A post should appear every Sunday

Sunday 25th June  2023

Isis: Bee leave me it reely was too much for a dog. But, horrer of horrers, it just goes on and on and on.

Human: Every day this week, for at least an hour, sometimes two, I cut poor Isis’s hair.  “Just one more session,” I tell myself, “and we’ll be done.”

But no, there’s still a forest of wavy locks beneath her chin, or bits I’ve missed under her ears, or there’s a chunk hanging down in the middle of her tail, spoiling the aesthetic of that perfect curve I cut out last night. And when I pat her one day, I realise that she has adopted a retro style –  padded shoulders! When I investigate, I am astonished at how dense the hair is. I have to strip it down layer by layer.

And so we go on.

This is ridiculous. I could swear that I went over that section yesterday. I begin to wonder whether she’s secretly growing her hair back at night.

And then, finally, there’s the prickly oftenquestion of her legs and feet.

Sigh.

As we know, Isis is very fastidious about her legs and feet. She can’t bear to have even the smallest of leaves sticking to one of her limbs. I often notice curly and shaggy dogs joyfully galloping past us virtually camouflaged beneath a patchwork of dried leaves. But not our Isis. That leaf fragment must be removed now. And we mean now, even if this involves sitting down half-way across the main road.

To be fair, she will allow me to remove bits from her legs while we are out walking – as long as I’m quick. In the house though, it’s a very different matter. And she seems to be getting worse. Often at night, she’ll emerge from relaxed mode and attack one of her legs with an irritated RA- RA-RA-RA! Lately these forays are happening more and more frequently, yet I have no idea why. She doesn’t have fleas or mites, there are no inflamed patches, no sign of any skin problem at all.

Then one day when I’m trimming the hair on her chest, she repositions her right front leg, and I spot it! Three or four of the long, very fine hairs on the inside of her leg have become tangled and formed a little knot. Surreptitiously, I snip off the hair below the knot. Over the following days, I discover more little tangles. I have to pretend that I’m not interested in her legs, of course, but still working on her chest, or shoulder, or back.

It takes time, but eventually all the hairs are separated, and the knots gone. Also, I make a point of stroking her legs at opportune moments, hoping over time to desensitise her.

Not only do the evening leg attacks stop, but she is gradually becoming less reactive when her legs are touched.

Poor little dog. I imagine how painful it must have been for her when I casually pulled even the very soft brush down her legs and the bristles caught in a knot. No wonder she flinched and growled when I paid any attention to her legs or feet.

I learned a long time ago to check under my dogs’ ears and the inside of their thighs for tangles and knots, but didn’t expect to find them on their legs.

At last, Isis is shedding a lot less hair. She hasn’t got any hair left? Well, she’s not exactly bald, just very slim and exceptionally fluffy.

I have to say her behaviour is exemplary throughout all this intensive grooming. Although it’s clear that she doesn’t like it, she is sweet and co-operative. She deserves a halo.

Does she still look like a podengo though, Kerry?

Isis came from Aeza cat and dog rescue in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@azea.org or go to http://www.dogwatch.co.uk.