About dogs wearing clothes?

nanna8

I don’t care one way or another about coats for warmth but I can’t stand things like bows and silly decorative items. Just plain tacky.

Protecting animals from the extremes of weather makes sense, particularly if the dog / horse is getting on in years or has an ailment, but I'm with you on the bows and frills.

I assume it doesn't harm a dog to put a bow in a clump of fur, but I do think it's disrespectful. A dog, however small and dainty-looking, is an animal, not a toy. I have seen one - a tiny little thing - with a bow, 'diamond'-studded collar and frilly 'blouse', sitting in a shoulder-bag, on a shopping trip with its owner. It was nervous and 'twitchy'. Would it not have been happier running around, unencumbered, in a field investigating - as dogs do - the sights and smells of nature?

Couldn’t agree more, Dickens - I deplore the idea of dogs as fashion accessories.

Not that I’ve seen one for ages, but ditto the ludicrous clipping of poodles - especially big standard poodles - that makes them look so ridiculous, poor things.

Dogs don’t really need coats. Maybe when they’re elderly in very cold weather. I feel sorry for them as they must get too hot. It’s this daft idea that they’re fur babies and small humans.

henetha

A friend of mine in Canada has a dog who wears little black boots in winter. Apparently her feet stick to the ice if not.
Seems like a good idea to me.

My friends whippet has an auto immune condition which means his feet cut very easily so he has to wear boots all the time when he goes for walks. He can’t walk on a beach because the sand gets in his boots. They get really upset by the constant comments they get about it, even though people don’t mean to be hurtful. Many greyhounds suffer from corns and they too have to wear boots. My whippet, like many blacks and blues, has very fine hair and in winter is almost bald on her tummy so she always wears a coat when it’s cold. I was thinking that I never had coats for my spaniels but then remembered that I had a wax jacket for one of them because it saved having to dry her off after walks. I actually had a dream last night that I’d bought a rug for my pony (who died over twenty years ago) and realised it was too big for her as it was almost touching the ground and, although it was self righting was slipping to one side! And I couldn’t return it to the shop. It’s the great greyhound worldwide walk tomorrow and, with heavy rain forecast Winnie will be wearing her new raincoat. Having said that, going back to the OP, I do hope people are having dogs because they want a dog, not because they want something to dress up.

I never knew much about greyhounds and whippets, MayBee70. That's so interesting. The little boots are such a good idea then.
I think it's absolutely fine to protect dogs from various weather difficulties. Not so sure about too many frills and bows though.
But each to his own.

my dog hates wearing anything but there is a little dog on our road who wears a bow and hair clips and it always makes me laugh (and yes, it is walked by a big butch bloke too )

Grammaretto

I absolutely agree!
YANBU
It began with horses. Years ago when I was helping at RDA I remarked that horses including shaggy highland ponies had coats on all winter. Surely these were for clipped horses only I thought
But no, it seems if you don't provide a rug for your horse you will be reported for animal cruelty.
The world has gone bonkers.
Sheep next?

Agree with you - horses coats are meant to be as they are! My old lad was clipped out and yes wore a rug, but lived out all year. I have to say though on Christmas Day he did wear a bit of tinsel and some antlers, and I had a Christmas numnah! He was a very expressive lad, and some of the looks he gave us were priceless - as shown when I bought him a new fly rug!

I do have a 'Newmarket' rug for my retriever, but he is a roller, in anything he can, usually fox or badger poo, and as I can't manage to bath him, it is easier for me to put the rug in the washing machine!

Other than that I don't like it - or pink and blue poodles!

Years ago in a vet's waiting room, I sat opposite to a lady whose two dachshunds were wearing oilskins, complete med sou'westers!

They looked utterly miserable.

This may, of course, have been more due to the atmosphere of a vet's waiting-room, combined with the filthy looks my very large cat, and another cat the same size as her were directing impartially at the pair of dogs from opposite sides of the room than to their rain gear.

The cats, I may say, were very patently laughing their heads off. And it took something comical to get mine to forget the gumboil that was bothering her!

I agree, dogs bred for the outdoors in coats, lap-dogs in fake diamond studded collars and pink bows, sweet medium sized dogs in knitted scarves or pullovers - utterly ridiculous!

We have a jack Russell and we never put anything on her , pretty sure she wouldn't like it tbh, my daughter has 2 cockapoo puppies and they do wear the odd thing , but not all the time

Well, when I put on my dog's fleece which keeps her clean, she is thrilled to bits because she knows she will get a walk! She puts her head through the neck end and lifts her paws to put them in the leg holes. She much prefers it to bath and an hour under the dryer after the walk!

