Dog graduation outfit?
11There are a ton of sites out there that make dog graduation outfits. I can’t tell the difference between them other than some graduation costumes are custom made (which would be good so this school’s colors could be matched) and some are not. Some look nicer than others, but no way to tell if the fabric really fragile and thin, if they do a good job, etc. If anyone knows who makes decent ones at a reasonable price I would appreciate suggestions.
I’d like to figure out how to get one for one of my students (with luck a company might donate one). Wounded Warriors got him a emotional support dog, some of the things he needed… I overheard him today talking to another student about how he wishes he could afford to dress his (emotional support) dog in a graduation gown for graduation this December. His dog is around 60 pounds but a compact 60 pounds - sort of looks like a pit bull but isn’t - no idea what kind, looks like most sites require measurements and I have a way to get them without giving away the surprise.
He lost an eye, has numerous other injuries (walks with a cane), PTSD, etc. from a road side bomb. He also was supposed to get a heart lung transplant this last summer (due to crap he inhaled over there) but that fell through after he arrived at the hospital. He is due to graduate this December.
Anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated.
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If you need contributions to the cause let me know, you have my contact information. He has more than earned our support and if something this small can bring him happiness with all of the challenges he faces, it’s money well spent in my book.
@jbartus Thank you so much for your offer. Looks like the custom ones are (depending on the size of the dog) somewhere around $50-90 as far as I can tell (not sure of the “size” and price depends on that). I will let you know. It would be really cool to make his day.
Because he is one of my students probably I am going to have to get the department to give it to him on our behalf keeping me out of it so to speak, or the company if I can get one to donate it, or I could just tell him it was a gift from some people on meh if that is where the money comes from. Would like to give it to him sooner rather than later so he knows he has one. Graduation is on the 16th of December so there is some time to work this out.
Thanks again for your offer.
@Kidsandliz count me in!!
@llangley Ditto!
i would also be honored to donate towards a graduation outfit for your student.
@annwat The students (for themselves IF that is what you were offering to do rather than for his dog) get them through the bookstore. I will have to talk to them to find out if there is a way to do this such that his account for that could receive a credit (and find out how much it costs). Thanks!
@Kidsandliz sorry, i meant the graduation outfit for the service dog. but, i would also be happy to chip in more towards some baby gifts since your other post also indicates a new one on the way for that same student.
Does he have family that lives with him that could measure the dog? If not, maybe you could look at photos of dogs that have measurements that maybe look similar to his dog. I’m sure there is some adjustability with Velcro as an option.
@RiotDemon I have someone who can discretely measure his dog.
What a wonderful idea! I would also like to contribute - just let me know what I need to do. Thanks!
Is this going to be a gofundme or something like that?
That makes it easy, but they take 7.9% + 30￠per donation.
There may be free alternatives?
@2many2no We send the $$ to meh, they credit her acct?
@PhysAssist Or send her credits on gift cards at Amazon depending where buying happens.
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=cap+and+gown+for+dogs&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=178339440137&hvpos=1t2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13641486667152840639&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9005452&hvtargid=kwd-2400934908&ref=pd_sl_23u1mkvnqr_e
https://www.thepet-boutique.com/dog_graduation_costume_p/grad-costnhat.htm
https://www.etsy.com/listing/97816297/dog-graduation-cap-graduation-hat
https://www.etsy.com/listing/519267376/pet-graduation-cap-and-gown-dog-cap-and?ref=shop_home_active_4
https://www.bigdog-boutique.com/graduation_costume.html
Just for starters
I had found, ironically, the same site that has the photo in the header (first link).
https://www.doggyduds.com/item/Graduate_Pet_Costume/103/p2c10
https://www.doggyduds.com/category.php?category_id=475
https://www.thepet-boutique.com/dog_graduation_costume_p/grad-costnhat.htm
@jbartus @llangley @annwat @kathyl @2many2no @PhysAssist What I can do is chase down prices, call and talk with the people who make these (I have to make sure these can be made so that the dog’s harness can be worn under this unless I can find out from him if just wearing a leash is OK - that will be easy though as I can ask a casual questions before class), find out what the grand total will be and then post here so we know how to split up the costs, and whether or not the seller will accept partial payments directly to them for his account or if we have to do it via my paypal or a youcaring (fees are lower) or something.
He will be so thrilled! Also he had been told he’d never be able to have children (he has adopted his wife’s 3 kids so there are kids in the family), so they didn’t use protection and now he has a surprise baby due in November. It’s a high risk pregnancy due to the problems she is having but I think the end of the term will be incredibly wonderful for him (and exhausting) between graduation, a baby, and a graduation outfit for his dog.
It would be a while before I could post a photo of his dog all rigged out with him though, but I can send people order numbers, pics of the receipt, any emails I get connected with the order. Looks like some of the places want 30 days with the order so I’d like to get this order in within the next 2 weeks to make sure that if there are any delays he still will have this with plenty of time. I will check into the colors on stuff today.
I am going to have to work hard to keep my mouth shut and not tell him. This is SO exciting. Thanks folks for, in the future, making his day!!!
@Kidsandliz not worried about receipts and such personally, will send money to you as a gift on Paypal to do with as needed when the time comes.
@jbartus Thanks but wait until we know the total cost and how many people we are splitting it between. Don’t think it is going to be that much per person.
@Kidsandliz yeah that’s what I meant by when the time comes.
@Kidsandliz i’m not worried about receipts either and would be happy to paypal you the necessary funds once you’ve determined the cost, etc.
