The other day, I was out at the dog park, watching my pooch play with the other puppies out there. I have a medium sized mutt who is a bit temperamental, so play time at the park is always a little bit dicey. On most days, I have to watch my pup constantly, less he gets into a fight with one of the bigger dogs. On this particular day, however, I was running into another problem. Basically, my puppy just did not seem to want to play.
He sort of skulked around and sulked while the other doggies frolicked around him. I took a closer look, and that is when I saw it: he was shaking. I had never bought any clothes and accessories for dogs before except for the basics. I bought him a simple collar, a reliable leash which was about five feet long, and a few toys to play with. When I saw my doggy that cold, however, I knew that it was time to start looking for dog clothes. I went down to the local dog store and bought a simple sweater.
It was woolly and thick, and it looked pretty warm. When I tried to put it on my dog, however, I was in for a bit of a surprise: the bad-tempered pup wanted nothing to do with it. At that point I realized that dogs are every bit as difficult as humans are.
When I was shopping for accessories for dogs, I had never even considered the possibility that my dog would not like what I got for him, but the evidence was right in front of my eyes. He would twist, twitch, scowl, and squirm when I tried to put the dog sweater on him. I tried getting a looser weave of sweater for him, and that seemed to do the trick. I think that the first sweater might have been a little bit too scratchy. Although the second sweater was not as warm as the first, it was still quite a bit warmer.
There is a local pet store that specializes in accessories for dogs, so I was able to get a few more of the same kind once I figured out what he liked. I even picked up a jogging leash for him while I was there. Now he is looking good, feeling alright even in the cold weather, and back to picking fights with the other dogs.
Roland Jefferson III is a web based writer out of Manhattan Beach Village, California. For free resources covering Accessories for Dogs, please visit our Accessories For Dogs Resource.
