I think some dogs look adorable in sweaters but, admittedly, I’ve never really felt the urge to put clothes on Wrigley. Except that one time my friend made him a sweater and I put it on him to see what would happen. He gave me the “look of death” and stood, frozen in place, for about 20 minutes. I thought he looked quite dapper, but it was obvious he thought it was some sort of punishment. Sad day.

So, let’s hear it. Do you dress up your dog? Do they love it or hate it? How extreme do their outfits get?

Photo by TronjaAzul

I once worked for a photo agency where it wasn’t unusual to share my office with several of my co-worker’s dogs (a lab named Max and a Portuguese water dog named Molly — they were the cutest). Now, I work from home and am fortunate enough to have Wrigley by my side every day. But I still remember how enjoyable it was to have a few fur balls at the office; they seemed to lift everyone’s spirits! So, I’m curious: do you bring your dog to work? If you could, would you?

I’d love to see photos of your working pup! Head over to our Facebook page and post a pic of your office dog!

Photo by Jamison Wieser.

I spotted this photo and it got me thinking… would you ever get a tattoo of your dog’s portrait or name? Would you wait until after your dog had passed? What would you get?

I’m sure many of you remember the controversial Bark Out Loud post we did earlier this year about Art Lebedev Studio‘s retractable gun leash. Well, voices were heard and made way for this much less aggressive and more playful redesign by Yunfan Tan. Looks kind of like a water gun… now if only it shot water, too…

Last week Jaime and I got into an interesting conversation over our thoughts regarding the Povodokus Retractable Dog Leash above. Through our conversation, we realized just how provocative this concept design piece is, and decided that we would love to hear your thoughts on it.

Bark out Loud: Do you find this product creative or crass? What are some of your reasons?

Last week I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through this slide show of pet photos featured in the science section of The New York Times. The topic question posed was “A Family’s Best Friend?” and it featured a series of anecdotes about how a family pet has either come between or won over challenging family members. Smiling and laughing at each caption, I was reminded of when Miles fist came into my life and the rift it caused between my fiance and I. Not only was my fiance completely opposed to owning a small dog, he resented the time and attention baby Miles required. Not to mention my need to take Miles everywhere. But after time, Miles’ love, affection, and adorable underbite won him over. Now (as evident by the photo above), they are best buddies and we are one happy little family.

So now I’m dying to know: Did any of you have to overcome the great doggy divide with your family members? Or maybe you were the one that was won over? Either way, we’d love to hear your stories.

Beans hasn’t been taking well to his new dog bed. In fact, he’s been avoiding it altogether in favor of Lulu’s bed or the couch. When it first arrived, I coaxed him up onto it and he reluctantly posed for some photos, but on a day-to-day basis he’s practically ignored it. Dogs use their sense of smell not only to communicate but to mark their territory, and Beans, being a master marker of territory, took one sniff of this new bed and said “No thanks, lady. This ain’t my bed.”

So I needed to think of a way to 1) help him understand that this bed is for him and the big bed is for Lulu, and 2) train him to like it just as much as he likes the other spots in the house where he sleeps. I want him to use the bed, but I also want to make sure he wants to use it and is comfortable with it. But dogs aren’t like people — they don’t force themselves to spend time in a new pair of jeans knowing that they’ll eventually break them in…they are much more creatures of habit, resistant to change.

I started brainstorming… Beans likes to be close to me (sometimes I call him “Static Beans” because he’s like static cling) and snuggle up with blankets, towels and other soft things…Eureeka!

I took an old sweater that I had planned on giving to Goodwill and laid it on top of the bed. Because it had my familiar scent on it, Beans had no problem getting right up on that bed and snuggling into the warm folds of the sweater. Not only was it nice and soft, but it made him feel comforted, as though I was near. I certainly wasn’t going to wear it anymore, so at least it ended up being put to good use.

How do you make your dogs feel more comfortable and receptive to change?