Recently, my husband and I, in the interest of saving money, decided to look through our budget lines to see which items we could save money on.
One of these line items was professional grooming for our dog.
Our dog Kylie is a large, senior, long-haired chow-Lab cross. What that looks like in a house is long tufts of black fur rolling across your laminate floors like tumbleweeds, some full of dander, grass, macaroni the kids have dropped on the dog, small grains of rice that the kids have dropped on the dog, and, sometimes, bugs from the great outdoors.
Personally, I am a big fan of when she rolls around on damp grass outside and then comes inside to lay down on my cream-coloured bedroom carpet. After a short restful nap full of barking to herself and the loudest heavy breathing known to the world, she'll then proceed to stretch, groan, grunt and then clickety-clackety through the house to then lay down while she eats her dinner and drink her water.
Often, at this stage, she tips over her water dish with a resounding bong and then comes back to the bedroom to heavy breathe in my face until I get up and let her go outside. Did I mention this routine takes place around 2 a.m.?
Kylie is a beloved but annoying dog.
Typically, we try to take Kylie to the groomers at least once a year, usually in the spring to aid us in the spring molt and to aid her in the sweltering heat.True dog people will tell you, never shave your dog! It's bad for the dog and for the dog's coat and it doesn't grow back right. I cannot speak for all dogs but I can speak for our dog. Kylie is happier in the summer when she's shaved.
At the ripe old age of (probably) twelve, our sweet Kylie acts like a puppy if we shave her coat and clean her up nice and good.Long-haired dogs are sweet, beautiful and their fur mats like you wouldn't believe.
Thus, the shaving.
In the interest of being cheap (and we couldn't get her into the groomers), my husband and I decided that we would buy (or would be given by my mom) an inexpensive pair of pet clippers.That way we could get two or three clippings in and we would be further ahead on our budget. How hard could shaving a giant, long-haired dog be?
Two things should be known ahead of time when shaving your large, extremely annoyed dog.
1. Don't.
2. If you must, pay someone else to do it.
Poor Kylie looks like she has been attacked by an angry cat armed with a whipper-snipper.She is not amused.
On the plus side, we managed to get out all of the macaroni and rice and we learned new limits of our skill sets.Future career option: not pet grooming.
While her fur grows back in, she'll forgive us the indignity of a patchy haircut as long as we give her another cookie.
