Groom Groom! And new puppies

As it's Jasper's Silver Good Citizen test tonight I thought a bath and cut to make him look handsome was in order (that and he was stinking and scraggly) so I took him up to work for about 8:30. I managed to get him bathed and dried before the clients dogs came in which meant I wasn't stopping Sue and Derek from working. I took some pictures of Jasper before, during and after his groom to post up as well :)

Pre-bath

 

 Wet Poodle, he has a tiny head!

 

 Very unhappy, stressed out boy

 

 Shampoo-dle

Fluffed out post-bath and pre-groom

 

 Post-groom, not much different but clean and trimmed!

 

 

 

Grooming Jasper's a bit time-consuming and a bit of a pain It goes a little like this

 

(this is just information on how I groom my own dog, you should never attempt to cut/clip your own dog in ANY way unless you have been trained to do so by a professional. I have worked and trained in a Grooming Salon for nearly 18 months under the guidance of qualified professionals so am competent in grooming my own dog safely. I will also state that human clippers and blades are NEVER to be used on dogs. They can damage the skin and coat and although a human 10# blade would be very long, dog grooming blades go in the opposite direction, so a 10# is VERY short and a 2# is very long). Do not attempt any of this yourself :

• Bath and fluff dry (fluff drying takes aaages and hurts your arm)
• Use 15# blade with Comb Guard 6 attatchment to clipper torso from base of neck-base of tail, chest and belly.
• Use 15# by itself to cut back hair between eyes (the lighter part on the last picture above) and around his bum - not pleasant but we don't want cling ons!
• 10# to clip excess hair from his groin area and under his armpits
• Scissor trim the scraggly ends off his legs using straight scissors and blend in tops of legs to match the shorter body.
• Round off the hair on his feet using scissors.
• Cut the hair inbetween the the pads with a pair of blunt or 'bullnose' scissors
• As I like to leave Jasper fluffy I cut his tail in the 'carrot style'. It is very thin at the tip, tapers out towards the base and I then cut in a little but next to the base so it literally does look like a black fluffy carrot. Then blend to the body
• Trim the ends off ears to make straight using straight scissors
• Scissor his head and neck using straight scissors (the technique behind this is complicated and boring to explain, so I won't bother!)
• Tidy up and loose ends/stragglers and ensure long hair and short hair is blended in well.
• I finished off with cutting nails and plucking the hair from his ears as these are the jobs Jasper hates and I fear he would bite during - so I muzzled him. Nails and ear plucking should normally be taken out in the prep prior to bathing.
 

So after all of that I finished him about 11:30. So grooming took a good 2 and a half hours as I did stop to answer the phone, clean up dog mess from clients dogs and to take photos of puppies. Which is my next point...

 

 

Both Sue and Derek got new pups this week. Sue got her Frenchie pup from her friend and Derek had his Gordon Setter pup imported from the Netherlands so had to pick her up from Calais! Both pups were in work today as they're fully covered for vaccs and oh my God they're to die for. They're both going to be show dogs and they're both so beautiful!

 

First, Daphney the Gordon Setter

 

 

 Second, Carter the French Bulldog

 With Auntie Picklemouse (who's looking a bit evil!) - They're actually auntie and nephew as well!

Hope I've given everyone their fill of adorable puppies and bored everyone to some extent with Grooming, but enjoy the rest of your day and wish me luck for Good Citz tonight!

C&J x

Bank holiday Monday (and today...)

Was so busy yesterday I didn't have time to update. Ooops.
Yesterday started how every other day starts. Early. I got up at 7 and was out the house by half past to take Jasper for a walk because the forcast for the rest of the day was ABYSMAL. Was quite nice walking so early and we only saw 1 other dog walker when usually we see loads (probably all either hungover or enjoying a lie in - whatever one of those is). We went round one of the many tracks in Lumley so Jasper could stretch his little legs.

Pathway leading to the fields

 Jasper offroading!

 Pretty fields

However, I was a bit pissed because it didn't start raining til after 12. So dragging myself out of bed early was in vain. I did go to see The Watch with glen in the afternoon though. I thoroughly reccommend it, it's brilliant. And I'm so in love with Richard Ayoade it's unreal, so him being in it was a bonus. We topped off the amazing film with a Nando's - with the majority here, but I looove Nando's, the Veggie Burgers are delicious! Finally yesterday, I also decided to show my face at Wetherspoons for the weekly pub quiz (we didn't win, we never win), it was quite nice to be sociable for once!

