The original K9 top coat lycra bodysuit!

January 2, 2003 7:47 PM

Bored with ordinary pet clothes? Jaded with even the fancy stuff? Okay, then - go over the top and put your dog in a skin-tight lycra bodysuit. Not only does it make almost any dog look oddly aerodynamic, it has the added benefit of making them look really, really silly.
posted by yhbc (23 comments total)

I have to say, though, that anything that will keep burrs out of a dog's coat is a good idea. If you've ever spent hours picking burrs out, you wouldn't care how silly such a thing looks. Especially if you have a long-haired breed in full coat, this sort of thing could be a boon for those who show their dogs.
posted by biscotti at 8:06 PM on January 2, 2003

If you've ever spent hours picking burrs ticks out
posted by machaus at 8:14 PM on January 2, 2003

I'm wondering if this would be good for those little dogs that are cold all the time. It looks silly, but may be functional.
posted by RunsWithBandageScissors at 8:15 PM on January 2, 2003

Oddly aerodynamic, indeed.
posted by DakotaPaul at 8:22 PM on January 2, 2003

It's interesting how clearly this shows the different body shapes that are hidden under all that fur, even if the foofy-haired dogs come out looking a little chubbier than they are.
posted by hippugeek at 8:24 PM on January 2, 2003

As the owner of dogs who love to play in the snow, I might just invest. It'd be far easier to take arctic fleece suits off of three dogs than it is to try to get all of them suitably dry after a good romp. The silliness of lycra bodysuits hasn't stopped joggers, why should it stop pets?
posted by Dreama at 8:26 PM on January 2, 2003

We had a dog named Tar Baby who was a black lab and greyhound mix. She loved her clothes because she would get cold. But do not buy special. A sweater works just fine, and is very quick....head through then wrap the arms around and tie on the top.
posted by JohnR at 8:30 PM on January 2, 2003

I have to admit, when I saw this on Something Awful (no, links don't just come out of the blue, you generally find them somewhere else) I had the same reaction as a lot of folks so far: yeah, it looks silly, but it is functional. It's just, how far do you want to go towards complete weirdness and still be functional?
posted by yhbc at 8:31 PM on January 2, 2003

Best pose ever.
posted by Nothing at 8:37 PM on January 2, 2003

The Muttlucks were literally life-savers for the search and rescue dogs that were trying to find survivors at Ground Zero of the WTC disaster.

The dogs waded through deep layers of glass, ashes, and hot twisted metal in their rescue work.

Without the Muttlucks, a dog couldn't stay at the site searching for very long, and would often have to be pulled from service after one round of duty because of the nature of the injuries to their paws.

The Muttlucks allowed dog and handler to return to multiple rounds of rescue work.

The Toronto-based firm that manufactures the doggy footwear rushed 80 pairs to the WTC recovery area via a FedEx Angel Flight on September 13th.

When Muttlucks found that not only were there the 30 NYPD dogs that had been on the site from day one, but there were actually closer to 300 search and rescue K9s at Ground Zero, they sent down an additional 750 sets from Canada the same day.

I suppose the lycra suits could have helped the dogs and trainers in the rescue effort, as well.

Here's a possible design.
posted by Dunvegan at 9:28 PM on January 2, 2003

All they need now are little doggy leg warmers.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:40 PM on January 2, 2003

I remember laughing at the people down the street from me that made hand-knit sweaters for their dog.

But this is even sillier.
posted by Kevin Sanders at 10:37 PM on January 2, 2003

Ordinary pet clothes?

I did not know there was such a thing. (The ordinary part that is.)

That proposed dog memorial looks no different from the painted bears, cows, pigs, and whatever that have been popular of late.
posted by Dick Paris at 11:58 PM on January 2, 2003

1) They definitely do make the dogs look ridiculous(not always a bad thing).

2) I was ready to mock mercilessly, then saw the fleece, and immediately thought our 13 year old Basenji would probably dig the hell out of one of these. She's old and African, famous for sleeping out on the block patio in the sun when it's 95 degrees out. Shade of the house hits her, and she gets up and moves back into the sun, and 80% of her fur is black as coal. Dog literally gets hot to the touch. With 6 inches of fresh snow outside, I'm certain she would totally be down with being ridiculous looking but warm.

