Why didn’t anybody TELL me about these??
Saturday I drove to a confo show and got to see Auggie’s breeder do some show grooms on a couple of her dogs. A lot of scissoring had already been done the weekend before (and I missed coming to watch that because I had to work) but I still got to see quite a bit and learned some stuff. I had a little bit of spare cash that I saved to spend at the show but couldn’t find what I wanted there that was affordable enough for me, so Sunday after work I took Auggie out to the pet stores in town and tried to find an economy pair of curved shears. PetSmart’s teeny tiny little grooming section had ONE pair, and even though I haven’t had much luck with PetSmart’s “Top Paw” scissors before, I went ahead and bought them to see how they worked…
I tried them while I was home for lunch this afternoon and AUGH! I wish I’d known about this and bought a pair of curved shears AGES ago! They made it SO fast, and SO smooth, and his feet look awesome. I’ve been able to do a good job with my straight shears, but it usually takes forever and I have to do a lot of careful blending, which did I mention I don’t own a grooming table, so it consists of me sitting on the floor, hunching over and usually tilting my head at an odd angle to get a good look at Auggie’s feet? =P
I’m so happy! And even more thrilled that I got them at PetSmart and they worked!! And now I don’t have to spend an hour on Auggie’s feet or risk them looking like I completely butchered them! YAY!
Agility Trial Packing List
I know you can find a BUNCH of these online, but I thought this might be fun. In anticipation of our agility trial this weekend – one where I will actually be staying overnight in a hotel with Auggie, for the first time EVER (so excited!!) – I have been thinking a lot about what I need to remember. Local trials are no big deal, because a) nothing I have forgotten could be that big of a deal Or b) I live about ten minutes from the trial site so I could just run home to grab something. But when I’m driving an hour or more away, it feels a little more tense and I have to try and remember everything.
First, we’ll start with the goodies that are always in my car! I have an organizer in my trunk that holds:
– two beach towels
– a small container of clamp-style clothespins to pin the towels to the crate in case of a windy day
– a spill-proof water dish… this dish actually foiled my mom once, who couldn’t figure out how to take the lid off and so was going “HOW DO YOU DUMP THE WATER OUT OF THIS THING???” It really is pretty darn spill-proof.
– a crate fan
– two collapsible beach chairs
– soft-sided travel crate; Auggie rides in this whenever I drive around
– my extra PetEdge brush
– a ropey-bone and a tennis ball
– a stadium blanket
Easy enough. I always have to double-check to make sure the water dish and towels are in the car before I go, because on occasion I pull them out to wash, but they are generally already packed into the car.
Then, the far longer list of Dog Things I have to load into the car:
– wire crate
– crate pillow
– cookie treats
– First Aid kit; has in it Benadryl (already cut into halves, per the dosage Auggie would need to take), Traumeel (anti-inflammatory), styptic pads, a thermometer, petroleum jelly, and gauze wrap
– poop bags
– my Clean Run Humane Slip Lead – this is the only thing I use at trials now since the recent AKC rule that a dog must be on lead when they come into the ring and on lead before you leave the ring. I take Auggie’s collar (which has his tags attached) off when we get to the trial now and just use the slip lead at the trial. (Yes, this means my dog runs naked.)
– a bottle of water
For this trial I will also be bringing along some collapsible bowls and dog food, since we’ll be overnighting… as well as a cuddly or two to put in his crate in the hotel.
For humans, I bring:
– cooler with drinks… I typically drink soda but I always make sure to bring plenty of water for myself as well as Auggie, because if you need to rehydrate quickly, water will do it whereas soda won’t. But I also like my Mt. Dew and cannot beat my caffeine addiction, so, there you go.
– snacks
– my own first aid kid. For me this includes a contact lense case with solution already in it, a pill case packed with Aleve, Ibuprofen, and Immodium, a couple of my prescription migraine meds, foot cramp meds, some bandaids, and sunscreen
– a change of clothes should weather turn on you… for me this usually means I dress in layers AND bring along a coat, jacket, sweatshirt, whatever
– camera if you like to videotape your runs… MAKE SURE YOUR MEMORY STICK IS IN IT and has room to capture your runs.
– extra batteries for the camera, just in case
There you go… that’s what I lug with me. I usually throw a lot of things into a tote bag or two, so it takes two trips to get everything to my trial spot. Crate and the dog comes first, then I go back to the car and snag everything else!
A little on grooming – brushes
For those of you who own cordless/battery powered nail grinders (I personally use the Dremel MiniMite) – recharge your battery after EVERY session. Seriously. After every single one. There’s no harm in it. Your battery won’t be overcharged or anything. Yeah, you have to unplug the battery from the grinder, plonk it into the charger, and find somewhere for that rather large charger to plug into an outlet. But seriously. It’s a good idea.
Poor Auggie is lop-sided as he currently has freshly dremelled front paws, three nails on his back right paw dremelled and the one remaining nail about 80% dremelled… and one paw that I didn’t get to before my dremel died.
