Why Should Dogs Wear Clothes?
While many dog parents choose to dress their dog as a fashion statement, there are legitimate reasons why your dog should wear clothes. Depending on your dog, wearing clothes can promote better health, hygiene and safety.
Read about some of the most popular reasons why experts encourage dogs to wear clothes below:
1. To Protect Your Dog's Skin
There are some medical conditions that can cause dogs' skin to become sensitive and irritated (ie. Cushing's, mange, allergies). For those dogs, it could be extremely beneficial for them to wear clothes in order to soothe and comfort their skin.
Even if your dog doesn't have a skin condition, wearing clothes can protect your dog from environmental elements (i.e. snow, rain, UV rays). Clothes can also be a barrier to help protect your dog from unwanted pests, such as fleas and ticks.
2. To Help Arthritis/Older Dogs
When dogs (specifically older dogs) develop arthritis, it's imperative to keep them warm. If a dog with arthritis gets too cold, that can make their arthritis worse and cause discomfort and pain. Wearing clothes will help your dog stay warm and comfortable!
Another benefit is that because older dogs often have weakened immune systems, keeping them warm will help keep them as healthy as possible. Like humans, dogs' immune systems get weaker in cold temperatures, so it's important to help fight diseases by making sure your dog isn't too cold.
3. Help Regulate Body Temperature
Small dogs have a harder time maintaining their body heat due to their smaller size and potentially shorter coats. Wearing a sweater can be a great way to hep manage your dog's body temperature to make sure they aren't getting too cold. This is especially important if your dog has a shorter coat (or no coat at all), or if you live in a colder climate.
On the contrary, it's also important to make sure dogs with thicker coats living in warmer climates wear cooling jackets to prevent them from overheating.
4. Help Keep Things Clean
Clothes can also be a great help to the owner by trapping excess hair shedding. Especially if you use a fleece material (like our Stretch Fleece), dogs' hair will get stuck to it instead of all over your cough and bed.
Similarly to how we wear clothes, having indoor and outdoor clothing for your dog can help with the cleanliness of your home. If you have clothes for your pup to use outside, and take them off once they're inside, all the dirt that may have gotten on them while playing outside will stay on the fabric.
Wearing clothes outside can also help prevent dirt from getting on your dog's fur, and instead get on the clothing - keeping both your pup and your home cleaner!
As you can see, there can be a lot of benefits for your dog if they wear clothes, from protecting them from the sun to keeping your house clean. We hope that you learned something and enjoyed reading this article!
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