Why Put Clothes On Your Dog??

StephanieF

Well, I'll take all of this into consideration, but I've already tremendously mistreated one of my dogs:




Please don't neglect to notice that her nails are also painted purple.

Blue pup

I don't see anything wrong here other then a dog that has been well taken care of. Cute dog StephanieF

I really don't see what is so darn wrong here... And if your only answer you have is "your not treating your dog like a dog" well sorry, most people on this forum do. If you haven't noticed yet, better open your eyes. Better yet, give me a real answer that shows it is so darn bad to dress up your dog once in a while.

TonkaTruckJK

Wow! How DARE you mistreat your dog in this manner?!?! She looks SO tormented and abused, I'm surprised she's not biting your face off!

Oh...and btw, your dog and I have something in common, and it's not purple nails...

StephanieF

LOL To be fair, she DOES look pretty tormented there. But I assure you it's her natural sad looking hound doggy face.

Oh? Is it perhaps the message on the t-shirt?

kblover

There's your key phrase.

In the wild, a dog would not (likely) go to a climate he's not "designed" for. Just like you won't find any native Huskies in Miami, you won't find chi's native to Alaska, but we humans have moved dogs out of their natural environments, so the dog's natural temp. control is off - so we give them an adaptation we humans developed. Clothing to protect the body from the elements.

Sure, dogs have hair that serves as their "clothing" but it it not always adequate because of the transplanting.

As far as how they survived without clothes - they didn't wonder to places way outside their "native" climate. That's how. Dobermans probably didn't originate in Siberia, Chihuahuas didn't come from Alaska, etc. and they have no way to get there.

And plus, it's just fun sometimes. Personally, I don't get into it, and even if I did, I have this fluff ball of a dog that would make sizing a NIGHTMARE (learned that with dog boots - never again, he will just have to spend an hour eating snowballs off his feet) but I can see why people do it, and I don't think it has anything to do with "treating them like humans". Not EVERYTHING we do to dogs that's not "in the wild" is anthropomorphic in nature.

Putting clothes on a dog will not strip away their canine drives and instincts. They will still walk, sniff, bark, and pee on things just as well with or without clothes. They can still chase and chew and use body language to communicate. They could still form packs if the situation so inclined. They can still be social. They can still like what they like and be eager to do those things (drives).

kblover

LOL that expression has "Really? You're taking a picture of this?" written all over it.

And that message on her shirt...if only she could read...

StephanieF

Smalls really only has two expressions. That one and dead asleep on the couch face.

If the t-shirt was true to her it would say "Mount me if you want a face bite!"

kmes

Love the purple nails!
I wish my girls would cooperate with me so that I could paint their nails occasionally!

winniec777

Well, why do people get certain haircuts or wear make-up or get tatoos or drive a certain car or dress a certain way? It's a way of expressing yourself. Extending that expression to your pet seems natural to me and does no harm. I don't personally like dressing my dog but if other people get a kick out of it, who cares?

I've seen pics of a certain rottweiler in a bumblebee costume and a pug in a tuxedo that still make me giggle. I don't think the owners are bad people for dressing them that way or that I'm a bad person for enjoying it. As long as the dogs are comfortable, again, who cares?

GreatDaneMom

if youre sooooooooooooooo keen on treating a dog like a dog, then you shouldnt even own one. they should all be just running wild with no owners or anything, until that, youre always treating your dog to some degree, like a human.