Poor, poor Auggie. All because I didn’t plug the stupid battery in after our last session (I’m lying. LAST THREE OR FOUR SESSIONS.) to charge it up.
Anyway, the subject of brushes came up on a group I belong to; usually it starts with somebody asking about the Furminator and people start chiming in what they like to use instead. I thought it would be interesting to put down here for my lovely readers what brushes I use on Auggie. I have quite a selection, you see. All links are to the exact product I own from the exact place I purchased it from; you can probably find the same or similar products other places.
First, I own a pin brush that I always start with. Everybody should have a basic pin brush, IMO, for simple day-to-day brushing. It’s good for grabbing a lot of the already loose hair and getting some of the other dead hair to loosen up, but not a heck of a lot else on a double-coated breed. A good pin brush won’t pull or scratch, so even if it doesn’t do a lot for the actual fur managing, it’s great for getting your dog used to sitting for some gentle grooming… making grooming a pleasant experience! For Auggie, it’s the warm up brush, the relaxing brush. Sometimes I finish a grooming session with this brush, too.
Second, I purchased a Master Grooming Tools Ultimate Coarse Comb from a local groomer who was placing an order with PetEdge (it’s VERY expensive to order from them if you aren’t buying a lot of stuff.) and I love love LOVE it. I actually have two and one stays in my car with the other dog gear that I haul around. With this, I continue in long, gentle brush strokes. This is REALLY great for getting out dead hair from Auggie’s pants, which are a different texture than the rest of his fur; for the rest, it just pulls out more of the undercoat.
For the more stubborn hair – that is, for our serious grooming sessions – I have other brushes I continue with. I have a shedding brush that was recommended to me by a guy at the dog park when Auggie was a wee little guy; he demonstrated how great it worked on his own double-coated dog because Auggie had no loose coat at the time. I went to PetSmart and got two of them a few days later – one for me and one for my sister’s two shelties. They unfortunately don’t carry it anymore which is a REAL shame… it really does work wonders on removing undercoat, and I especially like to use this on places that have shorter, tougher-to-remove fur, like his armpits and his thighs. I do find that during heavy shedding seasons, this can pull a little bit when it gets “clogged” with fur, so you have to make sure you remove the already brushed out fur from it fairly often. I find this brush to be a lot gentler than many other brushes and combs I’ve used in the past; I think it has to do with the varying length and the slightly wider spacing of the teeth.
This is the ONLY brush in my tool bag that I would say there’s no replacement for, no buying from another store. I haven’t found anything quite like it anywhere else. This brush is just fan-freaking-tastic. It’s a tragedy they don’t carry it, or anything even remotely like it, at PetSmart anymore.
Next, I have a fine-tooth comb that I purchased at Target before we brought Auggie home. I don’t have a link for this one because I don’t think they sell it anymore; but a fine-tooth comb is pretty much a fine-tooth comb as long as it lasts. Mine has held up through the three years (the first pin brush I bought for Auggie from Target bit the dust after about a year; pins were falling out.) The fine-tooth comb I use mainly for brushing behind Auggie’s ears, trying to get rid of the crimpy dreadlock look. (I also use a pair of thinning shears on the hair behind his ears, which also helps; the comb then is great for going through and getting out all the hair that has been thinned.) This kind of brush CAN be used on those sheds-a-lot parts as a de-shedding tool, but it also tends to pull far more than the above tool, so I really hate to use it for that purpose.
I also have a slicker brush (I think in the medium size) that I use during shedding seasons. The other brushes do a really good job any other time of the year, but this is really helpful to use on longer fur, like down his back, when he’s blowing coat. I find this does a great job of picking up undercoat more than really helping to loosen and remove it, so I guess that’s why I like to really only use it during shedding season, when the fur is already lose. I also don’t brush very hard with this, so that might be why… I’m hesitant to apply pressure with it.
Last but not least, I own a Zoom Groom that I use during bath time. It’s wonderful to get him all lathered up and to start working the dead hair lose in the tubby.
Finally, yes, I do own a Furminator. I got it for a fairly good deal, which is good since I hardly use it. I don’t like what it does to the texture of Auggie’s fur. I don’t believe it breaks the fur like a lot of people do… but it definitely does something odd, something not pleasant. The only places I will use it is on the SUPER short hair on the top of Auggie’s head, his muzzle, and on his paws… those are the only places where it doesn’t seem to have a weird affect on his fur nor cause him discomfort. I’m not sure if it pulls or scratches his skin; all I know is that he is not comfortable with it and therefore I am not either.
So, when it comes to the Furminator… if you have a pal who owns one, see if you can borrow it to try it on your pet first. Observe your individual pet’s reaction before you make a decision. I definitely don’t believe the Furminator is a tool for every pet out there, it needs to be judged on a case-by-case reaction from your particular pet. If you can’t borrow one, make sure that, if you don’t like how it works for your pet, you can return it to whatever place you purchase from – be it PetSmart, Target, or an online shop.
And there you have it… my brush collection!
