When I started preferring jumpers and sneakers to ruffled dresses during my tweens, I thought that forcing me to wear anything with ribbons or lace was downright cruel. It wasn’t that I would get hives wearing a girly getup, it was that tween-age self-inflicted drama made me believe I would die—at least figuratively, of embarrassment, that is—wearing something that I felt wasn’t “me.”

With dogs, though, frankly, they obviously don’t need clothes. But how can a dog owner resist that cute little tuxedo for their pug, or that little tutu for their poodle? If only dogs could talk, maybe they’d tell us how ridiculous they feel wearing anything at all—or at least, that forcing them to wear pants is a bit overboard.

I’m guilty of occasionally forcing our shih tzu Papi into clothing—heck, we even made him wear a barong during our wedding. But if my husband and I see that he just doesn’t dig his wardrobe, we ditch the idea altogether and let Papi go commando, sometimes even in his clean-shaven glory.

For instance, I bought Papi a hotdog costume for Halloween last year. As you can see in the photo, he just wasn’t into the notion of being labeled “hot,” much less a hotdog. After this photo-op, which is the first and last time he wore it, I gave the costume to my mom’s dachshund Taffy—who was more than happy to chew on it.

I don’t see anything wrong with having dogs wear clothes. As long as the dog is comfortable and is his or her old playful self dressed in doggie attire, knock yourself out. Just keep in mind that dogs aren’t toys that won’t choke or suffer from heatstroke wearing clothing in this tropical climate.

But let’s face it: these are animals, and bottom line is, the idea of them decked out in any sort of outfit is utterly ridiculous. Though it can be ridiculously cute, too.
 

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