Today was a little nicer weatherwise but a hell of a lot more stressful! Finally managed to fill in my Uni Enrolment form which was a pain because some of the questions were worded a bit odd. THEN I noticed on the back of the Kennel Information sheet that you have to pre-book a kennel if you want one for your dog as there's only 20 and its first come first served. So I rang up expecting to be told that there were none left and as I don't have access to a car, adapting that and leaving him in a crate wouldn't have been an option but luckily he's all booked in for when we go on our placement week.

As it was a bit hot I walked him to Chester to meet mama bear after work (about 3 miles) and as we were gonna be mega early, I decided to walk him along to the riverside field for a bit, away from all the children. I kept him on lead as I didn't have his EasiDri or water with me and I didn't want him overexerting himself. We had a bit of a walk and Jasper sniffed out a lovely, rotting dead hedgehog (which he looked rather disgusted with) then we did a tiny little bit of obedience. He did a short down stay and did it really well :) Fingers crossed for Good Citz tomorrow night! He also did a few sits and downs away from me. However, when he lay down I asked him to come, thinking he would get up and walk to me. But no,it couldn't be that easy. He did this instead:

I've been trying to teach him to crawl for months and he doesn't like doing it, yet when I tell him to come from lying down, he crawls towards me. He's an odd bean.

Practising a down stay

 Down stay, warm dog!

 Mid-crawl

 

I can smell spaghetti bolognese, guess it's scran time. TTFN!

BoringBoringBoring

Another boring Sunday.
Jasper was poorly last night, he was sick a few times so we've done bot all. I had chinese last night and watched X-Factor snuggled up on the sofa which was quite nice. Today however, we only took a short walk and then came home and chilled out.

My brother came round with my 2 young nieces so it was a bit hectic and Jasper wasn't all that keen! Once they left I took Jasper out for another walk down through the woods and into the football field and for a bit of a run and sniff. I saw a German Shepherd and became a bit unsure as I thought it was the one we've had trouble with before but it wasn't, it was a lovely girl that we've met before. We had a bit of a chat to the owners then set off home.

He's now currently feeling a lot better trying to greed Oreo's off my dad - without any luck. He had Cesar for tea. Bad owner giving bad food, but the way I see it, it's like me having a chinese, so why not treat him every so often! We're gonna laze on the sofa and watch Beauty and the Beast then get back to some normality walk and training-wise tomorrow if his tummy's better.

Oh! I almost forgot, me neighbour's went to Flamingo Land and brought me back an early birthday present!

Jasper looks unimpressed with Mini-Jasper

 

Mini Jasper

Happy Sunday everyone!

Work and post!

So, for a Saturday getting finished at 2pm is good going! We only had 5 dogs and 1 cat in so it was actually quite relaxed. Some of the dogs were fidgety but over all it was quite a good day!
Me and Jasbear went on a walk down the field this morning as it looked like it was going to piss it down (it always does the day after I flea him :| ) so I put his little red coat on as I didn't want his flea treatment to wash off! It's a little bit short for him length and height wise, but it did the job haha

Little Red Riding Poodle

 

When I got home I was surprised with a nice little pile of poat (Really Royal Mail, have you just been saving it up for me?)

FINALLY GOT MY BISHOP BURTON INFO PACK! That means Uni is really happening guys, which means my life is gonna get REAL scary and busy from the 6th of September. I'm just so excited! However, I have til the 6th September to get my Student Finance Entitlement letter back and to Bishop Burton or else I have to pay £1000 upfront for my course until I present them my entitlement. My family don't really have £1k lying around to throw around like that, sorry SFE! But what's Uni without a little bit of stress, ey?

 

 

 



Also, Jasper's new dog tag came! We ordered it in May but the girl who runs the business AND makes the tags has had a hell of a time with all the orders she's had alongside having a life. I don't mind waiting as long as I have for it as it's soo worth the money!

Isn't it pretty? It's so pretty!

Finally, I received the eBay item that I won. The first item I bid on and I won it!

As today was pay day, I'm looking into more things I can spend my money on (including Jasper's harness and maybe a new quilted jacket! I've already ordered him a hi-viz coat off eBay. Oops) or I might ACTUALLY decide to save for once!
Ciao guys!

