Lucy, Ace Reporter here with breaking news! PRESCRIPTION DIETS EVADE REGULATIONS: … Hill’s Pet Nutrition made one of the most profitable marketing moves in pet food history: they filed a trademark application for the term“Prescription Diet.”Previous to this, nobody thought about how lucrative selling the same crummy ingredients could be if they simply required a prescription from vets. It was an ingenuous way to sell virtually the same foods found in the grocery store aisle with a grossly inflated price tag….
Mom has known that Hills regular and Prescription Diet formulas were no better than grocery store dog foods for years…ever since she worked at a vet’s and read the ingredients. It went further downhill when Purina bought the brand, with the first ingredient starting with corn or another grain instead of meat. It is reported that a gently cooked complete diet with all natural ingredients helps prevent cancer as well as a plethora of other diseases in dogs and cats. In the meantime…you can read all about it here from a post by Dogs Naturally.
Chia: Mommy was sitting at her desk at work yesterday when she heard a noise at the window next to the outside door. When she got up to see what it was, she saw a large puppy scratching at the glass. As she approached the window, the puppy saw her and, frightened, started to run away. The church is on a very busy street (which is why Chia isn’t allowed to go). So Mommy went outside and started called to the puppy. She got down low and gently urged the pup to come to her. It took a while, but with patience and perseverance, Mom was able to extract her from beneath the rose bush. Two things to note here: there is black mulch under the rose bush and Mommy wore her white pants to work yesterday.
Moving on….Mommy got my car kennel from the car and put the puppy in it in the office. She posted a picture on NextDoor and asked the owner to contact her. At closing she hadn’t gotten an email, so she emailed Daddy (with a picture) and asked him what he thought she should do. “Bring her home!” was his answer. On the way home they stopped at a vet clinic to see if she’s microchipped, and she is not. (Mommy could tell Daddy was glad, BOL!) You see, Daddy had a Husky years ago and loves the breed. So Mommy’s gonna keep checking her work email over the weekend to see if anyone responds. She’ll make them tell her their name and what vet they use for the puppy, and then she’ll follow up with the vet to be sure it really is their puppy.
In the meantime, puppy had what we think, by her response to it, her first bath. She got a packet of our Ollie turkey food and gobbled it up. (He, he, I made a funny.) We have found out that she likes balls and anything that she can chew on, and that she is not housebroken. She’s friendly but a little shy yet. She and Chia have taken turns going into the play position, and other play gestures. But Chia’s just a little too forward and rough for the puppy, and it scares her. We think she’s under 3 months old.
And Lucy, being the gentle soul that she is, has been kind to her.
I saw Chia whispering in Lucy’s ear, and it turns out she asked Lucy to help her show the puppy how they play.
Even Riley welcomed the puppy. He took a good look at her and woofed, “Not a schnauzer. She can stay.”
Friday early morning Update: Not shy. Me and Chia are trying to put her and her sharp baby teeth in her place, but are now hiding, er, I mean have now retired to Daddy’s office. Mommy, is it safe to come out yet? Is she outside? In my kennel? Yep, she’s caged. I can hear her whining.
So, that’s what’s going on at our house this weekend. Mommy just checked her work email, and no one is claiming her. *sigh* It’s going to be a long weekend. Glad I’m leaving for my Freestyle practice this afternoon.
Lucy here on the Groom Beat with a stinky story for you today.
Hi there dear readers. *smile* You may remember Annie, the bernedoodle who began coming to Small Dog Grooming last May.
Annie, May 2023
When her Mom contacted Groomer Mom for an appointment she said both Annie and her husband had been “skunked” at the end of February. She thought Annie was ok now, but Annie’s Dad Ed must have it lingering in his nose, cause he was still smelling it.
