Yes, it's leaf time again down here in San Antonio. The beloved live oak trees are doing their thing, dropping leaves and their nasty pollen. It is a mess and this year seems worse that the past few years. Of course, the nasty stuff is all in my house thanks to four little long haired dogs!
Their beautiful long fur is like a Swiffer sweeper with this stuff and of course, they go out in the yard and roll in it so that makes it worse! But wait, part of the problem is my fault. During the winter I have been slack about regular grooming except for Bentley because he has had several shows. I realized last weekend that he wasn't picking up much pollen because his paws and legs are trimmed up. Look at the picture above - see Blossom's untrimmed paws? They look like Grinch feet! And all that hair hanging over her legs just attracts the pollen!
Sawyer wants to play in the pollen like it is snow. UGH! I love my large trees, but honestly, this stuff is just nasty. If you try to vacuum it it will explode. The leaf blower just creates a yellow, pollen filled cloud. And, yes it makes you sick!
So, with that realization I decided it was time to get serious and get out the grooming table. Time for some serious grooming. I am definitely a novice groomer, but with 4 dogs I have had to learn. I bought an excellent book, The All Breed Dog Grooming Guide (4th edition) by Sam Kohl, and I've watched countless videos on the internet. As with anything, it is the hands on experience that really teaches you!
I had actually made this picture of an unhappy Sawyer on the table last summer, but had to share it here. He does not like anything about being groomed and will hide in the yard when he sees me coming with the table! Ditto with the nail clippers! He's just an adventure loving boy dog that doesn't want all that girlie primping stuff done to him! But, Big Boy, that fur has got to be trimmed up!
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