C&J x

Pleasant surprise at work!

I went into work this morning expecting it to be MANIC as Rebecca is at a festival and Kristy's broke her leg, which means there's only me Sue and Derek in this weekend. However, it looked like an easy day! There were only 9 in and they were nicely spread out over the day so it looked quite easy.
The first dog to come in was a little Lakeland who's owner had tried to cut it himself and made a COMPLETE mess of her. He'd balded parts of her back, gave her rashes and nicks in her skin, and took chunks out of her fur all over. She looked a sorry sight. To anyone reading, don't groom your own dog unless you've been taught HOW to do it properly and safely, there's more to making a mess of your dog's fur, you can damage the skin and coat (Grooming isn't as easy as people think!).

We managed to get her looking very presentable and then Sue found a lump around her groin which could have been cancerous. The owners mother came to pick the pooch up and when we told her about the lump and apparently her son had known and just not taken the dog to the vets but she said she would, poor soul.

Later on we got a lovely old Daxi in. He was 16 and a complete little Gent. After I bathed him I put him on the table to dry and he just lay down - he looked like he was thoroughly enjoying it :) (for some reaon it won't let me put it horizontally!)

Finally, we had a GORGEOUS 6 month old Dogue de Bordeaux puppy in for his free puppy groom. He was good as gold!

 

 

So after a busy(ish!) day at work I'm now spending the rest of my evening on my sofa, under my blanket with my dog chilling out and watching tele! (ARGH! Why won't they rotate!?)

 

Anyhows, until next time!

 

C&J x



Decisions, decisions (and not enough cash!)

So first of all, training again last night. Next weeks the big night, his Silver Good Citz. Eee! I'm feeling a bit more confident now that we might actually pass it. He did really well with his stays and his wait+recall and actually looked like he was ENJOYING being there! Until we did the 'Go To Bed' exercise in preparation for the Gold Award. As soon as we did the Go To Bed, he shut down. As far as I know it hasn't been used as a punishment but he seems to have a negative association with it :(
We then did coming away from distractions and as I walked away from the group he wasn't distracted by the other dogs, he just stood frozen low to the ground, looking at me as if I was going to tell him off (I never tell him off!) so I have no idea what's wrong with him! Afterwards we did the Play exercise and he switched back to being completely happy. Ahh, so confusing!

Today we're chilling out and possibly are going to look at making the Go To Bed exercise into a bit of a game to build up a positive association. Fingers crossed! We're also only taking a couple of short walks rather than a mega-walk so no nice photos today either.

Finally, I've been looking into things I need to buy for Jasper for when we go away to Uni in December. As it looks unlikely that I'm going to have a car to drive back and forward between Uni and my accommodation, we'll probably be walking! It's in December so it'll be dark. We're looking into hi-viz coats etc and I just want to buy them all now!

Firstly, a hi-viz fleece harness that Bextull (a lovely girl from a forum I'm on) posted about. The harness looks beautiful and as I LOOVE hi-viz and fleece harnesses, it's the perfect combo!

 

 

 Secondly, a hi-viz coat by a company I found at a dog show. It's waterproof and can have any colour combination. The coats also looked and felt very well made!

Finally, equafleece! I had two for our Labrador an they're such good quality coats and they're waterproof! I'm looking at this jumper with legs for Jasper and he gets everything stuck in them. I'm thinking of a nice dark purple! They're a bit pricey but worth every penny.

If only I had more money floating around to buy them all!

A not-so-good day

I've been having a nice morning catching up on all my followers blogs and doing a bit of playing/training with Jasper. I took a couple of videos so I'll try and upload them (our training one is a bit dire as we're both a bit distracted).

However, Jasper's been a bit down recently and he seems quite unhappy. A couple of weeks ago we found out my dad's not well, today we got some results back today and it's not good news. I think that's why J-Dog's been a bit subdued and why training for his Silver Citz hasn't gone too well - I think he's picking up on the mood in the house and while I don't feel too different to how I usually do, I'm obviously giving of a stressy vibe. I think we're gonna leave his GC after this course (hopefully he'll pass, but I'm doubtful) and concentrate more on agility or flyball which the training is a bit more lighthearted and fun.
His Silver Citizen test is next week but I might see if Fiona can assess us tonight if he does well as I don't want to turn up next week and fail because of a change in the mood.

