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Sunday, December 12, 2004

I'm too Sexy for my dog coat

Oscar has very short hair and spends his days outside, so I decided he needed a dog coat. I do have superwash wool to make him one, but the gift-afghan won't let me, so we bought him a relatively inexpensive fleece coat at PetSmart this weekend. That in itself was a challenge, as apparently Oscar's physique is not standard for doggies. We didn't have him with us, so were instead watched by shocked and slack-jawed PetSmart employees as we held various dog coats up, and discussed whether or not they would fit. The comment that got the most snickers was GB's saying "Do you think they have any D-cup sizes?" as Oscar is a bit bustier than the average dog. My favorite coat was the bomber jacket (faux leather) but it wouldn't hold up to a day in the yard, and $50 was more than I wanted to spend anyway. We found a cute little fleece coat that looked like it would fit, and was under $20. So the only challenge then was to get it on the dog. He put his front legs right through the arm holes with no problem. All attempts to seal the velcro up the back were then taken as attempts to cuddle. I was very helpful during the process, accepting the task of not just "stand back and laugh until tears are running down your face" but also "take pictures":



The final result looks like a kid in pajamas that don't quite fit, and takes him approximately 15 seconds (after finishing his chew toy) to wriggle around on his back, undo the velcro, and step out of the coat.



The coat was obviously made for the world's largest dachshund, as it was snug in the chest area (obviously only a "C-cup") but huge in the neck, and long on the body. I can't imagine what the dog would look like that is slightly smaller around the chest than Oscar, with a thicker neck, and longer body. Well, I probably can, but I think it would cause nightmares.

So it's back to the store for that one. The coat I plan on making for him will be a blanket with straps holding it on, I think, allowing for a little more flexibility. He enjoys spending the days outside, keeping our yard safe from viscious attack squirrels. And fortunately the weather has been unseasonably warm, so I'm not concerned with leaving him out in 50 degree weather... if it drops to around freezing during the day, I want him better protected than nature made him, so we'll have to figure something out soon!

Thanks for all the sweet comments about the bonus - it was quite exciting and flattering. I've already decided how I'm going to spend it (depending on how much tax gets taken out) but GB is in Vegas for work and took the camera, so in lieu of any personal pictures, I decided I'd use the rest of the week showing you pictures of my purchases-to-be. So stay tuned - a different purchase each day!


6 Comments:

Blogger erica said...

Amie-
I was laughing so hard while reading this post that I could hardly read one line after another. I am at work and trying not to laugh too loudly for fear of scaring my quiet coworkers (computer people are too quiet for their own good). You almost sent me over the edge I was laughing SO HARD! I think Oscar needs a proper coat made especially for him by his mom! :)
Love the blog and read every day.

erica
http://erica-lee.org/knit/blog/archive.html

6:29 PM  
Blogger trackingprojectbackpack said...

Last year I made a coat for one of the teacher's dogs at school. It was from a felted jacket project gone awry. :-p anyways, it was designed like it was resting on top of a regular dog harness. Our pug has one because of his non-existant neck. It wasn't hard to do,after a bit of measuring, some 1 (or 1.5") webbing, those snap kind of clips like on backpacks and voila!

You'll come up with something :-)

6:41 PM  
Blogger Anonymous Person said...

Hey, nice blog!

6:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used to make my dog Kisses coats all the time, she had a very deep chest as well. (old style Dalmatian pre-disney) first off you can't really put the velcro or buttons or even zippers as they open them
I used to make fleece or sweaters.
Although I did break that rule once and made her a quilted coat that hung to the ground...... but that only was on her when I was with her.
I will tell you, your baby will probably wiggle out of his coat and then either eat it or trash it if he isn't supervised.
you may want a heated dog house for his daytime comfort, along with a window in it and a cuddle bed
violet
who now has thaddeaus the dog/cat from hell and is thinking kitty restraints not coats

9:02 PM  
Blogger caramelknits said...

OMG!!! Oscar looked so cute in that jacket. Putting him in it must have been hilarious! Looks like they make dog clothes the same way they make them for people. All wrong!! :)

11:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How do.
Oscar is a handsome boy! A sweater for him is a good idea. Some things that might help to make this a positive experience:
**Have him wear it in doors for a while - if he is going to figure out how he can "escape" from it, you will be able to watch him & figure out how to correct the problem.
**When you place him in it, give him a treat that has good distraction points to it - i.e. a really good soup bone, a greenie, etc. He'll forget, we hope, that he has the sweater on for a while & it might be less problematic for him.
**Walk him & put it on him before you leave. If walks are special to him, he'll equate the sweater w/a good thing.
Marfa

3:50 PM  

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