easy sweat shirts for little dogs

by Viki Gentilman
(Bryceville, Florida, USA)

Inspired by "sockys" story I was reminded when I had a little dog and how cold she got during the winter.

For an easy sweat shirt (actually TWO easy sweat shirts!) all you need is an old sweat shirt of yours or from a thrift store. Cut off the sleeves to a little longer then the dog is long if you want to finish it by making a hem...if you don't sew, don't despair! You can just cut the sleeve to fit the dogs body. Make sure that you don't get it too long because dogs do still have to go potty at times and you don't want to cover that area with a sweat shirt. IF YOU HAVE A MALE DOG YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE AN ARCHED CUT OUT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SWEAT SHIRT SO THAT IT DOESN'T GET WET WHEN HE HAS TO GO!

Flatten out the sweat shirt and lay it over the dog -- decide where the legs will be. (Note here...cut a very small hole because the reason we love sweat shirts is they stretch...a very small hole is easier to make a little bit bigger then to make too big of a hole a little bit smaller...) Then you slip the sweat shirt over the head and through the legs. And your puppy stays nice and warm.

You can trim out the sweat shirt with ribbons, buttons, sequins, paint, or whatever you think fits your dog. You can also use stencils and put their name or a cute doggy saying...get creative!

Once you have tried a sweat shirt don't stop there...long sleeved t-shirts make great doggy t's also. And even a knitted sweater works with some success (not too loose of a knit because their nails get caught in it if they get an itch) but with those you do have to sew a ribbon or something on the bottom to keep the knitting together where it was cut.