Gracie, Our Shepherd Mix Got Groomed – she’s so Lucky! And you ask, “Why is she so lucky?” Let me tell you – if I could go to the salon and come out a few hours later looking 20lbs lighter and 10 years younger – I’d go once a month!  Wouldn’t you?

Gracie’s Grooming Story:
Gracie is a 7 year-old, 85lb. German Shepard Mix with a long fur coat that is thicker than thick can be.  She’s well in need of a good grooming as you can see.  She does not allow us to brush her even though we brushed her every day when we first rescued her.  That didn’t last too long – a month or so, before she decided we weren’t going to be doing that any longer.

Gracie – getting ready to be groomed

You can see how nasty her fur is here.  Up close and personal, you can pull out the lighter fur clumps you see on her dark fur from her shedding.  That’s too much work though and one reason she gets groomed whether it be just a bath/brushing or like today – being shaved down.

We’ve taken her in the past to Petsmart to have her bathed and brushed and she always has come out looking beautiful despite being charged differently each time she’s gone – they always want to change the type of breed she is, increasing the fee every time I bring her and quite frankly – it’s annoying!  And then a couple years ago at the end of summer – someone suggested us shaving her down for the summer.

I thought long and hard about having her shaved.  To me, it just didn’t seem natural to shave her down.  Seriously – I couldn’t wrap my head around that thought for the longest time.  A good bath and brushing always made her beautiful.

Then come last summer, I decided that I would give it ONE try.  We took her to Petsmart and although it was like looking at a new dog and I knew that she had to be much cooler – I was very unhappy with the cuts and scraps that the razor left on her.  I was also not happy with the way her tail was shaved.  Her tail looked like a feather duster from the end of her spine to the tip of her tail – similar to the shape of a paint roller with fur attached.

So this year I wanted to have her shaved down again, but didn’t want to take her back to Petsmart or someplace of the like.  And the groomer at my vets – they want you to have every shot under the sun before they will groom the animals – something I won’t do because all those shots aren’t good for our fur babies.  Don’t get me wrong – she’s vaccinated for required vaccines – just not all those extras.

Then I ran into a woman at the Town Hall and had to ask her where she had her dog groomed.  Her dog – a Golden Retriever – was beautifully groomed.  She gave me the information and I placed my call to ‘A Furry Affair.’  A Furry Affair is like a woman’s beauty salon.  There’s several groomers that do grooming all in one location.

I ended up booking an appointment with Deanna, the owner of  Wish Upon a Paw.  Grooming day arrived and we met with Deanna.  She asked me what I was looking for.  I explained to her what I didn’t want because that’s all I had to compare to.  Later that day, I returned to pick Gracie up and WHOA – my Gracie was brought to me and was she just stunning!

She looked 20lbs lighter and 10 years younger.  That was the case last year too.  But this year – her tail looked fabulous.  The fur around her face and neck blended so nicely.  And she was wearing a beautiful tye-dyed purple bandana (not shown – her human sister borrowed it right away!).

Gracie at Grandpa’s – she had to show Grandpa her new ‘do’

Gracie at Grandpa’s – annoyed because she wasn’t allowed to dig a hole to lie in

Wouldn’t you just love to go to the salon and come out looking like she did – 20lbs lighter and 10 yrs younger?  Frankly, I’m quite jealous!

On another note – what dog breed comes to mind when you look at Gracie?  Originally we were told she was a Rottweiler.  Obviously, that she is not.  The we were then told she’s the Shepherd Mix.  We thought we saw some Border Collie in her, some Bernese, and possibly some wolf.  What do you see in her?  I’d love to get hear your thoughts!