A good hair day, a Halti and some fresh air

After I took about five deep breaths once we left the vet, Maya and I drove straight to PetSmart to get a harness for her.  We've struggled in the past to find the perfect one for us without a lot of luck. The Gentle Leader left blisters on her nose and the Easy Walk harness left sores under her arms.  A standard harness just meant that she used her body to drag me around instead of her neck.  At 85 pounds and me weighing.....only a little bit more, I'm no match for her.

Not my dog, just a Google image of the Gentle Leader.  The noose-like thing under her jaw never stayed put, which caused the part around her nose to slip and slide giving her terrible blisters.  BAD Gentle Leader, NO!!

I needed something padded around the nose and that didn't act like a noose around her mouth.  The Halti works much better for us.  It's padded on top and is a loose loop around her nose unless she gets stupid, at which point you pull the leash to close the loop and get her attention.  I also got a shorter leash for her.  The 6-foot one was too much to hold.  I never let her get six feet away from me so I was constantly looping it up to make the leash shorter.  That sucked, since it felt like I was carrying a bundle of rope in addition to wrangling a pulling, jumping muscular puppy.  Walks were not fun.

My baby girl in her head gear.  

She looks like a nerd but I can handle walking her now.

The Halti works like a horse's bridle - you control the head, you control the animal.  I'm not saying everyone should get one, but the Halti gave me a good day with my dog so I'm keeping it.

I also took a shower and did my hair.  It doesn't sound like much, but when you're home by yourself all day every day, you don't have much incentive to keep up appearances.  I experimented with a curl lotion I'd had in the cabinet since forever.  After checking the ingredients on Teri's website (which is the coolest thing ever, by the way) I put some in my hair after the conditioner and did my regular wash and go.

I have no idea how long I've had this but it still works!

Just look at the hair people.  Not the fluorescent yellow skin, the rabbit eyes, the lightbulb forehead, the eyebrows in need of waxing, the eyebags or the weird expression.  And now I've sufficiently picked myself apart so you don't have to.  You're welcome.  I was too impatient to fix all that and take a better picture because it's about the hair y'all!

After my hair dried a little bit, I put on Maya's headgear and took her for a walk.  It was 73 degrees out, I could smell my yummy conditioner with each breeze, and my dog wasn't trying to pull my arm out of socket.  We walked and I took deep breaths and cleared my mind.  It did wonders for my mental state.  And thank you all for your kind comments - it did so much to lift my spirits!!

I'm still working through some things but as I'm sure you can attest, when you've got a good hair day on your side you have just a little more strength to make it through to the next day.