Christmas haircut

Yes, that is Hapi. I took that photo right after she was "groomed" in the industrial park of the next town over (all the major towns of the Valley are strung like beads along the main highway). After I picked her up I thought I'd take her for her afternoon walk a little early and then go home, but I couldn't bear to take her somewhere that people knew us. I was still in shock at her appearance and did not want to deal with other people's shock as well. 

I took her out on a walking trail I knew of behind the loading dock of a major nearby store. Somebody on the trail commented that she looked like a small white lion, and was she "safe"? 

The groomer had suggested that I get her a sweater and while out on the trail I realized that the store I was parked behind had an extensive horse and dog shop so I might look at dog coats there. Turned out they had a good selection of dog coats and they measured Hapi for an appropriate one. Trying it on her was a bit of an escapade, she did not want the thing pulled over her head and she ran around the store dragging her extendible leash and knocking things over before we cornered her and got the coat over her head. It was technically too small for her but seemed to fit, and since it was the largest dog coat they had I took it.

I feel really bad about doing this to her, especially at the end of her life. I do not know if she will live long enough for her fur to grow out again. Even if she does, it will not be the same, shaving a double-coated dog is apparently the last thing you want to do. But the groomer said Hapi would not let her brush her out, the matts were really bad, and the only option left was to shave it all off. On the bright side, she said she thought Hapi's muscle tone was really good for a dog her age and that the matts around her hind legs and rear end were so bad they were like shackles on her, that she might be able to move a lot easier now. 

This was the first time she's been groomed in well over a year. Grooming places were shut down for the first part of the pandemic, I tried to keep up with her fur over the summer by brushing and trimming myself, but it was just too hard on my back. When groomers reopened I didn't want to take her to her old groomer who she disliked; I couldn't have anyway since that groomer required me to be present and that is against the rules now. In early December Hapi's vet recommended a groomer, and she was the only one who would take her because she had her sister there to help her and no one wanted to deal with Hapi alone.

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Christmas was quiet but nice. I spent most of Christmas Day on the phone with family and had a vegan Christmas dinner with a small group of people in the neighbourhood. On Boxing Day I had a couple of friends over for wine and cheese. My friends spoiled Hapi with bits of cheese and she consequently would not leave us alone. 

We had the warmest Christmas ever, around 15C (60F), and news headlines were saying 'Eat Your Heart Out Snowbirds', since all of the Maritimes were warmer than Florida (near 0C). Last year this time we were skating on the Reservoir pond, this year the ducks are still swimming there.