Well, I’ve officially decided I’m a much better parent in the fall than I am in the summertime. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the summer months and all that goes along with being outside and spending more time with family and friends. It’s just that summer is a bit intense without any sort of structure to hold it all together {i.e., school, preschool, etc.}. There’s heat, of course. And, there’s a lot of expectation for fun at all times.
But, then, there are the occupational hazards associated with parenting in the summer.
Do you know how easy it would be to pass out while blowing bubbles in this heat? Or, when trying to inflate swimmies? Not to mention things of this nature.
When it’s 95 degrees and 70% humidity… this duck could kill you.
Locally, it’s been so hot for the past few weeks that we’ve been spending a lot of time inside and/or trying to find creative ways to stay cool outside with popsicles and water activities. So, I’m just going to blame the heat/humidity combo on my lack of attention to the grooming needs of our dog, Rosie. The characteristic that drew us toward getting a goldendoodle in the first place was their soft, curly, non-shedding hair. They tend to look like teddy bears. Little did we know how to properly maintain our “bear” once the puppy hair began transitioning into adult dog hair. And, little did we know that when you spray this type of dog down with the water hose {to cool her off}, she can’t just air dry. Because when she does, her fur gets matted. And the only solution to a matted coat is to shave it off.
So, Rosie had to be “groomed” yesterday.
As we like to say in the South when we can’t think of anything nice to say… bless it.
When we picked her up yesterday the Toddler said, “Who is this dog?” I’m not even sure. But something about her ears reminds me of a blonde version of Bozo the Clown.
The good news about this whole situation is that now I don’t have to worry about learning to properly brush her for 4-8 weeks because she has NO FUR of which to speak. And, she’ll be much cooler with this new look. I’m just hopeful that she’ll look somewhat normal again by early fall.
Meanwhile, I’m glad she doesn’t have a mirror in her crate because I feel like seeing her reflection might damage her self-esteem. Fortunately, she doesn’t have any public appearances on her calendar this summer.
Leave a Reply