Althouse: Are dogs wearing enough clothes?

February 6, 2020

Are dogs wearing enough clothes?

can’t stop thinking about the dog I saw this morning pic.twitter.com/lLqvpTkMWP
— Rebecca Rubin (@rebeccaarubin) February 5, 2020

60 comments:

BarrySanders20 said...: Who's a cozy boy?

Me, and I am ashamed, says pup.; 2/6/20, 1:40 PM
JohnAnnArbor said...: "I'm a sheep-alpaca hybrid. Rare, man."; 2/6/20, 1:40 PM
tim maguire said...: Short-haired dogs need help in the winter.; 2/6/20, 1:43 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: I'll sacrifice a bit of dignity to stay warm in winter weather. Screw what bipeds think.; 2/6/20, 1:44 PM
Nonapod said...: Looks sort of like a vizsla. Vizsla's have thin coats and as such can often be chilly dogs in the winter.; 2/6/20, 1:44 PM
Rory said...: Things are looking good in the Northeast: Phil didn't see his shadow, and now Shepherd is shedding in clumps.; 2/6/20, 1:47 PM
Kevin said...: That dog really doesn’t care do u?; 2/6/20, 1:48 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: "Do you have anything in Houndstooth?"; 2/6/20, 1:49 PM
traditionalguy said...: Somebody call PETA.; 2/6/20, 1:50 PM
LA_Bob said...: I've yet to see a dog in shorts.; 2/6/20, 1:50 PM
Curious George said...: I'd sure want one if I was a dog. Warm is better than cold, dry is better than wet. I'd want little booties too for the same reason.; 2/6/20, 2:00 PM
Rabel said...: There's a Jennifer Lopez joke here somewhere.; 2/6/20, 2:05 PM
Quaestor said...: Looks sort of like a vizsla.

Nope. That's a Pharaoh hound, a type of sighthound from North Africa. They are desert-adapted hunters of fast game, particularly hares. They cope with heat quite well, but cold weather can be a problem. Their coats are thin and short, and their subcutaneous fat layer is virtually nil. No insulation to speak of. These dogs are like living radiators, they are literally hot to the touch. Like all sighthounds, their anatomy is geared to running and shedding heat, except the Pharaoh is outstanding at the shedding heat part.

I tend to suspect the intelligence of a Pharaoh hound owner living in Wisconsin, just as I would doubt the brainpower of a Great Pyrenees owner living in Boca Raton, FL. The GP is wonderfully adapted to bitter cold, but in a hot and humid climate, they suffer. I had a colleague at IBM with a GP. The poor beast lived indoors 24-7 from February to December, which is dumb as hell.

Madison is just the place I would expect to see a Pharaoh hound. Left-leaning typically means stupid, thoughtless people are thick on the ground. At least one can but clothes on a Pharaoh; shaving a GP is no solution at all to the heat.; 2/6/20, 2:12 PM
Iman said...: That dog walks down this one alley about two miles from our house and he is going to get his ass kicked!; 2/6/20, 2:15 PM
rhhardin said...: It needs an anonymity black bar across the eyes.; 2/6/20, 2:16 PM
Lucid-Ideas said...: It takes a lot of sacrifice to be man's best friend.; 2/6/20, 2:17 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/6/20, 2:21 PM
Sydney said...: You wouldn't see a cat wearing something like that.; 2/6/20, 2:24 PM
n.n said...: Canine couture. Our last dog, a Shepherd, an Anatolian Shepherd, all 140 lbs of him, would brave the elements in his ancestral fashion.; 2/6/20, 2:25 PM
gspencer said...: That's a George Booth dog,

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41qnFYeaALL.jpg; 2/6/20, 2:28 PM
Nonapod said...: Madison is just the place I would expect to see a Pharaoh hound. Left-leaning typically means stupid, thoughtless people are thick on the ground. At least one can but clothes on a Pharaoh; shaving a GP is no solution at all to the heat.

In this case I'm pretty sure this pic was taken in Manhattan, which is probably even worse in terms of thoughtless lefties I guess.; 2/6/20, 2:29 PM
Quaestor said...: About the Vizsla.. This is a fairly typical short-haired pointer. These dogs actually do quite well in a climate like Wisconsin's, not surprising given their origins in Central Europe. They don't require clothes to avoid a dangerous chill. Nevertheless, a Madisonian is just the type I'd expect to put clothes on a Vizsla.; 2/6/20, 2:33 PM
Patrick said...: I remember the picture of a horse wearing a suit from a few years back. Oddly, it looked pretty good, I thought.; 2/6/20, 2:41 PM
Ice Nine said...: So what, his ass doesn't get cold?; 2/6/20, 2:44 PM
wild chicken said...: a dog in shorts.

Remember that nut who wanted to cover animals genitals? Like put shorts on dogs and horses?

He musta died.; 2/6/20, 2:48 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: Doggie Domination: When Castration Is Not Enough,

...or How To Further Humiliate Your Canine

Go for the "Mort" sweater from the 'Bazooka Joe' comics.
The leash is a nice touch also; 2/6/20, 2:56 PM
stevew said...: Enough or too much? I lean toward the latter.; 2/6/20, 3:02 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: that face!

...if that dog knew Morse Code, imagine what desperate pleas
for help it would be blinking out; 2/6/20, 3:02 PM
Wince said...: Looking at that dog's feet I wonder if that outfit is to mask an eating disorder.; 2/6/20, 3:04 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: A fire hydrant designed that; 2/6/20, 3:05 PM
RichardJohnson said...: I walked a neighbor's dachshund for years. Its owner once tried dressing the dog up for the cold. The dog absolutely refused to move until the clothing was taken off.; 2/6/20, 3:07 PM
Lincolntf said...: My dog would not like that one bit. She wears a harness for hiking and I put a bandana on her when we're in the woods to make her more visible through the trees (and so drunk hunters don't think she's a deer). She barely tolerates the bandana.; 2/6/20, 3:42 PM
Ekemini Robert said...: Why not post your content for free on message zone forum. You will like the exposure.; 2/6/20, 4:18 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: My last dog, a Chesapeake Retriever, would scoff at the indignity of even thinking about having to wear clothing in cold weather.

