If you’re new here, I foster dogs and puppies through HEART Animal Rescue.  You can find out more about them HERE.  We are a foster rescue group.  All of the dogs are fostered in a home while they are getting their vet work done and we’re finding a new home for them.  We work out of the tri-state area of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Last week I contacted the rescue coordinator and told her my house was so quiet without a pup or extra dog here.  She laughed and said there would probably be puppies coming in.  She wasn’t sure exactly how many or what breed.

It can be iffy when we hear there are puppies to pick up, especially if the dogs are coming from an Amish surrender.  Many don’t have phones so communication can be sketchy.  Also sometimes at pick-up, they will say, “Oh, take this one too” or “We thought there were three but we sold one before you got here”.  It’s always a mixed bag of possibilities when the dogs are picked up.

This time there were three.  They are mini Australian Shepherds.  There are two males…the tri-colored ones.

The merle is the one I’ll be fostering.  She’s a … …

New Puppies!Read More »

My little Lefty is getting left behind.

You might remember that I got Pancho and Lefty shortly after Christmas.  I think it was the 31st.  Lefty is the one on the left.

Lefty had an approved adoption before he has even gone to the vet.  We thought he would be going to his home on January 3rd, but that person backed out.  She never met Lefty.  She just thought circumstances that had come up made her believe that it wasn’t the right time for adding a new pet.

Lefty had another approved adoption.  He was supposed to meet his new family on the 13th.  But, that adopter called back and decided that she was older and maybe a puppy wouldn’t be the best idea.  She never met Lefty…just decided they weren’t a good fit because of age.

So, we’re working on … …

Left Behind LeftyRead More »

Oh my…remember I told you I never wanted to get a do that needed to be groomed??  And then I got Izzy??  I fell totally in love with her personality and still feel the same today…I don’t want a dog that has to be groomed…but I’m totally in love with her personality.

So I adopted her and here I am months later and guess what?  That dog that I didn’t want to have to groom, needs to be groomed.  I’m not talking about brushing.  I love brushing her and probably brush her out four times a week.  I mean the whole haircut thing.  When I took her to the groomer when she first came to HEART Animal Rescue (remember I adopted my very first foster dog?) I asked the groomer how much it costs for grooming.  She said for Izzy likely $75.  UGH.  That was a lot for me…and to do it every eight weeks…that’s WAY more then I spend on my own hair and haircuts.

So I started watching Youtube videos on how to cut a dog’s hair.  I looked up how to cut Aussiedoodle hair.  I looked up how to cut poodle hair.  The poodle ones were too poodle…most of the Aussiedoodle ones were too Aussie for what Izzy looks like.  I watched lots of videos and finally landed on “how hard can it be”?

So I bought a clipped and scissor set off Amazon for $40 or so.

The tools have been here for about two weeks and I’ve been trying to get brave.  During that time, Izzy’s hair has been getting longer and longer.  It’s now 12 weeks since she’s been groomed.

I re-watched the videos and finally decided one night to just do it!  Kalissa reminded me to take some before and after pictures…so here is the before.  What a shaggy girl.
It was getting hard to see her eyes.

It was getting harder to brush her too.

I decided to clip her in the old part of our basement.  We have an old part and a new part.  The old part is pretty primitive but I don’t mind.  It makes me not care as much if I do things like this there.  The utility sink works great for bathing.

I decided to do that actual haircutting on our old chest freezer.

There is a plug-in there.  So after the bath, we started blow drying.

She didn’t hate that.

Then I started clipping.  I learned that I really do want a leash that groomers have.  I did it with no leash at all and she did a really great job staying there but she would often lie down and I needed her to be standing.

When I was watching the videos on how to clip a dog, the part I was most worried about doing was her face…that turned out to not be terrible.  The hard part for me was trying to figure out how to do her legs and blend all of that in.

We ended up with a lot of hair cut off.

I learned so much and feel confident enough to try again.  I think I am going to watch a few videos again and specifically focus on the legs and blending.

Here she is all finished.
…

Grooming Day!Read More »