Dog Clothing (the Embarassing Years)

Watson was our only dog for 2 of the 2 years and 8 months he was with us. I grew up with dogs but lived without them from the post-college to the first-house years, roughly ten years in total. During that time, I would visit my mom's or my sister's dogs and wish for the day when I had my own place and no landlord so that I could have a dog.

So, of course, when Watson came I went a little overboard.... on everything.... Treats? Yes, which kind would you like? We have cookies and meaties and meaty cookies and dried jerky. Dog beds? Yes, at any one time he had a choice of no less than three surfaces on which to sleep. Clothing? Ohhhhh yesssss. Frankly, if Rich were not around to stop me, Watson would have had quite the wonderful wardrobe.

It began with the blue fleece jacket. Watson arrived in winter, and a brutal winter at that. (Unfortunately, I never thought to take a photo of him in it.) He would come back from our walks shaking because of the wind, so I got him a very fetching fleece vest that Velcro-ed up the front. Then spring came and the spring rains along with it. This is when we discovered that Watson didn't like to get wet. His disdain went way beyond dry feet; he literally did not like to get wet from above or below. So the solution was to get him a rain jacket. I chose fire engine red since yellow just seemed too conspicuous.

In the summer, I got him a very funny (and very large) Spongebob Squarepants t-shirt. Again, I never thought to take a photo of him since his stints in the shirt were very brief. For some reason, he would tolerate the other clothing but just not the shirt.

Of course, there were a plethora of bandannas that were worn in all sorts of ways and colorful bow ties to his collar. But overall, I don't think it was an abuse of power (me with my wallet and opposable thumbs, that is). He never had ankle booties or a jeweled collar; never any spangles or glitter on his shirts; never any pink leashes or tutus.

But I do miss his gentle ways... and the way he would just stand there staring at me to finish laughing and taking photos after I had dressed him up. Just waiting for me to gather myself enough to remove the offending clothing.