Maggie Needs a Bath

Since she was a puppy, Maggie has gone to the groomer once a month.   It was traumatic for her but she held herself together and came home a cutie pie with a new bandana around her neck each time.   A few months ago the groomer told us it was too traumatizing for Maggie to be groomed there.   Now that Maggie is blind and deaf she just couldn't handle it.  The groomer said she would do Maggie, if we insisted, but she hoped that we would not.   So Maggie no longer goes to the groomer.   Now she is a shaggy little thing.   We have given her a few baths but it was so stressful for all of us that we wait until we can't stand the odor to do it.   Her hair has been getting longer and her toenails click on the floor so we knew it was time for us to act.   We went to Youtube to watch videos on how to trim a dogs nails.  We went to Petco to get nail trimmers.   Cuting her hair... that is the challenge.   We borrowed some clippers several months ago.   Roy was to research how to use them and how to quickly cut her hair.   Up to today all we have done it trim Roy's hair.   I'll admit I'm better at it than I thought and there have been no slips that sent him scurrying to the barber.   So today we decided to trim Maggie's nails and give her a haircut.   I was sure if we gave her to dose of Rescue Remedy she would be calm and this would be a snap.   Wrong!  We managed to bathe her without incident although she trembled uncontrolably.   When we got her out of the tub she bit Roy, drama, drama.  We dried her with towels and let her roam around the house for awhile.   Then we sat her between us on the kitchen floor and tried to clip her hair.   I was biten this time.   We managed to clip her back using the clippers and trim her front paws using the scissors and then we had to let her go.   We had lunch.  After lunch I gave her some more Rescue Remedy and we tried to clip her nails.   We were able to get the back feet done.   Had to let her go again.   So now we have spent several hours and have a dog who has short hair on her back and the nails on her hind feet clipped.  Oh, and she has slept all eveing.  I don't know if we totally stressed her out or its the  Rescue Remedy.   Either way we're all beat.