Wednesday, February 07, 2007

The Dogswear Section

So, some of you will surely remember the saga of Pappy's coat-- my trepidation about clothing for dogs, and my insistence that it was only to protect him from further injury following his getting stitched up. I've relaxed a bit since those bygone days, and find myself using his coat more often because it makes Pappy seem less antsy on walks in the recent bitterly cold weather. Plus it has some very practical reflective strips for the night time.

After work last week, I drove Pappy to the neighborhood pet store prior to dropping off the car for my wife and walking Pappy home. Pappy was in his dapper little red jacket purchased at the store three months earlier, and the salesguy said: "Isn't it a little late to be headed to the dog park?" I gave him a "hunh?" look, and he said: "I remember when you bought that jacket and said you wouldn't normally put clothes on a dog, but you had to protect his stitches at the dog park. I may not remember names, but I never forget a story. Are those stitches healed yet?" Exposed as a fraud, I mumbled something about how well the coat has held up, bought my bag of dog food, and slunk out of the store.

One thing's for sure, I'm not shopping for Pappy's President's Day outfit at that store. For a theme I've been thinkin' Lincoln-- an Honest Abe stovepipe would suit Pappy, and he's already got the beard.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What difference a few months can make...he he he. Well, if Pappy's happy then we are all happy.

Love and Licks,
Texas (and his humans).

Jude said...

I think a coat for warmth falls into a different class than a coat for dress-up. It'd be cruelty to bundle yourself up and not also protect Pappy from the cold.

It makes me crazy to see people out walking their dogs in such frigid and windy weather where the people are covered up in arctic wear and the poor dog is left to shudder through the walk.

Double-coated dogs have a higher tolerance for cold, of course, but I am so glad Pappy has a coat.

Next, Muttluks! :)

Nat said...

Tex,
Yes indeedy.

Jude,
I'm not sure what to think. It's not like Pappy actually ever shivers, refuses to go out, or gives other clear indications of being cold, else I'd get him a little snowsuit. He just gets a little more manic in the cold weather, and that could just be because he isn't getting out as much. A couple of times recently he's been coming up gimpy after walking across ice and snow, as if he's figuring out that frostbite kind of hurts his paws-- he quickly walks it off once he gets to dry pavement.

Gus said...

You can find all kinds of doggy wear on-line, but I am not sure we know where to look for an Abe suit for Pappy. However, the talented ladies at snitchybug can probably whip one up, but this is pretty short notice.

Gussie (who refuses to wear more than a sweater, and that must be made by his sister.)

Nat said...

Gus,
If it comes down to it, a wasted youth at art school made me pretty handy at whipping up stuff. If I were really going to prep Pappy for his Gettysburg address, I could probably knock together a pretty convincing tophat and shortcoat.

I'm not sure Pappy is cut out for dressup. He doesn't mind his red coat, but our brief experience with the reindeer antlers didn't indicate he has much of a disposition for hamming it up.