Dog Brushing

Oh so because Karma is a cruel mistress and I am her bitch, I have a dog who gets hairballs. Like a cat. Yes. Exactly like a cat.

Max is a short haired black lab/border collie mix. Me, being stupid?, I guess thought he didn't need brushing since he really didn't have a lot of hair.

His belly and inside of his legs are pretty sparse with fur so I just kind of assumed that he didn't need a lot of maintenance. It turns out, however, that he does have longer hair on his hindquarters. It's thick, dense, and has an undercoat (Border collie hair) and the rest of him is smooth, silky and incredibly shiny (black lab hair)

It took us a few times of hairballing to figure out just *what* Max was bringing up for display. He would randomly get sick, but the vet said that it was no big deal, and he was healthy... so I wasn't too worried.

Brian finally noticed that it was mostly hair and stomach fluid the other day, and so... it begins.

I took a fine toothed comb (a rat tail comb) and went over all his fur. He loved it. I pulled out 3 huge clumps from his hindquarters, each as big as my clenched fist.

I think this will also help his persistent dry skin... he has dandruff! but his coat is really shiny and the vet said he was okay... so maybe he just needs another bath soon.. hmm... how am I going to wrangle him into the bathroom?

Brushing out all the dead fur was kind of a chore, but now that I got it done we've been doing it daily, especially on his legs, to make sure the build up doesn't happen again.

As Brian was cleaning up the regurgitation, he was saying how gross it was. I told him this is our life and in 6 months, we will have another spitting up, pooing thing to look after :D

We also have to vacuum lots! He sheds an awful lot for a short hair dog! I'm going to shave him!

I gave him some petroleum jelly too (vaseline) as it helps things move along. He loves it.

So that's my life this week.

Also- been looking at patterns on line for things to make and I think I'll be making a dog bandana. Don't laugh. Lol easy first project! Also my mom is going to let me "borrow" her dressmaker's dummy so I can use that. Hopefully it will fit my measurements... or if not, pretty closely.