It's been almost six months, likely longer, since I gave up grooming Jackie and Jillie myself. It's exhausting to do it thoroughly -- cut their hair which grows so abundantly so quickly; bathe and dry them -- since there's two of them. It's not their favourite occupation, to be sure. And neither did Button and Riley before them appreciate that close attention to their hair and hygiene, when I'd groom them, one after the other on a regular basis.

Jackie and Jillie looking well groomed

Poodles famously don't leave hair all over the place as most canines do, and people who are allergic to dogs can much better tolerate hairy rather than furry dogs; my husband a case in point. But as healthy animals their hair does tend to grow at lightning speed, it sometimes seems. Awhile ago the animal clinic we used to take Button and Riley to rebuilt their premises and allocated a separate little building that was their original clinic, to grooming services.

It's there we take them. The young women who work there are beyond pleasant and accommodating; not hard to tell when people have a special relationship with dogs. And in the summer months ours need to be groomed at least every other month. When I was grooming them they'd look fine for about a week and then begin to look really dishevelled all too speedily. Now that they're being professionally groomed, they have a neat and tidy look about their hair that lasts for at least a month and a half.

Jillie with a growing-out haircoat

Since it's now winter, and so cold and we spend a considerable amount of time out-of-doors with them and they're so small compared to most of the dogs we come across through the forest trails on our daily excursions, we felt it best to confine those grooming appointments to three-month intervals. Which means that they tend to look pretty scruffy for a longer period of time.

On the other hand, their longer haircoats serve as partial protection against weather extremes of which we have plenty. Even though we pull winter jackets over them and boots to ensure they're warm enough in long weather exposures, their own haircoat fairly intact is meant to keep them comfortable. That said, they look pretty unkempt at the moment.

Jackie's longer haircoat

We're in a constant state of weather flux in January; relatively milder days interspersed with -26C night time temperatures rising to -16 to -18C during the day. We have ample sun on those very cold days but not much sun penetrates through the forest canopy, even one only partially denuded of foliage. Wind to augment the icy temperatures makes remaining out too long quite the challenge.

Yesterday we had to discipline Jillie for not listening and responding adequately out in the ravine, racing ahead madly and barking hysterically every time she suspected another dog nearby. Jackie, always the follower to Jillie's lead, responds instantly when he's called back. So Jackie was free to trot along the trails ahead of us and Jillie wasn't. She spent the time on our circuit leashed.

The strange thing is, on the leash she never seems to mind her enforced restraint although at first she's puzzled that she has been denied the freedom to bolt ahead when the mood takes her; she soon settles down on leash. Jackie, on the other hand, rarely does; he has a tendency to impatience at restraint, and indulges in a pulling contest in expression of his unwillingness to be fettered in his enthusiasms.