Creative grooming is respectless to the animal, amirite?

as long as the methods are safe, it doesn't really matter. they don't care. also, i'd be inclined to say that an owner willing to find safe methods to creatively groom their animals likely care a great deal about their pets.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

THIS I don't like. I made the response that you do it to your kids. You want them to look good. When they're young they can't completely decide, but obviously give them choice as they grow older. When you talk about mutilating dogs... I was like we do this to our kids too. Piercings & circumcisions for example, although I don't know if anyone does the latter for aesthetics.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Yeah I'm also opposed to any sort of cosmetic procedure on infants. I don't think it's unreasonable for a little girl who is old enough to start making some decisions to get her ears pierced. But I don't think we should do it to infants. And yeah as long as you live somewhere with access to clean water, circumcision serves basically no purpose other than aesthetics.

by Safe-Ad-6648 2 days ago

This is another disgusting practice and should obviousely be banned.

by Wooden-Beginning 2 days ago

The only thing disgusting about a dog with a mullet is how disgustingly cooler he is than all the other dogs.

by Safe-Ad-6648 2 days ago

uhm I meant docking their ears and tails 😭

by Wooden-Beginning 2 days ago

Chill

by Safe-Ad-6648 2 days ago

I dunno if thats even that black and white. I don't know much about ear docking but some dogs have their tails amputated for medical reasons, it isn't always just cosmetic.

by Carolynsauer 2 days ago

A dog having a tail amputated for medical purposes is not the same as docking a puppy to adhere to breed standards.

by Safe-Ad-6648 2 days ago

My cousins pit/lab mix has half a tail for this reason! His vet called it 'happy tail syndrome' he basically wagged his tail so hard onto something solid he broke the skin and then kept ripping the wound open by wagging more. The only cure was to cut his tail. He's now a much happier short tailed dog.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

"I don't know much" and proceeds to give misinformation 😅

by Kaseyparker 2 days ago

So long as it's not harmful or detrimental to their health and wellbeing, dogs don't really care.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

"Animals deserve dignity" shouts op. We cut away from that scene. It's thanksgiving. The dog is loudly licking his butthole for all the family gathered here to see and hear. With one last slurp, he finishes the task and goes to beg for turkey scraps. I don't think the dog cares if his hair looks stupid

by Just_Afternoon 2 days ago

Your dog must be flexible to lick its butt! I don't think mine could get halfway…

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Different standards. Dogs can feel embarrassed too.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

That is because you tie dignity to their behavior. Basic dignity is just a state though. Something that can not be lessened by behavior.

by Wooden-Beginning 1 day ago

I do not agree that a silly haircut shows a lack of dignity.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

If its not hurting the animal or distressing it, its fine

by RestIll 1 day ago

This. The dog has no concept of dignity, respect, or aesthetics. They know survival, socialization, and the things they enjoy. Don't stress them out and then punish them for being wildly stressed out and you're gonna be set, honestly.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

What about fun haircuts? When I was younger I cut my cats tail into little triangles of sorts just to see if I could and he didn't mind at all. Hes a fluffy boy so I'll also do sanitary trims on occasion

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Little cuts are not really a problem, but everything that involves shearing the undercoat can cause big issues when it's regrowing later on.

by Wooden-Beginning 1 day ago

I think you should specify the difference between aesthetic that negatively impacts the pet vs aesthetics that don't and are just for funsies

by Anonymous 1 day ago

If a cat or dog is gonna let me dress it up, I'm gonna do it. If they aren't cool with it, that's where I leave them be. It's temporary and doesn't harm an animal to dress it up. 100% agree on dying animals.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

generally, when you see animals dyed fun colors, they're using a pet safe dye like OPawz, which doesn't have the same risk as dye used on human hair.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I don't know that animals feel shame in the same way as humans. As long as the animal isn't in distress who cares? Like yeah if your dog hates going to the groomer it's not nice to make them stay extra long for an intricate haircut, but if they're one of those outgoing dogs who don't mind a haircut it's probably fine. Same with clothes, if they hate it don't do it, if they don't care and it's safe then whatever. My mom dressed me up like a little doll when I was a kid, I'm not mad about having to dress like a tiny sailor when I couldn't say no, it was cute, it made my mom happy.

by Carolynsauer 1 day ago

How is spray tanning and hair dyeing the same. I put chalk in my kids hair to change it into different colors for her, wouldn't that be more similar to coloring dog hair?

