For young master Keaton it was the morning after the night before. He had been invited to my sister’s home the previous evening to make his “social debut” within our family, and as expected, my little man received attention galore! So much so that he was still dead tired this morning! From subsequent events I gather that Keaton and Liquorice spent all night discussing the proceedings for both were very tired the next morning! With glacial calm Liquorice lay down on the concrete slab in front of the breezeway ready for her grooming session while Keaton took his weary self onto the front lawn to do what a little man must do first thing of a morning. Liquorice was sound asleep almost as I started with the rake on her forearm. And my little darling continued to count “Z’s” while her personal groom attended to the needs of her luxuriant coat. Even rolling Liquorice on her back failed to disturb her slumber. Keaton, on returning from the lawn lay down as well, slipping easily into dreamland aided by Liquorice’s soothing snores. My company must have been rather boring that morning. It was good to brush Liquorice without the new “young master” inspecting for flaws in my craftsmanship or trying to wrestle with my little darling! Time was not saved though, I simply gave Liquorice some additional brushing to soothe her weary body.
Next, it was sweet little Keaton’s turn to be groomed.
He did disturb, briefly, as I started, however was back comfortably in dreamland without even opening his sleepy eyes. This amazed me as Liquorice was several months before she first slept through her grooming sessions with the brushes. So I slowly worked my way through his soft puppy coat that, unfortunately, my little man is now losing. Some of the fine hairs would drift upwards to my face making my nose itch as the fibers came gently to rest there.
The result of too many ear massages the previous night was that young Keaton had a great many matts forming behind his ears! Drawing on my limited reserves of patience I carefully teased out these matts with clumsy fingers, not made for this kind of fine work. In time, I slowly rolled Keaton on to his back. Keaton’s head slowly rolled over too with gravity allowing his head to elegantly come to rest once more. His chest and the inside of his back legs done I allowed him roll over onto his right side. The same slow and undisturbed progress was made on this side too, except when his ultra fine hair tickled my nose once too often resulting in a sudden sneeze that woke both my little darlings. Keaton opened a sleepy eye and closed it again as his head seemed too heavy to be bothered with odd noises. Liquorice propped herself up on one elbow, glanced around, and, once satisfied that all was as it should be, flopped yet again into blissful slumber. Once more the small matts of knotted hair behind Keaton’s left ear now slowed my progress. Carefully I separated the small clumps and, teasing them slowly so as not to disturb my sweet little boy’s slumber and eventually the last of the matts were removed. Keaton had not noticed a thing as he slept on, and not in silence either! With a very tired back and muscles that ached I finished his head and ears, then wiped the little fellow over with the soft brush. Gathering up the brushes, and making a mental note to add reading glasses to the grooming gear, I called the two sleepy angels. Liquorice woke slowly at first, then, with a burst of sudden enthusiasm, probably related to the fact that she had finally heard her bladder’s urgent calls. After all it was more than an hour and a half since I first started on them. Liquorice quickly made her way out onto the front lawn, there to open the pent-up floodgates! Her pace gave her brilliant black coat an exaggerated sway that glistened as Liquorice moved from shadow into the bright morning sunshine. My little darling looked absolutely beautiful, and as always, was well worth the effort.
Keaton, roused reluctantly to activity by Liquorice’s dash, followed her at a discrete distance. He watched Liquorice, then his eyes turned to me as I picked up the “wads” of Newfie hair. Keaton’s fluffy white puppy coat seemed to glow in contrast to the small black patches on his back. That silky fine white coat with black “ticking” that gave the little lord the appearance of being clothed in the finest quality Ermine! Keaton, deciding that Liquorice was to be more playful than his weary Dad waddled off in her direction. It had taken a great deal of time and effort but I was gratified in the extreme to see my two little darlings happy and oh-so-beautiful looking as they went off to start their day.
Over the next few minutes the brushes were replaced, kneepads put away, waste hair disposed of and moistened kibble placed in an old dog’s dish at the rear of the garage. My thoughts then were of my first life-sustaining cup of coffee for the morning when my two energetic and overly playful puppies came bounding around the garage. I must be getting old for I know that the younger generation’s fashion sense is somewhat different to mine however I was ill prepared for this. Not five minutes earlier both were beautifully presented, sleepy, but ready to face the world.
Not now!
Evidently they were dissatisfied with my amateur hairdressing efforts and had, through play, rearranged each other’s “coiffure” to their own satisfaction. Liquorice’s slobber, as they had wrestled, had left the ends of Keaton’s hair on his head and neck stuck together, giving him that pronounced spiky look of a junior “punk rocker”. And those wet ends were now darkened in stark contrast to Keaton’s previous snowy appearance! His coat was disheveled, ears wet and heavy and he held his head low from his exertions. Liquorice was little better. She too had that same spiky hairdo across her head, neck and shoulders! Keaton had indeed been busy. Liquorice was further decorated with a thick and pendulous strand of saliva draped along the edge of her left ear. A generous sprinkling of dead lawn clippings, stuck to their coats, added to impression of serious neglect! It was obvious that they had each been wrestled to the ground, and in their now moist condition, gathered grass clippings galore. Both looked up at me with excited dark brown eyes that willed me to play. Those big smiley faces with tongues lolling out to one side spoke volumes of the fun had in the few minutes since last I had seen them. All that time and effort, now wasted.
At least they had enjoyed themselves!
Arthur Witten
Liquorice – I did a great job, and much faster than Dad!
Keaton – Come on, Dad, we can do the same for you too!