My Dog Hates Clothes. 5 Tips To Change His Mind!

dog clothing italian greyhound

My dog hates wearing clothes”, “She just freezes when I put a jumpsuit on!”, “He looks so unhappy with this jacket…” – sounds familiar?

If so, this article is for you.

I’ll be honest – this has never been a big issue for me. At first Harvey was happy with his clothes but as it got colder we ordered an overall which was something similar to parka – big, fluffy & warm.

Harvey wasn’t excited about that at all - he almost didn't move in it. I knew the size is perfect and that it doesn’t hurt. The problem was - he wasn’t used to be covered fully. It took me a few days to make Harvey to get over it. All was super smooth from then on.

Why to tell this story? I hear so many people saying that it actually is a big issue for them & their iggies. Let’s dive into 5 points that will help your dog to overcome the fear or inconvenience in wearing clothes.

harvoola italian greyhound puppy

#1. Start with a puppy

…Or as early as possible. Wearing clothes is simply a habit that is easily learnt. Imagine if you start teaching your iggy not to jump on people when he’s 3 months old – it’s quite quick & easy. But it gets more difficult when he’s 3 years old, doesn’t it? Same with clothes, even if it’s warm outside when he’s still a puppy, put bandanas, snoods, summer shirts for him to get used to feel fabrics touching their bodies.

#2. Dress up for a few minutes & give treats

First time you put any clothing on, do that for very short periods: put a vest or jacket on, give a treat, praise, take it off in a minute. Then increase the time wearing it based on how your dog reacts to it. If he feels pretty comfortable, leave it on for 5 – 10 minutes, if he looks lost, scared or freezes, give more treats, praise, start playing with doggo, take vest off.

Your goal is to prove your dog that it’s fun to wear clothes and fun things can happen when human shows a coat!

harvoola italian greyhound coat

#3. Take it slow

Depending on age and dog’s personality, this process might take from a day to a few weeks but your doggo will be way happier if he has time to get used to wearing clothes rather than have a jumpsuit put on and kept it for a full day.

Be very patient. Again, act as it was any trick you’d teach your iggy. Don’t rush and let him take his time. Every doggo learns in their own pace.

#4. Consider sleeveless pieces first

Easy to dress, loose fit, soft and sleeveless clothing are best to start with. Long sleeved pieces cover the body more which might cause too much stress. See #3 and remember – one step at a time :)

harvoola italian greyhound

 #5.  Make sure the size fits

This is crucial – pay extra attention choosing correct size when purchasing or making clothing for your dog by yourself. Too tight pieces can literally hurt: scratch armpits, strangle neck, you name it… Not even mentioning that while wearing too small clothes, dog feels stress and pain and there’s a high change that from then on clothes will associate with negative experience.

 ________

Hope this article inspired you not to give up and use positive reinforcement (treats will save the world and dog-human relationships!). Every dog deserves to be happy, cozy and... WARM!

If you haven't checked it yet, here's the list of must-have types of clothing in iggy's closet, take a look! :)

 

 


Leave a comment

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.


You may also like

Get some tips on what to do if fireworks display while you’re walking outside with your dog, how to get your Italian Greyhound used to the fireworks sound & how to keep your dog calm during those couple of minutes of pyrotechnics show.

This week I got a phone call from a lovely woman who has an 8-month-old iggy puppy. She was looking for a piece of advice on when & how to dress him as she was the first-time iggy owner. This blog post will clear all the doubts!

If the lion is a king of the jungle and Italian Greyhound is the king of our beds, the thing they both have in common is... being a king! Let's merge them and have the most thrilling costume this Halloween - Iggy the Lion. This is my personal favourite. And that's probably because I watched Disney's Lion the King like a million times...