Pure. Dog. Blog.

There are two kinds of dog people: those who dress up their dogs and those who most definitely won’t. Now you can add a new dividing line–those who dye their dogs and those who wouldn’t be caught dead doing it.

Creative groomers have never been able to resist the morphing potential of a poodle coat. This obliging poodle became a peacock for a grooming competition.

Dyeing a dog’s coat has a long history as a specialty trick that some professional groomers pull out at grooming competitions, for that extra edge of novelty and surprise. But now it’s becoming a larger trend among everyday (or not-so-everyday?) dog owners. Anderson Cooper recently interviewed a couple of doting “dog moms” on his daytime talk show, whose tail-wagging little fur babies were tinged shades of dramatic purple and green.

Anderson admitted to being perplexed by the concept. “You lost me when you said ‘I wanted my beagle painted like a zebra before he got married,’” he told one dyed doggie’s owner.

“But do the dogs like it?” he asked. The women claimed their dogs love the attention provoked by their multi-hued coats and feed off the enthusiastic energy that their unusual colors attract. An audience member wasn’t so sure. “I think it’s more about attracting attention to the owners,” she sniffed. “It’s not about how the dogs feel.”

Is that a killjoy comment? Or do our dogs deserve to look like dogs, not fashion accessories? Is it all just good fun or cause to contact PETA about canine humiliation? Continue reading →