Ummm....That's Not My Dog

Let me start by telling you a little bit about my dog. We got him last year around Halloween. It took a lot of convincing on my part because Dare was not at all thrilled with the idea of having a pet. After talking him into it we took a long drive to pick up the cutest little ball of black fur you could imagine. We had some rough times in the beginning, but a year later you could say we really like our dog. Dare would probably not readily admit that, but I know deep down it's true. I actually find I like Shadow more than any pet I've had since my childhood dog Peaches. Shadow definitely has a unique personality. First of all he has a small dog complex (he is a shih tzu) and must try to prove to all other dogs and humans that he is tough. He likes to do this from the comfort of our living room by barking at everyone who walks by. Out in the real world he isn't so tough, and has been known to actually turn and try and run back home at the sight of another dog. Another thing is he just has random people that he really doesn't like. When Dare's sister visited a couple of months ago he growled, and barked at her the entire time. He always does the same thing to Lindsey's friend Karli when she is here. So we shouldn't have been surprised when we went to get him groomed a couple of months ago and it didn't work. The lady said in her 15 years of dog grooming she had never had a dog she couldn't cut. She suggested we have him tranquilized before we try again. So I had been putting off trying again for months as Shadow got scruffier, and scruffier. I finally broke down last week, and called one of those mobile grooming places. The lady came and picked him up, and the kids and I waited anxiously by the window for them to come back out. About 45 minutes later she emerged with what appeared to be a completely different dog. Shadow immediately went to hide under the bed. The first few days he acted so different the kids started calling him "Robot Shadow". They were convinced the lady had stolen Shadow and replaced him with a robot. It must have been really traumatic for him because it took about 5 days for him to start acting more like himself again. Just for a laugh here are some before and after photos.


Before


After, and yes he really is that small without all of the fur.