Crufts Prep

With just over two weeks to go, the preparation for Crufts has well and truly begun!
Peggy is having her nails dremelled (ground down) every 3/4 days and is being bathed every 5 days.
I have tried on every outfit I own, bought a bunch of new dresses and still don't have a clue what to wear 😂
To say I am nervous is an understatement!
This year we will be competing in two classes (I must be mad!) And overall there are 167 Standard Poodle entries. Unlike last year I don't really feel that we stand any chance of placing - the competition gets tougher as dogs age, but I am happy just to be going. It really is an achievement to be in the top 186 Standard Poodles from around the globe!

A Wander on Dartmoor

The weather has been truly horrible recently, and because of both that and the fact that the girls have been in season, we haven't been to Dartmoor in what feels like forever!
We have instead been sticking to boring street walks, but today we were blessed and the rain held off long enough to let us have a few hours wandering at one of our regular haunts - Roborough Down.
The dogs had a whale of a time, as you can see below.

Today also marks 21 days since Edna had her rendezvous with a gorgeous silver boy. There are now just under 2 weeks until she is scanned and we find out for certain whether she is expecting.
Let's just say I'm feeling confident though 😉

Grooming day

This weekend was a bit of a blur.
All I seemed to do was groom! Luckily, I had prospective puppy owner Jade visiting who was a great help.

I bought a ton of new grooming products, including this very fancy (and super powerful) combination blaster/dryer. I could not be happier with it.

I then tested out the products one by one on all 3 of the dogs:

Edna tested the Pozer Forget Me Knot shampoo, which I mixed with a little Groom Professional coat restoring conditioner. It gave a lovely finish and the bakewell tart scent made me very hungry!
Edna also had her nails painted! Not something I usually do, but it was fun as a one off and looked very fancy 😂

Peggy tried the igroom Charcoal and Keratin shampoo and the Artero Protein conditioner. Again, I was very pleased with these products. The conditioner particularly impressed me, in its ability to cut through knots. Her coat felt very nice and much thicker after using both of these products.

Little Stan had the Pozer Truly, Madly, Deeply shampoo which I didn't like very much - the mango scent was nice but it didn't lather very much, which I don't like.

All of the products I used this time came from Christie's Direct. They are a good supplier, but when spending hundreds of pounds you would expect a quick delivery service and my items took 5 days to deliver, which was frustrating.

I am enjoying trying out new things and learning what works for my dogs coats - every coat is different and what works for one dog doesn't always work for another. I have heard some people swear by tresemme human conditioner for their dogs!

RIP Sharon the Ex-battey hen

Early last year I rescued two ex battery hens - Sharon and Norma.
I knew what I was getting myself into when I rescued them. Ex batts rarely live for very long - they tend to die of heart attacks very suddenly or become egg bound and have to be PTS. I have rescued many ex battery girls over the years. None of them have lived for longer than a couple of years.

Norma died around two months ago - she just went to sleep in the coop and didn't wake up.  This morning I found that Sharon had done the same.

Despite having lost these two fiesty red heads, I do not feel sad. I am so glad that I was able to rescue them and give them a nice retirement home; free range with the sun on their backs. They didn't truly start living until they came to me and I am grateful for that.

I am now down to only 5 chickens, but I'm sure there will be more rescue hens in my future.