Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures in The Good Land is largely a fish out of water tale about how I eventually found my footing on a small farm in an Amish town. We are a mostly organic, somewhat self sufficient, sustainable farm in Ohio. There's action and adventure and I'll always tell you the truth about farming.


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

My Young Lion

Zander and Kai are both "blowing their coats." Before we had them I had no idea what this meant... and then I saw it happening. So. Much. Fur. Everywhere. I had to brush out Zander's beautiful mane.. and now he looks like a young lion.

My young lion. Baby face.

Unlike most dogs who just kinda shed all the time, Zander and Kai only shed twice a year and when they do they "blow," or lose, their stunning undercoat all at once. Some nordic-style dogs have this kind of amazing double coat which allows them to enjoy the cold and be mostly water and snow proof. But when it comes out... it all comes out a once. So much brushing.... and it looks like the dog exploded.

Of course there is opportunity for hilarity. I brushed out Kai so it looks like she had a tiny little waist. Then I only brushed out her back quarter panels so it looked like she had a tiny little bottom and skinny legs and a huge chest. It's kind of like how you can groom a poodle in funny shapes.

Tribbles. Tribbles everywhere.

The one great thing is that Zander's undercoat is light brown/grey so when it comes out he is back to being mostly black. Now he's sleek and black and shiny...and very hard to see at night. Except for his teeth. That's why we call him The Black Death.

Today I'll be working on brushing Kai out with one of these. A normal brush can't handle this task but one of these is perfect. It's kind of funny to say you have to "rake out the dog" but this really works.

I usually brush her out in one of the gardens. All that fur from a big dog will scare off the bunnies... Or we do it out by the gate to keep the stupid neighbor's dog away. The other day we thought we still had some snow on the ground - but it was just Kai fur everywhere.

We don't use the FURminatoron Kai and Zander because it doesn't do a great job with their double coats... but we use it on Dog#1 and Dog#2....and also for Nicholas. Yep. We furminate the cat. Don't worry he loves it. I wasnt convinced about the cost of the FURminator until I saw it in action. But - wow! It really does a great job on our "German Shedders." And it makes them look all sleek.

Today I'll have to stop styling Kai into funny shapes and brush out her mane. She doesn't have as much of a baby face as Bubby tho. I hope all this brushing means that spring is here!

Happy Tuesday everyone - are your raking out your dog? Any body else have dog hair tumbleweeds everywhere?


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6 comments:

David said...

Lady at the garden club meeting also said you can compost animal hair....

Vera said...

Can you use the fur for spinning? Just a thought! I could spin Boolie's fur because he is a springer spaniel so the strands of his fur are quite long, but not the rottweiler girls. They seem to shed all the time as can be seen by the loads of short black dog hair everywhere!

Provender Place said...

If that's his baby face, I'd hate to see the face of the Black Death!

Laura said...

Yep. We have a Newf and he is blowing his triple coat big time. He's going to the groomer on Friday - it's too cold to wash him outside and let him air dry, with the coming cold weather here in SW Ohio (ugh!!). I think he feels better when he's had fur removal and the birds sure love it! They can't wait to grab some furry clumps and use it as nest material.

Mollie @ Jennings Brae Bank Farm said...

Oh our Husky blows his coat too. What a mess when that happens. I have to brush him daily during that time. I wish I had a good use for ALL THAT HAIR, but I just let is blow away and hope the birds use it to line their nests.

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Thanks Dave - and I'm guessing it will help keep the varmints away.

I wish I knew how to spin, Vera.. I'm going to have to learn. Without his undercoat Zander feels like one of your rotties.

Ha! PP, yep. He's got hoorah... for days.

Laura - talk about weatherproof! Your Newfie takes the cake. I always like to think the birds take it for their nests too.
:-)

Hey Mollie! So good to see you here... and yep your cold weather dog is like ours. and yep on the birds.

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