It had been bothering me for quite awhile that Seamus' already rather hefty body was growing wider and wider with the addition of an ever expanding coat of black wool. While I rather like his fully furred look, I knew I must give him a haircut soon. One Sunday afternoon I spread a tarp on the floor and called him over for a beauty treatment:
Seamus doesn't like getting a haircut. He enjoys getting my full attention, but not holding still for so long or being forced into strange positions. But he apparently had no bad memories from previous shearings:
I had the vacuum cleaner on stand-by as I began the clipping. Fergus watched with fascination as his big buddy was about to get a haircut:
I began on the most difficult part - his legs. I kept telling him to sit but he kept lying down. I was become increasingly irritated until I noticed that the slick tarp was making it impossible for big ol' Seamus to maintain his seated position because his front feet kept slipping forward. So I removed the tarp and braced myself for the horrible hairy mess I'd soon have to clean up on the carpet:
Luckily, Seamus is a placid and agreeable fellow. He didn't mind too much:
Being on a non-slippery surface made it more pleasant for both of us. Also, I left my expensive but useless electric clippers in their case and just used sharp scissors. That also made it easier:
When I was all done, I had a horrible mess. This is AFTER I'd cleaned up most of the hair with a leaf rake:
And here's the handsome fellow with his new coiffure. Clover looks on in admiration:
Winky (on the left) got a back-end hair trimming. This is more difficult because I must keep one hand on his neck to prevent being bitten. This leaves me only one hand with which to do the clipping. Daphne (on the right) is a Papillon and has the breed advantage of not needing haircuts. After owning Poodles, I've come to cherish the wash-n-wear coat of the Papillon breed:
