A celebrity groomer’s seasonal favorites make a lovely list and a lousy shopping guide, because “cutest sweater” tells you nothing about whether your dog needs a sweater at all. Arisa Thomas, the LA groomer whose before-and-after transformations built a massive TikTok following and landed her on HBO’s Haute Dog, has the eye. What her picks need is the other half: a sorting principle, so you buy the two or three things your specific dog will use all winter and skip the four that would sit in a drawer.
So here is her cold-weather lineup, reorganized the way a groomer actually thinks about it, not “cutest to least cute” but from the items almost every dog benefits from down to the ones only some dogs need. Trust her taste, then buy by the logic underneath.
Tier one: the things nearly every dog needs in winter
A self-cleaning slicker brush. This is the one item on the list that earns its place for essentially every coated dog, every winter. Fall and winter are precisely when undercoat shedding and matting spike, and a slicker is what stays ahead of it. The self-cleaning feature, a button that retracts the pins so a swipe lifts the shed fur off in one motion, is the difference between a brush you reach for daily and one you abandon by November. When you shop the category, match pin firmness to coat: fine, soft pins for short or sensitive coats, a sturdier slicker for the dense double coats that mat the worst. As Thomas puts it, the right brush is the one that actually gets you “in the giving mood to brush your dog every day.”
A cold-season meal or topper. Dogs often run a touch more food-motivated when it is cold, which makes the season a natural moment to upgrade a meal or add a topper, and unlike a sweater this benefits any dog regardless of size or coat. Whatever you pick, look for a named protein as the first ingredient and an AAFCO statement confirming the food is complete and balanced, or a topper clearly labeled to be fed alongside a balanced diet. Introduce anything new gradually over about a week to spare your dog an upset stomach.
Tier two: only if your dog actually runs cold
This is the category owners over-buy. A vest or sweater is genuine cold-weather function for short-coated, small, lean, senior, or very young dogs that truly lose heat. On a thick-coated husky or a healthy adult Lab, it is mostly decoration, and that is fine, as long as you know which one you are buying.
A cold-weather vest. On the dogs that need it, the detail that decides comfort is fit, not looks. Measure your dog’s chest girth and back length rather than guessing by weight, look for a snug band that does not rub the armpits, and favor a step-in or wrap design over anything you have to force over the head.
An insulating sweater. Same audience as the vest, different buying call: fit and fiber. A good length covers the back from collar to tail base without binding the belly or legs, and a stretchy, machine-washable knit beats anything stiff or dry-clean-only for a garment that will collect mud and drool all season. Watch for snag-prone loose loops if your dog chews.
Tier three: the nice-to-haves (buy for fun, with eyes open)
A holiday toy. The easy win on the list. The only real homework is safety sizing: pick something too big to swallow, match the chew-strength rating to a power chewer if that is your dog, and supervise the first few sessions with any new plush or squeaker so it is not being shredded into swallowable pieces.
A seasonal freshening spritz. A between-baths spray is a holiday-hosting nicety, not a grooming necessity, and it is the one pick that comes with a real caution. Before you buy any scented dog product, read the ingredient list: choose an alcohol-free formula made for dogs, and skip anything with essential oils unless it is explicitly dog-safe, because several common ones, tea tree among them, are toxic to dogs. Mist lightly on the coat only, never near the eyes or nose.
A festive bandana or collar accessory. The lowest-stakes way to mark the season. Look for a secure, adjustable fit and a breakaway or quick-release design on anything that goes around the neck, and skip small attached charms or bells on a dog that might chew them loose.
The short version: a groomer’s list is worth trusting on taste, but the smart move is to sort it before you shop. Buy the brush and the better food for any dog, the vest or sweater only if yours genuinely feels the cold, and treat the toy, spritz, and bandana as the fun extras they are. That is the difference between a gift guide you scroll past and one you actually buy from, correctly, for your own dog.
References
- “Cold Weather Animal Safety.” American Veterinary Medical Association. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/cold-weather-animal-safety
- “Essential Oils and Dogs.” Pet Poison Helpline. https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/essential-oils/
- “Selecting the Right Pet Food.” Association of American Feed Control Officials. https://www.aafco.org/consumers/understanding-pet-food/
