Dear Dog,

[blizzard_babe]

I love you . You were my first kid. You tolerated the screaming newborn stage, and are a champion at walking calmly away when the toddler becomes too annoying. You barked, loudly and kind of scarily, the night when the drunk guys were using a two-by-four to bash out our porch lights, and then you laid down calmly when the "cop" (an 18 year-old recent high school graduate with no police training whatsoever) arrived. You have adjusted to a much less active lifestyle now that we have a kid (and one on the way) and less time for walkies and frolics on the tundra. You never relieve yourself in the house, you are friends with every dog you meet, and you don't even have really bad dog gas.

But (and I know this seems silly, having just written all these wonderful things about you)... how about putting a pause on the whole shedding thing ? And, um, maybe don't eat whole sticks of butter?

Love,
Owner

Note: Tongue very much in cheek. I love my dog and have been grumpy with him lately, mostly because he's blowing his coat cuz spring is finally springing and I don't want to deal with the vacuuming. I needed to write out all the awesome things about him, just to get things straight again in my brain .

[SW1975]

I LOVE this!! It brought such a huge smile to my face, thank you. I can't believe ours is going to be gone soon. I'm about to cry as I look down at him right now, loyally laying under my stinky feet. Dogs really are a gift from God.

[Ola_]

I hear you on the shedding thing! DH is currently researching a Roomba so we can keep up with the vacuuming.

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by Ola_

I hear you on the shedding thing! DH is currently researching a Roomba so we can keep up with the vacuuming.

We tried it, and... it was kind of OK, for a while. They're not the hardiest of machines; it died well before its time.

[HappyMommy2]

I love this letter! I could have written it to my yellow lab!

Oh - and I absolutely adored our roomba. But that was before we had shed-a-licious as a pet! I had the first generation, and it died after a year. I imagine they are better now...

[Catubodua]

deleted dup post - have no idea how that happened!

[Catubodua]

give your pooch a kiss for me. aren't they just wonderful creatures? how they ever find the patience to put up with us is beyond me.

[rhiOrion]

my dog is currently weathering the newborn phase so well! But the shedding, omg the shedding.

(she's aided in her ability to deal with newborns by the fact that she's deaf, from birth as far as we know)

[blizzard_babe]

I think we need an Excessive Dog Hair Support Group .

[samy23]

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe

I think we need an Excessive Dog Hair Support Group .

I'm there! Our dog is very small, but I swear she sheds as much as a large breed...its the one thing I really struggle to deal with sometimes! I can never get rid of every hair...and it bums me out. I like our home being clean, and my friends aren't that used to dogs...none of them own one, and they have made comments such as "I'd be embarrassed having all that dog hair where visitors can see it" But what can I do?? I vacuume a lot, I brush her coat....it's something we dog owners kind of have to "get over" and accept it as being part of having a dog. *sigh*

on the other hand look at all the fantastic parts of having a dog! They hugely outweigh the hair shedding negative point, although it doesn't seem like it sometimes, I know!

Do you think we ever breathe in the dog hairs? I don't know if that's a stupid thought or even possible, but I do worry about it....what do you think?

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by samy23

I like our home being clean, and my friends aren't that used to dogs...none of them own one, and they have made comments such as "I'd be embarrassed having all that dog hair where visitors can see it"

Holy cow, guess it's a good thing my friends are mostly dog people, cuz if anyone who called themself my friend said that to me, they'd get a whole lot of freakout coming from my direction.

[samy23]

Originally Posted by blizzard_babe

Holy cow, guess it's a good thing my friends are mostly dog people, cuz if anyone who called themself my friend said that to me, they'd get a whole lot of freakout coming from my direction.

So I'm not the only one who thought that was pretty rude? It made me feel like crap, but I kept telling myself they wouldn't say that if they had owned a dog...they don't really understand, it's not their fault blah blah grrrr lol

[rhiOrion]

I am not even sure that I'm friends with people who don't own either a dog or a cat (or have owned in the past and enjoyed it)

[wetcement101]

I'll think of you both next time I vacuum. Only 1 daily for us this time of year

[samy23]

Originally Posted by wetcement101

I'll think of you both next time I vacuum. Only 1 daily for us this time of year

And that isn't a lot to you? I think it is. I am vacuuming once every day due to all the hair. I would prefer to do it twice a week..that's how often I would vacume before we had a dog.

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by samy23

So I'm not the only one who thought that was pretty rude? It made me feel like crap, but I kept telling myself they wouldn't say that if they had owned a dog...they don't really understand, it's not their fault blah blah grrrr lol

Whatever. They get their pristine dog-hair-free homes... we get the joy of owning dogs .

[MariaMadly]

Bernese Mountain Dog. My Hoover upright actually whimpered. We just scoop up whole tumbleweeds of fur, enough to build a new dog.

blizzard_babe, if whole sticks of butter are on the doggie menu there, mine would like to know can she come over?

[swd12422]

I have to laugh at this! I was one of those people like your dog-less friends, before we got our dog. (I grew up with a poodle...) We actually chose our breed b/c they are supposed to be low-shedders, in addition to other traits we liked. Well, come to find out, they're not all low-shed! He doesn't blow as much as a retriever or shepherd, but OMG, the hair! I brush him outside and don't let my dad pet him this time of year, b/c he just rubs and rubs til the fur is up to his wrists and flying everywhere. I cannot imagine what it would be like with a Bernese Mountain dog!