Shedding Light on Shedding!
Ringo sheds like crazy.
As I look around me, and recalling that I’ve only cleaned our apartment a few days ago, I already see a thin layer of short black hairs all over the place. I’m convinced something in his mechanism is programmed to produce hair not just enough to coat his little body, but our entire life together. His hair finds itself in the unlikeliest of places – on the toilet, in the refrigerator, inside my contact lens case. Visitors to my home will find they leave with enough hair to possibly make an area rug, or at the very least, another Ringo.
Yeah. Ringo sheds.
It’s funny, when I first made the decision to get a dog, a pack-wise friend of mine asked about the breeds that interested me.
“Do you care if your dog sheds or not?” asked Linda.
“I want a dog that doesn’t shed,” I replied, foolishly.
Joke’s on me! Two things I’ve learned since then:
a.) All dogs shed to some degree.
b.) You can’t fight love – and if you fall for a dog that you absolutely must take home with you, you will live with the shedding.
That’s right, you will live with the shedding, and you will declare/resign yourself to being a dog person – complete with a telltale coat of canine hair (I’m told cat people do the same). You’ll dress in the same colors as your dog to camouflage the hair-on-fabric contrast. You will consider your vacuum cleaner a life partner. You will live with hair all over your car, on your favorite sweater, on your formerly pristine floors and countertops because you love this animal and will put up with it, the way you will put up with a mate who enjoys The Three Stooges, fantasy football, or decorative stenciling.
You’ll invest in mitts, combs, pads, vacuum cleaner attachments, rollers and brushes that promise to restore your upholstery to its original, hairless state; or safely and efficiently remove excess hair from your little one’s coat to minimize its stealth upon your entire universe…. but at some point, you’ll just surrender to it. Whether by fatigue from your efforts or downright lack of trying, you’ll give in. And that’s okay. Baby sheds. There are worse things.
Imagine life without your dog.
See? There are worse things. Love is full of compromises, but as many of us know, true love is worth it.
P.S. If you’ve had experience with a particular product that helps with shedding or its aftermath, please comment and let us all know. We’d love to hear what’s worked for you. Cheers!
P.P.S. Thanks, Pet Toys, for bringing up “shedding” in response to my March 3 “Shedding Light on Black Dog Syndrome” blog – I’d even had “shedding” in the title and hadn’t even thought of it!
– R.