New things

Here's Bentley yesterday morning, waiting while I unloaded the cart and crate at the local dog show.  He did good in the ring, but there was only one other male dog showing - a gorgeous long haired red with a beautiful coat.  Bentley had serious separation anxiety when I left him in the crate for several hours while I worked.  So today, even though he was registered to show, I left him at home.  I just couldn't bring myself to do that to him again.  From now on it is either show or steward, but not both.

What's in that box, Bentley?

Well, it is a new grooming table for everyone to use!  It is lightweight (#1 requirement!) and it easily folds down.  I tried it out yesterday afternoon and it works great, much better than spreading a towel on the patio table. The nice part is that it leaves both hands free to work on the dog since they are secured with the hanging loop.  I did figure out that since it is low that I need to pull up a chair to sit in while doing their feet.

Blossom was the first to try it out.  I'm not sure if she was a little worried about the new table or if she was envisioning a bad haircut!

I've never seen a dog that loves to be groomed as much as Baylee.  Of course, if I had that much hair I would want it kept combed out, too!

I also bought a slicker brush and scissors.  I like to shop at these shows and support the vendors rather than shopping for things like this online or from big chain retailers.  They usually have good quality products and they are dog people and can answer  your questions.  The guy that sold me the table was extremely busy, but still took time to show me how to set up and break down the table and then he took time to cut a handle in the box so it would be easier for me to carry!

I wasn't sure about the slicker brush until I tried it on Bentley.  It worked great, so I gladly paid the $30 for it. Just as I have found with my sewing and quilting, you have to have the right tools.  The scissors were great, too.  I trimmed up his feet, both top and underneath.  I was careful with the cutting as I didn't really know what I was doing and I didn't want to mess him up!  But he looked fairly good when I was done.  I realized tonight that I did not do a good job on his nail trim, I think my next purchase is going to be a better set of nail trimmers!

Sawyer was the last to give it a try.  He does not like to be brushed or have his nails trimmed, sometimes trying to hide out somewhere when he sees me doing the other dogs.  He was a good sport and let me comb him out real good and also trim his paws. 

As I was working on the dogs I remembered that I had this little tote bag.  I had bought it to put rotary cutters, scissors and quilting tools in, but most of the time it sat empty and the supplies scattered around the room.  It works perfectly for the grooming tools!