Today is 'Dress Up Your Pet' Day. Whomever thought that up must have little toy dogs that you can put into cute little sweaters and booties. You could get matching rain coats for you and the dog and go on walks together. I can assure you, the person who created this day did NOT have Beagles.
Beagles do not like to be dressed up. They are hunting dogs, after all. You can't go on a fox hunt wearing a sweet little wool sweater. The rabbits don't take you seriously if you have bows on your ears. Beagles are no-fuss dogs. You don't have to groom them like you do a Cocker Spaniel. They don't need to be bathed every week. They need to be fed, and brushed occasionally. And they do not, under any circumstances, need to be dressed. I learned this the hard way.
I first tried dressing them up for the 4th of July. I found hats for each of them, and put the hats on them. I turned to get my camera, and when I looked back, Cobalt was working on the strings on Onyx's hat, and she was working on his. I was able to take a couple of quick pictures, and the hats were off.
I thought perhaps they just didn't like hats. I normally do not participate in Halloween, but I tried to dress up the beagles for Halloween in 2002 (the first Halloween we had them). We weren't going anywhere, I just thought it would be cute to have them dressed up for the trick-or-treaters coming to the house. We found a caterpillar costume for Cobalt, because he has always been our Cuddle Bug. And for Princess Onyx, a devil costume. Because, by the time she was 10 months old, she was already quite the devil! I dressed Cobalt first, and set him on the couch next to me as I prepared the Devil Princess. Cobalt was very disgruntled, and immediately started trying to get this thing off of him. Onyx was determined not to let me get her
completely dressed. Erich took pictures to document my struggle. I kept smiling.... even as Onyx chomped down on my hand. How very appropriate, the devil dog is biting me! And if you look in the picture, you can see Cobalt trying to get his costume off.
I am not one to let a little bite stop me, so in the winter I tried again. I was worried that they would get cold when they went out in the snow. We adopted them in the winter, and their first winter they were too small to go into the big backyard. They had a little grassy patch off the patio. By the time they were one, they were playing in the big yard regularly. So I bought each of them a nice fleece coat. Cobalt's was blue and Onyx's was purple. The coats had a velcro strip that went under their bellies. I also bought them fleece booties- mucklucks for dogs is what they were called. This would protect their delicate paw pads in the ice and snow. My parents were visiting that Christmas, and it had snowed. I bundled the doggies into their nice warm coats and booties and sent them out to explore. My father was watching them from the house, and he started laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face. The dogs were kicking their paws up in the air, as if they had stepped in something extremely offensive and they had to get it off their feet. Little fleece booties were flying all over the yard. Once they were free of these shackles, they walked over next to each other. Cobalt's head was facing Onyx's tail, and vice versa. Then, just as cows and horses work together to keep the flies away, my dear beagles worked together to get the fleece coats off. Cobalt grabbed the velcro tab under Onyx's belly with his mouth, and she grabbed his with hers. Before I could reach the camera, the coats had been shed. Both dogs shook fiercely, as if to lose the traumatic memory, and went romping about the yard.
The way they work together makes me think the person who created Dress Up Your Pet day only has one dog. If you have two dogs together- who needs thumbs? For many years, this remained my last failed attempt to dress the dogs. I can put bandanas on them- they love wearing bandanas. Maybe it makes them feel rugged (even if the bandanas are pale green and covered in Easter Eggs). But no other 'clothes'. This summer, I tried again, thinking maybe they had outgrown the 'I don't like clothes' stage. I put their 4th of July hats on them. The result was pretty much the same. They both frantically pawed at the strings, and then they moved next to each other and undressed their sibling.
So I have finally learned my lesson. Four tries, one bite, and a lot of laughter later- I know the only dressing up of my dogs will be bandanas. Good thing I've made them one for each season!
I first tried dressing them up for the 4th of July. I found hats for each of them, and put the hats on them. I turned to get my camera, and when I looked back, Cobalt was working on the strings on Onyx's hat, and she was working on his. I was able to take a couple of quick pictures, and the hats were off.
I thought perhaps they just didn't like hats. I normally do not participate in Halloween, but I tried to dress up the beagles for Halloween in 2002 (the first Halloween we had them). We weren't going anywhere, I just thought it would be cute to have them dressed up for the trick-or-treaters coming to the house. We found a caterpillar costume for Cobalt, because he has always been our Cuddle Bug. And for Princess Onyx, a devil costume. Because, by the time she was 10 months old, she was already quite the devil! I dressed Cobalt first, and set him on the couch next to me as I prepared the Devil Princess. Cobalt was very disgruntled, and immediately started trying to get this thing off of him. Onyx was determined not to let me get her 
completely dressed. Erich took pictures to document my struggle. I kept smiling.... even as Onyx chomped down on my hand. How very appropriate, the devil dog is biting me! And if you look in the picture, you can see Cobalt trying to get his costume off.
I am not one to let a little bite stop me, so in the winter I tried again. I was worried that they would get cold when they went out in the snow. We adopted them in the winter, and their first winter they were too small to go into the big backyard. They had a little grassy patch off the patio. By the time they were one, they were playing in the big yard regularly. So I bought each of them a nice fleece coat. Cobalt's was blue and Onyx's was purple. The coats had a velcro strip that went under their bellies. I also bought them fleece booties- mucklucks for dogs is what they were called. This would protect their delicate paw pads in the ice and snow. My parents were visiting that Christmas, and it had snowed. I bundled the doggies into their nice warm coats and booties and sent them out to explore. My father was watching them from the house, and he started laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face. The dogs were kicking their paws up in the air, as if they had stepped in something extremely offensive and they had to get it off their feet. Little fleece booties were flying all over the yard. Once they were free of these shackles, they walked over next to each other. Cobalt's head was facing Onyx's tail, and vice versa. Then, just as cows and horses work together to keep the flies away, my dear beagles worked together to get the fleece coats off. Cobalt grabbed the velcro tab under Onyx's belly with his mouth, and she grabbed his with hers. Before I could reach the camera, the coats had been shed. Both dogs shook fiercely, as if to lose the traumatic memory, and went romping about the yard.
The way they work together makes me think the person who created Dress Up Your Pet day only has one dog. If you have two dogs together- who needs thumbs? For many years, this remained my last failed attempt to dress the dogs. I can put bandanas on them- they love wearing bandanas. Maybe it makes them feel rugged (even if the bandanas are pale green and covered in Easter Eggs). But no other 'clothes'. This summer, I tried again, thinking maybe they had outgrown the 'I don't like clothes' stage. I put their 4th of July hats on them. The result was pretty much the same. They both frantically pawed at the strings, and then they moved next to each other and undressed their sibling.
So I have finally learned my lesson. Four tries, one bite, and a lot of laughter later- I know the only dressing up of my dogs will be bandanas. Good thing I've made them one for each season!
I feel with those poor beagles! I wouldn't want to be wearing more than a bandana if I were a dog either :-D !!
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