Taking pity on poor Roxy

Poor Roxy.

We love our farm pup beyond all belief, but if there is one aspect of her care we fail in, it is in the grooming department. You see, we prefer her hair to be quite long:

We love the shaggy, tough girl look:

You know, the kind needed for tending goats:

Keeping donkeys in line:

And protecting her farm girl during photographic assignments:

Roxy is a Cairn Terrier and Shih Tzu mix. She is blessed with the feisty Terrier disposition and intelligence and cursed with the silky, easily knotted and quickly tangled Shih Tzu hair. This time, we waited far too long to get her hair cut and, by the time I got her in to the groomers, her silky hair was matted and tangled tight in a number of places very close to her skin. Bad Mama!

I actually got a phone call from the groomer chastising me for the condition of her hair. (I was so embarrassed.) The end result was as close to a buzz-cut as this pup has ever seen. Poor lass. Not a good time to year to be sporting this look. Tell me this dog doesn't look cold to you:

Fortunately, I am very lucky to have blogger friends who look out for my pup.

I received the following comment from Denny at Fun in the Desert shortly after I posted that top pic of Roxy (post-shave) a few weeks ago:
"I have a little fleece dog jacket that's not being used these days (Buddy's gone to doggy heaven). I'd love to send it to Roxy! If you're interested, send me a note."

Of course, I responded right away. When Denny wrote back, she sent me a picture of her sweet pup and it's clear why she thought of Roxy. Buddy looked a great deal like Roxy.

Denny wrote in her email:
"Buddy weighed just a bit more than Roxy, but not by much. Just a pound or two, I think. The vest is fastened across the chest and under the tummy with Velcro. I just measured it. It's about 22" around the tummy. I'm happy to send the vest to you, if you want it. If it's too big somewhere, it's pretty easy to adjust parts of it with scissors and meager sewing skills. Buddy thought he was pretty hot stuff when he wore it. Got a bit of a prance in his old doggy step. I'd be honored if Roxy might wear it. "

Here's the photo Denny included of her sweet Buddy wearing his special fleece coat:

Roxy was very excited to get a package in the mail and couldn't wait to try on her new coat:

The funny thing was, she was instantly comfortable in it and went about doing her normal stuff:

without paying any attention to her beautiful, new turquoise attire:

Here's Roxy modeling her new coat outside:

It's a bit large around the waist so I'll have to pull out my "meager sewing skills" (seriously, they are meager!) and see if I can't pull it in a bit:

Thank you Denny and Buddy for helping me keep my farm pup warm!