When it comes to dogs with dye, one dog comes to mind: @tiffanythepommie. We spoke with her humans to ask some of the questions we thought would be useful to those who are considering this. Enjoy!
What made you decide to dye Tiffany's hair?Oh boy that’s a hard one, I can’t really remember. I think it was my husband’s idea. I think we were sitting out on our deck one afternoon and Jeff was making a fauxhawk on Tiffany’s head with a bit of water and it looked really funny and cute, so we took it from there and colour just seemed to the next option to make it even cuter!
Do people ever cast judgement on you? Not outwardly, we’ve never had an outright negative reaction.
How do you respond? It would depend, if it was constructive, as in, we shouldn’t have cut our Pom’s coat down, I’d have to agree. Grooming a pom short can cause reverse grooming alopecia or in Tiffany’s case seasonal alopecia (she sheds her coat in the summer and it doesn’t grow back) in the winter however it comes back in and she gets fluffy again. If the judgement was that they don’t agree with dressing up a dog or putting sunglasses on her, I’d say that’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it; they would have to see how excited Tiffany gets when I get her hoodie out and she knows she’s going out. And we put the sunglasses on her and she’s happy to keep them on – as long as dad is carrying her – she knocks them off mostly as soon as we put her down on the ground. We’d never force our dogs to do anything. We have other dogs at home, and they do NOT get excited when a hoodie comes out and would shake the sunglasses off as soon as they were on; so we don’t do that with them. So we leave it up to Tiff. If she’s happy we’re happy.
Obviously I am a huge fan of purple, I designed my marketing around it. What made you choose that colour? It was our groomers suggestion; we had done pink at first, but it was too light, and we tried green, but that just didn’t seem Tiffany. We tried the purple and voila! A star was born LOL.
Does she always rock the same style or do you guys ever change it up? Any big plans for her pampered pooches style. Tiffany has her signature style and I think she just owns it now. Her purple fauxhawk, her sunglasses, her Pretty Paw Harness and usually her black skull hoodie. People do think she’s a boy and often refer to her as a biker pooch! And get a laugh when we say her name is Tiffany. We don’t have any big plans to change it up…she’s not a girly dog, so definitely no frills, bows or dresses! LOL She does have a few variations. She has a red Canada hoodie for Canada Day…and she has a couple of colourful UV shirts to protect her from the sun, and an orange hoodie for a bit more fun in the summer. Oh and variety of knit hats for the winter! LOL
Do you think Tiffany loves it? For example, my dog Sadie is getting crazy attention with her purple ears and loves the attention! I am sure it’s the same for tiff. Definitely! She gets so excited when her hoodie and harness comes out. She’s the only one of our dogs that literally puts her legs up to help you get her hoodie and harness on. Our other dogs usually make it as difficult as possible when it comes to that! Like lay on their back; or tuck both legs under their body; or just run around with me trying to catch them! LOL. Not Tiffany, she’s always raring to go. She will bark (which she does rarely) when we go out without her. LOL
Will you keep doing this for her? Yes, as long as she is ok with it. She makes so many people smile, it’s just so wonderful to see. We’ve seen grumpy kids light up when they see her. People who are barreling down a street lost in their own thoughts will suddenly stop, smile and say hello. We have met so many wonderful people because of Tiffany; we get to hear about their dogs and their stories; some happy, some sad, but there is always a connection. Because she’s so gentle and docile; children of all ages can pet her and learn about being gentle with animals. Some people will just stop and laugh which is the most wonderful thing to see. My face always hurts from smiling at the end of the day.
Anything you want to say to people thinking of giving their dog's a dramatic hair style? As long as your dog is ok with it and most importantly it’s not harmful or hurtful to your pooch, why not?