Whimsical

Well that will teach me to read to the end of the posts before making a comment! My apologies to those who already came up with the information I just foolishly volunteered! My intentions were good, nevertheless. Linda

Thanks for the suggestion re taking at a very early age. It makes sense, even if as you say it is just to introduce to the equipment. Linda

Just watched it online, loved it. Will be lining up each week to watch, I hope the show does well and is not cancelled halfway through the season like some good shows are! Congrats to the dogs who were included, amazing, all of them. Linda

A point of interest maybe......... I have a mixed breed desexed male with a long "maltese"-like coat which mats very quicky. His first grooming was a disaster. I wasn't there, just dropped him off and picked him up later, he was about a year old. Nothing was said, but since then he was not happy about being brushed, would really stress out. Ultimately it became time for his next clip. I got a "mobile dog groomer" to come to my home. I went inside so as not to distract him. I could suddenly hear his terrified screaming and then the groomer knocked on the door asking for a bandaid as he had bitten her badly on her thumb. He was uncontrollable, he vomited and had diahr.... (can't spell it! LOL), and was growling and barking like a dog possessed. I was terrified, I had never seen my dog in such a state, he was normally a lovable but yappy little fella! The groomer said it all started as soon as she turned on the clippers. With me holding him we finally managed to get the rest of the knots out of his fur. She made the decision to come back and try again on another day. As soon as she came to the gate he took one look at her and started going crazy again. We came to the conclusion his first grooming was not a very pleasant day and the groomer had not told me that she may have had some problems. Now every time he needs to be clipped, he still refuses to let me brush him and will try to bite me if I come near him with the brush, I have to take him to the vet. He is put to sleep, clipped, nails, thorough check of ears, teeth etc, then woken up. This is all at a great cost, believe me! My new puppy is a border collie purebred girl, hopefully I can get her used to bathing and brushing before she is too much older and I have no problems with grooming her. At least I don't have to worry about clippers! Hope I have not bored you with this long post - HOPE IT IS ALLOWED? Linda Edited to add: Yes, I do believe some qualifications are necessary! LOL