Dogs in Coats

There are a lot of dogs in Melbourne.  In particular, there are a lot of small dogs such as terriers, shih tzus and dachsunds.  There is even a pet shop at the shopping centre we frequent in Richmond where they display puppies in the windows and which I insist on visiting each time we go (which at the moment is every weekend).  They also had some gorgeous smoky grey and brown Burmese kittens but they had all been sold last time we visited but I digress.

In St Kidla, in particular, we see lots of gay couples walking their little dogs.  I hate to generalise but every time you see a man mincing down the street, he has at least one dog on the end of a lead, and it’s usually wearing a rather fetching jacket (the dog not the gay).

Obviously the presence of dogs is not strange in itself however the fact that almost every dog is wearing a coat of some description is, I think, worthy of comment.   I should point out that dogs in coats are not confined to those with gay owners.  Indeed, coats are not limited to those poor mutts lacking in an abundance of doggy fur and few of them are mongrels in the real sense as you can tell that the owners have splashed out a lot of cash for their faithful companion. 

It is almost comprehensible to see a dog that has recently been scalped after a visit to the doggy hairdresser to perhaps be sporting a tartan jumper but I really don’t understand why anyone would squeeze a poodle into a stripy jumper.  We even spotted an Afghan hound sporting a rather fetching knitted sweater and I can’t think of another dog species less in need of extra clothing in a mild Australian winter.  I didn’t know they manufactured dog coats big enough for Afghans who, surely, are the one breed of dog that doesn’t need a coat. 

It might be winter, but most dogs are generally endowed with a cosy fur coat of their own to fend off the chills and as the temperature rarely drops below 5 degrees at night and it is usually around 15 degrees at least during the day the poor creatures are probably unbearable hot. 

The fashion statements available on the high street for your canine chum are plentiful.  All fabrics and designs are available.  We often see puppies wearing coats hanging off their backs, obviously their owners dressing them up and thinking “oh, they’ll grow into it”.  We thought we had seen everything when we were sat out on the balcony earlier today, a lovely warm and sunny day with temperatures up to 18 degrees, when we saw a woman jogging past with her dog trotting behind her, wearing a pink knitted hoodie.  I ask you, what dog needs a coat when its running?

It seems that more dogs wear coats in Melbourne that don’t but perhaps that’s just our skewered perception.  Certainly, more dogs were coats in Melbourne that anywhere else I’ve been in the world.  At least they do not reside in handbags (as they increasingly do in the cities of China where pet ownership is becoming more popular and where we witnessed a fair number of dogs as accessories in places like Beijing and Xi’an.  Obviously in more rural and traditional cities, dogs remain wandering the streets which is of course preferable to being served up on a plate but again, I digress.

One of our neighbours in the flats has a little dog which is incredibly cute and used to have a thick coat of furry curls all over him so when he greeted you by jumping 3 feet into the air he gave the impression of being a very cute excitable bouncing ball of fluff.  He has recently been scalped and in fairness, despite the fact that he could probably do with a jumper after being stripped of his natural coat, they don’t dress him up. 

They are, and indeed their dog is, in a minority.  Mostly dogs in Melbourne wear tailor made coats.

There are some larger dogs around Melbourne of course.  The lady who lives in the house opposite has what I think is a neurotic Rhodesian Ridgeback.  That is, I think it’s a ridgeback but I know it’s neurotic.  It barks at everything and when I sitting outside on the balcony a little bored I whistle to see if it will go into a barking frenzy which it usually does.  It scares the hell out of people as they walk past but usually the little dogs bark back more ferociously before bravely running away.

But most of the dogs we see are of the smaller variety, presumably because most people live in apartments and it is easier to care for a small dog in a smaller space. 

And most small dogs wear clothes in Melbourne – that’s  a fact.

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