A Hairy Situation: My Dog Boomer
Last June, I attempted to make an appointment to get my dogs fur clipped. My husband thought that Petsmart charging $100 for grooming services was crazy, but it was one hot summer and my puppies were getting overheated. So, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a $40 clipper. I rolled up my sleeves and decided to go at it myself. I figured it couldn't be that hard. The people at the groomer's can do it in less than an hour.
I made the decision to start with Boomer. To give you a little history, Boomer is a sixty-pound black lab mix that has more personality than most humans, and is extremely strong-willed. He's in his terrible twos and just so happens to be my best friend. I felt the whole process get off to a rocky beginning when I start up the clippers and he gives me this look that tells me we both know this is a bad idea.
Two hours later, I emerge from the dust. As I sit sweating and covered from head to toe in dog hair, I look at Boomer's butt. It is now the only part of his body with hair on it, and would give Elvis's duck-tail hairdo a pretty good run. Boomer should have been completely hairless, but every time I got close to his hindquarters, he would sit down and refuse to budge. I pulled, pushed, bribed, and threatened, but nothing worked. Who knew that I was the owner of the only modest dog in existence? As I look at my carpet, which now looks like Robin Williams's forearms, I remember that I still have yet another sixty pound dog to go.
It was there that I realized that some things, like my sanity, are worth the extra dough.