As my time in this country winds to a close, I think it is unfortunate that I am going to be departing with a relatively bad taste in my mouth but to be fair, most of that is towards the Thai immigration and government in general.
The Thai people I will miss and certain aspects of the economy even more so. For example: I have a dog and dogs need haircuts. I also am not a fan of cutting dog's nails because one time i cut too short and hit the "quick" and well, I'm traumatized by that more than the dog is.
Yesterday Nadi (my dog) got her second to last haircut that she will ever receive in the only country that she has ever known (she was born here.)
This is the "before" shot and I am a big believer that Nadi, and a vast majority of other dogs really don't give a crap what their hair looks like, or if they have too much of it. But Nadi was getting too hot when we were going for our daily walks that i've made longer recently because she is getting a bit pudgy.
So i went down to my local doggie beauty salon and just told the women who works there to "not make her a skinhead but other than that to just do whatever she thinks is best."
)She came back from the shop with a silly bow on her head but she really doesn't like those things so I quickly took it off of her. I think they could have maybe made her more glamorous, but this is not a fashion choice on our part, this is just so she can be more comfortable... and I think she is.
The point of all this is that the process took 2 hours (I'm sure there was some waiting her turn in that 2 hours) and it included a full haircut, nail clipping, and a bath. The grand total cost of all of this was 160 Baht or around $5.
I just did a search with PetSmart, a major pet store all over the USA and for the same service, it would be near $60 and I don't even know if that includes tax.
So yeah, I am going to miss having access to what is pretty much the exact same service for 1/10th the price. It remains to be seen if cuts are as cheap in Vietnam because if they aren't, we will be familiarizing our home with some clippers. There is no chance i would ever include a $600 per year haircut budget into my dog's life because I wouldn't spend that much on my own haircuts.
What about you? How much is dog grooming services where you live?
Luckily mine just get the hosepipe in the garden every now and then and the Chocolate Labrador swims every day so it isn't really required. I have no idea what it costs but we have a mobile trailer that comes around once per month and offers the service in your driveway which is pretty decent. I would guess it would be around $20-$30 for this service and having 2 dogs adds up pretty quickly. Dog food is around half the price of rump steak per kg so they are not cheap any more to feed either.
Awwwwww.. Nadi looks cute!
We pay about 35USD each. It takes our groomer about 3 hours for the two of them.. same thing. baths, cuts dry off and cut nails. $900 per year plus a nice Christmas tip. She looks a bit more spry in the second photo.. are you ready to give a treat? haha.. she doesn't look too bad. Not too pudgy. Overall looks like an awesome job for $5!
On a side note.. Love the Pillow
It's sad to have to up root from the only home you've known, but I am thinking as long as she is with you, all will be good. Does she have to go into quarantine when she gets to Vietnam? That would suck. Guessing you found a place. Best wishes with the move.. I'd come help (God knows I've helped a lot of people move), but I am sort of out of the area.. hehe.
Nice to see another Nadi post! Pepper and Molly say Hello!
old pic.. like 5 yrs ago.
Molly and Pepper looking as adorable as ever. There is no quarantine in Vietnam... well, not a compulsory one for dogs anyway. I suppose if they had a suspicion of some sort of Shih-Tzu specific disease that was spreading or something they could do that but for the most part they have a "do whatever you want" approach towards importing your pets. :P
My dog's name is Stacy, i stay at Nigeria, here my dog gets its haircut for about 3,000 naira which is about 8 dollar
Our dog has relatively short hair and she sheds all the time, so we don't worry too much about grooming her. I did take her in one time and asked about having her groomed and they laughed at me. They said because of the kind of dog she is, it would be a waste of money. She will just continue to shed and shed and shed. We also do not cut her nails. For the very same reason you don't cut your dogs. We used to live near a place that would do it for $5 but we don't anymore. When we have her boarded they always offer to do it for $15 but she bites her nails so most of the time she just takes care of it herself :) They did a really nice job on your doggie!
