If you’ve been following the blog, you’ve probably noticed the dogs are wearing different items of clothing in many of the pictures. Ares is my first dog and Chaos came shortly after him so it’s been a learning process figuring out everything that comes with being a dog owner. I had seen dogs wearing clothes before: on TV, in movies, at pet stores, ect. I never thought my dog would join those ranks though.
Ares became mine in early September when it’s still warm in the Cincinnati area. Our vet had talked to me about Ares being a “smushy faced dog” (that’s the technical term of course)and requiring a coat or sweater for winter temperatures but I hadn’t really thought too much about it after that. Once mid-October came around I remembered that conversation as Ares shivered one day on our walk. So I went out and bought him a little hoodie to keep him warm. His first item of clothing was actually a Bengals jersey but he quickly grew out it. It was getting close to Halloween and the pet stores had all the doggie costumes out on display. I didn’t think it would hurt to check them out and the next thing I knew I was taking home a little frog costume. And that was really the gateway into dressing my dogs on a regular basis.
As a first time dog owner I didn’t know that it’s not always as simple as buying dog clothes and just putting them on your dog. Ares not only didn’t seem to mind wearing clothes, he actually seemed to rather enjoy it. Even when he was small he’d sit still while I dressed him and eventually would get things out of his box on his own and drop them at my feet and then sit and wait while I put it on him. I now know that this is not the way it works for every dog.
Chaos joined the family just a couple days after Christmas so it was already cold. I put Ares’s old hoodie on him those first couple days but quickly realized that Chaos wasn’t a fan of having clothes on him. I tried some different things but nothing was to his liking so I just gave up, not wanting him to be uncomfortable. He was never outside for very long that first winter with him being so young so lack of clothing wasn’t really an issue. When he got a little older we tried bandanas around his neck and he seemed to be fine with that.
And then fall came and with that start of football season. Chris is a diehard Michigan fan so he wanted to try Michigan jerseys for the dogs. We found this on PetCo.’s website and I ordered one for each dog. I actually had to buy the flexible measuring tape to take their measurements so I could order the correct sizes. Chaos was afraid of it at first so I had to toss it on the ground and let him check it out before I could touch him with it!
Chris has actually been in school for dog training since last summer so when the jerseys arrived he had a plan to get Chaos comfortable with wearing his. If it didn’t work out, we wouldn’t be out too much money. But it was worth a try, especially with winter coming and the fact that he would probably need a coat. The goal was to get Chaos to have a positive association with clothing and having it on his body.
We didn’t want to force it so it started out with just tossing the jersey on the floor. A dog’s natural reaction to something new is to sniff it. Every time he got close to or sniffed the jersey he’d get treats. He actually laid down on it after a few minutes so he got more treats and then it was put away. A little while later we brought it back out and repeated the process the same as before. Then I tried to put it over his head just to see his reaction. He stayed still and he didn’t seem to be bothered so I left it like that and gave him more treats. Finally I put his legs through the holes and pulled it down his back so he was fully wearing the jersey. His tail was waggling around so I just kept giving him treats while he was walking around. The next time the jersey came out he was excited because he had formed positive association with it. Mission accomplished.
Luckily for us this positive association transferred to all clothing items after the jersey so he was happy to put on hoodies, his Halloween costume, his winter coat and snood when the time came. This may not be the case for all dogs so the process may have to be repeated for each new clothing item. The process may also take more time for other dogs. Chaos changed his mind pretty quickly about wearing clothes once I took a step back and eased him into the idea. He now helps by sticking his head through the neck hole if I hold it open for him and lifting his paws to go into the leg holes.
The positive association is something that worked for us but may not work for every dog. I would never suggest making your dog wear something they aren’t comfortable in unless it’s absolutely necessary, such as medical reasons. Then again some dogs may just seem to be born ready to wear clothes like Ares. The clothes are now in a box on top of a shelf in the laundry room so sometimes he will stand outside the door and bark until I come ask him what he wants. He then paws at the door so I open it and he walks in stands under the box of clothes and barks at me until I take it down and he can get out what he wants. After the hoodie or tshirt is on him he’s back about his doggie business.
If your dogs wear clothes, did you have to ease them into wearing them? How did you do it? Are they just tolerant or do they actually seem happy to wear clothes?
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