The Groom Job
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The Groom Job
I had planned a day in the garden. It is nice out, not too warm. I put Lily out, and read this forum, then went out to get her. 
Lily had dragged her anchor, so she was in deep grass, after a rabbit, no doubt. When I pulled her back to the lawn, she was covered with sticker weeds, and the vines they grow on! It was as if someone intentionally wrapped her up! I even thought about taking her photo, but she didn't look very good, so I just started pulling the big pieces off, as gently as I could.
She had more BB sized sticky seeds in her mane than there are stars in the sky! It formed a huge matt on the surface of the fur. The back end only fared slightly better! She literally had them imbedded from the pads of her paws, to the muzzle. There was nowhere she could sit or stand, that she wasn't grinding them in!
I began grooming at 10:00. I used my comb with rotating teeth (whoever had mentioned this in a past post, TY!) and worked one side quickly, so I could lay her down. I could only remove 1 or 2 at a time, anymore than that and it formed a beaded edge at the end of the hairs.
After 2 hours, Lily took a break, but wouldn't come back downstairs when it was time to start again. She was laying in the upstairs hall with her feet sticking into the stair well, so I just went up to her and groomed her with me standing on the 5th step up, so we were face to face. This worked great for her face and chest, her most sensitive area. After about a half hour we both went down stairs to do round 3.
When it was all said and done, it was 2:30. I think she understood what I was doing, especially after I pulled some out from under her chin that HAD to be irritating. She checked out the nasty little things and kept watching the piles of them grow! I think I got them all. I went over every inch of her body feeling for the little pissers 3 times. I will do it again later, too. The thing of it is, I can't find exactly where she is picking it up! I'm putting upbarrier fencing later this afternoon where I know for sure there is some growing. I hope I never have to do that again! So does Lily An!
Lily had dragged her anchor, so she was in deep grass, after a rabbit, no doubt. When I pulled her back to the lawn, she was covered with sticker weeds, and the vines they grow on! It was as if someone intentionally wrapped her up! I even thought about taking her photo, but she didn't look very good, so I just started pulling the big pieces off, as gently as I could. She had more BB sized sticky seeds in her mane than there are stars in the sky! It formed a huge matt on the surface of the fur. The back end only fared slightly better! She literally had them imbedded from the pads of her paws, to the muzzle. There was nowhere she could sit or stand, that she wasn't grinding them in!
I began grooming at 10:00. I used my comb with rotating teeth (whoever had mentioned this in a past post, TY!) and worked one side quickly, so I could lay her down. I could only remove 1 or 2 at a time, anymore than that and it formed a beaded edge at the end of the hairs.
After 2 hours, Lily took a break, but wouldn't come back downstairs when it was time to start again. She was laying in the upstairs hall with her feet sticking into the stair well, so I just went up to her and groomed her with me standing on the 5th step up, so we were face to face. This worked great for her face and chest, her most sensitive area. After about a half hour we both went down stairs to do round 3.
When it was all said and done, it was 2:30. I think she understood what I was doing, especially after I pulled some out from under her chin that HAD to be irritating. She checked out the nasty little things and kept watching the piles of them grow! I think I got them all. I went over every inch of her body feeling for the little pissers 3 times. I will do it again later, too. The thing of it is, I can't find exactly where she is picking it up! I'm putting upbarrier fencing later this afternoon where I know for sure there is some growing. I hope I never have to do that again! So does Lily An!
I don't know what those lousy little buggers are, but I will certainly be happy when they run their course.... Sophie and I unexpectedly encountered a deer on our walk, and she bolted into the weeds after it. Came out so thickly covered with the things that you couldn't see fur from the tummy down. It was pretty warm that day, so we had to go cool off in the creek, which effectively set them in like concrete.
The bad news: 2 1/2 hours with a pin brush and undercoat rake to get them out.
The good news: No more undercoat.
The bad news: 2 1/2 hours with a pin brush and undercoat rake to get them out.
The good news: No more undercoat.
Sandy
Owned by Sophie
What I have always done with Pekoe when she gets those and foxtails when I pull them off I show them to her so she can smell them then I say stickers now when we are out and she starts heading for those types of area's all I do is say Pekoe stickers, she stops and backs off, it even works on a rabbit chase as soon as I say stickers she stops the chase but she's smart enough to know if there are really stickers around so its doesn't work if I'm lying to her.