Nadi looks great with the new haircut. I don’t have a dog at present time but I would think 40-60 dollars is about correct for what you have done there.
I clip my cats front nails but have to be careful not to cut too close.
She does look very pretty and comfortable after the hour cut! The lady did a good job! She looks ten years younger! LoL
So, you are leaving for Vietnam!
I do hope you’ll have a very pleasant neighbourhood and good surrounding for walking your lovely dog!
Good luck!
He looks at you
Are they going to french kiss your dogs asshole for that price? Seems pretty excessive considering how small of a dog you have.
Also, why are you having to bail out of Thailand? Just due to a visa expiring or something?
It's the visa expiring and I am not going far, I'm moving to Vietnam and it would be like you moving one state over, geographically speaking.
Good news is that Vietnam is even cheaper than Thailand and from what I have heard has better internet infrastructure and less censorship. I'll be the judge of that.
It was beautiful with the haircut :)
Some time ago I used to take the three I have at home to the dog groomer's, but he increased the price and I couldn't take them anymore, so I do the hairdressing at home for my dogs myself. Not all at once, I lack time and they leave me tired. One a day some weekend of each month. I have to be very careful with the nails because they are traumatized by bad experiences in the past :( but I take courage and cut them. Greetings friend @gooddream and a caress for your beautiful pet.
Nadi is too adorable!!! and despite the fact that she may be completely oblivious to how pretty she now looks... she DOES! We have a short-haired jack russell cross so taking him to the groomers is not really necessary so to be honest I am not quite sure what the pricing is like.
Sorry to hear that you are so bleak about leaving... and to be honest, now so am I because tickets for Thailand in June this year are looking pretty solid and it would have been fantastic to meet you! Why is it that you are leaving... and where are you going to?
in the minds of the Thai government anyone that stays here for more than a year has been here too long. I think they are trying to change their overall immigration perspective. I get long-winded about it in other posts so I'll skip the details here but yeah. I've just had enough from being jerked around by Immigration so i am going to move on to a country that at least appears to want me there.
Yeah, Nadi is really pretty... thanks for saying that... I'll let her know you said so :P
That is a real pity :( Immigration can be a real pain in people's rears! Come here to Cape Town.... nobody cares and none of the systems work hahahahaha!!!!
$60.00 sounds about right for my neck of the woods here in N.E. USA , but I haven't gotten another dog since my last one died (Cat instead) A friend of mine bought clippers and does it herself now, for free...(her dog...not herself...) She does a pretty good job of it, but people are now mistaking her Shih Tzu for a Chihuahua unfortunately :>)
ah yes, I am quite sure they would think the same thing about my dog. Shih-Tzu's without the long hair do look like a double-sized Chihuahua, for sure.
:>) Hope all is well with you. I'll have to look back at some of your posts to see why you're leaving Thailand. Is it just one of those border hoping things, then back again for Visa renewal?
Howdy gooddream! those are great shots of Nadi, a fine looking dog! Are you moving because of career or business?
great response. I have heard that other parts of Vietnam are exactly like what you are describing. I specifically chose Da Nang because the people I know here with boots on the ground say that it is different than other places.
I felt the same as you do when i was in Hanoi, I have never been to a city that chaotic with the traffic, plus there was very little in the way of foot-paths anywhere. It was not my favorite place.
Good thing the hand isn't broken and yes, Thailand's medical care is really good. Of the places I have lived / visited it is the best in the world from a price / quality standpoint.
Thanks pal, the move has me nervous that's for sure. I've become so accustomed to TH that I don't know if I have it in me to fully integrate into another South East Asian society. I'll likely take the lazy route and mostly only hang out with other expats. I already learned one, one-country language and other than the country that is currently forcing me out, I have no use for it.
Plus Vietnamese sounds as though it is even harder than Thai.
I'll take it all in stride. I'm sure I'll miss a lot of things about LOS.
oh, by the way I have not been to HCMC but after just a short while in Hanoi I knew i didn't want to live there.