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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nI<\/span> started scrolling for \u201cdog Christmas outfits\u201d a few weeks ago \u2013 and I wasn\u2019t quite sure why. Up until now, I\u2019ve always resisted the temptation to dress my 11-year-old golden retriever, Muggles, in silly festive outfits like a pull-on elf hat.<\/p>\nI admit, I\u2019ve always secretly wanted to get him a Gucci reversible corduroy pet coat costing \u00a3570, but I didn\u2019t want to make him the laughing stock of the neighbourhood by putting him in a humorous reindeer pet costume, a Santa hat with an elasticated chin strap, or in matchy-matchy Christmas PJs for the family. It just seemed so naff.<\/p>\n
Until now. As I dropped Muggles off for his biannual groom at the luxury pet store, Love My Human in London\u2019s King\u2019s Road, a regular haunt of James Middleton\u2019s and where he sells his freeze-dried raw dog food, I had a change of heart. <\/p>\n
It was the sight of all the soft alpaca dog Christmas jumpers \u2013 and Santa bandanas \u2013 that did it. As I was sitting a few doors down in their dog caf\u00e9 waiting for Muggles, staring aimlessly at a dog menu with \u201cloaded\u201d puppuccinos, beef wellington, and dog ice cream, I thought to myself, \u201cGo on, it\u2019s Christmas. Why not?\u201d <\/p>\n
The question was whether I could dress him up for Christmas day \u2013 but do it tastefully? <\/p>\n
I wandered back into the shop and picked him out a fabulously soft alpaca knit with a snowman design (\u00a352.50), a great crocheted Christmas tree hat (from \u00a335), and a traditional large red velvet festive Christmas bow (\u00a318.50). <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>I\u2019d always resisted the temptation to dress Muggles in silly festive outfits \u2013 until now (Charlotte Cripps)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nI threw in a fresh seafood shrimp toy to complement his Christmas-themed outfit. I wanted him to look subtle and refined, not gimmicky.<\/p>\n
As Muggles returned upstairs from the grooming parlour looking like a fluffy white teddy bear rather than his usual matted, dirty sheep look, I got him dressed for Christmas. From that point on, everywhere I went, people stopped us in the street, saying, \u201cOh, he\u2019s adorable,\u201d and \u201cLook at him, so cute!\u201d<\/p>\n
Then I took him to meet my children, Lola, nine, and Liberty, seven. Their whole school swooned over his Christmas outfit. He lapped up the attention and seemed happily comfortable. I took off his jumper once we got home, so he didn\u2019t overheat, and even snipped a few stitches around the neck so it was a looser fit for him.<\/p>\n
But according to Peta, this isn\u2019t okay. The animal rights charity recently criticised Channel 4\u2019s show Game Of Wool: Britain’s Best Knitter, <\/em>presented by former Olympic diver Tom Daley, for putting knitted clothes on dogs at the risk of causing them \u201cdiscomfort and stress\u201d. <\/p>\n\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Muggles in the reindeer outfit I bought on Amazon for \u00a313 (Charlotte Cripps)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nIn the hit show\u2019s episode \u2013 \u201cThe Dog Apparel Challenge\u201d, contestants had to create \u201ciconic\u201d but \u201cpractical\u201d two-piece doggie outfits in 12 hours for two Italian greyhounds, who then modelled their new knitwear. The outfits included a neon orange coat and matching pom-pom hat, a rainbow sparkly coat and gold unicorn hat, a tailored red coat with a yellow and black beret, and a pink and white stripy number with a regal crown.<\/p>\n
Disapproving viewers online expressed their \u201cdisappointment\u201d at Daley for being involved in such a degrading project. \u201cAs if any self-respecting, animal-caring dog owner would subject their canine to wearing these totally impractical outfits,\u201d said one viewer. <\/p>\n
Elisa Allen, Peta\u2019s vice president of programmes and operations, told Channel 4: \u201cThe only animals who should wear wool are sheep.\u201d The campaigners also made it clear there should be a switch from using real wool to \u201cnatural, biodegradable plant wools\u201d because the production of any animal-derived material, including wool, involves animal suffering and exploitation<\/p>\n
