This morning on our walk, Darling Doggie Dallas and I passed a puppy wearing the “Cone of Shame.”
For those unfamiliar with this device, it’s basically a lampshade attached to the animal’s collar to prevent it from licking wounds. In this case, it was being worn in the aftermath of neutering surgery.
“How’s he doing with that?” I asked the dog’s owner.
“Not too bad,” he said. “He doesn’t seem to mind it too much, really.”
That wasn’t the case with my Sheltie.
He hated that cone after his neutering.
Ran into walls. Refused to eat. Just stood there, hanging his head and glaring at me.
Blaming me for making him wear it.
And I had my son to contend with at the same time.
“Little Domer” didn’t particularly like the idea of neutering his dog. (Honestly, why do guys seem to take that as a personal offense?!?)
At length, I decided Enough is Enough, so I headed for Wal-Mart.
I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for, but eventually I found myself in the toddler boys’ department.
I zeroed in on a pair of athletic shorts, the kind guys use for basketball.
Or whatever.
They looked like this (And yes, what can I say? I save stuff!):
Front of pants
As I recall, I initially picked out the wrong size, but a do-over rectified that error. Ultimately, he needed a size 4T.
Anyway, the shorts were green and gold, our high school’s colors, and that mollified Domer a bit.
I took scissors and cut an opening in the rear seam for Dallas’s tail.
Like so:
Pants, rear view
Then I convinced a leery Domer to help me make a BIG DEAL out of how cute Dallas looked in his “little britches.”
Dallas was skeptical, too, but when he saw how happy the shorts seemed to make us, he acquiesced.
We left them on him most of the ten-day healing period — except for when he had to go outside to potty.
He even slept in them.
In fact, it wasn’t easy to convince him to part with them.
Now If I were really ambitious (with extra time on my hands), I’d promote the heck out of these things and turn ’em into a side business!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
“I took scissors and cut an opening in the rear seam for Dallas’s tail.”
*clapping*
Bwhahahahahahaha! Debbie, that was a BRILLIANT idea! And OMG…they’re so cute!
I remember when I had my female cat (Zoe) spayed and she had to wear one of those cones as well. And if you know anything about cats, they hate to be messed with because they MUST in control. OMG…she was a mess with that cone on. I finally just took it off her.
“Now If I were really ambitious (with extra time on my hands), I’d promote the heck out of these things and turn ‘em into a side business!”
You should because it’s a GREAT idea!
Hope you’re having a super weekend!
X
Ron, I can just imagine poor Kitty having to wear a cone! I’ve never seen a real cat in one — probably because of the reason you stated. I don’t imagine they’d take to such humiliation, ha!
Surprisingly, there are all sorts of veterinarian-approved devices for after-surgery for pets. They include softer collars, see-thru collars, etc. I still prefer the idea of athletic shorts, though!
Thanks for dropping in and have a super Sunday!
What a clever idea. We have used t-shirts before but never considered snazzy shorts! Even if a pup doesn’t seem to mind the cone, it just looks so awkward and uncomfortable. Guys take a offense I suppose because the idea of snipping in that area makes them uncomfortable. The process is much shorter these days and in fact some dogs come to camp less than a week after being neutered, we just have to watch them–for bitches it talks a little longer.
Dallas is lucky he has such an innovative Mom.
Well, golly — thanks! I actually thought about a t-shirt, but it kept dragging on the ground (and he was clever enough to twist around and lick the forbidden stitches!) Yes, I imagine guys don’t like the idea of neutering. But, unless one is going to breed the dog, neutering seems the way to go. It makes for a calmer pet, one less apt to stray (the jury is still out, in my opinion, as to whether it lets them live longer and healthier lives though).
That’s a great idea! You were able to convince Dallas to wear the shorts, so why not? My Lucy is not a fan of clothing. The winter coat I bought her for really cold days? She just tries to chew it off her body.
I haven’t been as successful with his snow booties, ha! I Velcro them onto his feet, and he stands there afraid to move. I’ve always heard that snow and ice-melt are hard on their pads, and that’s why I invested in booties in the first place. Alas, he’s got other ideas!
I need a visual, Debbie. I want to see what they looked like because I’m having trouble imagining any dog wearing these shorts. Do you have a photo of Dallas wearing them? Would love to see!
As a matter of fact, I did have several photos of Dallas wearing his little britches. Most of them were on my phone, but sadly didn’t get transferred when I traded phones. I’ll look somewhere else and see what I can come up with. Back soon!
My male cat is currently waring his cone of shame… These animinals are SO unreasonable! He hates us SO much right now! LOL
Poor Kitty. I feel sorry for him. Besides the indignation of having THAT done, he has to wear a cone, too. Give him some extra cuddles, okay?
He’s free now! LOL He was chewing off his furr…
Every dog we’ve had hated the cone. Great idea to get around having to use it.
What do you mean you don’t have extra time on your hands to market it?! 🙂
Janna, you *know* I don’t have a spare minute! What with taking care of family, running my own business, beading, and trying to write my novel, my time is totally stretched. Sigh. Something like this — with setting up yet another website to manage AND preparing these shorts for all sizes of dogs (and cats) — would eat into my sleep-time, ha!