IT MUST be the canine equivalent of having the shirt taken off your back.

The little navy number was all that protected Poppy, the wheezy poodle-cross, from the elements as she waited patiently outside a Southampton supermarket.

But when her walker returned, the 11-year-old was sitting, shivering in the rain - minus her new waterproof coat.

The bizarre theft, outside the Co-op store at Bitterne Triangle, left Poppy's owner furious.

Marlene Norris, 52, of Bitterne Park, said: "I did have a laugh about it later, but at the time I was really annoyed.

"I had been advised to put a coat on Poppy whenever it is cold and wet, because she has a cough. She had only worn it a couple of times before it was stolen."

Mrs Norris, a social history demonstrator at Manor Farm Country Park, Bursledon, added: "I can't believe someone would take a coat off my dog's back. I just hope whoever has done this feels guilty."

Poppy, a Jack Russell and poodle cross, is a well known character in the Bitterne Park area.

And she is no stranger to drama.

Once she vanished from home for two-and-a-half weeks.

Another time, firefighters had to be called when she managed to get her head stuck fast through a wrought iron gate.

Poppy, described as a friendly dog, would probably not have objected to having her waterproof coat removed.

The doggy jacket vanished while she was left chained outside the Co-op by Mrs Norris' partner, between 11am and noon on Sunday.

Experts had recommended Poppy wore a coat on chilly or wet days because she suffers from a canine tickle, believed to be related to an allergy. Mrs Norris has already spent £300 on treatment in an attempt to cure the problem.