Happy Holidays from Camilla and Darwin!

[Camilla and Darwin]

Finals are over, it's getting cold (REAL cold!) and the holidays are here! Things could not be better. I thought I'd post an small update on Darwin, and add our holiday cards for this year.

First off - I will make an admission. This semester I got super busy, and for the first time, Darwin became quite matted. I am usually very diligent about brushing him, so this is the first time he's been matted to this level. I feel terrible about it, and I really didn't even realize how matted he was for quite a while, I thought I was brushing him more regularly than I was. I think this was also agitated by his higher than usual licking and scratching. I sat down to give him a thorough brushing one day and realized that they were everywhere, and down to the skin. Rather than subject him to de-matting I decided to just shave it all off. We usually get Darwin cut short at this time anyways, but not so short!

The last photo before the shave down. Note the crusty beard. I don't miss that. 

To save money I did it myself... and to say I did a bad job would be an understatement. LOL. He is pretty patchy and uneven, but that is okay because he's mat free and his hair grows fast. :-) So far he's loving it, he usually does enjoy shave downs so this isn't a suprise. However, he's been snuggling a lot more because he's cold! We've had fun snuggling him up in blankets.

I do love to watch Darwin run when he's short, because it's so much easier to see his eyes and he just looks so happy! Well, sometimes. Other times he looks like a demononic beast. It kind of depends on the position of his ears. Ha ha. We went out to play in the snow to celebrate the end of finals (yay!!!) and Darwin loved it.

Here is Darwin's Christmas card to the DK-ers

And the card from Jacob, Darwin and I. We are kind of goofy people and we love LOTR and the Hobbit, so we couldn't resist. :-)

The front

The back

So overall, it's been great and we are excited for Christmas!

Darwin would like to add a shout out to JD here. Because he's cut so short we bought him his very own ugly Christmas sweater, and he is not pleased! He is hoping for some tips on avoiding this travesty. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you Camilla! I hope Santa is good to you this year because you sure are good to us! We love You

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thanks everyone!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Great Cards Camilla!

Darwin is cute no matter what-Myla acts the same way after a shave.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

Wow, a completely different dog! I admire your courage, Camilla. All I can do is trim Monty's hair on his nose so that it does not curl into his mouth (hate the crusty bear as well!), and trim a bit off his ears.

The card are beautiful. Marry Christmas to you as well!

[Kyoko]

I love that poster!!! Happy Holiday to you, and your family... Camilla.

[Pat and Traveler]

WOW, Camilla!  Your card is awesome!  You are so creative and talented.  Darwin looks good with either short or long hair.  He's sure having fun in the snow!  Trav was a naked dog about this time last year, and he got cold!  He'd snuggle a lot.  :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Merry Christmas to your house, Camilla.  I especially love the close up fully  facing you pic of Darwin. He really looks so different with super short hair.  Gordie, our Springer,  really empathizes with Darwin.  We don't live in the freezing cold like you do but we had some pretty cold days and our heater went out so we had some pretty cold nights. He got so cold, his shivering shook the bed and woke me up!  Poor baby, but a light blanket worked like magic. Now our heater is fixed and our whether has warmed back up.

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

OMGoodness!  Darwin is sooo handsome in his beautiful sweater!  It just takes time and he will come around:)

[Jennifer and Jack]

HE looks amazing. I like him short….. Yay for being done with school for the semester.. ENjoy your family time….

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I love Darwin in his fancy sweater!!