So last Saturday Dad Ed brought Annie for a much-needed groom. Annie hadn’t been in the small grooming room for more than two minutes when Groomer Mom realized that she still reeked of skunk. She used to have a fresh air machine that put ionic particles in the air to eliminate odors, and it worked great on dogs who had experienced the same terrible “spraying” as Annie. But, after almost 30 years it had broken and been relegated to the trash. Now what? *the tension builds*
First off, I can testify that no person can cover their nose and mouth with their hand and groom a dog at the same time. But Groomer Mom persevered in removing the affected hair, giving Annie a shorter cut – with the blessings of Annie’s Mom – than she had ever had. After that hair was all off it got bagged and taken out to the trash. Then came the bath and dry on the table. Can you guess the outcome, dear readers? Yes! The smell was all in the hair that got cut off -except for what was now in the air in the room. And in Goomer Mom’s nose…
Annie after her groom last weekend.
Annie’s Mom thinks there is a young skunk near their house and it sprayed Annie a couple more times since the first incident. She felt bad about putting Groomer Mom through that and offered to pay for the hepa/ionizing machine Groomer Mom hurried out to buy at the local Walmart as soon as Annie left! Of course, Groomer Mom thanked her and said no, she needed a new machine anyhow.
As a side note, my Mom sat with her head above the machine to try to clean the smell out of her nose. By the next morning both she and the grooming room were fine.
This is Lucy, Ace Reporter, signing off of the stinky groom.
Lucy, Ace Reporter back with a first time groom. Read on…
Laslo is a 5 month old Yorkie, and she was here for her first groom. Through the years, Laslo’s Mom’s family have brought all their yorkies to Groomer Mom. Her Mom held her for her nails, and the first nail Groomer Mom cut bled. So, since G.M. had not cut it very short, she decided to just use the dremel on the rest of the nails. Not! Poor Laslo freaked. Maybe next time… Here is Laslo before her groom.
Laslo was not happy about the groom, either. It was all so new to her. And the bath…let’s not even talk about the bath. Groomer Mom -with her owner’s permission – tried CBD oil. It didn’t help. A kind but firm tone of voice did help. And treats. Lots of treats. Here is Laslo as she waited for her Mom to come for her.
We hope to see Laslo again in the near future! Lucy, Ace Reporter, signing off with another successful groom.
Today’s grooming report, brought to you by Ace Reporter Lucy (me) at W-Grooming-With- Mom, is about one of her current clients.
Those of you who have been with us for a long time may remember Maggie, the pretty little poodle/shih tzu mix. Here is the story of her first time with us. She was almost 3 years old. Since then, her Dad, who started bringing her when her Mom got cancer, but don’t worry, her Mom is doing fine now, uh, her Dad agreed to Groomer Mom grooming her as a poodle. So her face and paws got shaved. He brings her every six weeks like clockwork, unless, of course, he or Groomer Mom are on vacation.
Xena: Is this all really necessary? Just get on with it! *yawn*
Ace Reporter Lucy: Xena, go back to digging in your critter holes and leave me to do the reporting! So where was I? Oh, yes. So this last time it was 7 weeks because Mom and Dad and me and Xena were all up in Inn Dee Anna at their usual six week appointment. As Dad Dan was handing her to Groomer Mom, he commented on her “crazy ears.”
Groomer Mom was unable to get an after picture, as her Dad Dan showed up and she went crazy with excitement. Just imagine her shaved all over except her poodle head and her now not-crazy ears!
This is Lucy, signing off from the crazy ear groom.
Lucy, Ace Reporter, here on the Groom Beat. Today we have another new pup to introduce to you. Nothing exciting, but I think the word is “sweet.”
One of our current regular clients has a young teenage girl living with her. The girl has a seven month old beagle. She wanted Dooley to get a bath and a nail trim. Here is Doobie:
I didn’t get to touch her ears, but Groomer Mom said they feel like velvet. She is a very precious girl, and a bit scared of the nail trim and also the bath and dryer. Groomer Mom tried to give her cheese (with her owner’s consent), but she was too nervous to even eat it! Wow, look at those big eyes!
Before too long, Doobie heard a car pull up, and she was right; it was her Mom come to get her.
Well, folks, that’s all for now. Lucy, Ace Reporter signing off with another successful, uh, bath and nail trim.
The folks invited me over To watch their little kids While they both got plastered And soon closed their eyelids.
