I have wondered from the time I got my puppy ( Chloe ) whether I should put her in clothes or leave her nude. Chloe was a bundle of fluff.
But as she got older and her hair grew longer, taking her for a walk became increasingly more frustrating as she would sit and not walk because she had a ever increasing collection of dead, fallen leaves sticking to her, not that I blame her, those Rimu leaves are very prickly, so walking became a chore of walk, stop, sit, pick leaves off, walk, stop…..you get the picture, so a haircut was the answer.
As it was Autumn/Winter, she felt the cold and was shivering from the time we left the groomers as well as inside our house, even with the heat pump going, let alone trying to keep up her toilet training. ( who wants to go outside naked on a cold, wet day/night.
Going through my mind was - What is hubby going to think about her having clothes on? What do I really think? Will it help her? And what will other people think?
Coming down to the final decision though was easy as it was for Chloe’s benefit with health and well – being, I decided that she needed extra warmth, so out came the knitting needles and her first little jacket was born. I knew once it was on her that it was
the right decision as she was not cuddled up under things
or curled up
in a little
shivering
ball, she was
up and
playing with
her toys..It
was so nice
to see her
happy and playful once again. The next thing for me was the hurdle of seeing Chloe in public with a jersey on. First time taking her for a walk, I felt like a dork but nobody cared or sniggered, rather I saw others out walking their dogs with jackets on as well and as time went on it got easier.
Nowadays Chloe has lots of different jackets, harnesses and bandanas that she wears out all the time.
I love making them for her and she likes to wear them, although when she doesn’t want something on, she will tell me by running away or not sitting still, I will get her something else and if she's happy will let me put it on her, or if she doesn’t want anything on all, she will tell me, although she will tolerate them all, if it means going for a walk.
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