Bald is Beautiful!

I was sitting there a few days ago, peacefully reading, when a small haystack galloped through the living room waving a flag. Darcy had been helping Daddy organize the crawl space:

It's traditional, as spring approaches, for us to realize that our dogs are looking a bit shaggy in their winter coats, but this was getting ridiculous. So with less than two weeks left in winter (yay!) we dove in with combs to try to get them ready for spring haircuts. No problem with Duncan - he's shaggy, but his coat always combs out nicely. Darcy, not so much. Her coat mats if you blink at it. Apparently, we've been blinking a lot. Under all her fluff, she was so matted we couldn't comb her out without hurting her.

We had to bring out the dreaded clippers.

By the time we finished, Darcy had almost disappeared. Her hind end and legs are almost bald, and the rest of her isn't far behind. And what little hair is left is pretty lumpy and uneven (she wasn't entirely cooperative...) Who knew that our big girl, who outweighs her brother and nearly always wins their battles, was such a tiny little thing? Who knew that she had such a funny little tail under all that fluff? We felt very sad to have reduced her to this:

(Her worst angle. Head-on doesn't look too bad.)

Fortunately for us, she's very forgiving. Other than occasionally peering at what's left of her tail with a puzzled expression, she doesn't seem to mind her new look. And it won't be long until her coat grows back!

Oh yes: she may look smaller, but she can still win against Duncan: