I don’t do “shaved”

It's basically summer weather here in sunny Silicon Valley. I have two Chow mixes, which means a fair amount of dog hair. I'm sure in purer Chows, they're built for cold weather, but my delicate blossoms sleep on our bed when it's 60 degrees out. (For any readers who are unfamiliar with Californian blood, 60 degrees is considered winter around here.)

Now, having said that, I went to one of the LYS in the area, and there was a super-cute book of dog sweaters. I already own 5 or 6 books on dog sweaters, because I thought I would adopt a breed I could knit for. The heart wants what it wants, and I adopted chow mixes that I love. Who absolutely do not need sweaters. Ever.

I coo at the book of cute dog sweaters. The owner, hoping to make a sale on the book and some yarn, assures me that my dog ("Oh, you have two?" [Dollar signs light up her eyes]) will LOVE the sweater.

"I have two chow mixes," I said, "They'll overheat in a sweater, even when it's cold."

"You could shave them," she suggests, helpfully, "Then they'll need the sweaters."

I politely offer to consider the idea, and leave the book behind. Could you imagine my dogs shaved? They would look RIDICULOUS! It's bad enough when I have to shave their butts, but Niki would look like an overgrown Chihuahua. I don't even want to imagine what Elphie would look like shaved. It's just sad.

So, with the summer heat rolling in, Andrew and I have discussed shaving the dogs to keep them cool. I'm voting "no", since they can get sunburned without the protection of long fur (and since Elphie is a fan of the sunbathing). I'll use the Mars King Comb (a comb made of razors, basically, but it works wonders on the dogs) and that helped last summer. Plus, we have A/C. It should be fine.

I just couldn't imagine shaving your dog so that it can wear a dorky sweater. Niki would never speak to me again, and Elphie would just hang her head in shame.

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