Source: abitofsillinessOur li’l Eskimo Joe is 7 years old today. 7! I can’t believe it. And even though I know dogs have much longer lifespans nowadays, the age 7 always makes me feel a little sad because all my life I’ve heard that’s a “senior” dog. And while we can tell he’s already starting to gray quite a bit, we don’t like to think of him as a senior.
But to celebrate Mojey Pojey’s Birthday, here’s some pic-spam. :)
Who wants to help me weigh some pros and cons? Opinions appreciated.
A woman, we’ll call her P, has been grooming MoJo & Cubby (and Wrigley on rare occasion) for almost 2yrs. She’s a gentle, soft-spoken woman that has always taken good care of my boys, is kind to them when I drop them off and grooms them exactly as I ask her to. I like her a lot!
She started at the grody little grooming shop close to where I work, but last year I followed her when she transferred to Royal Heirs: a posh, clean, shiny salon a few miles away. I LOVE Royal Heirs so much that I recommend people there constantly and everyone is always very impressed. I honestly didn’t know a grooming shop could be that nice…I thought they were always kinda gross. *haha*
Well, P recently had a huge lapse in judgement and made the hasty decision to quit her job & move out of state. I’ll keep her details private, but basically it was an awful mistake and she quickly returned to town. The situation has left her pretty broke.
But she wasn’t able to return to Royal Heirs…she’s gone back to the original place. The yucky place.:(
I’m so torn. I like P a lot and know she would never do anything to endanger my dogs or make them uncomfortable. But that grooming shop is sub par. They don’t enforce vaccinations on the dogs that come in. (But of course I make sure mine are up to date on theirs.) It always looks dirty, as do the groomers. The staff ignores you unless you’re there specifically to see them. And I can always hear my dogs barking in the back when I arrive to pick them up.
At Royal Heirs, they keep the dogs in large playpen areas out front, filled with big fluffy pillows. When I pick MoJo and Cubby up there, they’re always lounging calmly and comfortably. The place is spotless and the staff is enthusiastically friendly, even the groomers I don’t really know look up and wave no matter what they’re doing.
I’d feel guilty “abandoning” P in her time of need…she clearly needs the business to get back on her feet. But I do have to consider what’s best for my dogs. (Money isn’t an issue here…the prices are the same at both places, except Royal Heirs does throw me an occasional credit because they get so many referrals from me.)
What would you do?
MoJo, after a run with Jeremy. His favorite thing in the world. :)
Wrigley is Mr. Insecurity. Don’t look at/talk to/think about any other dog, it will break his heart.
Screen cap from the stare-down in the first video.
Jeremy and I have the mutual feeling that this dog is ALWAYS trying to communicate with us. More than any other dog we’ve ever met, including our other two.
There’s just something behind those eyes…
Let’s Go For A Walk - Pt 2.
I stood up and they realized I was serious so they got more excited. :)
(Love Cubby boxing Wrigley’s face at the beginning. Typical!!)
Let’s Go For A Walk Pt. 1.
In which I teasingly say “would it be a good day for a walk?” in a squeaky voice about a dozen times, trying to elicit some sort of reaction out of them. Some good stare-downs with both Wrigley & MoJo in this one. ;)
