Its no surprise to anyone who has known me for a while that I color my hair. In the past year, its been blonde, light brown and now strawberry blond with highlights. I’ve been coloring my hair in one way or another since I was 14 … 10 if you count my days as a guinea pig for my mother’s cosmetology license.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve looked at Abby with some new eyes, pondering: if I can color my hair, and some men color their hair, and we’ve all seen at least one pink poodle in our lives, why can’t the Pigger do color? Now, I’m not talking about wild pink, purple or even blue, just an enhancement in a very small and targeted area — her face. And its not like I’m the first person to think about coloring my dog’s hair (See: What You Always Wanted to Know About Coloring Dogs…But Didn’t Know Whom to Ask!). You see, the little miss is turning 10 years old next month and she’s starting to go white in the face, mostly her eyebrows and the area directly below her eyes and her cheeks, (See the "before" pix) all of which used to be a lovely light golden brown color. (See the "after" pix) For anyone who has seen her lately, she certainly doesn’t act like a 10 year old (fat and sluggish) but she is starting to look like an older dog.
I’ve seen women on makeover shows or in magazines, go from gray haired and haggard to vibrant and younger looking with just a little bit of help from Miss Clairol, wouldn’t the same hold true for Abby? I can just imagine the new bounce in her step, or the swagger in her stride as she strolls through the neighborhood, sans the white facial fur, with a new luxuriously colored and conditioned face of tawny brown fur. Oh the compliments she would receive, she would be queen of the world – until of course, the color either grew out, faded or do what she does oh so well… shed – all over the darn place. Then we’re back to square one, and color maintenance. Ugh! The line of demarcation, the hair color splatters, the scalp tingling. Oy, I don’t know if she can take it.
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| Before | After recolorization |
Heck, if TNT can recolorize old movies, why can’t I recolorize my dog?
On second thought, the application process would probably be a nightmare, especially in delicate areas such as above and below the eyes. She barely sits still to be petted, hardly tolerates getting a bath and is an absolute beast about doggie manicures and pedicures. Perhaps this is a disaster in the making. Guess this is one dog who is going to have to deal with her white hair, er, fur… or rather, her owner will.
The most important aspect of Abby really is not how she looks (although, most folks think she looks MUCH younger than 10) but that she is still very active, healthy and happy. And she is.
