I’ve got no other photos except for Lizzie Bean.
From this morning where she was impolite, jumping up on my lap, on my knitting, with her cold wet paws without even asking! But who can resist this cutie anyhow? Actually, she’s been getting far more bold the past two days. I also think she might be losing weight, because she can jump a lot further than she used to be able to. Yesterday Mr. Ink came home and sat down, and she jumped right up on his lap without prompting. This is highly unusual, as she tends to be the most skeptical of him out of all of us. He was VERY pleased.
We need to get to work on her fur this weekend, Mr. Ink and I. The fur between her pads is growing back quickly, only 3 weeks after her professional grooming. It’s making her slip and fall on the hardwood floors.
I didn’t get any more batts done last evening. Miss Butterfly had show choir auditions, then we had a bunch of house chores we’d been neglecting, and then Mr. Ink and I went out shopping to find a bathrobe so I can easily take Lizzie out in the backyard in the morning since she’s so uninterested in staying in the bedroom once I leave for my morning shower. Trial run of new routine worked just fine this morning, and everyone seems more happy with the arrangement. Though when I went in to wake up Mr. Ink, he said “The dog wasn’t in here, but I dreamed she was on the bed and it woke me up anyhow!” I was like yeah, I can’t really help you with that!
Anyhow, that’s about it from here. But, I can say that one of those spectra scarves is a few rows away from completion! I didn’t realize I was that close, but I can assure you that being done with one of them will be wonderful. The other one is about halfway completed, but it sits at work for my lunchtime knitting so it can go as slow or as fast as it goes. One more project off the needles before I even get started on Miss Marja’s next handknit!
Suzy Sells Sea Shells 
Our Molly had the same issue with fur between and under her toes. And in snow it would make huge clots stick in there so she’d lie down constantly and gnaw at them. I once nicked her with the scissors unfortunately, so every trim after that she’d be “trembling like an aspen leaf” as we say here, so be careful!
Yes, our old Coco dog also had fur between his pads. He HATED going out in the snow until I made him little handknit booties. But he’d let Mr. Ink handle him pretty easily for a trim. Our vet, who also has an australian shepherd, suggested using a beard trimmer, so I think we’ll try that route first and see how it goes. She was professionally groomed right before we got her and the groomer said she’s very easy to handle. I’ve found that too, she’ll let me handle her paws and brush out mats just fine, so we are REALLY hoping that it goes pretty easily.
A trimmer would be excellent if she’s not afraid of it. I’ve been thinking if I got another dog that I’d like a golden retriever. I don’t really like the grooming, but they are a bit more mellow than a labrador. So I’ll keep in mind to teach the pup about such devices from early on, if it happens.
Oh, they are such good dogs, good personality, gentle, and if you start them young I am sure that it’s a lot easier to get them comfortable with it. The vet also suggested that if she’s struggling with having her paws taken care of to just make it fun and enjoyable and full of yummy eats. Since she needs to lose a lot of weight, I’d like to avoid the yummy eats part if possible, but we’ll resort to it if we have to!
If you get the soft ones you can break them into teeny tiny bits! The advantage of a retriever is, they love food so much you can just measure up their daily kibble allowance into a jar, then use that for rewards as well during the day.
She is going to be a lapdog! What fun. đŸ™‚
Can’t wait to see a completed spectra and the Miss Marja project!