When we arrived home from obedience last night Grace's right eye was weeping and she was squinting. I took her to the vet this morning - diagnosis of a 3-4 mm corneal ulcer. Dr B says it will clear up quickly or we will be fighting it for months. The girlie is on lots of meds. The pain med quieted her down and she was still for a few hours... after that she was just frustrated she was on coach potato restrictions.
I stayed home Friday afternoon to make sure Grace rested and wasn't scratching at her eye. Between conference calls for work I ordered Pete his grooming clippers - they are a lower end Pro model with changeable blades and 4 snap on combs. After digging around on eBay pricing new and used clippers I decided Amazon had a reasonable deal on an Andis clipper model recommended by a pro groomer for great results at home. I then ordered a #5 blade (Noel's recommendation) to trim Pete's back with. I also tossed some bluing in for Pete's wash cycles (another Noel recommendation).
I decided to take the existing grooming supplies to Pete based on my knowledge from the YouTube videos. I captured before and after photos so I could see how I did.
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| Side View Before |
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| Side View After |
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| Face View Before |
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| Face View After |
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| Happy Buddy - He can see where he is going! |
Overall I give myself good marks - Pete also as he was very well behaved on the grooming table. Pete's finished face could be a bit rounder so I will watch the YouTube video on Westie faces a few times. The groomer makes it looks so easy but her dog had a nice shape to its face and ears already. I will work Pete's in that direction and then strive to keep it there. Today I rough trimmed the longer hair first with the shears, brushed him out good, and then made my lines neater with a final cut. The thinning shears that I own don't seem to cut worth a %^#@$!!!! I'm certain I will be replacing them soon.
Tomorrow Grace and I are headed to Kiln...to cheer Tracey and Kazee along with other friends. We will be sitting on the side lines except for a short track if the wind is calm and the grass short enough to stay out of Grace's eyes while she tracks. I entered her next month in a test trial for Tracking Dog Excellent testing so we need to practice! Dr. B says no agility tomorrow... he thinks she shouldn't have to use her sore eye to see where she is going quickly like on an agility course. He also doesn't want her getting any arena sand blown in it.
