Dogs and Baseball Go Together

It seems like I’ve officially become one of “those” pet owners. You know, the ones who dress their dogs in clothing?

Well, I have. And I haven’t.

I mean, TECHNICALLY I just bought a shirt for my dog. This is the same dog who has a winter coat but to be honest, I’ve only put it on her less than ten times in four years. It’s not even like that counts as clothing.

So this shirt. It’s not what you think.

Earlier this week, Roxie had surgery to remove some lumps, common in older beagles. She’s fine, thank goodness.

Her incisions are on her back and shoulder, two places that deem a post-op collar useless. One of her favorite things in life is to roll around on the floor, which means we’ve had to keep an eagle eye on her because we don’t want her to, well, I won’t say but you can imagine the potential damage. The one on her shoulder is easily scratched with her hind leg.

Since I enjoy leaving my house, I needed to figure out a way to protect her from herself when I’m gone, and the coat was perfect. Actually, it would have been perfect if I could have found it. I tore this house apart yesterday and discovered everything but the coat. That’s why I headed to the store when Jim got home and could take over keeping an eye on her.

I felt completely silly shopping for dog clothes. There are some ridiculous outfits out there for our canine family members. Ridiculous, actually, with a capital R.

And then I found it: a baseball jersey for a certain team that happens to be my favorite, one that will hopefully win it all this year: the Chicago Cubs.

I posted a picture to Facebook, saying that I’d never live it down at home if I bought the jersey. (I live with a White Sox Fan and two non-baseball fans in general one of whom takes every opportunity to try and harsh my mellow on the Cubs, I might add. Luckily I still adore him.)

My Facebook friends came through with the encouragement I needed, and I further justified my purchase by noting that the Cubs jersey was only five dollars more than the other stupid dog ensembles. When I was at the checkout stand I felt like I needed to tell the cashier that I was buying the jersey for utilitarian purposes and not actually to show team spirit or to be “one of those” pet owners, but I effectively zipped my lips before those thoughts came tumbling out because I realized the cashier could have probably cared less and was just looking forward to getting through her last hour at work.

I’m happy to report that I put the jersey on Roxie this morning and as luck would have it, not only does it cover what I need it to cover but it’s also nice and snug on her so she’s not trying to take it off like she does when I dress her up for Halloween. (Oh dear. I AM one of those pet owners.)

Go Cubs!