Dressing up Dogs

Halloween is so big here I even saw an advertisement for pet costumes. I used to think that was kind of cute, but over the years I’m not so sure anymore. Overtime I began to feel they didn’t enjoy it as much as their owners…and perhaps my son felt the same about his fleece green dinosaur costume at age one.

I especially do not understand dressing up a pet daily. They have fur, so it does seem kind of redundant to put a sweater on in most cases. Maybe when it snows its necessary for some, or for sure the booties on the Iditarod are a must. But there are many people that over dress their animals for the seasons and that can’t be comfortable. Although there are people who overdress their children too, so I guess it’s similar.

There was one day in particular that concluded this for me. I was in Istanbul walking to work one autumn morning when the sky was threatening to rain. The hospital I used to work in was in a nice area of the city where quite a few people had dogs. On the sidewalk I saw a man walking his small-ish dog with a bright green plaid sweater on. I wasn’t even wearing a sweater yet, and I’m always cold.

Coming from the other direction was one of the resident stray dogs. I will never forget the look on the face of this dog as he approached the upper class domestic with the bright green sweater. As he walked by it was obvious he was calling his fellow K9 a pansy. Maybe he was snubbing him for rubbing with the upper class and not taking to the streets, but I’m pretty sure it was the sweater. Fortunately, the look on the fashionable dog’s face read that he didn’t know any different and couldn’t understand why this stray was giving him such an odd look. He was pretty oblivious. So both carried on about their business, and I concluded if I ever owned a dog again I would not dress it up. Well, ok, maybe for Halloween, but not daily.