Grooming with Mom: Art Imitating Groom

Lucy, Ace Reporter on the Groom Beat, here. Today I have a bit of a different report. You have already met Maggie the schnauzer and Dora the shih tzu. They have been coming to Mom to be groomed for six years. Their mom’s sister-in-law is an artist. Can you see the pictures she is painting? On the left is the picture their mom took, and on the right is the painted portrait.

In other news, most of the folks wanting their pups groomed before Easter came by the weekend before. Our friend Pete the Chorkie lives in the neighborhood and his mom goes to church with our folks, so Petey came Easter Saturday and got lots of special attention. He’s been having some health problems, including a collapsing trachea and he coughs when he’s nervous.

I stayed with him to help him be calm, and we were glad to report to his mom that he only coughed once while he was here. He’s also had to get sub-q fluids every week. His mom said that he hates it so much that he runs and hides when he sees her getting things ready to do that. So she has decided to stop and hope and pray for the best. Maybe you could send him some POTP too. It sure has helped some of our other friends who sit on Mom’s table.

This is Lucy Ace Reporter signing off. *wags*

Grooming and More: Roxxii, Dora and Maggie

Today, Ace Reporter Lucy on the Groom Beat. First, we have Roxxii. Isn’t she a doll? Mom did what she calls a “Winter Groom,” leaving her body and leg hair long to help her stay warm.

Her Mom had to leave her for three hours while she worked, so Roxxii came upstairs to stay with us.Xena: Who are you and why are you here? I play bowed and you didn’t respond. Don’t even think about taking my Mommy or stealing my food or my pressies from under the tree.

Roxxii: I hadn’t thought about any of those things until you mentioned them, schnauzer dog. Where are the pressies? I don’t see any.

Xena: Just never mind. I already hid my reindeer when I saw you coming.

30 minutes later after Roxxii ran all over the house looking for Xena’s reindeer…Roxxii: I want my Mommy.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the grooming room…Dora the shih tzu: Maggie, did you see if that other dog ever came back? What happened to her?

Maggie the schnauzer: I don’t know, Dora, but I’ll protect you.

Maggie: Miss Amy, where did that other dog go? Is she staying with you while her Mom and Dad go away like we stayed a few weeks ago? Is she OK?

Dora: (As their Mom pulls into the driveway) Can we go home now, Miss Amy? Are we staying with you again, too? I really want to go home.

Angel Lexi: There’s no place like home.

Well, I seem to have totally lost control of my article, so I guess that’s all for today, folks. Wags and wiggles from Lucy, Ace Reporter who needs a lock on her computer.

 

 

Grooming with Mom: Roxxii

Hmm, I wonder if her name is really Roxy or R O twenty three. 

Hi, friends, this is Lucy with another episode of “Grooming with Mom.” In this episode, my peeps brother Andrew was hangin’ with one of his friends…I wonder if Riley was with them and if he was thinking about me. Anyhow, his friend’s girlfriend was there with her 8-year-old shih tzu, Roxxii.  He, he.

So Andrew said, “Oh my God, that dog is an unholy mess! You need to go see my Mom right away!” OK, maybe not exactly like that, but she got the message, right?

Here’s Roxxii’s before picture: Andrew was right, right? Mom said that Roxxii is a very good girl. Mom’s thinking maybe a scissor cut next time would be more attractive, but it will be whatever Roxxii and her Mom want. Well, mostly what her Mom wants. When Roxxii was done, she looked like this:Her Mom was so happy that she asked if she should bring her back in two weeks. My Mom tried not to laugh when she said she thought six weeks might be just about right. 

This is Lucy, signing off with licks and wiggles from Grooming with Mommy.

Guests?

Lucy: So, Xena, what do you think of the new dogs in the house? They’ve been here over a week. I wonder if that means we are keeping them.

Xena: They do look familiar. I think Mommy grooms them. But they won’t play with me. I try and try. I grab their stuffies and shake them in their faces and run, and nothing. Then I do the same with my stuffies.  Nothing.

Lucy: That’s ’cause Maggie is 10 years old. But I did see her chewing on your new birthday bully horn.

                                                      Who? Me?

Xena: That’s not exactly a group activity. So I took it away from her. ‘Cause it’s mine. And she can’t have it.

Lucy: And Dora forgets who Dad is and barks at him every day when he gets home from work.

Xena: Maybe that’s what happens when you turn nine.

                                                         Who are you?

Lucy: Just before their folks left, I heard their Dad mumble something about Dora not being the brightest bulb in the lamp. 

Xena: Well, they have just about stolen our Mommy and Daddy. 

