Sadie Gets a Shave

It's always something with this dog! Last week, I took her in to get groomed. The place is awesome. I think the owner was actually a professional groomer for dog shows then started his own grooming business. But beyond that, they are also really good with Sadie, letting her rest and sit down when grooming her so she wouldn't have to stand the entire time. 

So when I get a call in the middle of her grooming appointment, I was a little worried to pick up as I sensed something was wrong. I picked up and the owner proceeded to tell me that he recommended we shave Sadie due to her skin issues as well as because she freaked out when they tried to blow dry her (which she had never done before). He knew all about the hair of the Bernese Mountain Dog and how it really is that long to protect her from the heat and snow. He knew that if we kept doing this (shaving) it would eventually damage her hair in about 2-3 years. She's almost 7 (next week) so not sure how much time on this earth she has left but it would be cutting it close to her life expectancy.  

We agreed to shave her this time. I think shorter hair is definitely better for her but when I went to pick her up and saw her, she looked like an entirely different dog! She looked scared and naked. The kids were shocked too when they saw her and would call her name just to make sure I didn't drop off Sadie at the groomer and pick up the wrong dog. She looked strange and weird. This was definitely going to take some getting used to!

The "shave" definitely affected her personality. She was more timid. She shook a lot too. I finally figured out that this was because she was cold! Here was my dog that slept on a cooling pad and had a fan blowing on her in the middle of winter and now she was freezing. So now I cover her most of the time with a blanket so she's warm. This seems to have helped warm her up. 

I think too her skin issues are getting better but I will let this hair grow out. She will never be shaved again but she will definitely be sporting much shorter hair than in the past!