Foo April 2011

Foo in her now typical Spring garb.  I am no longer shocked by this look and really like how low maintenance it is.  Winter just isn't kind to her coat.  Any moisture and she mats.  So I've learned not to be hung up on her hair, and she is more accepting also.  She happily dons the hoody for days afterwards and knows she can join us on the bed.

Standard Poodle Calendars from Zazzle.com

Beautiful Standard Poodle calendars with photography by Sherri Regalbuto. Sherri visited with us this summer and she has included a shot of "Foo". Would make wonderful Christmas gifts for the Poodle lovers on your list!


Standard Poodle Calendars from Zazzle.com

Foo at Two

Hard to believe, but "Foo" is two years old. We got her at ten weeks of age on October 2, 2008 and it has been an adventure. I love this breed. They are fun, smart, manipulative and driven, but Foo has been a great house pet. She lives for a ball...loves her squeaky toys, flashlight beams, chipmunks, baby puppies (we watch that closely). She has had all kinds of hair dos...from puppy fluff to completely shaved. It is still trial and error trying to find something that is practical but pretty. She has a soft cottony coat, so it tends to mat with any humidity.In the two years, I've learned a thing or two about the clippers. :-)
But I haven't learned a whole lot about proper Poodle hair maintenance. . . I groomed her Thursday and into Friday. It took easily over six hours and that is because I don't brush her regularly and she was matted down each leg, a bit on her neck and her tail. It seems overwhelming to see so many felt like mats of hair, which is why I procrastinate and it becomes a bigger job. I could clip her down, but Foo loves her hair, and she is very good about me grooming her. I gave her (and myself) lots of breaks! I scissored her body as well, so that took a fair amount of time. When all was said and done...she was so pleased with herself.

She still has rabbit ears!

OK! Ship shape for another few weeks...

Foo's Newest Doo

It has been awhile since I've blogged or posted pictures of Foo. She is well and has been growing hair since February. She's also been occupying herself with de-stuffing her toys and chewing on Pete's shoes. You know, the usual...:-)

I gave her a trim two days ago to try to tame her wild hair. I shaved the body close and am trying to see if I can keep her legs and neck a bit longer. She has a very soft coat that the white ones can have and it mats the minute it gets beyond one inch long....which is annoying.

However, she clearly thought she was the bees knees after her trim and smiled a silly grin for hours after. She is definitely at our place for comic relief...she is such a kick.

White on White

Due to her extreme haircut, it has been a few weeks since Foo has had a chance to run outside. She has been running (a LOT) indoors after her tennis balls. She is just getting the essence of hair and Pete is already saying to me to brush it so it doesn't mat...he doesn't want her to have to have another scalp job (neither do I). There isn't enough hair for mats yet, and although I was never of fan of this look for Poodles, it certainly is practical. Actually I have warmed up to the beauty of this cut...sort of like a curly coated whippet; very sleek. However, I'm thinking another inch of hair will probably make a perfect length for this farm dog.

Foo in Hiding

I shaved Foo down last Saturday. Everything is gone; topknot, ear fringes and tail pom pom. I had planned to wait until Spring before doing this, but couldn't take her matted coat any longer. She was as mortified as she was the first time. She loves her hair, and she was very cold, so Pete found an old hoody of mine and we made her an outfit. She really seemed to appreciate it, and you could tell it helped; even her ears felt warmer. She's only worn the hoody twice, as the house is quite warm with the sun shining in. She is like a whippet or a doxie; she is finding the sunny spots...sleeping on our bed now (I'm sure she'd crawl under the covers if she could).

2009 Poodle Review

One of my favorite photos of "Foo"...her playing with a balloon. She would carefully pick it up by the tab. She was about 7 months old in the photo.

In March we added Barbie to our group. She was a show hopeful and Bunny's half sister. She was a gorgeous puppy and we had a fun time with her.
A very photogenic baby...

The joys of having a white poodle (times two). The Poodle girls got lots of baths this year.

She and Bunny were best of pals.

They loved to run together out back.

Though it was hard to keep the grasses from grabbing her coat!

They especially loved to play bitey face.

We had a really fun year with the two girls, but unfortunately, Barbie wasn't what we wanted in a show dog and so has gone back to her breeder. Bunny seems to miss her, bringing me her ball for me to throw to her. Is there another Poodle in the future? Probably in a year or two...I love this breed, they are so much fun.

Barbie and the Bathmat

We have a routine at night and when I go to brush my teeth, Bunny will come in and lay on the bathmat. It is hard to tell where Bunny ends and the bathmat begins; she blends right in! Even more so now when she hasn't had a bath in two weeks and she is the same shade of beige. Barbie just got bathed and will be flying to Halifax later on in the week to continue her show training. I took these photos for my "before" shots. Once she is all done up by Allison, I'll take some "after" shots. I can't wait to see her at the shows all dolled up.

I'm sure her new hair care routine won't include Bunny spit!

It looks like she is being seriously hurt...but it doesn't look like Bunny is really touching her. Drama queen...

This one is just too funny...

Oops!
Made it over!

I think the girls are going to miss each other...

Barbie Goes To Burlington

Barbie travelled with Emma and I to shows in Burlington ON. As a baby she was prone to car sickness, but luckily she has outgrown that problem, which made the trip much more pleasant. It was cold, rained on Saturday and was damp on Sunday, but the girls didn't seem to mind. Barbie in particular loved the time in the motel room. I think the trip did her a lot of good as she got a lot of attention, which she seemed to like and lots of exposure to different dogs. We'll see if it translates to a better time at handling class!

Hair Grows...Right?

I can't keep away from the Poodles with scissors; even though I am still relatively new at all this. Barbie was very patient with me, and almost fell asleep standing up! In trying to fix the problem I made a couple of days earlier where she was looking roached in the back I think I took off too much of the topline angle. It is supposed to be an unbroken line from base of tail to top of head. Oops. Back to the drawing board...I think another couple of months growth and then I'll leave it to a pro.

Foo Fighters

The Foo sisters don't actually fight...

...but they do look pretty vicious when they play!

While they had a number of toys out on the deck, it was more fun to play with the same one...

"You know you want it!"

I love how they play with their toys. Bunny still kneads with her paws like she did when she was a puppy.

"Don't even think about it!"

All toy games eventually lead to their favorite game of bitey face!

That was fun!