By Dolly!
Miss Mae
April 16, 2007
Last April we purchased a living mop. We decided our black Lab mix dog, Lovey, needed a playmate. (I grew tired of being her chew toy, thank you very much!) Off we went to our local humane society and looked over the varied assortment. While our hearts bled at all the animals begging for our love, the black mop that thrust her head through the small hole in the fence, DETERMINED to push her way through and get to us, certainly caught our attention. We chose Suki-Yaki.
Can you believe that? Who’d name a mop Suki-Yaki? Nope, we christened her Dolly, loaded her into the back of the pickup and brought her home. But now we wondered if Lovey would accept her new playmate. I held Dolly outside the fence while hubby brought Lovey to the inner side, allowing the two to sniff each other. Lovey’s curiosity became pricked, though she acted like it amazed her as well to see a walking mop. Cautiously, I eased Dolly inside the yard. While she ran around and explored, Lovey romped alongside, exploring her. We breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the two would hit it off.
Dolly didn’t eat much that first week. I watched to make sure Lovey didn’t threaten, but Dolly appeared either to not simply like OUR food, or she simply didn’t want to eat, period. Sometimes I’d coax her to take a morsel or two, but more often than not, she turned away. I couldn’t understand her refusal, and just hoped she’d develop an appetite. But I needn’t have worried. By the weekend she wolfed down her portion, even licking her chops for more. As hubby and I examined her, we felt her shrunken stomach and came to the conclusion she’d been starved. Obviously the other dogs in her pen prevented her from eating. But now having food available, she’d instinctively known to go easy and get her system used to having nourishment again. A couple of weeks later with daily feeding, the pounds grew on her slight frame.
During the summer, the mop altered to a sloth. Anyone who’s watched Animal Planet has surely seen documentaries of sloths. They’re creatures that spend their whole lives hanging upside in trees which makes their hair grow upside down too. Dolly’s curled that way, and we scratched our heads with puzzlement, wondering if we now possessed the very first ever ‘moppy-sloth’ or ‘slothy-mop’. We decided to wait and see.
Her first winter with us, we left her to nature, allowing her hair to flow freely, thinking she needed it for added warmth. A complete and total hairball, nothing much was seen of her, not even toes or nails, though a white beard grew underneath her chin looking like she’d stuck her muzzle in a bowl of flour. Finally the days warmed enough to where we figured we better brave up and take some scissors to this out-of-control “whatever” she’d become. Patiently, she stood on the table and allowed us ‘shade tree groomers’ to cut and snip, grab and fling away inches and inches of her unnecessary coat. Piles of hair gathered at our feet and we collected enough to fill a small garbage bag.
Imagine the sight that met our surprised eyes as we continued with our artistry. The ‘moppy-sloth’ or ‘slothy-mop’ suddenly developed into a DOG!! Even with our amaterurish efforts, she proved to be a fine specimen. We stood back with pride and admired our handiwork. Though her hair now resembled sheep’s wool, she took form and shape. Bright, shining eyes appeared on the face and real ears cocked to attention at hearing our exclamations of delight. We discovered her tail wasn’t a foot long, but a much more modest canine length. Oh, what an adorable animal had hidden beneath all that hair for so long!
As she ran around the yard with Lovey, we thought she showed off her new ‘do’, kicking up her heels and sprinting away in a fast chase. Maybe she understood what happened too. We’ll never know, but it certainly got us to thinking. Perhaps next time we’ll buy a broom. No telling what marvelous wonders might lurk behind that straw!
Copyright 2007 by Lula M. Thomas
Can you believe that? Who’d name a mop Suki-Yaki? Nope, we christened her Dolly, loaded her into the back of the pickup and brought her home. But now we wondered if Lovey would accept her new playmate. I held Dolly outside the fence while hubby brought Lovey to the inner side, allowing the two to sniff each other. Lovey’s curiosity became pricked, though she acted like it amazed her as well to see a walking mop. Cautiously, I eased Dolly inside the yard. While she ran around and explored, Lovey romped alongside, exploring her. We breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe the two would hit it off.
Dolly didn’t eat much that first week. I watched to make sure Lovey didn’t threaten, but Dolly appeared either to not simply like OUR food, or she simply didn’t want to eat, period. Sometimes I’d coax her to take a morsel or two, but more often than not, she turned away. I couldn’t understand her refusal, and just hoped she’d develop an appetite. But I needn’t have worried. By the weekend she wolfed down her portion, even licking her chops for more. As hubby and I examined her, we felt her shrunken stomach and came to the conclusion she’d been starved. Obviously the other dogs in her pen prevented her from eating. But now having food available, she’d instinctively known to go easy and get her system used to having nourishment again. A couple of weeks later with daily feeding, the pounds grew on her slight frame.
During the summer, the mop altered to a sloth. Anyone who’s watched Animal Planet has surely seen documentaries of sloths. They’re creatures that spend their whole lives hanging upside in trees which makes their hair grow upside down too. Dolly’s curled that way, and we scratched our heads with puzzlement, wondering if we now possessed the very first ever ‘moppy-sloth’ or ‘slothy-mop’. We decided to wait and see.
Her first winter with us, we left her to nature, allowing her hair to flow freely, thinking she needed it for added warmth. A complete and total hairball, nothing much was seen of her, not even toes or nails, though a white beard grew underneath her chin looking like she’d stuck her muzzle in a bowl of flour. Finally the days warmed enough to where we figured we better brave up and take some scissors to this out-of-control “whatever” she’d become. Patiently, she stood on the table and allowed us ‘shade tree groomers’ to cut and snip, grab and fling away inches and inches of her unnecessary coat. Piles of hair gathered at our feet and we collected enough to fill a small garbage bag.
Imagine the sight that met our surprised eyes as we continued with our artistry. The ‘moppy-sloth’ or ‘slothy-mop’ suddenly developed into a DOG!! Even with our amaterurish efforts, she proved to be a fine specimen. We stood back with pride and admired our handiwork. Though her hair now resembled sheep’s wool, she took form and shape. Bright, shining eyes appeared on the face and real ears cocked to attention at hearing our exclamations of delight. We discovered her tail wasn’t a foot long, but a much more modest canine length. Oh, what an adorable animal had hidden beneath all that hair for so long!
As she ran around the yard with Lovey, we thought she showed off her new ‘do’, kicking up her heels and sprinting away in a fast chase. Maybe she understood what happened too. We’ll never know, but it certainly got us to thinking. Perhaps next time we’ll buy a broom. No telling what marvelous wonders might lurk behind that straw!
Copyright 2007 by Lula M. Thomas
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