Hair today, Gone tomorrow

The other day I found myself muttering under my breath once again "damn dog hair". It's literally everywhere. Balled into the carpet, clinging onto my coat, hanging from my daughter's clothes- I swear sometimes I think it's everywhere but the dog.

But then one look at him and it's definitely all over him too. Another reminder that it will likely shed somewhere near me in the near future. It blows around like tumbleweeds in our house, despite our best efforts to vacuum and pluck it up with our hands. It's constant.

That ball of hair has grown with us over the past five years. From a tiny puffball to full on lion's mane its always been with us. I can recall times watching it swirl through the air when we have the music turned up and his head is hanging out the window. A smile so wide you don't mind the drool cascading down the side of the car. You never do forget the sight of that big black tongue flapping in the wind, pure joy radiating on his face.

I remember the way his hair matted when we first took him to the ocean. Salt, sand and dog hair. We would meticulously lay down a towel in the backseat in hopes to avoid having it spread further. Inevitably every single time he would manage to crawl his 70 lb. frame into my lap into the passenger seat. He was a dirty boy (not to mention smelly) but he was incredibly happy and I was happy we owned a washing machine.
I remember when I was pregnant how he would take his head and lay it on my belly. Getting to know P by sound before sight. When I lent out my maternity clothes to a friend I made sure to say "Hope you enjoy the clothes! The dog hair comes as a free accessory!"

I can't tell you how many times I have attempted to find the stray strand of hair that has worked its way between my mascara. How many times I have had to inspect a pacifier to make sure nothing was clinging to it. Sit on the floor in black yoga pants...forget about it.

One day however

it will no longer surround us

I will not get to see it dance around as I drive with all the windows down. I will not get to see it in the grips of my baby girl's hands. I will not take it to work with me everyday, the strands that were too stubborn to be corralled by the lint roller.

And oh how I will miss it so.

So for all the years you give us (please say it's a lot), we will embrace it, we will love you and we will invest in a really great vacuum.

15 comments

  1. Best vacuum EVER for pet hair: Bissell's pet hair vacuum that's right around $50 on Amazon. No brush for hair to get caught in. It gets up along baseboards. It's bag-less. The cord is super long. SWEAR you'll love :)

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  2. Oh Laura, I LOVE this so much :) I'm constantly picking up dog (and bunny) hair and although I curse the hair every single time, I love our pets and I wouldn't trade them for the world! Beautifully written :)

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  3. This post has me in tears. My golden retriever shed a ton and we complained about it. Now that he's no longer with us, I would give anything to have to pick his hair off my pants all the time.

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  4. Finn it just so adorable though! fur or no fur.

    liz @ sundays with sophie

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  5. Tearing up over here!!!! The shedding has just started for Brady and it's no joke. I actually had to pull my car over yesterday to get a piece of it out of my eye haha.

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  6. I needed this today! I've been so grumpy with my dogs over this very same thing! Thanks for sharing;)

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  7. Ok...started out reading with a smile and now I'm in tears...but still smiling Lol! What a sweet boy, and I agree, we have tumbleweeds EVERYWHERE right now cause Bella is shedding like the long haired mad woman she is, but I wouldn't trade if for anything. She's our girl and I love her no matter how many random strands of her hair magically find its way into my eyelashes. ;)

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  8. Teary eyed over this! The fur, it gets to you, but when you're an animal lover it's easily overlooked. I am such a clean freak, however when it comes to having pets in my life, their fur is one of the few messes I'll accept in our house. Totally worth it, and I feel the same way, I hope I have many years of fur balls flying around my house from Jamo and Hobbes because it means more time spent with them.

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  9. Omg that made me tear up at the end! I think the same thing all the time - when my pups are driving me nuts, I take a deep breath and realize one day they won't be there and I will miss them so very much, even their naughty tendencies! (this makes my heart hurt just to think about). And I can see from the comments that all the other pet lovers and fur-baby mommas feel the same! :) <3

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  10. Oh my gosh this has me crying like a baby! It also makes me never want to complain about the dog hair invading my house ever again. I can't imagine my life without being covered in dog hair, and I don't want to imagine it!

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  11. What a sweet post! There are so many things we complain about that bug us when in reality, we would miss it if it were gone! Thanks for the reminder on that!

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  12. We just marked the 2nd anniversary of our beloved girl's passing this month. She was my sweet, sassy baby for 14 laughter filled years. I miss the muddy paw prints on the floor after you so meticulously cleaned her paws before releasing the hound. I miss the dog hair. I miss the nose prints on the glass doors, the slobber streaks on the side of the van, and the nightly kicks and growls when I selfishly attempted to get a couple inches of room on the bed. I miss her being more excited Christmas morning than our boys, and more selfish about her presents. I miss the jingle of her Christmas collar that had every bell re-sewn several times and no velvet left on it anywhere, but she still insisted on it to the point she would dig it out of the box when she saw me decorate the tree. Enjoy it. Enjoy the love, the wags, the sass. Soak it up. Life's not the same when they're gone.

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  13. I feel your pain with the pet hair in your mascara! You have no idea how many times I thought I was done applying my makeup and notice a tiny grey hair between my lashes. How did it get there? The world may never know! But the day I don't find those grey hairs all over my sheets, carpet, makeup counter, etc. I'll be heart broken.

    You have an ADORABLE fur baby!!!

    Kristen @ Your Beauty Fix

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  14. This was a wonderful reminder of all the sweet memories and gifts our pets give us. It's easy to forget the special moments when we are caught in the mix of the day and they add one more thing to our to-do list (take them out, feed them). It's all worth it when they nuzzle up next to your baby make them giggle!

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  15. Awe :) I loved this so much! and it's so true... we love our fur babies but their hair does drive me crazy!

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