Weekend Update - The Houston Dog Show

 I thought this painting looked like JR and I. He's the one wearing glasses.

JR, Nessa and I went to the dog show this weekend. We took Nessa because I thought she would enjoy the outing and because I like to show her off. And, show her off we did. She garnered a lot of attention.

Walking through the vendor and the rescue booths was a case of walk 20 feet, stop and explain what type of dog she is, where we got her, how easy is/was to train her, and does she shed? The answers are: she is a goldendoodle, we got her from some friends that bred their standard poodle to their golden retriever, she was the second easiest dog I've ever trained (the first being our Border Collie), and no, she doesn't shed.

We let her try her paws out in the agility course. She wasn't all that good at leaping over the pole. Probably because she thought it was stupid but she totally aced going through the tunnel thingy. This was the one thing I didn't think she would do.

We found a place up in Spring that will teach your dog to dock dive and to swim. She has only had one dock diving/swimming lesson so far (last year in Colorado) and I think she needs more practice. We worry every time we go to the beach that she will run right out into the waves. She loves the water so much. So I'm going to look into some swimming lessons for her. (Yes, I totally get that I treat her like a grandchild, that I indulge her and project her with human thoughts and emotions. I'm okay with that).

As we were leaving we saw two other goldendoodles. One looked very much like Nessa. Or at least he was cut like Nessa. Sort of long and shaggy and sweet. Kind of sheepdog looking.

The other was all dolled up. This is a picture I found on the internet that looks a little like what they did to that poor dog. Except that its top notch was like twice as big, it had fluffy poodle cut paws and what they did to its tail was an embarrassment to all dogs everywhere. They asked us whether Nessa gets matted and we said that yes she does if we don't brush her about once a week. They said they took their Doodle in every three weeks for a cut, brush and bath and that they brushed him every day. EVERY DAY! That is just craziness. They didn't seem to have time to chat or I would have told them about the baby powder trick.

Our groomer told us to use baby powder to detangle Nessa's hair. It works like a charm and makes her smell amazing.

Anyway, we had a great time. Nessa slept the rest of the day from all the stress of being adored. JR and I saw a border collie puppy that we are thinking of adopting. We are trying to talk ourselves out of it but he was cuteness personified. All in all a good time.

Stay grovvy,
Michele