Walking a Dog in the Rain

The one piece of gear that genuinely changes a wet walk is a biothane leash — our pick is the Viper Biothane — because coated webbing wipes clean, stays supple in the cold and does not hold the smell that soaked nylon does for days afterward. For the dog itself, the AKC’s own recommendations are a properly-fitted raincoat and, for some dogs, properly fitted boots. And for the dark, wet evenings that make up most rain walks from October onward, add a reflective lead: the Max and Neo Reflective Double Handle is reflective along its whole length. Live prices for all three are below.

But the gear is the second half of this page, and the counterintuitive bit is the first. Most people handle rain by minimizing exposure: out the door, quickest possible circuit, back inside. The AKC’s advice is close to the opposite. Its guidance for dogs that dislike wet weather is that instead of only taking your dog out to potty, you should “plan to spend some time out in the rain doing things your dog enjoys, such as taking walks together in the rain” — because, as it puts it, “By pairing the rain with things your dog finds enjoyable, you can shift their emotional response to being outside in the rain”.

That is a training principle rather than a product, and it explains why so many dogs get worse about rain over time rather than better. If every wet outing is a thirty- second march to the curb and back, the dog learns that rain means a short unpleasant errand. The dogs that are relaxed in rain are, by and large, the dogs whose owners did something fun in it.

Is rain actually a safety problem?

For a healthy adult dog in mild rain, no — rain is a comfort and motivation issue, not a hazard in the way heat is. What it does change is three practical things, and they are worth separating out so you know what you are solving.

• Cold, for dogs that feel it. Wet plus wind is the combination that matters, not wet alone. The AKC notes that “proper gear including jackets are especially important for dogs who get cold easily” — thin-coated breeds, very small dogs, puppies, seniors and dogs that have been clipped.
• Visibility, which is the real risk. Rain usually arrives with low cloud, spray on windshields and early darkness. You are harder to see, and a driver who is squinting through wipers has less time to react. This is the part of a rainy walk that can actually hurt you, and it is a gear problem with a clear answer.
• Grip and footing. Wet metal drain covers, painted crossings, decked boardwalks and smooth stone are genuinely slippery for a dog with claws, and more so for an older dog with less steady hind-end control.

The AKC’s approach, in order

First, use shelter deliberately. The AKC’s specific suggestions are to look for scaffolding and to let your dog relieve itself at the curb while still under that overhang, and it notes that “large trees can also provide natural shelter from the worst of falling rain”. This sounds trivial and is the single most useful tip on the page: a dog that will not perform in open rain will often do it happily under cover, which breaks the stand-off that makes the whole outing miserable.

Second, pair rain with something good. Take treats you would not normally bother with. Do a short training session in it. Play a game in it. The goal, in the AKC’s framing, is to shift the dog’s emotional response rather than to get through the outing — which means the walk is the intervention, not the inconvenience.

Third, fix the physical objection with gear. The AKC is specific here: “Many dogs who don’t like the sensation of rain or snow falling on them benefit from wearing a properly-fitted raincoat”, and “properly fitted dog boots can help some dogs be more comfortable by allowing them to avoid the sensory discomfort of walking on wet ground”. Note what that says: the raincoat addresses rain landing on the dog, and boots address the ground. Those are two different complaints and most dogs only have one of them.

One honest limitation on our side. We do not research or rank raincoats and boots on this site — our registry is harnesses, leashes, car restraints and muzzles — so we are passing on the AKC’s recommendation rather than making our own. What we can tell you is the fit rule that applies to both: “properly fitted” is doing real work in those sentences, and a coat that slips sideways or a boot that twists will make a dog hate rain gear more than it hates rain.

What to look for in leashes and harnesses for wet walks

Three criteria, in the order they matter.

• Material that does not absorb. Nylon webbing soaks, stiffens as it dries, and holds odor. Coated webbing — biothane and similar — wipes clean and stays supple. On a leash you use in rain twice a week all winter this is the difference between one leash and three.
• Reflectivity along the length, not a badge. Rain walks are mostly dark walks. A strip of reflective material running the full length of a lead is what a headlight returns; a two-centimeter logo is decoration. The AKC makes the related point that if you walk your dog at night near a road, a leash with reflective material is the safer option.
• Hardware that survives water. Clips and rings get wet, repeatedly. Aluminum and quality steel hardware is the part of a harness you notice two winters in, when the cheap version has started to bind.

One thing we would not use in rain: a retractable leash. Everything wrong with them is worse wet — the thin cord is invisible to a driver through spray, the brake is least reliable at the moment a dog bolts for cover, and the whole mechanism is a wet plastic housing you cannot clean out.