The Plush Pup

The first on my thankful list is my dogs. I so love them, they are my joy, my constant loves, my eye candy, my exercise buddies, my dance partners, my laughter creators, my energy givers, and my peacefulness. I do thank God for them and the partnership of God with Humans to create such beauties. They also give me the wherewithall to enjoy my passion of dog shows, a universe of it’s own.

Then I remember God, health, loving Boyfriend, wonderful adult son, beloved friends, beautiful canyon home, great job with the greatest customers with the cutest dogs, freedoms, pretty world, warm sunny days, feeling safe, superb music, (I sometimes think if just music were taken away, how much less pleasure there would be in this world), my smartness, and reading/writing skills so I can learn and post here.

This is something somebody invented long ago. Theory was that the hair kept dampness in and kept drying air out of the ear canal. Now many Veterinarians feel the practice of pulling hair from a dogs ear is damaging to the ear skin and can create the very infections that the practice was intended to alleviate.

I also feel it is a bad practice and will only clean up hair around the ear. To leave little blood spots in the ear leaves it open for infections and is painful.  

Below are a couple of quotes from groomers who are the epitome of who to seek advice from: 

From a 35 years in the field educator groomer:  “This is the new theory on ear plucking, and it sounds reasonable. When you pluck hair from the ear which is still in it’s growing phase (and we have no way to tell by looking) you leave minute injuries to the skin in the ear canal. Bacteria and yeast can then find their way into those injuries, and you end up with an infection.I groom several standards that used to have chronic ear infections. They all use the same vet, and he started saying DO NOT PLUCK! Shave/scissor excess hair from the opening, finger pluck anything that is loose and will come out easily, and leave the rest. Guess what? No more ear infections!”

“In the pink” — a phrase meaning “in good health,” takes on a whole new dimension for those at The Breast Cancer Site!

If you like pink, if you’ve known survivors or lost loved ones to Breast Cancer, or if you just wish for good health for humankind, please visit:  http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/ 

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on “donating a mammogram” for free (pink window in the middle).
This doesn’t cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising.
Here’s the web site! Pass it along to people you know.

There are many wonderful pet groomers. There are also compromised groomers. Time is money, too many dogs to be done and speed ends up winning over kindness and gentleness. Something I’ve seen often is a groomer using a High Velocity Blow Dryer full force on the face. The dogs often hate that, ( you would not like it either) a struggle ensues and the dog can end up hating the whole drying process entirely. Then I get to gentle them to get them dry. The other common difficulty is the wiggly dog, the groomer gets rough to get the dog to hold still. These are not the abusive groomers, but it adds up to an unpleasant experience for the dog and even the groomer. This would be one of the reasons you might appreciate observing your dog’s grooming.  

I’ve been doing quite a few older dogs. It is nice for them to not have to leave their home and nice to get special attention. While I enjoy the good feeling of getting them comfortable and spiffyed up, there is the extra tension for me of what stress can do to a very elderly dog. I get a sigh of relief when done knowing the groom was tolerated or perhaps even enjoyed.

A very nice sounding woman, Patricia, wanted me to groom her Bichon. I was with a customer when she called and after brief information given I asked if I could call her back. She said no, she’d call back the next day.     Next day not noted a call from her. 5 days later, nice woman left VM stating to call her back after 7:00 PM or the next morning. She forgot to leave her phone number and must have thought she gave it during the previous call. I cannot call her back and would love to do her little doll. She’s thinking I’m irresponsible no doubt. Her number was blocked out and I even tried to find her by name, to no avail. I sure hope she’ll try again, but likely not.

Please if you call me, or anyone you want to reach, leave your phone number every time.

Update, 5/8/06: The woman called today, she did realize that it was possible she never left her phone number. Finally I will get to groom her Bichon, but even more important, she won’t be thinking of me as irresponsible.

Grooming cats is scary. Many many groomers just won’t do them. Their skin is so loose that it can squeeze through the tiniest clipper blade. Nicking a bit of skin is too common. Also they are not so good with Stay and Put Your Paw Down etc. Sometimes they will bite and the bite can cause serious infections much more than a dog’s bite. None the less I did get some serious tangles off of a nice kitty the other day and though stressful I feel good to help kitty out.  A cat’s skin is so loose and can get in between the tiniest clipper blade to nick, so that is an added stressor.  Much rather do a Poodle or other pooch.

I love styling poodles. I groomed a little apricot guy yesterday and have to say if I didn’t need money, I’d groom him anyway for free. Such a pleasure to create an elegant topknot a round ball on the tail and have a short but very plush lamb trim on him. After grooming he lays down by me on the couch, we have had a lovely time.

Info in todays newpaper discussing relationships stated 28 percent of L.A. dwellers shared their beds with their pets. Now if that isn’t a reason for regular grooming what is?  Would you want a dirty shedding pooch in your bed.  How long do you go between hair washing your own hair? The bed sharing pets would be good candidates for a full time maintenance program Ithink.  

Thought to look up Plush and found the formal definitions appropriate for a lovely groomed dog. See as follows:

plush
adj  Definition: luxurious, rich