Hey, Animal Lovers!
Do you end up with an extra load of laundry every week? Do you have another closet that neither you nor your kids use? Who fits in a hoodie this small?! It must be those furry little critters that run around your house.
No—not mice! Your pets!
If you love to dress up your pets, then today is right up your alley! It’s National Dress Up Your Pet Day— founded by Celebrity Pet Lifestyle Expert and Animal Behaviorist, Colleen 
Paige in 2009. National Dress Up Your Pet Day is a great way to celebrate your pets and how much you love them.
You might think that dressing pets up in clothes is a relatively new “fad” (for lack of a better word). But on the contrary, people have been creating clothing for their animals for thousands of years! It wasn’t quite in the same way that we do it nowadays, but they did it nonetheless.
In order to protect their horses’ feet, the armies of ancient Greece would put leather boots over their hooves. In medieval times, the knights would often dress their horses during jousting matches or for battle. And even in the modern day, the police dress their horses in fluorescent covers. And the same goes for their canine unit too—WOOF!
The clothing that the police use for their animals along with the knights and the ancient Greek armies, is a little more practical than dressing up our lazily lounging, domesticated beasts. But dressing up your pet can actually serve a purpose yet. Some people’s pets have bad allergies, causing them to scratch incessantly. Clothing can help prevent them from causing further irritation while scratching. It can also provide some extra warmth on chilly winter days (which is why Dress Up Your Pet Day is in January).
One last note, Pet Dressers: All animals are different from one to the next. They may not enjoy wearing clothes. Make sure your pet wants to be wearing the clothes you put on them. Our pets shouldn’t have to be miserable just because we think it’s funny.
- John