@Kidsandliz also, I can’t speak for @llangley, @annwat, @kathyl, @2many2no, @PhysAssist, or anyone else who’s interested in helping out but for my part, given the amount of money you’ve mentioned elsewhere in the thread, I would suggest focusing your efforts more on measurements and ensuring compatibility with the harness needs than on trying to get a company to donate the outfit. With six or seven of us we’re already talking trip-to-McDonalds levels if we split it evenly, I can certainly do without a Big Mac to help such a deserving fellow.
@Kidsandliz Same here. I would also love to give something for the baby (he is sure going to be busy with all of this!) but I don’t want to burden you with putting it all together. Perhaps I can buy a Babies-R-Us gift card (or Amazon, or whatever) and email it to you or something? Not trying to make it more complicated; just want to help out. I will let you tell me what is best.
@kathyl Either kind of gift card I am sure would be welcome. You could send it to me, I could print it and give it to him. Or if more than one person wanted to be involved with that we could pool the money or do it individually - whatever people want.
@Kidsandliz i’d also like to contribute towards the gift card!
@Kidsandliz Whether the lead is with a collar or harness it should not be an issue as, unless it’s some kind of bar lead, the costume will just need a simple hole to pass the lead. There could probably be two holes put in. Have you looked on Etsy? They do a lot of custom pet stuff there. You might be able to arrange with etsy for them to accept a number of $10 payments to add up to the price from each person who’s willing to contribute.
Here’s one, the top price is $65, cap and gown custom made.
@moondrake It’s a harness. I have the measurements. I need to send them off to get a final price (and she’d finish off the hole for the harness). I have been too busy to deal with it at the moment. Hopefully mid week (have a mountain of grading to do with midterms). She said she’d accept multiple people calling in to pay bits and pieces. Someone else suggested all the money get sent to me and I pay for it, then if there is left over money buy a gift certificate for his baby due in November.
I just emailed your mehrichanexchange6 address so you can reach me to contribute.
Oops, that failed:
Your message wasn’t delivered to mehrichanexchange6@yahoo.com because the address couldn’t be found. Check for typos or unnecessary spaces and try again.
@sligett mehricanexchange6 - has no H in mehrican
mehricanexchange6@yahoo.com
@Kidsandliz
@Kidsandliz I can’t get it to work. Please email me at doggraduation at ligett dot net.
@sligett OK. Odd you can’t get it to work though as I copied and pasted it from inside the actual email account and I am still getting emails there. From that account I just sent you an email. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you. Also
I realize when I said mehrican has no H you might have thought it was then merican (originally you had spelled it mehricHan and it is mehrican - no second H. Maybe that is it?
@Kidsandliz Probably that was it.
I’m in.
Talked with the lady who has been making this stuff for 13 years. As soon as I get dog measurements (with and without the service harness on as she will need to adjust for the fact the dog wears a service harness vest) I will sent them to her to get a price. As she usually doesn’t cut the hole for the harness in them she is going to charge a bit more to do that. It will require her sending it to me, I put it on the dog, mark where the hole needs to be, send it back and she will finish it off and send it back. Her price will include all buy my postage to send it back.
She is willing to have us pay her directly (individually) with paypal or credit card (although I’d suggest we don’t use credit card as that will end up killing her profit margins with fees for each card used). We can either handle it that people send her their donation, or they send it to me and if there is any money left over I get him a gift card with it.
Oh and I need to correct a small piece of history with what went on with him that I found out when I talked to the person who is going to sneak measuring the dog. His lungs and heart were damaged by chemo from a cancer that he got that is highly likely service related based on what he did over there and what he inhaled repeatedly. The chemo and the damage from the explosion is why he was told he was highly unlikely to be ever able to have kids. He is in remission from the cancer and has had some improvement in the condition of his heart and lungs such that apparently he was taken off the transplant list, at least for now, (although early last summer when he was in much worse shape, he had made it to the top of the list only to have it fall though as the donor organ condition was not good enough in the end; he is still dealing with the issues associated with that however is no longer oxygen dependent). Any way you look at it, he has gone through much more than most people at his age (I’d guess he is in his late 20’s to very early 30’s) or even most of us, none of which would have happened had he not served the country.
I really appreciate people being willing to help. Especially since I had not posted to ask for that, rather just for help finding a reputable source of a graduation gown for his service dog.
Suggestion: with the dog gown and baby gift card mentioned, we could all pool our donations to you via PayPal as gifts if you’re willing. We can figure out the target amount to donate to cover the gown based on how many people say they are in (looks like 10 right now?), but people can donate whatever. You buy the gown and then with any left over, a gift card to whatever baby place is local/appropriate. This could be easier than a bunch of people paypaling a dog gown maker a few dollars each and running a separate gift card fund.
Also if you can sneak a photo of the dog in harness or get that measured when the rest of the dog gets surreptitiously measured maybe you can cut out shipping the gown back and forth. Trying to make life easy.
I’ll try to watch the thread and kick something in when the plan is together.
I am limited on what I can donate, but would be happy to chip in something to help out. Just let me know.
just checking in - any updates on this campaign?
@annwat Yes. I have the measurements. Last week was midterms where I have this temp job. Drowning in grading. Haven’t had time to deal with it. By midweek this week I should. I will send them off, get a final price and let people know. I also have a photo of the dog which I will upload too.
Update: He decided to double major and so will be graduating in May. That gives us more time. His baby was born last Wednesday, 2 days early (everyone is fine). I have set down “somewhere safe” the dog’s measurements so need to find that to send them off.
@Kidsandliz is his dog named Zoid?
@jbartus I don’t know. I will have to ask. I know with the new baby he was cutting class this week coming up - although maybe someone else knows and I can ask them.