That dog, on the other hand, does look like it could also use some booties for its cold toes.

about the dog in photo So what, his ass doesn't get cold?

When he (or she) can figure out how to use a zipper to go poop or piss, then we can give it full coverage.; 2/6/20, 4:30 PM
Clyde said...: That is a reproachful look.; 2/6/20, 4:31 PM
Beasts of England said...: So, uh - how does the pup tinkle in that costume?; 2/6/20, 4:31 PM
Beasts of England said...: DBQ beat me to the scatological inquiry... 🙄; 2/6/20, 4:36 PM
madAsHell said...: Yeah.....My wife is always buying coats for the dog. The dog growls whenever I pick up one of the coats. She hates the coats!!; 2/6/20, 4:36 PM
madAsHell said...: Looking at that dog's feet I wonder if that outfit is to mask an eating disorder.

Recently, I've noticed that clothing covers a lot of eating disorders!!; 2/6/20, 4:39 PM
tcrosse said...: So, uh - how does the pup tinkle in that costume?

High-class dogs of this sort are trained to use the toilet, although not the one they drink from.; 2/6/20, 4:47 PM
Known Unknown said...: That's not a dog. That's Tilda Swinton's latest look.; 2/6/20, 4:58 PM
Yancey Ward said...: It is good that dogs don't feel embarrassment as much as humans.; 2/6/20, 5:05 PM
Browndog said...: "A dog under 60 lbs. isn't a dog. It's a cat, and cats are useless."

-Forget where I heard it.; 2/6/20, 5:10 PM
Nonapod said...: -Forget where I heard it.

here?; 2/6/20, 5:39 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Greyhounds get cold. Very low BMI. No fat.; 2/6/20, 5:46 PM
n.n said...: "A dog under 60 lbs. isn't a dog. It's a cat, and cats are useless."

My Maltese Poodle would beg to differ. Excellent watchdog, guard dog, field companion, and general all around good... nay, best friend. Oh, and my Persian kitty, he, too, would disagree. Neither mouse nor fly will progress on his shift.; 2/6/20, 6:08 PM
Browndog said...: Nonapod said...

-Forget where I heard it.

here?

Yep. Nice work.

Not a great show, but he's a great character.; 2/6/20, 6:27 PM
Lewis said...: Trump is retiring you heard it first here!; 2/6/20, 6:37 PM
narciso said...: http://meaninginhistory.blogspot.com/2020/02/prayers-for-mike-sylwester-and-note-re.html; 2/6/20, 6:53 PM
narciso said...: dark magic:

https://twitter.com/Sam_Schulman/status/1225571042728513537; 2/6/20, 7:05 PM
jim said...: Are you sure that's a dog?; 2/6/20, 7:14 PM
John Cunningham said...: That's dog abuse!; 2/6/20, 7:23 PM
ken in tx said...: Our boxer loves her jacket. We only use it when it gets cold but she is always sitting there waiting for us to put it on her. It velcros around her neck and around her belly.; 2/6/20, 9:23 PM
Narr said...: Our 1.5 stone dachshund is just fine with his chic velcro-close vest when it's cold, and it makes us feel a lot better to put it on him when we're bundling up--talk about short fur and lack of body fat! Like every dackel I've ever known, he burrows and swaddles himself in throws and blankets when he can.

Our previous dog was a short-haired bassett-russell mix with somewhere an arctic ancestor. She had a double coat, and stood cold much better than I do.

Narr
Too bad I can't post pix . . . awwwww it's so cute; 2/6/20, 9:35 PM
Martin said...: That dog looks like he or she is hoping no other dogs are around to see this travesty.; 2/6/20, 9:46 PM
I Callahan said...: I have a greyhound. If you need a coat outside, they need a coat outside.; 2/6/20, 10:00 PM
Pradeep Agarwal said...: That looks like a hairy Goat. Nice.

From Aaradhya Enterprises Corrugated Box Manufacturer; 2/6/20, 10:09 PM
Fritz said...: I have a Siberian. Need I say more?; 2/6/20, 10:50 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: I'm pretty sure with Greyhounds and Whippets you need to dress them up when it gets cold. They are warm weather dogs and can't handle the cold.; 2/7/20, 12:36 AM
mallory said...: Hello, I am the owner of this dog. Someone notified me that you had reposted it on your site.

I’m seeing a lot of ignorant comments here. My dog is a Podenco Canario, I rescued her from southern Spain. She was born and raised in the Mediterranean climate. She has <10% body fat and almost no fur (characteristics of the breed). To bring her out into below freezing temperatures in NYC without a coat would be animal abuse. Do a quick google search “do greyhounds need to wear coats” and you will see that 100% of professional opinion agrees. It is not an opinion, it is a fact. It is likely not dissimilar to you walking outside nude in below freezing temperatures.

People put coats on their dogs all of the time. It is rare for me to see other dogs in NYC that have short fur and do not wear clothing in the winter. The only thing that makes people uncomfortable here is that it is a tailored garment and it resembles current fashion trends. I care so deeply for this dog and her needs, that after watching her shiver uncontrollably with coats that only cover 1/3 of her body, I made something custom for her body to ensure maximum comfort and warmth.

She loves wearing her jumpsuits and sometimes brings them over to me on lazy indoor days as a way of asking me to put it on her.; 2/10/20, 7:09 PM