My dog, Sadie, asked if she could write the blog this week. Reluctantly, I handed over my computer.
Nature Based Blog: By Sadie Martin-Burch
I know these are truly magical times. When else do I get 5 or 6 walks a day? When else have my people been around ALL day long? When else have they not left me to go travel to parts unknown (well, they’re unknown to me, I never get to go!).
But even I have faced a few challenges during the past few months. For example, last week my woman-person decided to switch from pruning shrubs to cutting hair. When I saw her exchange the clippers for scissors, I began to get nervous.
She got to my Man-person first and I heard her say, “Relax! I’ve pruned lots of shrubs, I know what I’m doing!” And he JUST SAT there, a towel around his neck, meek as a lamb. I groaned.
She jumped right in and began clipping and pruning. “All you have to do is just cut until you get the shape you want,” she explained to my Man-person. He mumbled something about not being a boxwood but just continued to sit patiently.
I’ll have to admit, it actually didn’t look that bad when she finished, but then, she turned and looked at me and my heart stopped. I started to run but she grabbed me before I could bolt. I’m not really a vain dog but I do have great hair and lots of it. And, frankly, I LIKE my shaggy look, but apparently, SHE does not. Thank goodness she practiced on HIM first.
The first thing she did was to give me a bath. I hate cold water. Then she spent a long time just studying me. When she finally began cutting, she was very slow and very careful, much more so than when she was working on HIM. She clipped and cut and combed with only an occasional “oops.” At this point, I knew my best strategy was to sit as still as possible and hope for the best.
She finally finished. I thought. And it actually looked okay, not like my regular hair – dresser does it, but I know – these are special times and you have to make allowances. But now, sometimes when I’m just minding my own business or even half -dozing, I’ll hear her say, “oops, missed a spot,” and she’ll get the scissors and begin cutting away again.
As I said, I have LOTS of hair and I wonder how long this is going to go on. It all makes me feel kind of sorry for the boxwoods.
Thanks for reading. I hope she’ll let me write again some time. I know A LOT about digging in the garden. Stay safe and keep your tail wagging.
Dear Sadie You don’t know how lucky you are! My she person thought my hair was too much so the first thing she bought was a dog grooming kit ( she could have bought me some squeaky tennis balls instead). The she pressed a button and this thing started vibrating and growling at me. She had a tight hold on my collar so there was no escape. I lay down and made myself as small as possible, pretending I was under the bed. This vibrating and growling went on for a while then I was made to stand up. This… Read more »
Dear Twizel, Thanks for writing. Bald???? Oh, poor you. But, yes, I know we just have to forgive and forget. Hope to see you soon – don’t forget to wear your collar. I’m not sure I’ll recognize you without your curls. Love, Sadie
Dear Sadie, I don’t want to hurt Mom’s feelings – after all her intentions were good – so I snuck in to her e-mail while she is plotting her next attack. My appointment with the groomer was canceled because I got to go to the lake with them; but after an unintentional inundation, I was looking more than a bit shaggy. Soooo, out came the scissors. I overheard Mom say that one thing the stay at home mandate has taught her is to never give me a haircut again. Sadly, as much as I love her, she is right. Hugs… Read more »
Cisco, I LOVE the shaggy look. We need to stick together. Thanks for writing. Sadie
Good dog, Sadie!