And that sucks, because I was ready to point and laugh. Oh, what the hell, that Golden Retriever is hilarious looking in lycra.

And those Muttluck people sound like my kind of folks. Think I'll send them a nice letter thanking them for helping out.

Man's best friend indeed. Good link, Dunvegan
posted by dglynn at 1:11 AM on January 3, 2003

I routinely laugh at dogs wearing little coats, sweaters, and the like, when it's just for the purpose of the dog looking "fancy". (Most dog owners I know do that. Sigh.)
But, even if they look ridiculous, I can see the usefulness of the lycra suits. As long as they don't start being "trendy" and everybody and their little dog gets one...
posted by sailoreagle at 2:42 AM on January 3, 2003

But why put tough, outdoor-style dogs (labs, retrievers, Australian and German shepherds) in silly lycra suits? In these photos, it's warm enough for humans to wear shorts so wouldn't it be a little uncomfortable for the dogs to wear lycra suits?

I agree that in some cases (like dglynn's sweet old Basenji) these might be handy, but a healthy Lab needs one of these things like she needs a hole in the head.
posted by jennyb at 4:47 AM on January 3, 2003

I agree Jennyb. Dogs don't sweat. One of those in the summer seems like a death sentence to me. Winter, perhaps. But on a hot summer day? I'm calling the ASPCA!
posted by archimago at 6:47 AM on January 3, 2003

Clearly these were designed for superhero's pets. Finally, fido can have a matching uniform as me. They just need to add in a cape and the effect would be perfect.
posted by quin at 1:28 PM on January 3, 2003

I saw these on two dogs in a regional park in the Bay Area this recent Christmas.

The two dogs looked at me (and my unfettered dog runing in all his nakedness) and said: "let me out..."
posted by Ogre Lawless at 2:00 PM on January 3, 2003

Dogs don't sweat. One of those in the summer seems like a death sentence to me.

Erm...you have that kind of backwards. Dogs "sweat" (i.e. get rid of excess heat) through their tongues and pads, and the amount of heat they lose through the skin on most of the body is minimal (unlike animals who sweat through their skin), so anything the dog is wearing on its body (barring something thermal, like fleece) should have little or no effect on the ability to get rid of excess heat. They can lose some additional heat through their ears, where the blood vessels are close to the skin but since the ears, feet and tongue are not covered by the suit, the suit shouldn't make much difference to the heat lost by the dog. A breathable fabric like Lycra isn't going to increase a dog's body temperature appreciably, nor is it going to affect their ability to get rid of excess heat (not unless you give them latex tongue covers and plastic booties as well). The only breeds this sort of thing might affect adversely when it comes to summer use are the double-coated breeds, whose coats actually help keep them cool by being fluffy and trapping cooler air near the skin, flattening down such coats could decrease the effectiveness of the dog's coat. But overall, the Lycra suits shouldn't make any difference to a dog's body temperature.
posted by biscotti at 5:56 PM on January 3, 2003

Then there really doesn't seem to be any point at all, if it won't effect the dog's body temperature (except perhaps as a protective coating for dogs who have to undergo extensive grooming).

Besides, I'd rather see lycra cat suits, just because it would be funny to watch my extremely pissed off cats run around the house in them. Especially after I added the little cape.
posted by jennyb at 6:40 PM on January 3, 2003 [1 favorite]

Then there really doesn't seem to be any point at all

The Lycra ones aren't intended to affect body temperature, they're intended to keep the dog's coat clean and unmatted, keep parasites and burrs off, and protect the skin and coat from the sun (dogs get skin cancer just like people do). These are all good things. And they do make thermal ones, for winter.

I agree with you about the cat suits though, but most cats would probably just pretend they were paralyzed until you took it off them.
posted by biscotti at 7:26 PM on January 3, 2003

What about getting the suit on the cat? I'd like to see video of that.
posted by rotifer at 1:40 PM on January 6, 2003