Is that good, Maggie? A little more to the left, Mr. Jeff.

Lucy: I don’t mind Mom sleeping in the other bedroom with them. That means I can sleep in the big bed with Dad all night long. 

Mom and Dad are coming for us today. I am so outa’ here.

We are Lucy and Xena the Schnauzer Warrior Princess, the ONLY permanent resident dogs in our house.

Grooming with Mom

Hi friends. This is Lucy, reporting on a new episode of Grooming with Mom.

Maggie isn’t a newbie. She has been here before. This is her before and after picture from the first time she was here in October last year. 

She has been back twice since that. This time, however, Maggie’s Dad brought her and told my Mom to give her a short poodle cut. She is half poodle and half shih tzu, and definitely looks more poodlish.  Her “before” look isn’t nearly as bad as it was the first time she was on Mom’s torture grooming table.After a lot of shaving and some arguing over getting her face shaved, here’s how she looked in her “after.” We found out that her Mama was about to have surgery for breast cancer, and needed Maggie to have an easy haircut to manage. Please send up your POTP, good thoughts and prayers for Miss Marcia, Maggie’s Mom.

Licks and wiggles, Lucy

Tubbie Barker Gets Groomed

Hi, this is Lucy here to tell you about Mom’s latest new groom. (looks around) OK, just wanted to be sure Xena wasn’t going to interrupt me this time with more wild tales.

First up is this 3 month old shih-tzu-Havanese mix who was purchased at a truck stop. Mr. and Mrs. Barker (yes, that’s really their name) were at an Interstate truck stop when this woman approached them with a puppy. The woman said that someone was supposed to meet her there to give her $150 for that puppy, but the buyer never showed up. She asked the Barkers (he,he, I’m sorry, he, he) if they wanted to buy him. She showed them pictures of his litter mates at home. Mrs. Barker looked in her wallet and offered her all she had – $8. The woman said she would take it, since she needed gas money! Mr. Barker came up with another $20, and they now had a new addition to the family. Here is Tubby before and after grooming:Mom said he was a “handful,” just because he was a puppy. Mrs. Barker (he, he, he, he…sorry) was delighted and said he looked like a little boy. She had already asked Mom if she could bring Roxie when she picked up Tubby, so Mom got a bonus groom on Friday. You might remember Roxie, an 11 year old shih tzu poodle mix. This is a picture from the last time Mom groomed her:

This time Mrs. Barker (I’m not gonna laugh, I’m not gonna laugh) wanted most of the hair cut off her legs, so Mom trimmed them really short, but didn’t shave them. Mom said Roxi is almost as sweet as me!

Mom was getting ready to go pull weeds at the church when she got a call from a lady who hadn’t brought her two schnauzers back to Mom to groom for eleven months. Mom thought she had found another groomer. Wrong! Mom told her to come on, she could groom them right then. Here they are pre-and post-groom:

This is Dexter. He’s a 3 year old schnauzer. Yep, same dog in both pictures. He also had some fleas and ticks. He and his sister are outside a lot of the time, running free through the woods and stuff. That sounds like fun.

This is 10 year old Sophie. Sophie had big thick mats and a couple of ticks. When last we met (I heard that phrase and have been waiting to be able to use it), Sophie had a tumor on her ear. It didn’t look good, and Mom was scared it was something bad. Sophie’s Mom took her to the dogtor, who took off the tumor and had it checked. Mom had asked for your prayers for Sophie, and we want to say thank you, because she is fine.

That’s it for this edition of When Mom Grooms.

Love and wiggles, Lucy

Pee Ess: The first picture is of Tubby Barker. *rolls on floor laughing*

Scooter and Maggie on the Table

Hi my friends. It’s Lucy, your favorite pup (in this home).  Mom got some new dogs in to groom, and I get to tell you about them. This first one is Scooter. Scooter is a 9-year-old multi-poo. That is a maltese mixed with a poodle. I guess you could also say he is a pootese, he, he. He belongs to some friends of my peeps brother, Andrew. Scooter cries and screams, but he doesn’t try to bite. Mom just needs to get ear protectors. Heck, we all need ear protectors with Xena around. Scooter was covered with fleas and flea dirt, and his hair was a bit matted. He got 3 – yes three – baths while he was here. I’m lucky to make it through one bath.

Scooter had bad teeth, so his Mom, Beth, took him to the doggie dentist and they pulled about 12 of his teeth. They wanted to pull a bunch more, but his Mom said, “No.” Beth called my Mom to see what she thought. Mom said she could go to a different dogtor to get another opinion. Isn’t my Mom smart?

