Why do we love dressing up dogs so much? Are we living out our parental fantasies? Do we treat them as though they are children and not animals? Let’s take a trip down a typical shopping spree and you’ll see why we love dressing up dogs!

May I have your attention please?!

Is it a natural phenomenon that happens when the nest is emptied and we are longing for little ones to care for and coddle? Or is it just that we like to parade around our furry friends in the hopes of getting some much needed attention from on-lookers? Whatever the case may be, we love dressing up dogs. I do it almost every day, especially if I want to take pictures for my Instagram account or to impress my Facebook friends with how good and adorable my dogs are – I dress up my dogs on the regular. And I love every minute of it!

The Serrogate Child

I’ll be the first to admit it. When I go to Ross or TJ Maxx especially, the first thing I do is head for the pet aisle and look for the mini tshirts and dresses that are prominently displayed on the end caps specifically designed to garner the oohs, aahs and Oh My Gawds of the dog mommies and daddies who are oh so eager to part with their paychecks so they can be the first to go home with these babies. I don’t remember going into a buying frenzy with my kids whenever I saw a mini 3 piece plaid suit with black satin bowtie and matching booties. In fact, it was always the quest for whatever I could get that was under $9.99 because I knew he’d only be wearing it at church for Christmas that one time, never to fit him again. No, the serrogate child furbaby didn’t need clothing, but it was vitally necessary that the plaid suit make its way into my shopping cart before Betsy the crazy dog lady get her dirty mitts on it and put it on that nasty little beast she has hiding in her cart!

A Spring Wedding, Perhaps?

So the 3 piece plaid suit made its way home to its new owner along with the tiny wedding dress, veil and fake flower bouquet for his lovely bride. Was I planning for a Spring wedding? Perhaps. When you live your life vicariously through the ostentacious world of the internet, I suppose anything is possible. Should we have tea and crumpets? Perhaps a lovely 3 tier cake with fondant and sugar pearls. I’ll have to consult the bridal party and get a feel for what they had in mind for crudite. All of these things run through my mind as I am setting the stage for the IG photo shoot.

The Struggle is Real

Getting my 4 legged friends to cooperate and get as excited as I am about dress up time is a huge task! Of course I can get them excited just by the tone of my voice. “Oh look! Mommy has new outfits for you! Come here so we can get dressed!” In my perfect world, I imagine the two monkeys (as I call them) laying perfectly on the bed so I can get their new outfits over their heads and legs. But of course we have to play hide and seek first. This is not new for them. They know when they see mommy come home with clothes on those tiny hangers, it’s time for the straight jackets to go on. So off they go round and round the livingroom, under the dining table, and back into the bedroom. I did not train for this and I refuse to be led around by these two furry monsters who obviously don’t appreciate quality clothing when they see it! Finally I threaten with bodily harm and am able to capture them long enough to get the heads and arms through the right holes, velcro up and put on the head gear. Whew!

Photo Session

Now it’s time for the photo session to begin. We set up the table with tea and crumpets and tiny little wedding cake. The backdrop is all set, we have some beautiful cello music by Yoyo Ma on to set the mood for a romantic ambiance, the setting is perfect for our little wedding party to look its Instagram Best! Now if I can get the two of them to keep still and both be looking at me at the same time only for a few seconds so I can capture the perfect moment on camera to be memorialized in perpetuity…all this, just so my IG friends can like and comment and say what a good fur-mommy I am!

Conclusion

So whether it’s a phenomenon that happens when we long for the days that we could dress up our own children to parade them around and impress friends, family and strangers, or fulfilling a primal need to care for another living being, we love dressing up dogs and will continue to do it as long at there’s a Petco, Ross, or TJ Maxx to empty our pocketbooks and Instagram / Facebook in which to show off our wares and feed our egos!