We took the bubs to the dog park today and a young gal (20ish) showed up with a magnificent Pyr. He was probably the biggest Pyr I have personally seen. After all the dogs did the meet and greet or whiff & sniff I should say, I noticed how badly matted his rear end was. I mean seriously matted.
If his tail wasn't up over his back I'm sure it would have been incorporated into his back legs.
He came over to me and I gave him a good scratch and just about everywhere I scrunched my fingers, they came across bits of twigs and grasses etc. I don't think the boy had ever been brushed.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think dogs should be show quality and I don't brush my bubs everyday, but he was a serious mess.
Later I strolled over to talk to his owner and she told me how she rescued him from a local shelter, had had him about 2 years now and was a very proud mom. I told her how great he was and that he must have gotten into some pretty good brush lately."Oh, we live in the country and he runs around a lot. He's always covered with something. The good thing is their fur. It protects them from all that stuff."
I told her, "You'd think so, wouldn't you. But truth is, sometimes those little grasses and twigs can work their way down into their skin and get embedded. Sometimes the littlest bit can cause some pretty good infections."
And this is where I probably should have stopped, but no, I had to follow that up with, "A good brushing every few days or so is a good way to keep that from happening. It also keeps the matting down."
Then I got the look. The
look. She called her dog and went to the far side of the park.
Have I turned into one of those little biddys who can't mind her own business? The dog was a healthy weight, having a blast at the park and was obviously loved by his owner.
Oh well. I'm sure my comments won't change her outlook on caring for her baby and I probably gave her something to talk about to her friends. "I met this B - - - h at the dog park and I'm not talking about a female dog!"
