Grooming a Barbet

I was really pleased to see 'Buddy' a very sweet boy from Hallie and Cooper who is now 8 months old. His owner is learning how to maintain the coat himself and making a very good job of it. Buddy is quite amazing to groom, he is very patient and extremely tolerant and to be honest, just delightful. The owner is using a cordless clipper with different attachments to keep the body short but even, and they worked well on a clean matt free coat......it is possible to have a smart short coat on a Barbet without them looking shaved. Buddy is a credit to his owner.

Extreme grooming

Well, what can I say other than whoops!
Saturday was a busy day, seeing the Queen in Windsor  and then a wonderful evening meal with some French visitors. So Sunday morning I wasn't really wanting to groom and poor  Bobby was first on the table as he dogs my heels and followed me into the grooming room.I started some serious brushing which lasted all of 10 minutes and then I reached for the clippers, the sun was streaming through the window so I went for the complete removal of coat, so Bobby is now nude.  The girls were not as bad as I had thought, so maybe I lied about not grooming them for 7 weeks, I will never know but neither girl took that long to throughly groom. Jazz was easy too, as he had been shaved 7 weeks ago, so only needed his face trimming. Dear Jazz has a small lump over his eye which I found when he was on the table, so that may need closer inspection by an expert. If you look closely at the photo, the black blob (in line with washing basket) by the trampoline is Bepop. Now I thought Bepop was clever but hiding behind a pole on a trampoline was not good, I spotted her immediately, bear in mind that she had been lying at my feet during Bobbys' grooming experience. She must have thought she was to be the next grooming victim. For now my girls are safe, neither have the short back and sides....  

Rustic barbets

I have had an awful thought, I last groomed my 4 dogs before Ooli and Alba mated, and today I have read that she is on week 7 of pregnancy which means I should have my wrists slapped. My dogs probably think they have died and gone to heavon as 7 weeks + and no grooming is almost as good as being a short haired dog!. Tomorrow is already planned as we will be in Windsor to see the Queen (I hope) and so Sunday if its raining I will be doing 'extreme dog grooming', if its sunny I need to plant seeds at my allotment or we will have no veg this summer. I have to say my  very rustic barbets,( its a better way of saying neglected!) look rather good, but I also know that between the 4 of them I have an entire city garden lurking in their coats.