Tag Archives: Sleek Molly

Two Mollys in One

Molly is 14 years old and weighs about 25 lbs. She is a schnauzer/cocker spaniel cross and has a HEAVY coat of fur. We let it grow out in the winter to help keep her warm.

Sheepdog Molly/Winter Molly

When the weather starts to warm up, we take her to the groomer to be sheared like a sheep. We ask them to cut it ‘short all over.’ The groomers would like to leave her bushy eyebrows, a beard, mustache, cute longer curly hair on her hips, tufted tail, maybe even ‘socks,’ but we insist on ‘short all over.’

We live on top of a ridge line on a small, woody piece of land that is a gathering place for ticks, fleas, and most of all, burrs of all shapes and sizes. Since Molly is NOT a ladylike dog, preferring to run to the nearest hole in the yard and stick her nose as far down into it as possible, trying to get whatever made the hole, ‘cute’ is a definite liability.

She runs like a mad thing all over the yard, rolling in the grass or – even better – some awful, stinky thing she finds, coming in with burrs from stem to stern. If she has a ‘cute’ haircut, I spend a half hour or more with a comb, trying to get the burrs out of her beard, mustache, eyebrows, between her toes, etc. She is NOT happy with that, so ‘short-all-over’ it is.

 

Sleek Molly / Spring, Summer, and Fall Molly

This is how she looks most of the year. If she finds interesting stuff outside, the burrs are whisked off pretty quickly. If needed, I can plonk her into the kitchen sink and scrub her all over. ONE towel and a short time with the hair dryer and she’s ready to be a close part of our family again.

We love both “Sheepdog” Molly and “Sleek” Molly. It’s like having two dogs in one!

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Sleek Molly

We took Molly to be sheared like a sheep this morning. She’s a schnauzer/cocker spaniel cross and is naturally VERY fuzzy, with THICK hair.

We live on a ridge line on a wooded piece of land. This time of year, Molly runs out to greet the day, full of enthusiasm, barking as if to say, “Look out world! Here I come!!!” She returns a few minutes later with her whole snout, mustache, and beard black, having stuck her nose into someone else’s business. She also has her entire face and head full of burrs. I spent half an hour or so, carefully combing out the burrs, then washing her face and hands (which are also black from digging to get into someone else’s business), and then she wants to go out again…

I explained to the vet’s assistants what our lives are like, asking them to stress to the new groomer Matt (who’s quite a hunk, BTW) that the cute eyebrows, mustache and beard of last time would have to go.

He did a beautiful job. Now I have a CHANCE to undo the damage shes does when she dashes outside to do her worst.

I THOUGHT, when we got Molly, that she would be a sweet, feminine, lap dog. Well, I did get the sweet and the lap dog, but you should never underestimate her ego. She’s a dog’s dog – full of life, not afraid to confront – at least by barking – anything in her territory.

Now I can be sure she’s free of ticks, fleas, and can comb out the burrs pretty quickly. She still hates to get her face and hands washed.

Sleek Molly.

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Clean Molly

CleanMolly

Sweet Molly is a Schnauzer/Cocker Spaniel cross we bought several years ago. I wanted a “lap dog,” and our pit bull, Bambi, was too big for that even when he was a puppy. Molly was going to be my sweet, lady-like, cuddly lap dog. She had a bubbly personality that offset our serious pit bull nicely. She acted a fool and made him laugh. She brightened up the whole family.

I got part of what I wanted. She is a good lap dog, though she’s a bit too large and heavy. We spend a good amount of time cuddling in my recliner and she does make all of us laugh. She didn’t get the memo about ‘sweet’ and ‘lady-like,’ though.

Her hunting skills put Bambi to shame. She runs all over the yard nose to the ground in patterns only she can appreciate. She sticks her nose into holes or anywhere she smells something interesting. She loves to pretend she’s super-brave – barking like a fiend when she thinks she’s on the trail. We can readily tell if she’s found something above her pay grade, though. Her bark changes to a high-pitched, ‘somebody help me’ bark. We all run to her aid, including Bambi, who then dispatches possums or other weird critters Molly has uncovered.

Lately Molly has come in covered from nose to tail with burrs. They’re little bitty and stick badly to her hair. The last few days she’s come in with a totally black, wet, burr-covered muzzle, similarly covered feet, and burrs all over. It has taken me about half an hour with a comb to get all the burrs out. She is not a happy camper.

We took her to be groomed this morning. I asked the groomer to ‘sheer her like a sheep’ short all over. The groomer would prefer to leave wonderful, cute ‘eyebrows,’ longer hair on her ears,  and a mustache, but I have to tell her no. SHE is not the one who has to bathe the dog at least every other day, or get the burrs out while Molly acts as if I’m torturing her. She is much happier, and much easier to repair when she looks like this. We call her “Sleek Molly,” or “Summer Molly” this time of year.

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