How to measure

How to measure dog clothes

Every point, drawn on the garment so there is no guessing where the tape goes.

Quick answer

Lay the garment flat and measure five points: chest, waist, length, shoulder and sleeve, in that fit order. Chest is the girth around the widest part of the ribcage, the number that decides the fit. Hover or tap each step on the diagram to see where the tape sits. Sizely turns those numbers into a dog size chart buyers trust.

Pet owners size by their dog, not by a letter, so the first thing they match is chest girth, the band around the deepest part of the ribcage just behind the front legs. Back length comes next, from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. Generic listings give one of those and leave the buyer guessing. This page draws all five on the garment, so what you list lines up with what the owner measures on their dog.

Create your free size chart

A
Chest
The fit-decider, so it leads. Lay the garment flat and measure across the chest panel at its widest, the part that wraps the dog's ribcage behind the front legs. Tap this step to see the exact line. Get this right and the rest follows.Double it for the full chest girth (the number an owner measures around their dog).
B
Waist
Across the body at the narrowest part of the garment, set back toward the belly. On a tapered coat the waist pulls in well below the chest; on a boxy tee the two read close.Double it for the full waist girth.
C
Length
A single run down the back of the garment, the neckline to the tail end. This is the back length an owner takes from the base of the neck to the base of the tail, and it sets whether a coat covers the dog or rides short.Recorded as-is. Do not double.
D
Shoulder
Across the top of the garment between the leg openings, where it sits over the dog's shoulders. It sets how the piece hangs before the legs come through.Recorded as-is. Do not double.
E
Sleeve
The leg opening run, from the shoulder down the front leg of the garment. Short on a tee, longer on a full coat, and it decides whether the leg passes through comfortably.Recorded as-is. Do not double.

Measure flat and never stretched, even on a stretchy knit, since a pulled tape inflates every number. Here is the one twist with pet wear: you fit the dog by girth (a tape wrapped around the body), but you list the garment flat on a table. Chest and waist are across measurements that double to the body girth; length, shoulder and sleeve are single runs you record exactly as measured.

Dog clothes size reference

Representative flat measurements in inches, ordered by fit-impact. Your real numbers go on your own chart.
Size	Chest	Waist	Length	Shoulder	Sleeve
XS	7	5.5	8	2.5	1.5
S	9	7	11	3	2
M	11	9	14	3.5	2.5
L	13	11	18	4	3
XL	15	13	22	4.5	3.5

Frequently asked

How do I measure my dog for clothes that fit?

Take three numbers on the dog with a soft tape. Chest girth is the band around the widest part of the ribcage, just behind the front legs, and it is the one that decides the size. Back length runs from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. Neck girth is the band where a collar sits. Match the chest girth to the chart first, then check the length so the coat does not ride short.

Why does my chest measurement double on a flat dog garment?

On a table the garment lies as a single flat layer, so the tape only crosses one side of the chest panel. The dog's body is a full loop around the ribcage, so the real girth is roughly double the flat number. Chest and waist double this way; back length, shoulder and sleeve are single runs that you read straight off the tape.

What size dog clothes should I buy, XS, S, M or L?

Go by chest girth, not by weight or breed name, since two dogs of the same weight can have very different chests. Measure around the widest part of your dog's ribcage, then pick the size whose chest girth matches or sits just above that number. If your dog falls between sizes, size up, since girth is harder to fix than a slightly long back.

Should I measure dog clothes in inches or centimeters?

Either is fine as long as you stay consistent and label the unit. Pet sellers shipping across borders do best showing both, since one buyer thinks in inches and another in centimeters. Sizely lists both on every chart so no owner has to convert in their head while their dog waits.

Do dog clothes follow human kids' sizing?

No. Dog sizes are built around chest girth and back length, not a child's height or age, so a dog XS and a toddler XS are not the same garment. If you also sell children's wear, keep the two charts separate. For human youth sizing, our youth size chart covers that conversion instead.