Sweet gesture or rebuke?

[dr.girlfriend]

We have a doggie door, so our dog can go in and out between our fenced yard and the house during the day.  Lately it's been really cold.  This morning when we got outside, we realized someone had left a dog coat on our fence by the gate.  So, either:

1.  One of our neighborhood doggie buddies found an old coat and dropped it off for us -- not unprecedented, they've thrown dog toys over the fence for Marley and told us about it later.

2.  Someone thinks the poor dog is outside all day (the doggie door isn't visible from anywhere) and we are horrible pet owners and need to put a coat on her.

3.  Someone knows she can go in and out but still thinks she needs to have a coat on if she's outside.

Am I wrong to think she'll just go in if she's cold?  She camps out by the heating vent inside so she loves it warm, I don't think she'd be a martyr.  I'm more worried that the coat might get caught on something and trap her than that she'll voluntarily freeze to death.  I've been thinking about getting her a coat for walks,  but she's growing so rapidly (she's six months old) I kind of figured we could wait a few more weeks and have one for next winter when she's her final size.

Update:  Mystery solved!  One of the people I "know" from walking the dog (but just in a friendly say "hi" way because her dog isn't super tolerant of jumpy puppies) found it at a garage sale and left it for us.  She told someone who is one of my usual doggie playdate buddies, and that lady made sure she knew that Marley was able to get in and out through a dog door.  :-)  Not sure if the woman who bought it would have told me herself is she saw us walking or not, lol.  She is also the one who threw a squeaky toy into our yard for Marley and didn't tell us, but told this same other lady and she told us, so she must be just quirky like that. 

[Deleted]

My biggest worry would be a well-intentioned, but overly solicitous neighbor calling the police or animal control because they believe my dog is outside all day long. It could be a neighbor is being generous with the coat, or is just slightly concerned that the dog might be cold.

My dog has an undercoat and can lay around in the snow when it's in the 20s. Colder than that, and she has to be running to be comfortable outside. With sub-zero windchills she runs right back to the door immediately after pottying. She knows when it's too cold for her and doesn't linger out there. Generally she's not outside in the winter for longer than it takes to pee/poop anyway unless H is shoveling and she is playing in the snow, or we're taking her for a walk. I would assume all dogs would go back in the house if they're cold, given the choice.

I'm not sure exactly what I would do. I would want my dog to have the freedom to go out during the day, but at the same time, I don't want a nosy neighbor just itching to call the cops. I'd probably buy a doggie coat (not the one given) and have my dog wear it until it warms up, and otherwise just always go out with her so that she is supervised.

[clo]

I'm not a fan of doggy doors. For one, they can get stuck, and then your poor dog can't get inside if she is too cold.

For another, if they aren't stuck, any number of different critters can get into your house. See this thread from TN: forums.thenest.com/discussion/7345443/crazy-story-with-a-gross-pip

[dr.girlfriend]

Feb 26, 2015 16:32:01 GMT -5 clo said:

I'm not a fan of doggy doors. For one, they can get stuck, and then your poor dog can't get inside if she is too cold.

For another, if they aren't stuck, any number of different critters can get into your house. See this thread from TN: forums.thenest.com/discussion/7345443/crazy-story-with-a-gross-pip

These can't get stuck, they're a flexible plastic flap.  There is one from the mud room to the garage, and another at the far end of the garage to the outside that lets out into the narrow access alley that connects to our yard.  The odds of something getting into that alley, and then getting through the first door is slim, the odds that it would then make its way through the whole garage and into the house seems even slimmer.  But thanks for your concern!

[spa]

I think the dogs are smart enough to come inside when it is cold enough.

I personally would be irritated if my neighbors were being passive aggressive like this (if it was them). Just come talk to me and I would assure you the dog is fine.

We had a dog door since we work a lot of hours and did not want to leave our senior dog inside for long times during the day.

I would not worry about putting a coat on them if they are using the doggie door to go potty throughout the day. Like I said if they don't want to be out they won't go there. If it was raining we would have to make Tucker go outside to pee