I adopted my dog from a local shelter 4 and a half years ago after she was abandoned by her first ‘family’. I took one look at her cowering in her run and knew she was THE dog for me. Many other people thought I was crazy. She was scared of everything, including me for quite a while. She would pee at the drop of a hat, or the raise of a voice, or the approach of a man. But over the years she has come out of her shell and is truly the most wonderful dog anybody could hope for. She is totally chill 90% of the time, but always up for some play and cuddle time. She’s still timid with strangers and pretty neurotic, but her neuroses only compliment my own. We are perfect for each other and I just adore her.

One of my favorite things about Keller from the very beginning was her fur. She is the definition of scruffy. She’s both speckled and spotted, with about 15 different shades of beige and brown making up her wiry coat. She’s got these adorable black sprigs of hair coming off the ends of her ears. She just looks like she came from a pound.

While I do love the look of her usual hairdo, she sheds a ton and we’re on our 5th 100+ degree day this summer (before summer has even officially started). With my new apartment’s cleanliness and the heat in mind, I decided to make both of us a little more comfortable.

Here is how my precious Keller usually looks:

Here are a few snapshots of how she looks now, post groomer:

She is so punk, with her cute little mohawk.

To get some pics of my good friend Laura’s pups, we decided to take a hike. These two Muppet-looking labradoodles have a lot of nicknames - Mumpkins, Monkee, Chunk Butt, Smellenstein, Duke, Baruchasaurus, Baruch Obama…but formally they are Clementine and Baruch.

Can you tell they got a good work-out? I’ve never seen such tongues!

He is a two year old Pit/Australian Shepherd mix…

…and just about the sweetest dog you would ever meet.

He has the softest head! I could snuggle him all day.

His parents, Mark and Ari, aren’t too bad either.