Friday, January 21, 2011
Hedgehogs Need to Feel Beautiful, Too
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Bathtime for Kujo
A few days ago we groomed an English Mastiff named Kujo. Now, before you jump to wild imaginations about a 200 pound dog named Kujo, stop right there. The story ends well.
Sue is a lifelong dog lover and has been a pet professional for about 8 weeks. She began helping as a friend during the de- and reconstruction process at Petropolis. She is a mature lady (I've learned that women over 65 prefer this description) and never met an animal who didn't instantly fall in love with her. Since her recent foray into being a pet professional is pretty recent, she had not had the pleasure since we opened of meeting an English Mastiff in person. She took the call from Kujo's owner and perused my grooming schedule for an opening. She saw a small window of time the next day and proceeded to set it up. Excited at meeting a new canine friend, she came to the grooming shop to tell me that she had scheduled an English Mastiff into the vacancy.
I asked her, "Sue, do you know what an English Mastiff is?"
"Yes," she replied, "I've seen them on the dog show on TV before."
I inwardly groaned at the thought of the small condominium which called itself dog which would be on my plate for the next day but resigned my inner self that all dogs need good, quality, professional care regardless of their size.
The next morning, wet suit for bathing the colossal beast in hand, I came to work. While grooming my morning schedule of dogs, I occasionally looked out of the large picture window at the parking lot watching customers come and go. Sue tended them and one by one the processional continued. At one point I glanced up and stopped my scissors in mid-air. A brown beast galloped across the parking lot toward the grooming shop and behind him dangling onto his leash like a rag doll was Sue. Behind her, his owner trotted wearing a cast on his left arm pleading with Kujo to slow down.
So, Kujo had arrived. We three mere mortals contained him into a holding kennel and I finished the haircut on a spiteful small Shih Tsu named Sam. I called Sue for reinforcements and we brought Kujo to the bathing room. That task alone involved a flurry of feet, falling down several times, a stinging whiplash from a tail the size of a tire iron, and a moment of realizing that Kujo equalled our weights collectively but possessed a zest for life that was double both mine and Sue's combined.
The next ten minutes were much a blur. Perhaps with was the adrenaline, perhaps it was the heap of laughter we collapsed in when it was all over, regardless, it became a fuzzy memory of two women cajoling, heaving, coaxing, shoving and finally willing the beast up an over-sized ramp and into an over-sized bathtub.
When the process was finished, there was not a dry creature in the room but we all smelled minty fresh. Later that day, Kujo was dried and affixed with a spiffy new bandana the size of a small tablecloth and his owner returned for him. I recounted a bit of our day but pointed out multiple times what a sweet dog Kujo was. He was a true sport and a gentle giant. Even when I pulled him into the bathtub, fell over backwards, and landed with him atop me looking down, he only smiled. Now that's a good dog!
Sue is a lifelong dog lover and has been a pet professional for about 8 weeks. She began helping as a friend during the de- and reconstruction process at Petropolis. She is a mature lady (I've learned that women over 65 prefer this description) and never met an animal who didn't instantly fall in love with her. Since her recent foray into being a pet professional is pretty recent, she had not had the pleasure since we opened of meeting an English Mastiff in person. She took the call from Kujo's owner and perused my grooming schedule for an opening. She saw a small window of time the next day and proceeded to set it up. Excited at meeting a new canine friend, she came to the grooming shop to tell me that she had scheduled an English Mastiff into the vacancy.
I asked her, "Sue, do you know what an English Mastiff is?"
"Yes," she replied, "I've seen them on the dog show on TV before."
The next morning, wet suit for bathing the colossal beast in hand, I came to work. While grooming my morning schedule of dogs, I occasionally looked out of the large picture window at the parking lot watching customers come and go. Sue tended them and one by one the processional continued. At one point I glanced up and stopped my scissors in mid-air. A brown beast galloped across the parking lot toward the grooming shop and behind him dangling onto his leash like a rag doll was Sue. Behind her, his owner trotted wearing a cast on his left arm pleading with Kujo to slow down.
So, Kujo had arrived. We three mere mortals contained him into a holding kennel and I finished the haircut on a spiteful small Shih Tsu named Sam. I called Sue for reinforcements and we brought Kujo to the bathing room. That task alone involved a flurry of feet, falling down several times, a stinging whiplash from a tail the size of a tire iron, and a moment of realizing that Kujo equalled our weights collectively but possessed a zest for life that was double both mine and Sue's combined.
The next ten minutes were much a blur. Perhaps with was the adrenaline, perhaps it was the heap of laughter we collapsed in when it was all over, regardless, it became a fuzzy memory of two women cajoling, heaving, coaxing, shoving and finally willing the beast up an over-sized ramp and into an over-sized bathtub.
When the process was finished, there was not a dry creature in the room but we all smelled minty fresh. Later that day, Kujo was dried and affixed with a spiffy new bandana the size of a small tablecloth and his owner returned for him. I recounted a bit of our day but pointed out multiple times what a sweet dog Kujo was. He was a true sport and a gentle giant. Even when I pulled him into the bathtub, fell over backwards, and landed with him atop me looking down, he only smiled. Now that's a good dog!
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