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Respectless?

by Shyannmayer 1 day ago

Some dogs love attention and absolutely love being groomed. If your dog is one of those dogs why not?

by francisco75 1 day ago

Maybe I did express myself poorly since english isn't my first language. However, there are two arguments. There is the one about physical harm. So creative grooming can be straight-up harmful to the animal. However, there is also a morality issue. So even if your dye doesn't hurt the animal. Even if the cut is shallow and doesn't damage the undercoat, I personally think that grooming specifically only done for aesthetic reasons is morally wrong.

by Wooden-Beginning 1 day ago

All grooming has an aesthetic aspect. They frame the face and the paws and all that. Nobody cuts straight in ONLY for practical purposes. That's my point. If you think all aesthetic based grooming is bad, then technically, all grooming is bad. The dog would look pretty bad if they only cut for practical purposes and never blended the hair properly, never framed anything and so on. I think it's way more disrespectful to leave them with a choppy haircut than to make them look a little bit better and more polished.

by elaina09 1 day ago

If it isn't harmful to the animal, what's the actual problem with it? I do agree that an animal isn't a doll. I.e, they are not toys. They are living, breathing animals that you can't just sit on a shelf. But dying your pet can also help prevent theft because the animal is far easier to identify and most animal thieves aren't going through the trouble of undoing a creative color or cut.

by Priscilla35 1 day ago

Dangerous chemicals aside, in what way does a haircut and outfit harm the animal?

by bartelleda 1 day ago

It's bold of you to assume people won't spray tan a toddler.

by Maxineweissnat 1 day ago

It's really sad but this is apparently quite an unpopular opinion. People treat animals like objects and it sucks

by Anonymous 1 day ago

When people dress up their children are they treating them as objects? Not really. As long as you aren't hurting your animals it's fine. If they are uncomfortable then don't dress up your animals.

by boylecallie 1 day ago

There is a very fine line and yes I definitely see parents treating their toddlers like living dolls.

by Wooden-Beginning 1 day ago

What irks me more is when people view pets like they're idiots or children, when in reality they just have a very different kind of animal intelligence. Dogs, for example, aren't babies, they express themselves physically because they have a very useful and sophisticated way of socialising with groups

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I'm vegan (yeah, I know, blah blah stereotype blah blah) & don't have any problem with this, depending on the context. poodles or other dogs that need their hair groomed for health reasons? go wild, shave a penis into their fur, whatever, as long as you don't hurt them & ideally positively reinforce the experience (it's pretty easy to make a dog happy to be groomed with treats & whatnot). they don't care & aren't "embarrassed" or whatever by things that are meaningless to them. but various dogs shouldn't have their fur shorn, as it can cause them a multitude of issues & reduces their ability to regulate their own body temperature. for clothing: some dogs prefer to wear stuff, need to wear sweaters at lower temperatures, or at least don't care if they do. again, it's a case-by-case situation. there are vests that help some anxious dogs, similar to humans with weighted blankets. whether they have silly patterns on them or not has no bearing on their efficacy, so it's less compassionate to not put a ridiculous-looking thundervest on an anxious dog (if they respond well to the vest) or not put a coat on a greyhound going out in the snow just because it looks silly to us

by Anonymous 1 day ago

At best it achieves nothing but aestathically pleases the owner Why is this a problem?

by Available-Diet-2619 1 day ago

Because there is the risk of it negatively affecting the dog. There are creative grooms that limit the negative as much as possible, by either doing only very shallow cuts in their fur or dying very small area, but that's about as far as you can get. Why risk something when there is no need to beside it being fun for the owner? In the end aesthatic grooms are about treating your animal like a toy or a doll and that is my moral issue, which is it's own thing beside the argument about it being harmful.

by Wooden-Beginning 1 day ago

There are creative grooms that limit the negative as much as possible, by either doing only very shallow cuts in their fur or dying very small area, but that's about as far as you can get. Mate, what do you think is risky about a haircut?

by Available-Diet-2619 1 day ago

This is a mixed bag of ideas. Some dogs need groomed, and doing it in fun ways is no more a harm to the animal then doing it in a way what is boring. I agree, don't dye your dogs hair. We're pretty aware that dyes can be quite detrimental, and if a human chooses to do it to themselves, all the power to you, but dogs have no choice. As for dressing them up, if the dog doesn't mind it, I don't really see any harm. I had a dachshund mix that absolutely loved wearing little hoodies and stuff. Would climb into them as fast as he could get into them. He was a little cold natured, and liked the warmth, but he was also cute as hell.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

How are dyes detrimental? Dog dyes specifically

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I think it's just like costumes. One of my dogs loves wearing a costume and prancing around while people look at him. My other dog looks like a horrified middle schooler if you even put a shirt on him. One dog wears a Halloween costume. The other dog wears a bat collar. If the dog likes it, do it. If it doesn't like it don't do it.

by francisco75 1 day ago

Tell my cat it goes the other way. Always dragging me to the salon every couple of weeks. Won't even let me talk to the stylist.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

If my poodle can tolerate the absolute back break that's getting groomed in the first place then he can tolerate a little mohawk or color streaks. If you see all that goes into a standard groom you'd see it as nothing extra really.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Those owners probably treat their animals better than your parents treated you.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Why does it matter as long as any products used are animal safe? The dog doesn't care, it won't be embarrassed. The only time I'd maybe be against it is if the dog is reactive doesn't like attention and it gets a cut that will draw attention and goes out in public, or doesn't like being groomed. My dog would absolutely love the extra attention if I had her tail dyed pink or something, lol

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You're going to come into my house, eat my food, not pay rent, and expect unlimited attention, and I don't get to give you a goofy haircut once in a while or dye the tip of your ears pink? Do you have a hot date I don't know about? If it doesn't hurt the animal, leave it be. Short of getting them basic life necessities, everything we do to pets, including owning them, is for our benefit

by Zealousideal-Fan8142 1 day ago