun Suit covers Charlie's belly and legs — the exact areas that collect the most grime on a wet trail — and when they get home, off comes the suit, into the wash it goes. Charlie's fur underneath? Clean.

As she put it: "Can roll all she wants and the suit takes the mess, not her fur."

The Sun Suit is a lightweight jersey, same as the Sun Shield Tee — so it's comfortable to wear on a mild, muddy day without overheating. It's a use I hadn't considered: you can’t throw the dog in the washing machine, but the sun suit washes effortlessly!

Bonus: the Sun Suit's close fit also acts as a tick barrier on brushy trails — covering the belly and legs where ticks are most likely to latch on. A single garment doing three jobs at once, very Goldpaw. 

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The After-Walk Routine

Getting home from a wet walk is its own adventure. Here are our hot tips:

The Stretch Fleece trick. This is an insider tip from our own team: when your dog comes in wet (or best of all, after a bath), put a Stretch Fleece on them. The soft, stretchy fabric absorbs moisture from the fur and keeps your buddy warm while their coat dries naturally. It's gentler than vigorous towel-drying, and it keeps wet-dog from transferring to your furniture while they do their post-bath/walk zoomies. We've been doing this for years and it works beautifully.

A dedicated dog towel. The Bone Dry Microfiber Embroidered Dog Towel is our recommendation here. You want an ultra-absorbent microfiber that dries fast, and with a big dog-signal embroidery and enough colors that you can designate one purely for dog use and actually remember which one it is. (Trust me from experience, lol)

 

Paw cleaning. Muddy paws are their own special hell. The Dexas MudBuster Portable Paw Washer is our go-to recommendation. You just fill it with a little water, insert paw, twist gently, done. It's faster and more effective than the towel-and-wrestle method, and small enough not to annoy you. 

Odor control. Wet dog smell is real and it is not subtle. Skout's Honor Probiotic Deodorizing Spray is our staff favorite. It’s probiotic-based, so it actually neutralizes odor rather than masking it, and safe for dogs and the surfaces they love to shake themselves near.

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One More Thing

If you're in the Southern U.S. and you've been reading this thinking, c’mon, this forecast is feeling kinda hysterical, to that I say, maybe so, but Future You and your Future Dog would sure appreciate a little preparation if it’s not. After all, it makes the difference between a miserable few months of water-logged walks and a winter that you and your dog actually enjoy. 

Stay dry out there. Or don't, if you're into that sort of thing. Either way, we’ve got you covered.

Cheers,

Rebecca, 

Goldpaw Founder

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Shop the Rainpaw, Flight Suit, Sun Suit, and Stretch Fleece at goldpawseries.com.