My dog, Shadow. She's a six pound black poodle who doubles as a medical alert dog as well as my companion. When we're out she has a service vest on, when we're at home she's wearing a light-colored shirt/dress so that I can see her easily when I take her out after dark. Yes, it's cutesy, but it's also the safety issue for her.

I just don't put nail polish on my dog.

Some dogs like to be dressed up.

Maybe she likes wearing clothing, you don’t know all the facts

No, some of these actions are perfectly fine such as dressing the dog up and giving it fancy treats and accessories. I just don’t agree with nail polish and perfume.

I have had several therapy animals. The rule in my group is that if your dog is dressed up, you 'd better be dressed up too. The therapy dogs, and a few cats, seemed to really enjoy getting dressed up to go on hospital or nursing home visits. In my group, no dog ever had their dignity diminished (it is cruel to laugh at dogs IMO) but they can laugh and joke around just like humans. Dogs and handlers wore their costumes proudly, the patients loved it, and I think the dogs did too. As Courtney Graham said, some see their "work clothes" and get very excited, knowing they're going to be center stage. I would never, by word, thought or deed, be cruel to an animal.

Yep. They make a quick-dry nail polish with animal-safe ingredients so it's non-toxic if the dog chews her paws and toenails. I've had Shadow's nails done maybe once a year, then again I have to have her groomed regularly since she's a poodle.

This dog isn't spoiled, she's suffering from what sounds like a pretty severe case of separation anxiety. This is something that can be addressed with behavioral therapy and sometimes mild sedatives to help while desensitization is taking place. Don't be angry at the poor thing, she's terrified and neurotic, and needs help.

Rebecca O’Donnell

Rebecca O’Donnell

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Not spoiled but maybe separation anxiety.

I feel so bad for you. I can't stand spoiled dogs either! They are almost as bad as spoiled children. It's great to love a dog so much, but it needs a proper training in order to be a two-sided relationship. When my adolescent dog misbehaves and everyone in the family except for me forgives him, he climbs on the top of their head, as the expression goes. A dog needs to be taught how to behave or else, he/she assumes that it's his/her duty to set the rules and dogs are not just terrible at it, but also extremely uncomfortable with doing it, which often causes them to use aggression to control others. Dogs are after all perpetual puppies, they are not created to be leaders(with few exceptions, such as the the husky sledding team's leader, and even this dog is controlled by a human).