Emmer & Yodel take a hike
51/69 degrees F, a BALMY morning, but a HUMID afternoon.
Raw meaty bone-in skin-on chicken quarters for breakfast all around. (I had chicken souvlaki leftovers, I’m only a semi-carnivore). I love feeding them chicken quarters, almost as much as they love eating it. Never had one hit the ground after I toss them in the air.
Emmer & Yodel got another trip up the hill to Matt’s house and down the other driveway, a mile round trip with a lot of elevation change. What was I thinking wearing jeans? Bad Sidney, bad. This second trip was easier on them, of course, both of them considerably better walking in tandem. We’re still working on the loose leash thing. When we got back the backpack fittings were hilarious (as usual.) The REI large is too small for 70# Emmer. Barely fits her daughter Yodel. The medium… well, unless I learn something new, it goes back on ebay.
Grooming, it’s that time of year
The migratory birds are back. The bees are flying. The alfalfa and pears are blooming. And the fur is starting to fly.
So after our hike, I made a round with the newest product recommendation from a fellow Malamute breeder (thanks Gail P!) Cowboy Magic Detangler & Shine and a grooming rake. A nickle-sized dab scrubbed into the chest fur and the fur just started going EVERYWHERE. Love this product. With normal coats it’s on par with Show Shine for horses or the Stuff for dogs. But it’s not a spray, it’s concentrated and a little goes a long way.
With Gypsy who is a (correctly) coarse-textured long-coat, two dabs scrubbed through her entire coat was enough. Without adding more, I scrubbed my still-damp hands through her puppies’ fur and now they all have flowing, waving coats in the wind that’s coming up with the storm front moving in.
However, with my boy TD, who has the thickest long-coat I have EVER seen on ANY animal, even back when I was grooming, this was a MIRACLE product. It gets INTO the coat the way even spray-on products do not, just a dab in the palm, scrubbed through the coat in a small area (I did about two splayed-hands worth at a time) and the grooming rake goes through it, pulling out undercoat, even the cursed mats behind the ears. I was afraid I might have to shave him this year because his winter coat is SO THICK and hanging on, but now I’m pretty sure I can save his coat without a lot of fuss.
Thanks so very much Gail P. for the product recommendation.