Little People?

I wanted to talk about this last week after we watched the movie, but before I could write the quote down, I forgot it. Thanks to someone in class the other day (sorry that I can't remember who), I remembered it. There was a quote in the movie about treating pets like little humans, and I thought of something interesting. It is true that there are many people out there who dress up their pets in one way or another because it looks "cute", and I've even seen videos of something as ridiculous as a dog wedding. Yet I think there are legitimate reasons for dressing pets up as well.

I've seen many animal shows, a lot of them about dogs and how to take care of them. In some cases, there are real reasons to put clothes on dogs and to take care of them in the same way as humans. With dogs like Chihuahuas and the Chinese Crested, a sweater can be essential in the winter so that they do not freeze. I even remember that my mom wanted to get a sweater or a blanket for our dog to have in the winter when he got older. Also with the Chinese Crested, since their bodies have mostly no hair, it is a requirement to put on sunscreen in the summer and to even use acne products on them. They can get acne just like we can. (You can look this up on the Animal Planet website. Just look at the Chinese Crested clip for Dogs 101.)

For Huskies and Malamutes that are on sled dog teams, booties are another essential. They give the dogs more traction and also help to protect the pads. (Of course, I don't advocate using dogs for sledding unless it's something the dog enjoys.) At the same time though, I've also seen countless clips where dogs are wearing booties and walking around funny because they aren't used to them. I feel bad for these dogs because they look so miserable while the person holding the camera just stands there filming or is laughing.

Now I have to ask, can you think of other reasons that a person would dress up their pet?