I groomed my two girls, Bonnie and Saffron, by giving them their summer cuts, even though I probably said I gave them summer cuts earlier in the year. What can I say? We have long summers in California, thankfully.
I think they’ll appreciate it on the hottest days, even though they aren’t too keen on their feet getting so much attention. Shea helped me when they got restless, but they were good girls. I’m happy with the results.
This video was taken upside down, so I had to rotate it. It includes cameos from foster dogs Werner and Bella.
I’m happy to be available to groom dogs that come to the Humane Society of the North Bay (for free) so that they are comfortable, ambulatory, and ultimately more adoptable. I remember when this little boy came into the shelter. I was so pleased that Gretchen and her husband were able to foster him. He’s not officially named yet, but because we have a Mylo, Shea thought to name him Stitch. That’s up to Gretchen. While he was over for a play date, he got a bath from Shea and a groom from me. Here are the before and after pictures!
She needed her nails trimmed, too, so it was quite an investment of time today. She’s pretty patient with me, but she started to lose her patience along the way.
The “after pictures” come after we had a LOOONG night. We’re calling her Vondra for now. She’s a young adult and very sweet little Shih Tzu-type dog. We started grooming her without my understanding the seriousness of her situation. For the first time with an emergency comfort groom, I got too close to the skin and injured her, so we took her to the vet to get a couple of sutures on her front knee. I was guilt-ridden even though she barely seemed to notice it. I was able to get around her genitals and most of her body, but when she was under anesthesia, the veterinarians continued to try to get this poor baby out of her remaining prison of her own hair (see before pictures). They then admitted that they themselves cut her a few times and even razor-burned her skin trying to get her to a comfortable state, which made me realize that this was beyond our control. I’m not kidding when I say there were living plants embedded in her extreme fur mats, which were on almost every inch of her body. She is the most neglected animal I’ve ever groomed. She had to be in pain. She is much more comfortable now. I know she will eventually be beautiful, but her health comes first. Shea and I will foster her until she gets what she needs medically and gets adopted.
These are the “Before Groom” pictures of Yogi, a recent surrender at Humane Society of the North Bay, who needs a permanent home. He was very patient with me as I trimmed his long hair with Shea’s assistance. He was a little anxious and deserved a better reception than the two fosters gave him, but he is taller than all the other dogs in the house, so it probably helped him not be intimidated as much as he otherwise would have been. When I first met him in the shelter, he kind of resembled a (cute) sloth in his crate.
Here are pictures of Yogi after he got groomed. I think he really loves his summer cut, which I suspected I would not get done in one day, but I gave him several breaks so that he could overcome his anxiety.
First emergency grooming of the day for HSNB yesterday was for an elderly male Pomeranian mix. “Pommy” was sweet and patient, but hopefully he’ll be a great candidate for Muttville. He meets the age requirements and he gets along very well with other dogs. Shea graciously agreed to wash him as that’s his department. I’m the one that clips and puts the dog hair into compost. Here are the before and after pictures:
When we returned “Pommy” to HSNB they said, “we have another one for ya.” We met “Moppy” who was in even worse shape than the first one today. This female Maltipoo was very scared in her crate, having arrived just hours earlier. However, she was very patient with Shea’s thorough bath and my long trim. She wasn’t super fond of the buzzer, so I mostly clipped her manually with scissors. The difference in her appearance is really profound with this one. Like Pommy she had hundreds of burrs (it’s the season). She’s a fraction of the size she appeared to be with all the matted fur. She was so dirty, matted and covered in burrs that she was probably out on the streets for a while. I sure hope she is claimed by someone. Otherwise, she’ll hopefully eventually be adopted. She’s got quite a bubbly personality when she’s not in a kennel.
My friend Jeannette brought over two of her dogs to get groomed. Zorro was moving around too much for me to take pictures of him after he was groomed, but in this video you can see him and his father, Peanut, who now have their summer cuts ready to go.