The children were such angels; Never screamed or pulled my ears. I made them both some bagels; They had wine but no dark beers.
I’m sure their folks will be so pleased When they awake tomorrow To find their small angels received My love with care apropo.
Did you like my poem? I would like to babysit. Maybe I’ll run an ad. What do you think?
Now for my thankful. I am so very thankful that Mom and Dad chose me and Xena to go on their trip with them. I’m thankful that I knew how to be a good therapy dog with all the residents who wanted to pet me at the elder care facility, too. They want me to come back as soon as I can! Maybe there’s another trip in my not-too-distant future!
Thanks to Miss Sandee at Comedy Plus for hosting Awww Monday!
Lucy: Here we are, finishing out our time in Fort Wayne. Hey Xena, let’s tell everyone what we liked about being here, besides being with our Mom and Dad. I’ll go first. I like this house and the big king size bed.
Xena: I like the pictures Mommy took of me on the stairs!
Xena: And I like the nice fenced back yard.
Lucy: I loved visiting with my grandma!
HI Grandma, I love you!
Grandma: Look at the camera, Lucy and we’ll get our pictures taken with your Mom and Xena. You’re a nice dog.
Lucy: So, despite my aversion to having my picture made, I smiled. And of course we got Xena and Mom and Miss Carol who we met there, too. She loves dogs, just like Grandma does.
Dad’s cousins and sister and brother-in-law came over to our Air B&B to visit and I made sure to give them all chances to hold me and pet me. They love me…in fact, even though Dad’s cousin is more of a “cat person,” I heard her say, “I love this dog.” I love her, too. Well, I see everyone waiting for me at the door cause it’s time to go back home to Chattanooga. Will catch y’all next time!
*big wags and smiles* Lucy *woof, woof* and me too, Xena
Xena: It’s my turn to do the picture poem this week that Angel Sammy gave us. So here goes.
The Makeup Artistby Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess
Mom, I see you put your makeup on Every day, every morn. Your cheeks are first, then chin and head. I watch you from beneath my bed.
My little sis will soon be grown; I’ll help her show off her good bones. Some eye stuff just above her cheeks; Working to perfect my techniques.
So Mom, can I do your face next? Why is it that you look so vexed? To my room I go with a big sob; I thought that I did a great job!
Lucy: Great job, Xena! And thanks for letting me do a thankful today. I’m thankful that my brother and friend Riley is doing a bit better under the careful watch and care of His Person Andrew. I’m also thankful for the sunshine so I can lay out in the yard and feel it warming my furs. Go ahead, Chia, I think you had a thankful today too.
Chia: Yep, thanks Luce the Deuce! (te he) I’m thankful Mom and Dad get to go away to Inn Dee Anna this weekend to visit my 93 year old grandma as well as some more of Dad’s relatives. I heard that on Sunday they’re going to Inn Deann Apple Us. (Don’t these places have long, strange names?) There’s a big dance there in a huge, old ballroom, and they’re doing the big 3D’s like they did 2 weeks ago. Yes, Xena, that’s Dine, Drink and Dance, not Doggie, Doggie, Doggie. And guess what, Xena…you and Lucy are going with them. (Wow, am I ever gonna miss her!) I wish I was going but I’m also thankful that it means more time with Andrew, who is staying with me and Riley. Maybe I can get out running again like last time….
Lucy, Ace Reporter from Grooming With Mom on the Groom Beat. Today we have both sad news and happy news.
Over the past couple of months we’ve lost two more of our sweet clients. Sunshine and Sophie were both senior ladies, and passed from natural causes. That doesn’t make their loss any less heart-rending for their loving parents. Run free Sunshine and Sophie and may all your happy dreams come true on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.
On a happier note, Groomer Mom has another new client, a 3-year-old toy poodle-chihuahua mix named Pixel. When asked how she got that name, Pixel’s Mom said that when she adopted her, she wasn’t much bigger than a pixel! Her Mom doesn’t want her to look like a poodle, but she did want her coat and head and face rounded. So Groomer Mom did not do “poodly” things like shaving her feel and the top of her tail But it’s still pretty hard to make her not look like a poodle:
Isn’t she a little doll baby! To give you an idea of her size, here’s another picture with Groomer Mom’s hand holding up Pixel’s chin. (This was before her head was finished.)
