Eddie - Transition to the Irena Diet

I was trying to think what the texture reminded me of.

Reminded me of "over-permed".

I can't wait to see him this weekend! Sounds like he's making some breakthroughs!

I don't know why people with pet Border Collies shave them,

They shed. Either that, or like you said, they're matted. Most folks don't take the time to properly brush out their dogs. Border Collies, even if they're heavily coated, are not hard to brush out, and it probably only needs doing every week or two to prevent mats, right? Can't be that bad.

At most you have to run a comb or brush behind their ears or their fancy pants, every few weeks or so. For an indoor dog you'd want to rake the undercoat to cut down on shedding.

The ironic thing about the shedding excuse is that shaving makes the shedding worse. The long coat holds in a lot of shed undercoat hairs until you brush or rake them out, if you do it regularly. My smooth coats always shed much worse than the long haired dogs.

My smooth coats always shed much worse than the long haired dogs.

Of course! A "smooth" BC is really a double coated dog, like a Lab or GSD. And yeah, I shave Labs and GSDs too. They shed. People are silly.

It's amazing how many people think that "smooth" means non-shedding. [8|]

Day ten. Something's afoot. I'll get pics tomorrow if it's sunny. Eddie's blowing coat like crazy. No odor, however, we'll see what's up tomorrow. I did fast him Sunday again.

He's perking up quite a bit - he'll be ready for work on Saturday. [sm=clapping hands smiley.gif]

He hates the camera. He can spot it a mile away. Poor Eddie - I bet he associates it with his shelter experience. I will have very little time between now and the clinic, unfortunately, but his fear is strong enough that I may try a little desens. Failing that, I will ask Jack what he'd do about it. Jack's more of a fan of - not quite flooding, but something similliar. So if I have that chance it will be interesting to see what he says. It's severe enough that I'm worried that literally if someone tries to take pics of him during the clinic, that he'll shut down right in the middle of working. []

This stuff happens, smart dogs especially can catch hold of the oddest things to "blame" for the chaos they are suffering. Ceiling fans, brooms, venetian blinds, guys with hats - I even had a dog that had a severe aversion to mirrors. It's just a random connection but it's as strong a fear as if someone literally beat the dog with a venetian blind. Actually it's worse - I've seen dogs I knew were beaten and a beaten dog is savvier - knows how to avoid being hit. Dogs with these fears simply don't know what to do and it makes them worse.

I am really enjoying reading this.  Eddie is so handsome, and he's so lucky to be in such good hands!  Your farm sounds wonderful too. []

I need an update!!! How is Eddie doing?