My little miniature dachshund, Riley, is of the long-hair variety. He has beautiful, long silky hair, and his characteristic long ears are also covered with wavy locks. He’s really quite the looker.

We got him when we lived in Florida, and as his hair grew out, all it really required was some brushing now and then to keep it looking good. When we went on walks, it was by and large on pavement, and he stayed nice and clean.

Then we moved to Texas.

After bouncing around between a few residences (long story…another day) we ended up out here on the ranch. So, Riley started to adjust to his new surroundings. With the only pavement on the main road, everywhere he walked was not just grassy, but filled with burs and twigs and all manner of outdoorsy fare. Due to his low-to-the-ground stature, there were days the poor guy came schlepping back, just from doing his business, looking more like a tumble weed than a little black dog. He would come to me with sad eyes and a pitiful face and I’d immediately remove visible twigs and leaves. But because his hair is long around his belly and on his feet, too, I quickly learned that most of the burs went there, his hair picking them up like a vacuum. I would find him working feverishly to get them out himself, frustrated, because he couldn’t get them all.

So, last summer, he had his first buzz cut. They sheared off that long hair, trimmed it around his feet and shortened it up on his ears. He was reticent to go in at first, of course, not being familiar with the groomer. But when he came out, looking like his short-haired counterparts, he was prancing and light on his feet. It was so obvious he felt SO much better.

I wonder how many of us could say that we are dragging around the debris from living in this world. We all pick up the cares of just doing our business in the world, don’t we? We all carry the garbage left over from the past, that, truthfully, can lodge up in our hearts like a bur in the armpit of a little black dachshund. I’m thankful there’s a Groomer that can help. I know Riley would joyfully recommend it. He just went yesterday for his first seasonal cut and is blissfully bur-free.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:7-12 KJV

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NLT

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV