Groom Expo 2015

Last Friday my friend and I attended the Grooming Expo, which we are very fortunate to live close-ish to.  I still feel like a foreigner in the world of grooming, and nothing intensifies that feeling like being around the professionals.    There was a major grooming competition going on, there were poodles of all sizes in all sorts of pristine clips, there were dogs dyed different colors, there was creative grooming, and there were tons and tons of products to buy.

One thing I was looking hard to buy was a new hose that would fit my high velocity dryer.  I had purchased a new hose for it about a year ago, only to find that the hose I had purchased fit the newer model of that same dryer.   I was determined to get the appropriate hose!  I found the actual B-Air vendor and began discussing my issues with her.   When I described the model of dryer that I had, she was beside herself!   The blower is probably over 10 years old and she could not believe that someone was still using one and that it still worked.  We all had a good laugh about that, and she told me that I could not buy a hose to fit that model, but that I could order a new end piece that my new hose could screw onto, and that end piece would fit onto my good old dryer just fine.  And that is great because my current hose is broken in two pieces and blows apart at least 20 times per coat dry.  It drives me insane!

We spent a large amount of our day attending a 6 hour AKC Poodle Grooming seminar by Sue Zecco.   It was an hour on, hour off.   We learned about poodle history and purpose as well as their versatility, different clips, different colors, and then began to learn some grooming.   We got to watch a demo of a spray up for the confirmation ring.  Sue had two of her standard poodles there and the one had a full topknot.  The whole process seemed daunting for me and pretty not applicable to anywhere I am headed with poodles, but it was fascinating all the same!  I did not realize that the dogs actually lay down for this procedure (see, I am such a beginner!).   They lay down in a sphynx down and their head rests on a pillow while they are getting their spray up.  I have to admit what I loved the most was that particular poodle's attitude.   While most of the presentation was going on, she was like "the mayor", she trotted around from chair to chair getting people to pet her.   When asked to come to the grooming table she tried to make herself invisible!  

We took a break and on return we got to watch a different poodle get her hair clipped into the lamb trim.  One thing I will take away is to always keep in mind the skeletal structure and build of the dog underneath of all of the hair and honor that.  

As ever, I am so torn.  I see plenty of poodles clipped right to the skin all over and their owners are completely happy with that. (especially in hunting and agility.)  But a well groomed poodle with longer hair on the legs and body takes my breath away.   I seem to want both.  Long hair is an extreme amount of work and Perri's lifestyle makes keeping a longer coat even more work.  Letting a dog run amok through the woods and swim and get muddy is counterproductive with keeping a gorgeous coat.  I love the longer hair, but is it fair to the dog?  A few days before the groom expo I did a full clip down on Perri except for her topknot and ears, so I will have to wait for new growth before I can experiment with what I have learned.   Maybe Perri can have longer hair in the winter and then in the summer when the dirty-making is at its peak, we can clip it all off.

No matter what, that is what I love about the poodle coat.  It is what you make it, it is what you want it to be.   They are true versatile dogs in hair and mind!

Doggie Yard Work

Yesterday was a rare responsibility-free morning spent at home and me and the dogs enjoyed every single minute of it!  We did a small amount of training here and there (12 weave poles, getting a kick back stand behavior out of Molly) but mostly we just played in the yard.  I filled up their kiddie pool, we played ball, everyone rolled in dead earthworms (well, I didn't.  It was hard to resist but I exercised self control.)

Ein doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the pool since the other two tend to stampede around the yard and slam into it at a moments notice.  He doesn't like to be splashed or jostled!

Keeping an eye on the idiots...

Their favorite game (well, Perri's favorite game) is keepaway.  Perri steals Molly's ball and spends all of her time keeping it away from Molly.  Since Perri is far and away more agile and bendy than Molly (and possibly more stubborn.  She is german after all.), this is way easier than you would think.  Perri could not care less if she is bitten, humped, body slammed, barked or chattered at...the game must go on.

Ein thinks they are idiotic livestock.  He moved from the pool and began searching the yard for any dead earthworms or insects possible, and smeared himself in every single bit of it.

Molly thought that was a pretty super idea!

Then I stole the ball and played keepaway with poor Molly.  Want your ball back?  Do the weave poles!  We had mixed success - the most success came when I followed our agility instructor's advice of putting a jump at the end of the poles.  When Molly is working for something she really really wants (high reward cookie or the ball) she pops from the tenth or eleventh pole in anticipation of being rewarded.   You can imagine how awesome that is at a trial - in fact we threw a beautiful Open Standard run in April for just that reason, and that reason alone.  Having the jump to drive for helps her understand a little bit better that she is not getting her reward until after the poles are completed and that jump.  No reason to get over excited and pop the poles, because you still have to do a jump after it!  Once I added that into the mixture (I kept the jump at only 12", the height isn't the point.) we had a whole lot more success.  

Great day, happy tired dogs!

And since Ein smelled positively necrotic and he is at the height of coat blowing season, I gave him a bath with his Burt's Bees shampoo and blew his coat out with Perri's blower.   I think my entire neighborhood is coated in corgi fur, it was every where!  Thankfully it was a beautiful and breezy day and the wind carried it all away from our porch.  Ein looks much thinner now, and smells a whole lot better.

Still, baths suck forever and ever.

Poodle Bling

Shameless poodle fancying!

Poodle Day

Perri has had a busy day!

We practiced Obedience in Petsmart...with meatballs.  In front of a glass-walled doggie daycare.  To say that the eight dogs running around behind the glass was a distraction is an understatement - Perri could barely think straight!  She very much behaved as she has in Obedience trials in the past: staring at Distractions, lagging, and not sitting at halts.
Discovering this distraction was sort of like a gold mine - at last a place that I can practice heeling with Perri that reproduces her poorest behaviors. (she works well at parks and other Petsmarts.)
The downside is that we are going to try the Novice ring tomorrow, so I am feeling more than a little bit nervous about that.  I had felt like we were making some progress on our heeling, but today showed me that regressing is a huge possibility.  Ah well.

And then Perri and I spent about two hours grooming: ear plucking, full body groom, and bath.  She looks much better!  I cut her ears down very short - the long hair is very pretty but also comes with mats and lots of brushing.  We need a break for the summer.

Stupid Baths.  Stupid Clippers.  Stupid Standing Still.

And then I took that photo on the right...and had to make a collage.  Because Perri is so GROWN UP now.  Wow.

Happy Birthday, Perri! (Grooming Table to Appalachian Trail)

Perri turned one year old today, and what a birthday!

We started off with a bath and blow dry to prepare for being a grooming demo dog for Pet Bath and Beyond groom shop at "Pawsabilities", an expo-type event for pet lovers.  Perri was scheduled for an afternoon demo.

Perri and Daphnee having a poodle conversation.

Telling people about grooming poodles.

Perri was good on the table.  She did not search after me or jump around too much, I was really happy to see that.  She had some normal puppy dog moments (she is only a year old after all!), but was truly a good girl.  All of the groomers were so kind to me, and I got a lot of good advice on topknot scissoring (such a scary part of poodle grooming!).

Heehee!

Before leaving, my friend insisted that we do some pink dye on Perri.  She got her forepaws dyed pink and had a heart spray painted on her hip.  She officially looked like a My Little Pony!  She also got a lovely purple feather woven into her ear hair.  ALL OUT!

You can see the woodsy tone of those last few photos?  That is because after Pawsabilities we headed off to meet another friend of mine for a hike on the Appalachian Trail!  This 1.9 mile section has been on my to-do hike list for quite some time. (today's hike connected two much larger sections of the AT that I had hiked in the past.)

The weather was absolutely gorgeous with blue skies and I was able to hike in a t-shirt.  Heaven!  The 3.8 out and back miles went quickly, and there were three beautiful vistas to gaze off of as the evening came in.

Ein and Perri at the famous 501-Shelter.

Kimmel View.

Paula and PJ, navigating Rocksylvania.

Fisher Lookout.

Happy PJ!  (Perri just couldn't even stand PJ. She would get close to him and then spring backwards. Silly girl!

Turn Around Point.

Needless to say, I have a couch full of very quiet and sleepy dogs.  Just the way I like it!  

Perri has a Canine Good Citizen test scheduled on March 23rd.  And now that she is a year old, we can also start looking for a TDI test.  I would love to start doing therapy visits with her within the next few months, if not the next two!  My Little Poodle. 

Puppy's First Tail Poof.

So.  This happened last night.  A *real* poodle tail.  Perri's end-of-tail floof is so scruffy, though.  Still, I wanted to give the poofy tail a try, and it really is quite cute.