Creative writing submission from the Rest Less community – submit your entry here.
Two days ago I noticed that everywhere my dog Arthur went, he was shedding little tufts of white Shiba fur. Small tufts were sticking out of his cheeks, legs, and chest. Though I’d hoovered first thing, by lunchtime it was as if the house had been neglected for decades.
Of course, I’ve previously explained that Shiba shed heavily twice a year…twice a year for six months at a time! But, it’s true that at certain times of the year, it’s worse than at others – spring being one of those times.
Yesterday, every time I ran my hand over my other dog Ila’s furry little head, clouds of fine, soft hairs rose up and were deposited onto the carpet, where they glued themselves into the fibres. It was as if they had tiny little hands that clung on for grim death and the Hoover brush simply glided over them with little or no effect.
I watched as Ila made her way along the hall. Every few paces she stopped, braced herself, and wriggled her little bottom left and right, shaking out great tufts of fluff. I feel your sympathy coming in waves, but it doesn’t end there. Multiply this by two and you have enough cast-off fur to make another Shiba!
I heard a cry from the depths of my mind: “But you only did this yesterday!” However, the other side of me simply sighed, resigned to the fact that I must take them both outside again and set to with the stripper. It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing it, I do. I love the way they shake and bounce about with pleasure as I free them from their thick undercoats, it’s just that I end up looking like a Yeti.
I’m left literally covered in fluff as it passes from them to me. True, I’ve been known to sneak out into the garden as God intended, to tackle the Shiba fluff without fear of bringing it all back inside on my clothes. However, since my tree was coppiced, there’s now a clear line of sight over my fence. My regard for my neighbours means that I’ve desisted from grooming completely naked in case I give them a heart attack or make them choke on their toast.
Biting the bullet, I ushered both little Shiba out into the garden and set to, knowing that I’ll be doing it all again tomorrow and probably over the weekend as well. Before long there were light, fluffy snowballs of fine, white fur around the garden. There was fur sticking to the tops of shrubs, waving around on the heads of tulips, and being carried off in the wind – a blur of fleecy snowballs.
I was vaguely aware of this as clumps occasionally drifted backwards and forwards on the breeze, dancing and spinning in circles, before taking off over the fences to land goodness knows where. When I’d finished them both it was as if there’d been a sheep shearing contest between two brawny Australians, their muscles rippling right there in my garden – but, sadly, no such luck.
Letting them back inside, I spent the next 20 minutes gathering all the fur up to pop into the bin and shaking, brushing down, and picking it off my clothes to take as little as possible back into the house with me. Once inside, my furry companions both now fed, walked, and considerably lighter, they settled themselves down for an early morning snooze while I was left to get out the Hoover. I blitzed all the carpets again, including the stairs, and had to empty the Hoover bag twice.
As I worked methodically around the house, I wondered what idiot had chosen velvet sofas, chairs, and dog beds, as this fabric is made up of tiny little hairs designed to grip and cling onto animal fur? Why would anyone, let alone the owner of two shedding machines, choose velvet as the optimal fabric? Utterly ridiculous, especially as that lunatic was me!
Over an hour later the job was finally done and, feeling vaguely pleased with myself, I decided to sit down to my first cup of coffee but, as I did so, my phone pinged. Opening WhatsApp, I saw a message from my friend who lives two houses away down the street. It simply said, “Have you been grooming your dogs this morning?”
Oops…apparently on coming out of her back door she was greeted by a large snowball of fine, downy, white fluff bouncing around her patio. I couldn’t lie, but did I feel guilty? Not at all! I rationalised that we were simply sharing the love. Well, that was my take on it and, after all, what’s a girl with Shiba Inu to do?
Are you feeling creative? We are proud to have a hugely talented community on Rest Less, which is why we’re so excited to open up a section of the site dedicated to showcasing the wonderful and diverse writing of our members. If you have a piece of creative writing that you’d like to share with the Rest Less community – you can do so here.