Greetings from Madison T. Dog, canine correspondent for Mommy’s blog, Through The Eyes of a Quilter.
Today we’ll be looking through the eyes of a Golden Retriever. My eyes are just a little closer to the ground and I don’t play with needles.
I am a Golden Retriever. My fur is gold colored and Mommy retrieves it.
Often, rather than letting me deposit my hair wherever it falls, Mommy prefers to harvest it. This is called “grooming.” She prefers this to random vacuuming.
I was relieved of much of my hair yesterday. I feel considerably lighter.
Mommy asked me to stand next to the pile of my own hair, lest anyone think I have met my demise and the pile of hair was all that was is of me. I have survived.
She caught me mid-lick, however, but I don’t want to criticize.
Contrary to what you might think, hair harvesting (or grooming) does not eliminate vacuuming. The leftover bits must still be sucked up.
This leads to yet another sewing tip I have picked up along the way:
Once my hair, or stray quilting thread, wraps iteslf around the beater bar of the vacuum cleaner, use a tiny pair of scissors to cut it off.
Please wash your hands before you pet me.
I often blog here and say very interesting things. You should sign up here to have my posts go right into your in-box. Very convenient. You and your dogs should also “like” Mommy on Facebook. She would appreciate that and then maybe wouldn’t have so much free time for grooming. Hint, hint.
Through The Eyes Of A Quilter 
I was just thinking about you yesterday, Madison, and wondered what you’ve been up to lately. Thanks for letting us know you’re alive and well and keeping your mom busy.
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Madison, not only is your mom a great quilter, she’s obviously a great dog mom. My dogs, Finny, Cara and Bird all pointed this out to me in hopes I would groom them.And find the bottom of the floor.I’ll be posting this on my blog where other dog mom’s can find it.
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Madison, I hope you have a sweater to wear outside – with all that hair gone, you are going to freeze!! Stay warm my friend!
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Madison, you’re such a good puppy for NOT eating &/or playing with your mommys’ needles. Not like my Duchess who did both. Hope you don’t get too cold with the loss of all that fur and the snow still around.
Glad to see you are well and a tad bit lighter.
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WOW! What a hairy beauty. Love your eyes and know you keep mom in line.
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Very handsome haircut Madison. And a great sewing tip too.
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I have two very furry dogs, and I’m here to tell you that the seam ripper works much better for clearing the brushes on the vacuum!
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Good tip.
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OMG!! what did she groom you with….a hair clipper??? you look almost ‘naked’…poor guy you are really gonna need your ‘hair sweater’ now….keep us posted
p.s.
If you need any ‘hair’ to help complete your hair sweater, just let me know and I will send you some of mine as long as you don’t mind the color…after all Black is all that…right?
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Oh, my goodness! And I thought my kitty, Nellie, had lots of hair! She would never sit still long enough to be groomed. Kitties are not as cooperative as pups. You are such a good dog!
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Whoa would I ever like to spin that hair !!! The yarn would be great knitted into a hat for the Dog Momma….
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Next pile is for you!
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That is exactly what I was thinking! If not enough to knit with, it could at least be couched onto the next cool quilt!
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What a sweetheart you are Madison…I love reading what is on your mind. Mom did a great job grooming….you look slimmer now!
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You look great–all groomed for the Puppy Bowl!
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Hi Madison,
Tessa the Keeshond here. It sounds like you might actually LIKE being groomed! I don’t!
My mom says she can’t get up off the floor so she puts me up on the patio table that has pebbly glass to comb out my undercoat. I lie down the whole time so I won’t fall off. It is scarry! I guess it’s better than going to the groomer because it doesn’t take so long.
Some of my fur floats away and gets caught in the plants, but she likes that better than having it float all all over the house.
Like you, I don’t eat the things that fall to to floor in the studio, but we had one dachshund rescue dog who ate everything! She pulled envelopes out of the bookcase to chew, and could take the head off a big straight pin, and leave the rest on the rug in the hall. Mom did NOT like that!
You and I have good heavy coats, so you must like the cold weather like I do, Usually it’s way too hot down here in Texas, but this winter has been great – I can go outside and be
comfortable.
Hope some good bones come your way.
Tessa
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I’m still sitting here giggling Madison. You really have your Mommy’s sense of humor.
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Hi Madison,
My name is Banner. I will be 15 in May. I too am a Golden Retreiver, although probably I should be referred to as an anti-retreiver as I refuse to bring any thing back, usless of course I’ve found it by accident. Then I bring it to my staff for closer inspection and to taunt them. My staff de-furred me just the other day too. If they could find more bones, they could have another dog. But, since the fur was saved for the birds and their spring nests, it will get put in the empty suet hangers. Besides, I doubt that, at my age, I would enjoy the company of an interloper with my fur.