This next pup is named Maggie. Maggie is a 2 (almost 3) year old – wait! I just watched Xena bark at Riley and chase him out of “his” chair in the library. He’s like 87 gazillion times bigger than her! Dad warned us she would take over the house.

Anyhow, where was I? Oh yes, Maggie. Maggie is a poodle/shih tzu mix. Mom said she could have tons of fun with the names for that combination, but it’s best to leave it up to your imagination. Maggie was very good on the grooming table and has a sweet personality, kind of like me! She was matted to the max, and the lady did not want her shaved. Mom worked and worked on her, using her best grooming tricks and tools to get out all the mats, until Maggie looked as sweet as she was.

In closing, I remember the days before a certain schnauzer puppy took over.

Our feet and tummies and Mom’s flip flops were all safe. Life seemed much simpler back then. It seems so long ago…

Love and wiggles, Lucy.

Grooming With(out) Lucy

I’ve given up. Mom’s never going to let me groom dogs. A couple of weeks ago she got a 15 year old miniature poodle dog named Muffy in to groom. Do you think Mom let me help? Right. Mom forgot to get a “before” picture, but she remembers thinking that under all that hair there has to be a poodle. It took her two hours to find the poodle, though. Muffy is also a screamer. Speaking of screaming, I can hardly wait for Mom to let me tell you what Riley did at the vet. (he, he)

 

 

This morning Mom did a mini-groom on Dora the shih Tzu and Maggie the schnauzer. I’ve told you about them before.

 

 

 

Then a newer client asked if Mom could groom Daisy, her cockapoo. Of course Mom said, “Come on!” and there was one more dog I didn’t get to groom. *sad sigh*  Daisy will be one year old next month and her Mom is planning her a birthday party. I bet she would have been tons of fun to play with. Oh, wait. Maybe that’s why Mom won’t let me groom.

Daisy before groom

    Daisy after groom

Love and wiggles, Lucy

 

Surprise Saturday Grooms

Emmy “before”

Last night I heard Mom tell Dad that it seemed odd that she didn’t have any grooms for this weekend. Right after that she got a message on the neighborhood apple or appie or something that said, “Do you by any chance have an opening to shave my hateful old bity this weekend? If not it is ok. She’s beyond trimming she is getting matted so a shave except for her face will be necessary.” The person left her phone number, so Mom texted her back and said sure, come at 9:30 on Saturday. The lady warned Mom that her Shih Tzu bites, which is why she is such a mess. “Emmy” even tries to bite her Mom when her Mom tries to brush her. I think that is a very, very bad dog. I would never bite anyone, especially my Mom. But Mom has done well with supposed biters in times past, but she has also been bitten – especially by shih tzus. As it turned out, Emmy was a handful on the table and took a long time. She tried to eat my Dad for lunch when he held onto her so that Mom could cut her nails. Dad was brave and did not shirk his duty, and every nail got safely cut. At one point, Emmy calmed down and looked Mom in the eyes. Yeah, Mom melted. After her bath, Emmy got still and let Mom finish up her face and head with no argument.

I think they might have become friends. Emmy is already scheduled to come back in two months. When her Mom came back to get her, she said that Emmy and another dog were rescued from a house where the owner had died. Two other dogs didn’t “make it.” She has lived in her new home for four years. She hates the man there too, so maybe her first Dad was mean to her.

Thank you Miss Amy for helping me feel better. I’m 14 and still a pretty girl!

So, just before Mom started grooming Emmy, another new person called wanting her little yorkie groomed.

Bella is a tiny, four-year-old Yorkshire terrier (yay, another terrier like me – well, maybe not exactly like me). Oh, and Bella is a sweetie, just like me! Bella’s peeps didn’t tell Mom that she was a matted mess before they brought her.  Her Dad told Mom exactly what they wanted, and even showed her a picture they found on the internet. I guess that’s just Mom’s job, to turn matted messes into something pretty, right?

That’s it for this week’s edition of Grooming with Amy. We hope you enjoyed it.

Love and wiggles, Lucy.

More Grooms by Mom

Hi, this is Lucy. I don’t get to meet most of the dogs Mom grooms. I don’t really even know what “grooms” means. So I will turn my blog over to Mom today to tell you all about it.

Lucy, you are one lucky dog to not know what it is to be “groomed.” But I do try to make the experience as good as I can for my little four-legged friends. I have been blessed to get the sweetest dogs coming to be groomed, and Chaz, Lizzie, and Shaggy Bear have been no exception.

I got the teacup yorkie, Chaz back in for his third groom with me. This time his Mom felt comfortable enough to leave him and go do other things while her little boy got beautified. I promised pictures last time, so I did better by at least getting an “after” of this five-year-old boy.

