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Idea check: Is this creepy?


Today I took the kids to the Fall Fiber Festival up in Orange County at Montpelier. Increasingly I want to take them to agricultural events in the area, prompted by a recent story I wrote for Charlottesville Tomorrow and the Daily Progress on ways to promote local farming. I was amazed at all the different things you could do with well.

Tonight I was talking with someone about all the different types of products that can be made with animal hair, and she told me about this woman on the downtown mall that spins dog hair, which got us to wondering - would there be a market for people who wanted to create things using the hair of their pets so they would always have a useful keepsake.

But is that idea just too creepy? Right now, my dog is covered in fur. On Monday, he will be taken to Creatures Great and Small on Berkmar to get his twice-yearly shavedown. The transformation will create a totally different version of Billy. He will see squirrels again, making walks with both him and the two kids much more challenging.

I love my dog. I've toyed with the idea of finding him a new home so I could have one less stressor, but friends always remind me that he's family, and it would devastate him to be somewhere else. So, I definitely will be with him for the rest of his life.

But, would I want a quilt made from his hair? Would you want from your dog, especially if you have a breed that produces long hair? And, if so, could someone make a living doing that sort of work?


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