There are many people out there that are dressing their pets up for no reason at all which is quite bizzare
. In many ways this has turned into a bit of a fashion amongst dogs. The celebrity that is famous for doing this the most has to be Paris Hilton as she is always buying her dog Tinkerbell expensive gifts and clothes. How far is it before it stops being nice and starts being a bit cruel?
The opinion that I have on this is that if you are going to dress a dog up then you are wasting your time because the dog could be injured in the process. On top of this the only dogs that can really be dressed up are the small little ones that look more like rats on stilts than they do dogs. So why are people so obsessed with dressing their pets up?
Many people will give this a go for a competition. The one problem is that many companies are encouraging this by holding fashion shows and there no shortage of websites devoted to clothing for pets and also allowing you to sew your own clothes for your pets. There are boots, hats, fleece, sweaters and heavy quilted coats that can be bought for dogs. Many of these items are novelties or fashion-related. They are not intended to keep the animal warm.
It is acceptable to dress your dog in a coat if it is cold because otherwise the animal could actually catch a cold which really could end up hurting the animal. The problem is that without the help of a human, these dogs would be totally useless so is it really a good idea that we dress them up.
The RSPCA are also arguing that going too far with this could result in some charges against cruelty to animals. This is certainly understandable as boots for a dog could not only make it look stupid but cause its legs some serious damage. Before you know it the pet could have to have one of those vet referrals for something like animal dermatology or even animal ophthalmology.
One of the best things you can do here is to just sit down and have a think, does the dog actually need to be wearing any of this. A coat can be very useful in the winter, do not go too far and start adding hats and shoes or anything like that.