If you have ever owned a Bichon you know that the BEST part is that they are pretty much hypoallergenic. For people who love dogs but are allergic to pet dander, like me, Otto is "the perfect dog". The worst thing about owning a Bichon is that since they don't shed, they need their hair cut a lot. I mean often. I mean, if you've let it go 8 weeks you get comments like, "Look at Otto's fro! He's so shaggy! Otto? Can you see in there???" Bichons have such nice, fluffy, curly hair that easily becomes knotted, matted, and a big mess when it's not cut often. For this reason, it is usually a very expensive cut as well.
Shortly after Jonathan and I were married, Otto went to a groomer in VA, where we were living, for the 1st time. Supposedly this groomer was good for "nervous dogs", though he had never had trouble in the past. When Jonathan picked him up that evening, he looked like he had been through a traumatic accident, in more ways than one! The groomer said that he was the worst dog that she had ever worked with...yet he shook for hours after he came home - um, maybe she was the worst groomer he had ever worked with?! I remember Sarahann came over for dinner the next night and asked, "What happened?" His hair was all uneven and he had patches of his perfectly pink skin sticking out. It was then, after the nightmare appointment and $50 cost, that I decided to take matters into my own hands.
I asked Jonathan some questions - have you ever cut Otto's hair before? Yes. Did you use scissors? No. Did you use an electric razor? Yes. Did that work? No.
Oh...
So when his hair started growing out again, I took a pair of Fiskars from my desk, his brush, a comb, and some strong willpower and sat down on the bathroom floor to cut Otto's hair. He was so relaxed as I combed and snipped my way down his back. He didn't mind as I got his neck and worked on his face. Well. Here are the places Otto does NOT like to be touched: his legs, his paws, his tail, his ears, his stomach (he likes scratches but not how I had to turn him to cut his hair), or ANYWHERE NEAR his bottom and other more "private" parts. Sigh. For two years I have tried multiple ways of getting him groomed to looking half decent, and it often takes me more than one day to do it and a whole lot of back pain.
The last time I cut his hair was when I was 8 months pregnant and we were on vacation at the River - I snipped away while he sat on what was left of my lap and I threw all of the hair right into the water. No mess, at least! After that, I was too pregnant to even think about grooming him and then Connor came and frankly, Otto gets a little less attention than normal.
Last week, as we touched his extremely knotted ears and realized that he could barely see past all the fuzz on his face, we decided it was time to call in the big guns. And by the big guns I mean our friend Kelly at "Kelly's K9 Kuts". If you live anywhere near us and have a dog, you must go there to get him or her groomed. I'm not recommending here people, I'm telling you - YOU-MUST-GO-THERE!
See?
Isn't he handsome?
Connor thinks so too...maybe...
They do such a great job and even though I heard that Otto (Snotto) did not want his legs or ears touched (typical), he came home a happy, clean, and well-groomed dog! AND it is cut short enough that hopefully we can wait a while before he needs to go again - because really, though I try my best, he does not come out looking like that when I do it!
Well, if you're still reading this blog you must either really love Otto, know how to bear my stories, or are just waiting for more Connor pictures I'm sure.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am the other new 'do! YES! I hadn't gotten my hair cut in 8 MONTHS and it was SO good to go and have it washed (isn't that the best when someone washes your hair for you? I don't even really like having my hair touched but I love having it washed when I get it cut!) and trimmed! Connor has already found the joy of wrapping his little fingers around my long-ish hair, but I am just not ready for short hair again yet.
Here is Connor at the beauty salon, with our sweet friend Jeannie who did my hair. She describes their place as "Steel Magnolias" style (which I don't think I've ever seen the whole thing - I better!) - and I will say it is very laid back and full of Southern charm. I should've taken a picture of the hanger on the door which read, "Happy Fall, Y'all!" Connor was loving the white noise of the hair dryers and slept through the entire thing - just woke up long enough to snuggle with Jeannie for a minute and then went back to sleep and is still asleep now - hence the reason I am writing such a long post! It may come back to bite me in the butt when we try to get him down tonight - but he doesn't have a very regular sleep schedule yet so who knows!
I'll leave you with some all baby boy shots - loving sports and loving Momma!
That last picture is the best ever!
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