My whippet had warm fleeces in the winter, as did my German Shepherds. The former every time it was cold, wet or windy. The latter when she was old. Both lived into their teens.

For Grammaetto - you can get coats for sheep (I've tried to cut and paste but it doesn't seem to be working for me) but, honestly there are several firms that make them.

Here you go: www.moorlandspoultry.co.uk/sheep-show-blanketcoat-dark.html

My first reaction the OP is ‘what is it to you?’ They are not impinging on your life in any way.

Live and let live,

foxie48

Sometimes people who criticise aren't particularly knowledgeable. I've owned many horses and dogs over the years and used rugs and coats for both. Most of my horses have liked to wear fly rugs in the summer and I had a welsh pony with sweet itch who needed to be really well covered or kept in when the mozzies were around or he rubbed himself raw. I would pop a lightweight rain sheet on my daughter's unclipped pony as you can't tack up a filthy wet muddy pony and all the horses were clipped out so they could be "worked" so wore either a stable or turnout rug. My ruftie tuftie border terriers have all hated wet weather despite having a "double coat" because they are house dogs not kept out in kennels but will happily walk all day in their little coats. Daughter's Viz can cope with hot weather but shivers in the cold and wet as he's so fine coated so he has a coat to wear.
Would I dress any animal up as a fashion statement? No, but I will keep them comfortable so they can enjoy their activities.

this

A greyhound who lives nearby has a selection of coats. He has a thick blue coat for very cold weather, a red one for when it's just chilly and a green waterproof. I can't see anything wrong with giving some dogs extra comfort.

I have lurchers and they hate the cold and rain. The greyhounds also hate the cold and rain. They do have coats (hand me downs from previous rescues). My yorkie will not wear a coat in bad weather.

I was in Pets at Home (other pet stores are available) earlier in the week and there was a whole stand of Halloween outfits for both cats and dogs, to dress them up as bats, witches, ghosts, etc.

Quokka

My first reaction the OP is ‘what is it to you?’ They are not impinging on your life in any way.

Live and let live,

What was your second reaction?

I’m a bit of a pain when it comes to global warming and adding to the problem. So many small things that one can do. One is to resist buying tat from China.
Still I’m entitled to my view too but I won’t be falling out with anyone for littering the world and adding to land fillsites.

PamelaJ1

Quokka

My first reaction the OP is ‘what is it to you?’ They are not impinging on your life in any way.

Live and let live,

What was your second reaction?

I’m a bit of a pain when it comes to global warming and adding to the problem. So many small things that one can do. One is to resist buying tat from China.
Still I’m entitled to my view too but I won’t be falling out with anyone for littering the world and adding to land fillsites.

Tat from China? The poor Chinese get the thin end of the wedge as it’s often us in the west who are outsourcing manufacturing to them….well they are cheaper. He who pays (underpays) the piper and all that. My Covid tests and masks are from there.

That said I do make my views felt on eg plastic waste. Sadly the CEOs of Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons etc don’t appear to share the views I liberally share with them!

I remember some TV vet (IIRC) talking of a woman who actually painted her dog’s claws with nail polish, and insisted that the dog liked it.
Almost beyond belief!

Sparklefizz

I was in Pets at Home (other pet stores are available) earlier in the week and there was a whole stand of Halloween outfits for both cats and dogs, to dress them up as bats, witches, ghosts, etc.

I just hate this- dogs should be dogs and not toys or dolls. And as said above, the waste is massive- and all from China with slave labour and toxic materials, etc.

We will be buying oour rescue from Africa a proper winter coat next week- as it gets VERY cold up here in the mountains. It will be simple and functional, and have a real purpose for our long walks in the snow.

quokka my point exactly.
We pride ourselves on having a lower impact on the world than many other countries. That’s because we export our emissions to places on the other side of the world.
I can’t say that I never buy stuff from China but I try very hard not to. Other countries are available!
I grew up in HK, never mind the ‘poor’ Chinese just look what they are doing to the Hong Kongers.

Sparklefizz

I was in Pets at Home (other pet stores are available) earlier in the week and there was a whole stand of Halloween outfits for both cats and dogs, to dress them up as bats, witches, ghosts, etc.

Do I look like a 🎃 or a 🍅?

Aaaw. Lovely dog Joseann