Member Column-Laments of a Failed Dog Dresser

by Pat Kruger

LW contributor

When I moved to LW in 2018, I was struck by the number of dogs dressed in cute coats and sweaters, unlike anything I had ever seen before.

I have been lucky to have had dogs most of my adult life but never saw much need to dress them. I grew up in Minnesota, and dogs there survived well in much colder climates. This is California, my home since 1964, always sunny and warm.

I moved several years ago to the San Bernardino mountains where it got quite cold in the winter. One November day we had very heavy rain, and my two dogs needed to go out. I remembered that I had raincoats for them, never used, but available when we RV’ed to avoid wet dog smells in limited space.

So, I dug their raincoats out and put them on them, and they looked darling, little black eyes peeking out of their hoods, and I “ooh” and “aah’d” over them.

I think their return gazes were more like, “What the heck is this?” Anyway, I opened the door to let them out and they wouldn’t go. They weren’t little dogs so I couldn’t push them, so we had a standoff, ending with my taking off their raincoats, opening the door, and out they happily went.

I was mystified by this behavior and finally concluded that they had become teenager dogs and did not want any of their dog friends to see them in “cute raincoats” that their mother loved.

On another occasion, I put a smart green turtleneck on one of them, and she went out and then returned sans sweater, which was never to be found—probably got buried in a snow bank.

Several years later, I had a little dog, about 8 pounds, and we stayed temporarily in Banning, in the high desert while waiting for all the LW paperwork to be completed. It can be very cold in the desert in the winter, so I thought for sure my dog would love a little coat. No such luck. She was inclined to snap when not in agreement with plans, so coats were out. But she did reluctantly wear a knitted scarf while always giving me that “how is a girl supposed to walk with this thing around my neck?” look so we abandoned that plan.

When we moved to LW, we just told the stylish dressed dogs of LW that she didn’t like sweaters, but I had a little mother’s guilt about it.

She passed away in 2023, and I got another rescue dog, small, and I had hopes for her.

I ordered a red and black vest for myself for the holidays and on the same page, they had a similar coat for a dog at a bargain price. Who could resist?

The tree lighting was on the holiday agenda, so I dressed my dog and myself in matching outfits and off we went.

She is mostly blind, so she was a little overwhelmed with all the people, but we quickly got a photo in Santa’s chair, grabbed a delicious cookie and headed for home.

I removed our matching outfits, and my little dog headed for her bed and remained there all evening, wanting nothing to do with me.

Now this is a dog that has a built-in homing device and can find a vacant lap anywhere, so this was very unusual.

With due consideration the next day, I was forced to conclude that my ill-fated career as a dog-dresser was over.

So please, don’t give me “that look” when you see her with just her fur on in cold weather.

I tried and I failed.