0 Pooches: Do You Dress Your Dog?

We were out walking our pups the other day when we heard:
"Did you see those dogs wearing raincoats? Some people spend their money on the stupidest stuff*".
--Quote from beer-bellied guy smoking cigarettes and hanging out at a bar in the middle of the afternoon, to his friend.
      *Not actual word used

Sure, sometimes we hear the occasional "those poor dogs" at dog-Halloween events where people think all dogs are miserable in clothing. Though, there are a couple of reasons we can tell that our dogs are actually happier and safer because they are wearing gear:

Keeping Warm

I never thought I would be one to dress up my big dog, but when I realized Miss M just couldn't handle rain or any temperature below 40 degrees I realized I needed to start. Since we do live in Chicago, and we need to walk in the winter, I decided to get her a coat. And it was the coat that became our gateway to sweaters and hoodies and snoods. Knowing how miserable our pups are when they are cold or wet, I think that they are actually happier wearing things.

Getting Petted

There is nothing our pups love more than meeting people. Sure, they will meet some people when we go on our walks, but when the pups are wearing clothes or costumes it gives people even more reason to approach our dogs. Which makes our pups so, so happy!
Just see what we mean here (in the bottom video) and here and here.

Safety

I know I'm a paranoid pet-owner, but since we can never leave the vet for under $150, and Miss M is prone to letting her jowl flap in the breeze , we thought it would be a good idea to get the pups some protective eye-wear so they can enjoy looking out the window (we wrote more about it here). I think it also helps that she gets attention from the cars that pull up alongside us and squeals of delight from people walking. And we're working on less jowl flapping.

Besides the reasons above, we also use gear as training tools and as a way to disarm people and open the conversation to see what pit bull-type dogs are really like.

What are your thoughts on dressing your pup?

Also:
How to make sure your dog is comfortable wearing costumes
Finding coats for bigger dogs.
This happened.
Chango is our style-icon!