Sunday, October 4, 2009

Blog #2: Doggy Apparel

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With Halloween coming I started to think about people who dress up their pets. I decided to post Doggy Apparel as my item for Shopping Blog #2. Some of the pieces can be functional such as booties, although these are more for snow dogs and not Los Angeles area dogs. Other pieces are purely decorational such as dresses and costumes. These outfits are designed so that the dog can move about and perform all bodily functions freely. Most outfits are for small dogs, but there are a few designed for larger dogs as well. I was able to find a Breed Examples list for the small to medium dogs, but the larger sizes were identified simply in inches.

Breed examples for sizing measured from base of neck to base of tail:
XX-Small 2-5": Chihuahua, Shih Tzu, Yorkshire Terrier.
X-Small 6-9": Bichon Frise, Brussels Griffon, Maltese, Miniature Pinscher, Papillon, Tea Cup Poodle.
Small 8-12": Dachshund-Miniature, Norfolk Terrier, Pekingese, Pomeranian, Toy Poodle.
Medium 14-18": Beagle, Dachshund, Jack Russell Terrier, Lhasa-Apso, Pug, Schnauzer, Miniature Scottie.

This Doggy Apparel can be found at all specialty pet stores such as Petco and PetSmart. I have also seen boutiques that specialize in Doggy clothing and accessories. At Petco the items range from just a few dollars to close to $40 and the boutiques often run higher prices.

So many people treat their dogs like children that there is a big market for this kind of thing. Even as recently as a few years ago Petco sold mostly food and toys for pets, but I walked in one day and there was a huge transformation. I suspect this has something to do with the increased number of celebrities that tote around their small dogs. Whatever the reason, dogs are now sporting clothing more often than just for Halloween.

3 comments:

  1. Thats so funny. I love the picture of the dog in the horse costume. My parents and sister treat the dog like a little person. Its a small mini pinscher. Shakes like crazy when it is cool outside. They have seasonal "clothing" for it.

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  2. I cannot stand people that dress up their dogs, or put them in strollers and treat them like a human baby. They probably hate it haha. I guess it is ok/cute for Halloween, but otherwise it is ridiculous. Dogs are not accesories, they are living beings.

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  3. Though dogs are living beings it seems that when celebrities started out with the whole thing, the designers found this to be an advantage and now the public is getting carried away and thinks that its cute to dress up a dog like its a doll. I find it very sad how much money we spent on dressing up dogs and buying accessories for them when we can donate money to countries in which people don't even have enough money to buy clothes for themselves. It can tell us something about our culture and how important material things are for us.

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