Our cocker spaniel, Goldie, is the inspiration for Nearly Wolfe in the Carding, Vermont books.

We usually don’t let her fur (actually, cockers have hair like poodles so they don’t shed it once it gets to a certain length) get this long.

But it’s been such a cold winter, we haven’t wanted to give her a haircut.

In the last few days, the temps have  started crawling on their hands and knees above freezing, and she’s  sleeping further and further away from the wood stove which is a sure sign that her fur is making her too hot.

We begin with the ritual bath which she ritually endures.

Then we let her dry a bit. With her hair this long, she gets REALLY curly, and looks like a golden sheep.

And then Jay gives her a haircut.

Her hair is very fine and its length kept jamming the combs on the cutter. So Jay had to stop frequently to clean them. After an hour, which is about as long as Goldie can stand, her back end was sheared so we called a halt for the day.

We often do this because we find that the shock of losing her whole fur coat is not as intense.

And for a couple of days, she looks like a funny little lion. Jay calls it her “Simba cut.”

We’ll finish up in the next day or two but in the meantime “Roar y’all!”