What Did We Do???

Denali is officially 8 1/2 months old and has never had a haircut. I've never owned a dog before that needed actually grooming, but apparently long-haired dogs need that or they end up with looking like a hippie with dreadlocks. After we kept finding mats in his hair, we knew it was time for the big day. We scheduled an appointment today and just picked him up from his new 'do'...

....And we didn't even know it was our dog. Adam and I were both speechless when they brought him out. (And NOT in a good way!) We had specifically told them we didn't want him to look like a poodle... and out prances a poodle. I actually cried when I got in the car. Our car ride home was pretty much silent, except for the occasional, "Well, I could just trim him up around the mouth" or "Keep smiling, dogs can sense feelings" or "I CAN'T BELIEVE we paid this much for THIS?". Adam made me promise that I wouldn't do any snipping/touch ups today. Here's the before picture:




And the after picture:




We honestly don't mind the back of him so much because his hair is incredibly soft and hopefully this will cut down on the shedding. But the front is outta control!! We were almost embarrassed to get him out of the car because we thought the neighbors would see! I can't wait for it to grow out again. Also, this has been such a eventful week for Denali. He graduated from dog school, FINALLY! This was an 8- week course we started Dog Lover's Obedience School back in November and we're just NOW finishing. Due to snow, holidays, and funerals, 20 weeks later, we're finally done. Tomorrow, he is getting neutered. Can we make our dog any more girlier in one weekend?? It's gotta be too much for the precious thing to take:-)