Not the dog I was a week ago...

Do you remember me telling you back in January about how this winter I was the subject of a very important scientific experiment relating to my furs?

Instead of the normal 'little and often' hand stripping of my wiry hair, which is Gail's usual practice, this year she decided to leave my coat untouched all winter (other than a trim round the eyes now and then) to test the theory that come Spring the furs would be so loosely attached that the dreaded stripping process would be painless both for me and for Gail's increasingly arthritic thumbs.

As you know, I live in Northern Scotland, and if you are thinking that early March is these parts scarcely counts as Spring, well you would be perfectly right about that.

Ignoring this important fact, Gail set too with the stripping knife on Saturday. It was five whole months since I was last stripped and, well, I guess she kind of got carried away...



As I munched my way through two pig's ears and one medium sized  Pedigree Jumbone, a whole 6 oz of furs were detached from my person.

After another session on Sunday morning, I was most thankful when Gail finally called a halt, having spotted a couple of bare patches on my saddle. (The black furs are thinner than the white, and always come away more easily).

The brilliant news is that my paws are feeling ever so much better, and to celebrate this, as well as the completion of my mammoth grooming session, on Sunday afternoon I was taken on a 'proper' walk, my first in ages, up Scolty Hill.

Gosh it was nice to have a real leg stretch, although, given my sudden loss of insulation, I was a mighty relieved that the storm clouds gathering in the west passed us by.

PS Gail says we are not going to repeat the experiment next winter, having learned that when my coat gets longer and thicker it is much more effort to brush, collects more dirt, and when damp smells more 'doggy' (although I fail to see how that last point is a Bad Thing)..

Bertie's furs experiment: the results

You may remember that after I was wounded back in September, Gail and I spotted an opportunity for an interesting scientific experiment.

You see, prior to being stitched back together, my shoulder was shaved leaving a 4"x 4" bald patch, part of which encroached on my much admired black 'saddle'.

When us wire-haired fox terriers are puppies, our dark patches are as black as coal. It is commonly held that this distinctive colour contrast can only be maintained through hand-stripping of the coat. Any use of clippers or scissors will, so the theory goes, result in the black fading to grey. Which of course is fine too.

But is the theory correct?

Well until September, I sported a 'virgin' black saddle, untouched by any form of sharp cutting implement. So what would happen to the colour of the shaved patch, as the months passed?

The data from the experiment are shown below:

26 September 2014

5 October 2014

19 October 2014

9 November 2014

23 November 2014

28 December 2014

Well, you will have noticed that the furs grew back just the same shade as the rest of the never-shaven saddle area.

Now here I must explain that Gail and I had a little disagreement about reporting these results.

She suggested that, since we had not proved the 'fading to grey' hypothesis, it was maybe not worth writing up the experiment.

Imagine that. I think she was forgetting what science is all about. Real science is not about proving one's pet theory, it is a search for the evidence-based truth!

I was not about to compromise my scientific integrity by suppressing important if inconvenient data. We rightly criticise drug companies for doing just that. Blogville deserves better from its best Bouncing Boffin!

What now? Gail is suggesting I dismount from my high horse and stop being so melodramatic. As if!

To be strictly honest, I will concede that the statistical significance of the experimental result is questionable, given the n=1 sample size.

Notwithstanding this minor issue, please tell me you found the results of my experiment both useful and interesting.

Bad hair cut or interesting experiment?

Thank you so much again, all my dear and lovely friends, for your kind comments following last weekend's incident. Gail and I feel quite overwhelmed, and apologise that we have not had time to reply to each one individually.

I am pleased to report that I, Bertie, am on the mend. In fact I am starting to find this 'only short walks and always on the lead' regime quite irksome.

Earlier this evening I went for a quick check up and saw a different vet. She was happy with my progress, and said my notes from the weekend contained a 'graphic and gruesome' account of the state of my insides…

However, today I want to discuss the state of my outside.

It won't have escaped the notice of anyone who read my last post that I now have an interesting haircut.

Oh, you didn't notice? Here is a reminder.

As you can see, half the shaved furs around my wound were white ones and the other half were black.

Until Sunday these furs had never once been cut, only stripped. People often comment - favourably, I believe - on my distinctive black markings. WFT aficionados will tell you that cutting or shaving furs results in the black fading to a paler grey colour. But is this true?

Well now, consider this. We have perfect conditions for a fascinating scientific experiment, don't we just?

Oh won't it be exciting to watch what happens to the shaven patch as the furs grow back! What? Gail is saying "exciting like watching paint dry Bertie?" I think that is supposed to be a joke.

I am going to insist on Gail taking a photo of the patch, plus the surrounding never-shaved furs, at fortnightly intervals between now and the end of the year. I  shall publish the results of this ground-breaking research, together with the sort of rigorous analysis you have come to expect from Blogville's Chief Scientific Advisor, shortly afterwards.

I bet you can't wait.

PS Talking of colours, Gail's bruised arm is looking ever more, well, colourful…

PPS  Our Scottie friends might like this cartoon. Click here.