Take home one wet, dirty dog and we'll throw in another for FREE! Actually the Poodle is a gimme right now...ha ha!!!! Kidding, just KIDDING; don't get all crazy on me now!
LuAnne 13 yrs and her dam, Lexus 15 years. LuAnne finds the last bit of snow...
Taboo and Juno and a great big puddle.
Bunny showing fabulous style and Bridgit.
LuAnne and Paris
Paris is happy to be back from her weekend away in Sudbury. While she got a lot of attention and a lot of treats... 
She couldn't hang out with her friends...
And run amok!
A wet noodle and happy to be a farm dog! You can see her "glamour" shots on our news page.
It was a rainy day and I decided to take the dogs in back since they were wet anyway...
I took them over to the far field, where there is standing water in the Spring. I figured they needed to wash their feet...
It was a little deeper than they expected!
Poor little Bridgit is up to her armpits! 
Heading off in all directions. Bridgit wishing she wasn't so vertically challenged!
I was inspired to do this post when I saw on Jo Ann's blog her tack box laid out. I was so sorry to have missed her grooming seminar...and it was only 15 minutes away! It sounds like it was a super weekend for Sheltie and Collie folks.
When I was packing up Bunny and her gear heading out to the Poodle grooming seminar I looked in my cupboard and wondered what I should bring to groom a Poodle. We have products of all description collected over the years. Whatever product a handler was using at the time, whatever was the latest and the greatest. Not only do we have one bottle of a certain product, but we have multiples of things I haven't used in years. Penaud, Persian Hanna, Cindra products and enough hairspray to last a lifetime! I ended up taking a small plastic case with two scissors, two pin brushes, two combs and a slicker. A spray bottle of water with conditioner as well. That was all I ended up bringing with me, and honestly there wasn't anything I felt I was lacking. If I was going to a show, I'd have to up the ante and bring a bit more gear...
I smiled when I saw Alan Waterman's table full of products used to groom Poodles; it looked pretty similar to my collection in the cupboard, but with a few additions (which naturally I ran out to Sally's to pick up). Interesting was the fact he bathes his dogs in Palmolive, and if they are really greasy then it is Dawn dish soap. I have heard of this before, but have never tried it. So note to self...buy some dish soap for dogs. ha ha
Another difference is that with Poodles, they take the hairspray out after each show, and there is a product for that application (which I'll have to buy now as well).
Despite the extraordinary amount of products stockpiled; I feel I really don't use a lot of stuff. (Though I think my overseas friends might have a coronary looking at this!)
I looked in my tack box and laid out the things I reach for when grooming for show. Also I usually have three spray bottles at a show, one with water, one with conditioner (this varies depending on which dog I'm showing at the time) and one with Self Rinse. I think I'm missing baby powder and hair gel in this picture. 
I travelled to Syracuse with Bunny for the weekend to attend a grooming seminar given by Alan Waterman, a well known Poodle handler. It was a two day workshop, with the first day devoted to the puppy trim.
This was the puppy used for the demonstration. She'd never been scissored before...
This is pretty much the after photo...showing how to emphasize angulation in rear, to cut in the loin and belly area and also the neck and front legs. Alan did one side of her, and then we had to work on our puppies.
The following day concentrated on showing us how to put a Poodle into "pattern". In this case, the continental clip. Poodles must be shown in either the continental clip or the english saddle clip once they turn a year old. This girl had her birthday the week before, so she had to get her "big girl" trim. 
Roughing in the clip. and making the front bracelet...Alan starts off by making the pom-pom on the hip square and will round off the edges later.
When you're this pretty it is sometimes hard to be taken seriously, however...
If you show up at our house late at night (or early in the day, for that matter)... 
You will be greeted by a very cross, ferocious guard Foo! 
Who will alert her friends to the danger... 
I was sleeping when I heard a noise in the living room. It sounded like Bunny was chewing on shoes, so I quickly jumped out of bed to check it out. It wasn't shoes; she had found a balloon left over from Valentines Day! 
She was very careful to pick up the balloon by the tab at the bottom!
Trying to catch it with her monkey paws!
I didn't see this coming...did you? Ha ha
Gabi: there is nothing better than a snooze after a bowl of chicken soup...
But you still need to keep an eye on the one with the camera...you never know, she may bring you seconds!
Our sweet Lexus will be 15 in a few months. She has never missed a meal. 
Just testing how large I can get these photos! I'm pushing the envelope for dial-up; but hopefully most viewers have high speed.
We've had these wheels a long time. They came from our first home in Perth and now are propped next to what we call the "barn", which is really just a metal storage shed.
I like the textures in this shot.
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