Thanks for writing, Banner Barden
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Madison, tell your mom to save all that hair and have a winter sweater knitted for you. It would be a perfect match! :-)
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Well, Madison, I just think you look great with or without hair. My Mom does that “harvesting” thing to me as well. I have black hair. Her best tip, she tells me, is to get carpeting that blends in with my hair. So, honestly, my hair doesn’t show much on our carpet that has many blended colors.
On a sad note, my sister Molly went to Doggie Heaven two weeks ago today. We have all felt badly about it but Molly did live a long and happy life. In her younger days, she loved playing ball and always had a healthy appetite. She lost the struggle with vesticular syndrome and is at the rainbow bidge with all our other pets.
Your loyal black Lab fan,
Abby
Pine Grove, CA
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Abby, I know how much you must miss Molly. My tail is drooping in her honor.
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Thanks, Madison, for your sympathy—-Molly always enjoyed your columns so much….
Abby
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Thanks this brought back many memories of my late dog Buddy. I miss that face that shows so much wisdom . He also seemed to have a never endiing supply of fur.
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Madison T. Dog you always make me smile. Our Keeshound “Mittens” didn’t care for the harvesting much either, but submitted with dignity as I’m sure you did. Keep on posting..we love to hear from you. Wish I lived closer and could visit your Mom’s studion and meet you in person.
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It’s grand to hear from you again, Madison.
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Madison, I am your distant cousin, Jax, and my family harvests nice big piles of my lovely fur too. My mom rolls them into big balls and calls them “puppies”.
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Oh, Abby,
I’m so sorry to hear about Molly, but I’m happy my Sam, who died this past Thursday night in my arms, has someone beside our Sandy, who left us this past June, to meet him and run and play, like their favorite dog park. I’ve been crying when I go outside because there are still clumps of white hair around in a dog shape in the grass out back. Sam loved getting that itchy old hair off, or maybe just the attention!
The birds have not taken it all for their nests yet. There is still plenty in the house, of course, and we stopped today to pick up a new part for the vacuum cleaner (again) as it just couldn’t handle this latest batch of my waist-length hair, thread and Dalmatian hair, even with cutting it out after each session.
If your mom ever decides to offer knit hats and scarves in her store from your lovely “extra” coat, I’d like to put in the first order, okay? It would be like getting a hug from you personally, and I’d love that right now.
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Dear Madison,
I am a husky, and can match any feathers you have, I’ll bet! When my mom traps me on the deck for grooming (or “torture” in husky terms), the neighbors frequently call to make sure that some poor stray animal has not met its demise at my paws. So far, that has not been the case, altho I am not averse to the idea! More likely, I have entertained myself with batting, which looks a lot like snow when enthusiastically ripped and tossed about. Being very fond of the white stuff, I frequently attempt to make my way into Mom’s “stash room” for a quick storm. I am very sorry about your recent torture. I will keep a good thought about your spring “refeathering”, as I will about my own!
Snowy Skitter Howes
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Madison, I read online about a lady that takes all this left-over hair from dogs and/or cats and spins it into yarn and then knits purses out of it. Wouldn’t that be a great present for your Mom. You can read about this several places online. Just GOOGLE–Pet Hair Purses.
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Madison — wow! How many pounds did you lose?? I’m Moose, the Maine coon kitty. There’s six of us here – not all Mainers. But I think all six of us wouldn’t have that much leftover hair if you put it in one big pile. Of course, we only let mom brush us a stroke or two and then each of us leaves. Mommy gets me shaved in May and I’m so much more comfortable in the summer. It’s a little early, though – and I know where you live it’s still cold and there’s plenty of snow left to fall.
My mom loves your updates and thinks your mom’s the best. Be good to her. I think she’s really good to you – and I especially like that she lets you write to us. That’s always special.
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My mom wants to know if that is a Dyson pet vacuum your mom uses. My hair is so long my mom has to swiffer it up before she vacuums and then she has to clean the whole head of the cleaner to get out all of the hair! She is seriously thinking of giving me a buzz cut.
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Hey, Dog-Butt, glad to see you are keeping Mom busy cleaning and grooming. Give Mom and Dad a lick for me. Love, your sister.
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Madison, it was good to hear from you. I’ve missed you.
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Madison, your Mommie is a lucky person. Anyone who gets to love a Golden is blessed. I am being blessed by my second Golden. How good is that?
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I have a friend, who collected the dog hair, spun it, and then knitted it into a portion of a pair of mittens–snowflake style. There you go–a use for the dog hair!!! Have a great day.
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Dear Madison,
I am a husky who also has a quilting mom. Sometimes when she grooms (tortures) me on the deck, so much fur blows around the yard that concerned neighbors call to make sure that some small creature has not met its demise at my paws.
I like quilting because thru it I have discovered the miracle of weather control. Did you know that enthusiastically tossed batting looks very much like snow?
Snowbird Skitter Howes
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