Next, Lizzie is a second-timer coming to me. She is a five-year-old shih tzu/ basset mix.  Lizzie has a beautiful coat, but gets hot, so her Mom has me shave her. Look at those little basset legs!

Finally, another good boy, eleven-year-old Shaggy Bear – and was he ever! This was another second time groom with me. The first time was the middle of February. Shaggy Bear lives only a few houses down the road from me.

Shaggy Bear’s grandma made his mom give him a bath the day before his groom. Last time, I had to bathe him twice before the groom and once after, mostly because of fleas. They also took my advice on flea and tick prevention and all I found under all that hair this time was some old flea dirt from before the fleas were killed.  His grandma brought him and she has already booked his next groom in six weeks. With him beginning to come to me regularly, I may be able to talk them into a nicer-looking style and maybe share my “green bean diet” for him, too. No wonder he gets so hot! I renamed this dear shih tzu “Sugar Bear” after he got groomed!

That’s it for another episode of “Grooming with Amy.” Have a great weekend!

 

Gracie’s Busy Day

Gracie here again. Today was the day that the peeps get rid of their kids by giving them to the church for a while. I love this kind of day. I am free to love on the little people, and made 87 trips downstairs to do just that. Their giggles make me wiggle and their sticky, tasty fingers and faces are fun to lick.

It is also the day peeps come in to get pieces of paper to trade for food. They all seem to need a dog to pet, so I was there to help with that, too. Lexi had told me this was her most important job as the Church Dog, so I take it very seriously.
The pastor’s daughter came after school and we played and played. We both finally got worn out and waited on the couch in the room that has lots of books until it was time for her to leave.

When we finally got home after 87 hours of working, I jumped from the car and ran to the house, already thinking about seeing Mr. Jeff and eating my supper. When Ms. Amy opened the door, there stood another gimongous dog. His name is Riley. I backed up and refused to go in until Ms. Amy picked me up. He could still tickle my toes, so I was relieved when we went upstairs and shut Riley downstairs with Mr. Jeff.

I found out Riley was Lexi’s brother and used to live here, too. You probably already know Riley, but for anyone just tuning in, this is a picture of him taken a few years ago.  He is even bigger than Lucy. Speaking of Lucy, she is still wearing the Cone of Destruction and trapping me with it like a Bullie Dozer. I know Lexi never had any problem dealing with all these big dogs in her house, but she forgot to teach me that lesson.

I wonder who is going to show up next…

 

Gracie Gets a Message

Is that one of my friends out there?

Hi, this is Gracie. I have been staying with Mr. Jeff and Ms. Amy for almost a week now. Today, I was sitting in one of my favorite places when Ms. Amy said something to grab my attention away from what was happening outside.

 

Gracie, do you want to go to work?

I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t many people there, and definitely no little people today. As a consolation, Ms. Amy took me outside during her lunch time. The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. We took a nice walk all around the church and I got to read tons of pee mail. Some of it was old news, but it was still interesting.

Before we went back inside to do more work, I saw the message my bestie, Angel Lexi, had left for me. In case you didn’t know, this is the same sign where she was honored after she made her trip to the rainbow bridge. I thought maybe she was nearby.  I miss you, Lexi, and I am going to let my light shine.

Gracie’s Going Home

Hi, this is Gracie. Over the last 2 weeks I have gone to work and been the church dog, went to Indiana where I met Santa and made at least 87 new friends, and slept in the peeps bed every night (I’m not allowed to do that at home.) I have had a great time, but I still miss my Mom and Dad and told Santa that for Christmas, all I wanted was them to come back. Guess what? They are coming to get me today! When Ms. Amy said I had to get ready. I sure didn’t think she meant this!

Are we done yet?

Wait, are those treats?

No, I must be strong.

I’m dry now and the bag is still here.

*gasp* It opened!

                       I’m dry now and the bag is still here.           *gasp* It opened!

Thank you Ms. Amy. Can I have another one?

 

I am all ready to go home now and just wanted to tell my new friends goodbye for now. Have a very happy New Year.

New Year Wishes

Santa and Me

Woof! This is Gracie. I got to sit on Santa’s lap and whisper in his ear exactly what I want for Christmas. No lists that first go through elf hands for this pup! Santa said no problem, but that I would have to wait until the end of next week for my present. That’s ok, I can wait. Oh, and I have a personal message  straight from Santa to pass on to you:

Yes, pups and kitties, there really is a Santa Paws!

Merry Christmas to all my new friends.

Love, Gracie.