By the way, for any of you who have long-haired anipals, note the bottle in the background. It is The Stuff, and it practically dissolves mats so they can be combed out. Groomer Mom recommends it to her clients.
Lucy, Ace Reporter, signing off, and wishing everyone a lovely day.
Lucy, Ace Reporter on the Groom Beat, reporting in on a schnauzer pup who has been coming to Groomer Mom for a little over two years.
Zoie (pronounced Zo-ee) first came to Groomer Mom in November of 2021 when she was 10 years old. She’s a sweet girl, and easy to groom. Here she is after her first groom at Small Dog Grooming.
Isn’t she precious? And so happy looking, too.
Two years later, almost to the day, Groomer Mom found a large tumor growing on her gums. Groomer Mom just sat there and cried when she found it. It was so much like when she found the same thing on her Lexi. A couple of days later, Zoie went to the vet. He could neither affirm nor deny that it was the big C. Zoie’s Mom decided to not do anything, and just let it “play out.”
This month Zoie came back for another groom. She had a lot of bad mats and short hair where her Mom had been cutting out even more mats. Groomer Mom did the best she could on her.
The fatty tumor on her chest had gotten bigger and she had lost all of her undercoat. Groomer Mom didn’t have the heart to look in her mouth again. She had also lost weight. Zoie no longer looked like the same dog, and was definitely not the same happy little schnauzer.
We ask for gentle woofs and purrs and prayers for Zoie.
Chia: Hi friends! *whole body wags* Mom said I should do the Poem this week ’cause I’m the one who always “be who I am and say what I feel!” Yep, I’d be right there dancin’ with this fella. Anyhoo, I’m letting Dr. Seuss do the poem, cause, like, who could do it better? Am I right?
I still want to add my own poem.
Chia Weeah by Chia Weeah I’ve got the cutest doggie, She is my Chia Weeah. I can’t bring her to work; She might go peeah weeah.
BOL, Lucy, we’re never gonna let you forget what you did! Now here’s the real reason Mom won’t take me:
I can’t go into work; I might run out the door And get squished by the traffic. Chia weeah’d be no more.
I’m thankful that brother Andrew is staying with all of us this weekend while Mom and Dad go do the 3 D’s in a place called Ybor City. Ybor City is part of Tampa, where Mom lived for a year when she was a very young adult. She sure has strange stories about her year there!
Xena: What’s the 3 D’s? Doggie, Doggie, Doggie?
Chia: No, oh sister of mine. It’s Dining, Drinking and Dancing!
I hope you enjoyed my silliness today. *wags* Many thanks to Angel Sammy for the fun picture this week and to Angel Brian for hosting Thankful Thursday!
Lucy, Ace Reporter here on the Groom Beat with happy news of a new groom.
There’s another dog named Lucy in town. Can you believe that? Only this one is a red miniature poodle. She lives a half hour away from us, and Groomer Mom forgot to ask how she found out about Small Dog Grooming. *sigh* Groomer Mom also did not take a “before” picture. *sigh* But she said that Lucy (the poodle, not me) had hair hanging down over her face and hair all over her little poodle paws, and so on.
Lucy’s Mom didn’t want Lucy’s coat cut at all just a good brush-out. So Groomer Mom “cleaned up” Lucy’s face and paws and tail and private parts and gave her a good bath with a blow-out. What do you think?
Lucy was a “wild child” on the grooming table. She kept trying to crawl onto Groomer Mom’s shoulders and she licked G. Mom in her mouth and in her eye. Then Dad came downstairs to ask G. Mom something, and G. Mom had to go upstairs to find it for him, so Dad sat down on the grooming stool and talked to Lucy while G. Mom was gone. Lucy laid a good lick on him and tried to crawl on his shoulders, too! You can’t tell from the picture, but if she didn’t have all the hair, she’d be about the same size as our Xena. Her Mom’s already made the next appointment, and we’re looking forward to seeing Lucy again!
