I have never been a big fan of putting clothing on dogs.  I understand that low to the ground dogs and short hair dogs need a bit extra insulation in cold weather, but they always look embarrassed.  I did not want to be a dog embarrasser.  As fate would have it, I have had to relent on my firm stand.

The first time I relented was because I had a large, but short haired dog, with flying nun ears (ears that stick up and stick out, but flop over at the top).  Her one ear got frost bitten and split.  Her ear obviously hurt, so she would flick her head around which would cause the split to open and bleed.  The action of flicking would spray the blood everywhere, it wasn’t pleasant.  Dog hats are stupid because they have the dog’s ears sticking out, so I made my dog a snood.  Picture a dog coat combined with a turtle neck that starts at the top of the dog’s head.  Poor thing.  I have never seen a dog look more embarrassed.  It did solve the problem though.

That brings us to now.  My present dog is better designed for Canadian winters.  Long hair, ears that hang close to her head, not too close to the ground, furry feet.  Perfect, except she is really sensitive to the salt that gets strewn about.  It is heart wrenching to watch her try to levitate through a salty patch.  I will spend several moments wiping the salt off her feet so we can continue on our way.  Last year I bought a barrier cream hoping to help her, and it works but not good enough.  I finally came to the conclusion that I had to suck up my dog clothing prejudice when I was carrying my 60 lb dog up some very salt encrusted stairs.  Yesterday, I bought dog boots.  They look like thumbless mittens.  We did a trial run with her wearing the boots in the house.  I have never seen anything so awkward.  First, she wouldn’t walk.  Then, with a little food incentive, she got up to walk but it was like she was a marionette.  Limbs working like she forgot how to use them and her head hanging down in extreme dog embarrassment.  It was painfully funny to watch.  When I took her out for her morning walk the attitude of dog humiliation lasted until we were mid way through our usual route. I don’t know if she adjusted or if she realized they were helpful, but she suddenly stopped the hang dog look.  I know I was grateful I didn’t have to attempt to carry her over the stairs again.