Yet more tales of an urban dog mom: Did I really just do that?
By Christie Keith
October 14, 2009
I should have known this would happen. That having only one dog, a dog with an aversion to rain and a long, gorgeous coat, would re-awaken the darkness within me. The shallow, image-obsessed, fashion magazine-reading, former hairdresser.
The one who came thisclose to wrapping a poncho around her Borzoi before taking her out in the first storm of the year yesterday.
It’s true. Not only did I almost do it, I actually timed both of Kyrie’s walks with brief breaks in the deluge — not easy given we had about a year’s worth of rain in six hours yesterday. My reason was not just that I didn’t want to get wet, nor that she hates the rain. It was because she was recently groomed and she looks so damn gorgeous I didn’t want to mess up her coat.
I recognized the problem immediately, because this isn’t the first time it’s struck me. Oh, 16 years of living in the country with as many as 11 dogs, most of them decidedly non-glamorous Scottish Deerhounds, put the condition into remission for a long time.
But I once had a dog with a coat so beautiful total strangers would stop me on the street to marvel at it. My clients begged me to color their hair just like hers. It was red, tipped with black, and I kept my chow mix, Colleen, washed and brushed to a high gloss every single day.
Oh, my readers, I confess: I used my own blow dryer on that dog.
Further confession: I just ordered a raincoat for Kyrie. My only regret is that it doesn’t cover her long, white plumed tail.
I’m pretty sure Gina will be knocking down my door with a gang of my friends, ready to stage an intervention. She’ll make me clipper off Kyrie’s feathering, the way I used to do when we lived in the country. She’ll drag us out and make us march through the mud. She’ll toss buckets of water on us both.
Until then, I’m going to be over here on the sofa, combing Kyrie’s tail.
Kyrie is Russian royalty - she needs boots and a toque to go with the rain coat.
Comment by cheryl — October 14, 2009 @ 3:16 pm
Nothing wrong with a nice dignified raincoat. In a nice dignified royal color.
Comment by Martha M — October 14, 2009 @ 3:33 pm
No need to be ashamed! You’re not the only one who obsesses over their dog’s hair. Nothing wrong with making an already-beautiful dog look their best, imo.
Comment by Pai — October 14, 2009 @ 4:00 pm
I am honestly mystified as to what’s supposed to be so shockingly shallow about putting a raincoat on a dog who doesn’t like to get wet, or timing your walks as far as possible to the breaks in the deluge rather than the strongest points.
So deerhounds like rain and mud? Great! But if borzois generally, or just Kyrie in particular, don’t, what’s wrong with that? Truly.
(And if I’ve got a correct line on your deluge, going out in the height of it could be considered suicidal, no matter what deerhounds of your acquaintance may have said in the past. Or flatcoats, for that matter.)
Disclaimer: I may be especially lacking in humor tonight. :(
Comment by Lis — October 14, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
Oh, Lis. Because those are just excuses. I didn’t want to mess up her hair, LOL!
Comment by Christie Keith — October 14, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
My dogs refused to go out in the deluge yesterday by themselves. So I had to leash them up and march them around the yard until they were empty.
A drought does have certain advantages.
Comment by Jan — October 14, 2009 @ 5:36 pm
Oh, Lis. Because those are just excuses. I didn’t want to mess up her hair, LOL!
Christie. Please tell me that you are not suggesting that messing up a girl’s hair is not important just because she’s of the canine persuasion!
Please. Say you don’t mean that. :)
Comment by Lis — October 14, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
Well, who wouldn’t want to avoid messing up the hair? It’s a lot of work to get it to look good.
I wish I could talk my hairdresser into coloring my hair like Harper’s chestnut.
Comment by Kim Thornton — October 14, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHA oh my…..
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — October 15, 2009 @ 7:53 am
Oh, please don’t think that it somehow makes you into a primpy, prissy, silly chick to pamper a dog a bit. (I hope you don’t consider the excellent care, food, and lodging as special pampering, as all your dogs got them, even the ‘scruffy’ deerhounds.)
I mean, really, Borzois ARE the gorgeous supermodels of the dog world (even when they’re killing coyotes), and when you’ve put the effort into making her look fit for Anne Leibowitz to photograph, shoving her out to npotty in a downpour just makes no practical sense. Consider that you were being incredibly rational in timing her outings, and that we all need to have beaty in our lives, which she provides so well!
Comment by KateH — October 15, 2009 @ 8:50 am
I been thinkin’ bout dying my hair black to match my two black cats. Just thinkin’, but not actually doin’.
My cats shun the rain, and of course, they feel the kitty litter box is fine, thank you.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — October 15, 2009 @ 7:08 pm
Okay, Christie, all of these readers are telling you that’s okay to put a raincoat on your dog….and I suppose for a gorgeous girl Borzoi, it’s fine…sigh….
My Aussies and I went out to play in the rain! Of course, we didn’t get nearly as much as you did, but we went sans raincoat, sans booties, and sans any other protective gear! We got wet and we loved it! smile….
Comment by Liz Palika — October 15, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
Addy says: “Herding dogs. *sniff* They probably like mud, too.”
Comment by Lis — October 16, 2009 @ 4:54 am
You forget, Christie: I ALSO share my life with Drew, who is utterly beautiful and DOES have a raincoat.
Sure, the ‘trievers think you’re nuts and Ms. Kyrie is missing a lot of good rain and mud, but Drew wants to come live with you.
Drew:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/giori/111046835/
Comment by Gina Spadafori — October 16, 2009 @ 6:30 am
There *is* a bona-fide pragmatic angle: a dry dog smells better than a wet one.
Comment by LauraL — October 16, 2009 @ 7:55 am
Comment by Gina Spadafori — October 16, 2009 @ 6:30 am
Sure, the ‘trievers think you’re nuts and Ms. Kyrie is missing a lot of good rain and mud, but Drew wants to come live with you.
SPEW ALERT! Ya’ wanna’ come clean the coffee off my moniter screen now?
Too funny!
Comment by The OTHER Pat — October 16, 2009 @ 9:01 am