My old dog was part husky, so she had fur to spare and clothes were not needed, but road salt would bother her paws. She wore booties so she wouldn’t be limping all over the place in the winter.
Yup. I had a friend in grad school who, during her first winter in a cold climate, took her larger-breed dog out for a long walk to get the appropriate level of exercise and entertainment for the dog. She noticed near the end of the walk that the dog was lagging behind a little, but figured the dog was being lazy in the cold. Nope, she discovered that the dog’s feet were roughed up by the cold pavement and salt, to the point of bleeding somewhat. After checking with the vet, she made sure her dog got boots.
Well, greyhounds need sweaters because they don’t have any body fat. They also need soft beds for the same reason. It’s legitimate in that case.
In the city our pooch wears these kind of dog galoshes to protect his paws from road salt (Canadian winter - LOTS of salt). But the same dog will come snowshoeing with us out in the wilderness and spend four hours up to his belly in snow and be fine without boots or sweater.
We’ve only seen him shiver once when the temperature hit -37 C. But the salt? Oy! Nasty stuff.
How cute is that, huh? Fucking cute.
My little friend likes his sweaters. He gets cold.
Bitch, please.
Sweaters on short-haired dogs when it’s bitchy cold is one thing; buying a dog and treating it like a Barbie doll is cruelty to animals even if the dog happens to be the size of my wallet. I once saw a freaking poodle with bows on her ears and tail and a tutu: Hulk smash!
we go for walks, it’s nice that you assume it’s just a shit and piss session. and by walk I mean at least 20minutes around the block, and Toronto weather isn’t always just nice and easy cold which dips to 0 Celcius, no it can easily get to -20 Celcius with windchill. Now tell me is it safe to keep a small short-haired breed out that long with no cover? Remember how slender some dog’s paws are too. I’m not making her prissy, I’m not a gay man nor do I want to have people stare at me with a dog in full clothing, but to keep her warm and no “tiptoeing” in the salted roads and high banks of snow.
It was absolutely freezing outside but I just knew my liddle pet needed a walk.
So I wrapped him up in a nice warm sweater (with pics of Santa on) popped him into his fave overcoat, wrapped his new scarf around his head and off we jolly well went for a saunter around the block.
Got back 20 minutes later and poor soul had snuffed it, just lay there mouth open, stone cold dead.
Anyway it’s no problem, I’ll get another goldfish tomorrow
…You mean I can’t dress my corgi like a menorah this Channukah?
I think there’s a difference between putting a sweater or boots on a dog because the dog needs it, and dressing your dog up so it will look “cute”. I’m all in favor of the former. People who do the latter need to get a doll to dress up, or, preferably, a life. They need to let their dog be a dog. Dogs are already cute enough without clothes, ribbons in their hair, or nail polish on their claws.
He’d rather celebrate by having a latke, or some cheese.
Fair enough. I agree with you gals.
I think its hilarious to dress dogs up! My boys each have a sweater for cold days (though they are getting a bit plump so they have plenty of insulation!), plus we got 2 of them football jerseys for halloween one year (opposing teams - hilarious) and the third got a harley jacket and hat, which is funny cause it makes him look like he belongs in the Blue Oyster bar from the old Police Academy movies. We crack up everytime they have to put on clothes!
For parties, we put them in clip on bow-ties! 
Then everyone whose there can tell which dog they are petting and likely feeding. Hilarious! This goes in place of their regular collar, so that they look dressed up!
Why? Because **you **don’t like it? Who died and made you Pope?
My cats -are- special to me. But I don’t dress them up.
Meh, Hallowe’en is different. We dressed our wolfhound up as a moose with big foam antlers and fake hooves, but that’s because we were taking my goddaughter trick-or-treating and is was for her benefit.
I think the OP is referring to purse poodles that where full outfits and Chanel sunglasses, jus to be carried around. Like this shit. :: shrug :: I still don’t care. It’s not like the dog knows the cat is laughing at him.
There is a cultural Disdain-O-Meter for clothed dogs.
Functional: disdain meter reading = low
Costume: disdain meter reading = neutral (ridiculousness intentional)
Satin Dog Dress or Dog’s Pink Bunny Dress: disdain level = high (Bunny dress $58)
when my dog wasn’t spayed, she used to wear a sort of diaper. It made her look like a monkey with a diaper on when you held her by the chest and her hind legs were on the ground. She had a stub of a tail, not like normal minpins that have like an inch of bone for a tail stub. It was pretty hilarious.
You know what’s truly horrific?