\u201cDogs aren’t dolls, they are whole, intelligent individuals who should be respected for who they are,\u201d Allen then told The<\/em> Mail on Sunday<\/em>. \u201cPutting clothes on them for our entertainment reduces them to laughable, lesser humans.\u201d<\/p>\nPutting a garment on a dog is acceptable only when it\u2019s truly in their best interest, to \u201ckeep them warm or dry\u201d. She added: \u201cGarments can bother dogs, and cause them discomfort, stress and confusion\u201d. <\/p>\n
But surely it\u2019s harmless fun as long as the dog doesn\u2019t mind it, and they don\u2019t overheat? Of course I wouldn\u2019t stick my dog in a ridiculous personalised pet cape with pom poms which meant that he could hardly walk, but a fun festive coats? Why not? I\u2019m not alone in wanting to my dog to joing in the Christmas fun either. The pet fashion industry is booming, and is driven by consumers who increasingly view their pets as family members, just like I do. <\/p>\n
The global pet clothing market was valued at around \u00a34.12bn <\/strong>in 2024 and is expected to reach over \u00a35.52bn by 2030. King Charles has launched his own range of tweed jackets for dogs made exclusively at his Sandringham estate in Norfolk and crafted from Sandringham Royal Tweed with a brown collar and belt. <\/p>\n\n
\nI\u2019m not alone in wanting to dress my dog in festive clobber, either. The pet fashion industry is booming, and is driven by consumers who increasingly view their pets as family members, just like I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
The current M&S x Bella Freud collaboration, which also includes a lambswool blend dog jumper with the \u201cBest Friend\u201d slogan across the back, is a nod to the designer’s trademark \u201c1970\u201d jumper and brings a new cool-dog level to canine fashion.<\/p>\n
And these days, twinning with your dog is as fun as doing it with your mini-me child at Trotters. That\u2019s why Next sells matching chocolate brown Fair Isle knitted Christmas dog jumpers (\u00a318) so that you can coordinate with them.<\/p>\n
Dogs are so much more than loyal companions. We give them blueberry facials, feed them special diets, and a recent study revealed that 54 per cent of dog owners regard their dog as a pseudo-child. <\/p>\n
On many levels, that has always been the case for me. Muggles was like a surrogate child; when I got him, I was desperate for a baby and in the midst of IVF. I sang lullabies to him and carried him around in a bag when he was a puppy. <\/p>\n
And like many other dog parents, I also suffer \u201cdog guilt\u201d just as strongly as \u201cmum guilt\u201d when I feel I\u2019m not giving him the attention he deserves. A degree of anthropomorphism isn\u2019t a bad thing. But the changing landscape of the dog-owner relationship means that we often attribute things to our dogs that are merely projections of ourselves \u2013 not how the dog really feels. <\/p>\n
While Muggles seems to be happy to be wearing a Christmas jumper, I also know that he hasn\u2019t got a clue about why so much fuss is being made of it either. And he looks especially cute in he reindeer outfit I bought him. The brown cotton special made dog hoodie with cute antlers felt slightly less restrictive than the jumper \u2013 and easier to wash. <\/p>\n
In his reindeer form, I can\u2019t walk down the road without people wanting to take selfies with him. Muggles looks adorable in his new festive outfits. But once Christmas is over, he\u2019s going back to plain old Muggles and I\u2019ll love him just the same. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more I started scrolling for \u201cdog Christmas outfits\u201d a few weeks ago \u2013 and I wasn\u2019t quite sure why. Up until now, I\u2019ve always resisted the temptation to dress my 11-year-old golden retriever, Muggles, in silly festive outfits like a pull-on elf hat. I admit, I\u2019ve always secretly wanted to get him a Gucci reversible corduroy pet coat costing \u00a3570, but I didn\u2019t want to make him the laughing stock of the neighbourhood by putting him in a humorous reindeer pet costume, a Santa hat with an elasticated chin strap, or in matchy-matchy Christmas PJs for the family. It just seemed so naff. Until now. As I dropped Muggles off for his biannual groom at the luxury pet store, Love My Human in London\u2019s King\u2019s Road, a regular haunt of James Middleton\u2019s and where he sells his freeze-dried raw dog food, I had a change of heart. It was the sight of all the soft alpaca dog Christmas jumpers \u2013 and Santa bandanas \u2013 that did it. As I was sitting a few doors down in their dog caf\u00e9 waiting for Muggles, staring aimlessly at a dog menu with \u201cloade…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10042"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}