So we're not having an interesting, long walk today, just chilling out and a few short training sessions to keep him in the zone until he gets his hotdogs tonight (bad, but he loooooves hotdogs!)

Bye guys, enjoy your day!

C&J x

Back from our walk, we were going to do a mammoth walk for a couple of hours but it was really warm (again!) so we took a nice walk through the Caastle woods and bck along the river as it was a lot cooler and more shaded. I also took Jasper down to the shallow part of the river in the Castle woods to see if he wanted a dip but he only dipped his nose in then scattered back so I don't think he was too keen! We walked through th Castle grounds and Jasper decided he was going to be the King!

We also did a bit of recall training on the way home and he did really well (if he does that well at Good Cit's then we won't have a problem with passing!)

However, when we got home, Jasper had to have his legs washed which he wasn't very happy about as he was a bit manky and muddy.

And finally, after he got clean and dried, we played with the Octopus in the garden. Note: he's very easily distracted (Also, ignore my horrific training in repeating commands. Bad Charlotte!)

Jasper is now paggered out on his bed and I'm chilling in my jammies eating a baked potato and watching terrible tele.

Bye guys, we'll update tomorrow!

C&J x



Good morning!

Still lying in bed, just catching up on forum posts and blogs that I've followed.
Also curled up next to me is the scruffy Poodle who looks loathed to get out of bed. However, it is walk time.
I'm waiting to hear from Bishop Burton with my information for starting my course, the suspense is killing me! Hopefully it'll be in the post today as they were apparently sending packs out last week. I'm a little bit too eager!
I'll update later with our shenannigans and possibly some photos!

Have a lush morning everyone :)

C&J x





What a boooring day. Woke up super early and was planning to take Jasper on a nice walk but the next thing I knew if was hoyking it down with rain so we waited until it cleared up. We then went for a walk down the side of the corn field (usually takes around 40 minutes) but we only did half of that because it was so hot and humid that Jasper was really struggling. Plus there was some big harvester coming up the field so I thought it a bit risky. As we were walking back home Jasper was panting really badly and lagging behind on the lead so we've chilled out the rest of the day.

A bit later on we went in the garden to do a bit of agility prep. I set up the hurdle and sat him at one side, threw his toy over then released him over then we played a bit of tug. He seemed to enjoy it so that's promising for when we start agility with Cat soon!

The rest of the day's been lazy, we tried training the weave through my legs but he wasn't keen so either it was too warm or we overdid the training yesterday so we'll give it a rest until tomorrow.

I'm hoping to get some videos up soon but as I dont have a decent video camera til christmas, they'll be a bit hit and miss but I'll try!



Turrah guys, have a good'n
C&J x

Please, don't make me get up yet

 Rock the Stagbarr

 Addicted to this

 Cooling down, mmm

 Sleepin' in the sun

Crazy day and aching feet!

Work, again was a killer! Crazy busy full of crazy dogs!
It was stressful, extremely hot but enjoyable (basically the recipe for a grooming salon!)
It's awful working 9-5 when you look outside and see the brilliant sunshine outside, I totally missed out :(
The day started off with a beautiful Collie who unfortunately was matted all over and had to have all his back feathers clipped off. He was scabbed up and sore all over poor soul.


Later we had 2 Wheaton Terriers in, one was also matted to the bone and had to be clipped all off - only these 2 also had fleas. Been a fun day at work today! Standing up from 8:30-5 has taken a toll on my feet and they now feel like they're broken. This wouldn't be a problem but I have to go out for an 'aniiversary meal' with Glen and to celebrate everyones results with my college friends (get me, miss.socialite!)

Hopefully looking to go to a dog show tomorrow so may have photos and news from there too, Eeep! Hope the weather holds up!

Work work work!

Work today was a killer. All the dogs we got in were fidgety which made it 10x harder to groom them as it was like cutting a moving target! Back in bright and early at 9am tomorrow. The joys of a working life.
Had a lovely little Westie named Jock in though, he's a little beaut!

Jock mid-groom

 Jasper being a bit of a loooon

 Extended Diploma in Animal Management - D*D*D*! YAY!

The nose, knows



And finally, building up my collection of books. Super excited for Uni!

Keeping it short and sweet today because I'm super hungry so I'm off to make spaghetti, yum!

Enjoy your Friday evening guys, despite the grim weather!