I always refer to the doggy haircut salon as "doggy torture" because while I do see them on videos every now and then, I have never physically known any dog that doesn't hate grooming. It's all the prodding and cutting being done by a stranger that probably gets to them so much.
But this time, especially since her haircut time fell so close to Tet, a holiday where everything closes for a long time in Vietnam, her haircut just seems amazing.
This is the after picture obviously, and when I brought her in there she was definitely in need of a trim and more.
There she is in all her fluffy and 'homeless looking' glory. If it was up to her she would never get haircuts and this was on especially high display when I walked her into the place yesterday. She was physically shaking and even though I tried to calm her down it was clear that she really didn't want to be there. When I handed her over to the technician the look of "you betrayed me!" on her face was just so sad for me. I had a difficult time relaxing during the 3 hours that she was out of my sight for this. I know she really hates it.
I'm not a huge fan of how short they cut the paws hair, but I guess it is better than not cutting them enough. She has some tiny little sores on one of her paws but they are not painful. It is quite common, so i've read, for Shih-Tzu's to get little bumps all over their bodies as they get older and they are nothing to worry about. She has a bunch of them on her back as well.
Nadi was absolutely over the moon when I picked her up. She doesn't cry or whine very often, but she did this time as I was paying for the services and choosing a treat for her. She didn't want me to put her down. She really really hates that place and like I said before, I am going to start investigating getting clippers of my own and learning how to do the haircut myself. The thing that really worries me is cutting her nails. I have been afraid of doing that for many years ever since I cut it too short when she was 2 years old and her foot started to bleed for quite some time after that and she had a limp for a couple of days.
There is probably some sort of advanced tool out there that can help me to know where the blood is in her nails... I'm just going to have to spend some money on it.
The "torture session" must have been really taxing on her because she was so exhausted when we got home and she quickly fell into a very deep sleep and was snoring in her little bed, that is on my bed, right next to me.
The groomers insist that they are very gentle with Nadi when she is there and they have been cutting her hair for four years so I am probably worrying a lot more than I should. But still, since our time is limited together given her old age, I want her to be as comfortable as possible with the time she has left.
You gotta admit though, they did a really good job with this haircut!