Pet Peeves: sewing for dogs

Friends, I'm not one of those people who are into dressing up dogs "cute" and I hope you're not either.

Where I live you see the full spectrum of dog clothes, from Burburry to Walmart.  I honestly don't care what our dogs wear as long as they have an extra layer of warmth during the winter.  When it's really cold (below freezing) we generally don't take the dogs out at all.  They have their treadmill now, and we've rigged a system so that they can do whatever they need to do in the bathtub on a cloth diaper. 

When Willy was a puppy we found someone on eBay who custom knit him a sweater -- very lovely, but he quickly outgrew it.



In early 2010 P.B. (pre blog) I made Willy the one and only dog coat I've ever sewn, using an old coat of Freddy's as a pattern, some old corduroy pants I found in the street and a worn flannel shirt of mine.  It came out cute but it wasn't very warm and Willy rarely wears it.  Plus I think it's now too short.



Freddy and Willy don't have extensive wardrobes, just a few cheap fleece coats, and they don't like wearing them.  They kind of go into zombie-land when they're wearing them.  We've bought RTW coats (like these red and blue ones) but they rarely fit right.  The cheap ones are tacky and the expensive ones...expensive.



So, in these waning days of 2010, I have decided that after finishing my wool toggle coat I'm going to make some coats for the dogs, probably using leftover wool from the coat project and fleece from my stash.  Overcoming my initial resistance, I picked this up on Etsy yesterday for a few bucks.



It's fine; nothing special.  I did considerable research online of course.  I don't promote individual Etsy sellers but all of these patterns can currently be found on Etsy by searching under dog coat patterns.  It's interesting, I don't think I've ever seen a vintage dog coat pattern (knit coats maybe).  I wonder why.

On a related note, I don't like dog costumes and I hope I'm not offending anyone who does.  It seems demeaning to the animal.

OK, they're kind of funny.  We do dress up Willy from time to time -- Freddy won't put up with it -- but it usually lasts about a minute, then he wriggles out of it.



I don't like cutesy tootsie coats...



Or colonial mob caps.



There are a lot of matchy-matchy owner/dog outfits (for women) out there.  I'm on the fence about these.





For a child, maybe...



I won't lie, I find the doggie Santa outfit kind of fun.



Holidays bring out the worst in pet-craft kitsch. 



This Victorian thing I like, but our dogs would never tolerate it.



Friends, if you have dogs, do you dress them up in funny outfits?   Do your dogs go outside a lot in the cold weather and if they do, what do they wear to stay warm?

Are you a believer in dignity when it comes to dog clothes or do you think dressing up dogs in cute outfits provides a necessary creative outlet -- for the dog?

I'm all ears!