This is what happens when you try to pinch pennies

One of our family pets is a 13 year old dog named Rhiannon.  She's all of 5 pounds and most of that is her beautiful black coat of fur.  That beautiful black coat was overdue for a trimming so this week I took her into the groomer for a haircut.  I should say I took her to "A" groomer.  I decided to try a different groomer this time thinking I might save a few "pennies".  Below, you will see what can happen.  When I brought her in they asked, "1/2 inch?".  I said yeah, sounds good.  Little did I know they meant cut down to 1/2 inch while I'm thinking cut off 1/2 inch.  Now, over the years we've used probably a half dozen groomers and I've never had a problem with her haircut since she is a Pomeranian with a pretty standard Pomeranian coat of fur. They have a distinctive cut.  If you've ever watched the Westminster dog show, you'll know what I mean.  Even before we ever had pomeranians I had a good idea of what they look like.  Evidently, this groomer did not.  I went to pick her up and I could see them bringing her upfront.  Except, I was looking at what I thought was a kitten.  As they got closer, I could see this was no kitten.  This was my dog who once had a beautiful shiney coat of fur.  They saw my jaw drop and started asking me if everything was o.k.  I was like, "What happened?"  They were like, "What do you mean?" I explained my expectations and they were shocked that I misunderstood them.  They even tried to joke by yelling to the back, "Get her fur out of the wet/dry vac.  We need to reattach it."  I paid the fee and left still in awe of what they had did.  Now, comes the bigger issue. Showing her to my children and................my wife.  This was not going to be pleasant.  It was a long 10 minute drive home. I got home and my wife saw her and just walked away.  A minor victory for the moment.  My daughter comes in the room.  She totally breaks down in a sobbing, tearful mess. (11 year old girls can really bring on the drama).  I mean absolute sobbing.  My son comes in and sees her.  He didn't show alot of reaction except a little smirk like a little boy might show with a science experiment that goes horribly wrong.
Eventually, everyone calmed down.  My wife was more accepting than I thought she would be.  My daughter got over her initial reaction quickly.  And I kind of like it.  Rhiannon is liking it herself since I'm sure it is unbelievably cooler in this heat.  Our 12 pound cat seems to be having the hardest adjustment time.  Every time they pass each other, Simba, the cat, has to do a double take. Below are before and after shots.  The before was taken just a week ago.  Finally, to add insult to injury, this haircut cost more than any other she has gotten.  Must've been the extra cutting they felt necessary.