My eyes could not believe what they saw, construed as a laugh for the day sent to me as an email. The dressing up of dogs in clothing, come on people, if God had meant dogs to wear clothes, they would have been born nude.

This practice has always amused me, that some people think that their pets appearance is greatly improved by the donning of a dress, hat, cloak or similar. The dog must think, and they can, that their owners are complete idiots. They say dogs take on the look of their owners, or is it that some owners just look like their dogs? Well, if the pet owner wishes their dogs to look like them, and dresses them in the same attire, there must be some weirdly dressed people in this world.

At school I had the nickname of Bulldog, was this because I looked like one? (bulldogs being the most beautiful specie.) Did I have a demeanour that reminded people of the dog? (So gentle and kind.) Or was I blessed with the undershot jaw, a defining feature of the Bulldog? Yes, this is one of my facial features, frightening to some, yet loved by others, as attested to by my other half.

I owned a pet Bulldog, he had a loving nature towards all, but had the look of a “watchdog” of note. Built like a body builder, with muscles that bulged in all directions, he had the look of a night club bouncer. Friends and visitors to our house, to scared to alight from the vehicles until assured that the “dog will not bite”, would say how frightened they where of him. Yet they still came to visit me, so the undershot jaw is not a deterrent. But I digress, it never crossed my mind to dress the dog and hide the natural beauty of his physical structure or wonderful colouring.

Maybe dog owners dress their dogs because of their embarrassment of the dog's looks. I have yet to see a dog so ugly, that it needed clothes, humans, yes, but not a dog. The women of our human race dress in less and less, (thank you Lord!) using their attributes to attract the male of the species. You men must have seen the delight shown by these beauties when they notice you have had a good look. Well now, what about your dog? Because they are not attuned to naturally grinning, their prancing and strutting are indications that they are enjoying the attention, or side way glances of other dogs.

Imagine the thoughts of a dog dressed up, “I hate the attention and cooing of the human race, can I not just walk around and be admired by my specie?” How do you expect your dog to tell you he needs to go to the toilet? Our babies need have to be taught this, and spend the best part of two years "doing it in their pants", sitting on it or lying in it, until the adult or a passer-by notices an aroma not conducive to good baby odours. Do you expect your dog to control itself until it suites you to allow it to bend its back?

Why aren't dogs allowed to be natural, show off their colours and looks, without the coveralls of humans? How many times have you heard people comment “the dog is so ugly, it is actually beautiful”? Why can we not allow the dogs to roll in the dirt and grass? After all, this is their natural way of ridding themselves of mites, fleas and ticks. A difficult task if they are "dressed to the hilt". How I would like to see these types dress a lion or tiger, the contempt that would be shown by the animals, gratifying to me as an observer.

Come on people of the human race, allow your pets to look natural and appealing to their fellow canines, stop making them look like idiots, attracting the chuckles of the more well constructed street urchins of note. The Rottweilers, Great Danes, and Pit Bulls do not want their snacks wrap like the chocolates, sweets and snacks eaten by the human race.