Shaggy Dog! Shaggy Dog!

Yep, that's Stella. She's the breed featured in the movie and this is how all the kids in the park refer to her when they come running over for their pets and hugs. Stella? She abides it all with grace.

In the Beginning

Me: "Oh, and trim her all over, okay? She needs a haircut."

Groomer: "I'm not trimming one hair on this dog."

Me: "Why not?"

Groomer: "Because of her breed!"

Me: "Well, what the hell is the breed?"

Groomer: "A Bearded Collie!"  (To which she really wanted to add and I think did -"You moron!")

Me: "Oh"

Stella was found wandering in the hills of just outside town. A friend had taken the long way home and came upon her as she trotted along the side of the gravel road. No collar, raw bloody paws, in pretty poor shape, and obviously lost. My friend lifted Stella into the back of her pick-up and, while on her way home, stopped at a few of the houses in the area asking whether anybody knew the owner.

She stopped at one house and asked the man there whether he had lost a dog or knew of anyone who had. "You mean that shaggy dog that's been running loose up here for about a month?"

Several days later, I was working up in my office when I heard a commotion down on the deck. I got up and looked down. There I saw this little raggedy dog. It was love at first sight. She stayed the night and every night thereafter.

Bearded collies are great dogs and unbeatable friends. And guess what? All that hair and no shedding!

PS: The groomer mentioned above was short-lived in Stella's and my life. Stella's REAL GROOMER is Sydney at Petite Paws Pet Parlor, where she's been going for more than 13 years now. Stella thinks of her grooming day as pretty much a day at the spa . . . .