Now seriously – i let this whole thing go right after i put my FIRST post up. Let’s let this die. I don’t really care about dog umbrellas – i just wanted to comment about the quality of the article. Please – no more responses – i really don’t feel like responding back.

@me2:
- Diction ALSO means ‘choice of words’. Dude – you have to read past just the first meaning in the dictionary. As far as “present or asses ‘diction’” – i have absolutely no idea what that means.
- “bulleted points of logic” means each point was logical and bulleted – not that bullets (hyphens) make it logical. I think you should examine the quality of your own rhetoric THESE (not “this”) days. Even without the grammar mistake, the 100% hypocrisy of the statement you made is funny/sad.
-Lastly, your entire post is a personal attack on me – and has absolutely no mention as to if any of the points i brought up about the product actually having merit. Hooray for the art of misdirection. You should become a magician or a politician.

I think you’re taking this far too seriously. I’m sure that no one intentionally took your comment down. Having a hissy fit because the internet doesn’t always work perfectly is just unreasonable. Besides, it’s not as if you are a paying customer of Unclutterer. You read their columns, but you are no paying for their service nor are they in any way indebted to you. As a “loyal reader” you might generate ad revenue or contribute in the columns [although the quality of your remarks may be dubious], but it’s not as if you purchased a faulty blender for $19.99 and are here to get your money back. They don’t owe you anything.

As for the doggie umbrella- they simply don’t work. I used to walk a neighbor’s dog who refused to go pee in the rain and they thoughtfully bought the doggie umbrella in the hopes that it would make things easier. IT didn’t. The dog thought he was being attacked by this weird, flapping appendage and took off, spaying water all over the place and getting himself wetter than he would have become with just normal walking. The umbrella would crash against my thighs, getting me wetter and jerking the dog around. It was a terrible experience and a waste of money for them.

Also, bullet points do not logic make. Given the quality of rhetoric this days, I wish we could be saved by some well placed dashes. Alas the dashes are just formatting. The logic would presumably follow the bullet points.

Lastly, I really like the Unclutterer. Keep up the good work- like poking fun of this silly bumberchute por la pooch.

P.S. – i’m not in any way involved with the design or manufacture of this product but it seems obvious to me that it’s a “clear umbrella” so that owners can see if their dogs are done doing there business. Perhaps you should take a little more time considering the products you review.

- While i certainly understand technical mishaps happen time to time, i find it highly suspect that my comment was removed 10 minutes after confirming that it had made it up. I am not privy to your IT dept. so i think it wasn’t unreasonable for me to assume someone had intentionally removed it.

- I also hardly think forwarding a single comment to 4 writers on your staff in the effort to notify you of a situation can be construed as spam.

You are a business, I am a customer; you make money off of loyal readers like me. It is not unreasonable for me to bring a grievance to the knowledge of those who are in a position to rectify it. 4 writers does not a mass mailing list make. If i am in error, please let me know and i will summarily unsubscribe to your feed.

Also, if you were really thinking about spamming everyone on staff, can I ask that you not do that? It’s a lot of clutter. A website has like 9,000 technical things that can go wrong in a given second. Your comment disappearing is not personal. Things just happen.

#1) Animals with fur usually have a top coat and an undercoat. The undercoat usually holds the majority of the body heat. Many breeds of dogs have little or no undercoat. Thus wet = cold = justifiably uncomfortable = possibly getting sick.

#2) The dog umbrella is not a pampering, foo-foo frivolity like pink bows, diamond dog collars, or manicured nails. It serves an actual functional purpose. The preference for not-getting-rained-on is shared by most mammals on the planet.

#3) It is as much a “unitasker” as a human umbrella or raincoat. So where’s your rant on human umbrellas? Come to think of it, how about a rant on human socks, underwear, and baseball caps? (all unitaskers).

I don’t have a dog, never owned a dog, don’t particularly like or dislike dogs, but FOR THE LOVE OF COMMON SENSE, if 2 of the 3 things i’ve mentioned didn’t occur to you when you thought of this article then maybe you should run your stories by someone first before you post them.

The point of Unitasker Wednesday posts is supposed to be about ridiculously impractical, waste of space, frivolous waste of money, could be just as easily done conventionally – items. This product doesn’t fall into any of those categories.

This is the first post on Unclutterer i’ve found lacking any redeeming thought – it’s almost like you knocked out a rant just for the sake of meeting some kind of quota.

BTW – was it really necessary to passive-aggresively insult the person you saw using it?

“the dog owner was probably unable to answer any of my queries.”

Talk about snide and snarky out-of-nowhere.

And those kid leash thingies are great! If you have ever felt a small hand trying desperately to squirm out of yours to investigate something interesting (to owner of said small hand) and dangerous (to you), then you know what I mean.

I am equally certain that my Shepherd mix, who is a contender for World’s Biggest Wuss Dog, would agree with the Chih that he was about to be absorbed and digested by this bizarre, alien thing. Being a wuss, though, she would not leap to his defense. She would run like h*ll, and I would end up getting dragged face first through the wet, soppy grass whilst dragging the Chih along behind me.

And the cats, indoor kitties who always watch us from the windows when we go out (no doubt thinking, “Dummies. Why don’t you just pee in a litter box like we do?”, would undoubtedly laugh their tails off.