Lucy Ace Reporter signing off with another successful groom.
Lucy: This is supposed to be my month to most of the blog posts, but everyone else has been taking over ’cause I don’t like my picture taken. So for today, I made a deal with Chia. I’ll let her be in the picture – with a by-line – and then I get to do the poem. Oh, and she also gets to do a thankful or two.
First, many thanks to Angel Sammy for the fun picture this week and to Angel Brian for hosting Thankful Thursday!
Now, here’s the picture Angel Sammy gave us to work with and then my poem!
Human or Beastby Lucy, with Chia helping with the visual Human or beast, I’m questioning. I see a long tail, but no sight of it’s “thing.” I’m sniffing it’s butt; no odor at all! If I push real hard, I might make it fall!!
Sniffing up higher…yep, woman for sure. I live with my Mom and know that odor. I’ve got it all solved! The beast is cement. The broad’s on it’s back with a coat like a tent.
Lucy: Since it was Chia in the picture I pretended she was here writing the poem. I think I did pretty good at that. I’m thankful to have you as my friends. Everyone is always so nice to me. *wags* And as you’re reading this I’m probably at the church visiting with Pastor. Mom said she hopes I’ve learned my lesson, and I think I have.
Chia: I like getting my picture taken, just like Xena!
Sis Xena isn’t gonna be too happy about not going to work with Mom every day, but eh bien, right Nelly? I’m thankful to be allowed to sleep under the covers with Mom and Dad. Sometimes I’m in sleeping with Andrew and Riley, and that’s really great, too! And I’m thankful that Dad has started taking me for walks again! And I’m really thankful for my sister Lucy. She’s my BFF (even though I don’t always treat her real nice). But I do love her and cuddle and sleep with her, too, during the day.
Guess that’s all for now, friends. Love and *wags* and *wiggles,* Lucy and Chia
It’s been a long time, folks, but your Ace Reporter is back and ready to give you all the details on all of our new grooms.
Groomer Mom informed me that she has been getting in new clients, but has kept forgetting to let me know. In light of that, I am starting a Grooming With Mom series. Today, though, I want to pay tribute to the terrible loss of one of our regular and favorite pups, sweet little JoJo. Two days ago she was viciously attacked in her own yard by a Great Dane. She didn’t stand a chance. We have shed many tears over this senseless violence, and send prayers up for her grieving Mom.
Rest in peace, dear JoJo.
If you’d like to read a little more about JoJo, you can follow this link.
Chia’s had her month-long shot, and now it’s my turn. Don’t know how long it will last, but I’m thankful for being the next one in line. Here’s the picture Angel Sammy gave us to work with.
Lucy Teaches Cooking
I can’t yet read a book But I’m learning how to cook. Can’t read a recipe But my Lucy’s teaching me!
First, mixing is my goal, Then Lucy licks the bowl. Pour it in the pan Cook as fast as I can.
Then throw it over there Lucy, catch it in the air! I threw it the wrong way! Hurry Luce! Let’s go play!
Please tell Mom how what a great poet I am so I can do this every week this month, OK, friends? Oh, and I am thankful for all of you who make me feel so good with all the nice things you say. And I’m thankful for my brother Riley. He’s getting old and won’t play with me anymore, but that’s ok. He’s still my buddy.
I'm Dalton, a Rat terrier mix and I came here in Sept, 2017, I was rescued from Hurricane Harvey. My birthday is 8-20-2016. My Gotcha Day is 8-27-2017. And I am Benji, a terrier mix of unknown origin. MY Birthday is June 6, 2018, and my Gotcha Day is Dec 28, 2018. I also was a rescue from a different part of Texas. We also have Angel MrJackFreckles, (2-5-2018); and also we have Angel Minko, (6-18-2017); and Angel Pipo, (11-3-2020);There are also Angels Groucho, Simba, Suki, & Toki. We meezers used to be known as WeBeesSiameezers. We'e all from Michigan, Dalton and Benji both came here from Texas, as rescues..
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Riley, Lucy, and Chia 