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Newfoundlands => Newfoundland Discussions => : TwoNewfies June 17, 2005, 12:37:45 PM
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Hello! I don't know if anyone can relate to this or not. It seems like whenever we take Bella out people always say, "What a beautiful dog! Is she a lab mix?....or is she a golden mix? or is she a Cheaspeake Bay Retriever?" Last time I took her to her first grooming appointment the woman said, "She's so cute. Is she a newf mix?" Mu husband and I just want to scream. I think what it is is this: Bella has a flat coat for a Newf, and people seem to expect that all Newfs have the fluffy coat. Many are sure she is a choc. lab. We feel like we should put a sign around her head saying "I'm a Newf people!!!" Today I took Rocco to get groomed (just a bath and nail trim). I said that he is a Newf and is about 45 lbs, and then he asked if he was 8 months old. HELLO! Wouldnt an 8 month old Newf be just a BIT bigger than 45 pounds? He's only 13 weeks old. Oh my gosh, I have to laugh it off because I thought that groomers would be a bit more knowledgabe than they present sometimes. Just had to vent! thanks for listening ;D
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Amazingly I've had 2 people ask me "is that a Rott?"
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Hi TwoNewfies, I totally agree with you, that groomers should know better. The question if a newf 45 lbs heavy is 8 months old, kinda makes me wonder if the groomer really is a groomer. Well you know what I mean. You have a lot of people that call themselves a groomer, just because they work as one, and know how to give a bath and somewhat knows how to work a clipper.
I did work as a groomer for almost 10 years, granted it was not my first occupation, But I had all the schooling and training to become a licensed groomer, in Sweden which there takes proof, not just to get a licens for your company and then open the doors. Okay so even though you are a goomer you can not possibly know every detail about every breed. There are breeds that are more or less common in a certain area and for obvious reasons you just dont know as much about the breeds you hadly or never work with as the ones you work with if not daily on a weekly basis. BUT the basic info about breeds, you SHOULD know, no doubt about it. There were times when I got a dog in for the first time, and I didnt feel very sure about it, I went back to all my books, to internte, or in some cases to groomer friends that were a whole lot more experienced than me. But the more common breeds (and yes lol...... the newf is a rather common breed) you should know about. After all when an owner turn the dog over to your care, you MUST know how to take care of that coat, the different particulars with that certain breed, regarding skin, coat, general health issues, and things to look out for. If you dont know that, it would be very hard to do a good job on a dog I'd think.
When it comes to people "on the street" well hehehehe, Galahad who still has pretty big ears to grow into, has heard more than once "ohhhh he is such a pretty bloodhound" :o It kinda offended me at first, but now we make jokes about it. After all a lot of people you meet, really have no idea what a certain dog is supposed to look like, so I can live with that, but I would have a hard time with a groomer who thought my 13 week old newf was 8 months ::) ;D
Marit
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I have had quite a few people ask if Samson is a white Saint Bernard...The manager at Petco insists there are white Saints...Is there?
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There are albino saints like Miss Lilly, but I've never heard of a white saint other than that and I've done tons of research on them. I don't think Samson looks at all like a Saint and the person who said it must have been sniffing too much dog shampoo! Hey, there's an idea... I'm sure Nicker has beat me to it! LOL :P
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There are albino saints like Miss Lilly, but I've never heard of a white saint other than that and I've done tons of research on them. I don't think Samson looks at all like a Saint and the person who said it must have been sniffing too much dog shampoo! Hey, there's an idea... I'm sure Nicker has beat me to it! LOL :P
Why did you think I loved to do grooming so much hehe, the shampoos are good, but gosh...... the dip is to die for ::)
Marit
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I love it when people ask what kind of dog Daisy is-and once I tell
them a rottweiler they back off and look afraid. Then there are those
who say "isn't she sort of tall to be a rottweiler?" Or is that a doberman
mix? To me she is Daisy, the best friend of my life. That's all that matters.
Your newfs are a couple of the best tempermented sweethearts-
any groomer should just be glad at that!
Hi it's me!
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I am just going to start telling people he is a Polar Bear hybrid...LOL!
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I am chuckling about silly things people say about our dogs!!! We have Cowboy, a two year old Landseer Newf and Chester, an 18 week old brown Newf. When people ask about the two of them "are they related???" and "are they mixed with something else?" but my MOST favorite (and it's happened a lot!!) is when people ask if Chester is going to lose his brown coat and become a white dog with black spots!!!
I do think it's important for groomers to understand what they are working with. I took my first Newfs to be be groomed and they came back with their paws bleeding. The groomer took clippers to their feet not realizing that they have WEBBED feet!!! We never went back there! The last time I took Cowboy in, he came home limping from laying on a cold tile floor all day with NO cushioning for his big old joints! We are back to home grooming...and it's NOT pretty with me in the shower scrubbing those two!! (and you should see the bathroom!!! ::)
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Ok so at least I know its not just me and my pup.
I think its funny people get so excited and shout oh umm umm just like Beethoven a ST. right
Me: No. He is a Landseer Newfoundland
Them Don't they only come in black.
Grrr I have to laugh it off and smile and explain. Then I feel better.
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The best question I got was when Maia was a puppy and a lady in Petsmart asked if Rocco (a male) was her Mom. I would think if you were in Petsmart you would know enough about a dog to tell a male from a female (though Rocco is not well endowed). And be able to tell the difference from a female who just had pups and one who did not at least.
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:D :D :D
Oh gosh, when Bryce was a pup, he was all fluff. Major Newfie fluff!!! Walking through the park, lots of tourists, and one lady, from here in town, who had a pack of tourist with her, she was guiding, said..."Oh look a Chow."
I cleared my throat and said, "Oh I suppose he looks like one, but actually this is a newfoundland puppy."
She insisted she knew her dog dog breeds, and what we had was a chow and the breeder lied to us. ???
Then the next day, same trail... it was "Oh what a lovely miniature black pyranese." :o
Again, a polite, "oh I suppose he looks that way, but he's a Newfoundland. his name is Bryce." Get this, again, the breeder lied to us!! ::) ROTFL!!!
People are so funny!!!
luvmenewfs
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You guys are so great ;D Thanks for the feedback!! Its so nice to know that others can relate!
It was funny because the other night we were walking the gang (that's what I call Rocco and Bella now) in our development and one man asked if Bella was a golden mix?! Now that's one we havent gotten yet!!! Another person the other week asked if Rocco wasa Chow too. And like sosmeone just said, we went into the explanation that he is a Newfoundland puppy, and the woman looked at us like "Yeah right. You obviously got screwed from the breeder. That's a Chow." Now Mike and I can laugh about it. My husband, Mike, who is a jokester said that next time we're asked what breed they are, he is going to say a Chiuahua and Rottweiler mix, just to see the expression on their face ;D
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My favorite was when walking with Otis, our big Landseer (black & white spotted Newf) a woman told me that my Dalmation was WAY too fat. I explained that he was a Newf, and not a Dalmation....a nd her response was that she knew dogs and THAT was a terribly overweight Dalmation!! ;D
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We had problems with mats on our Newfie, and our groomer wanted to shave him down. She said he will look just like a large Lab (I have had labs, and they are great dogs, but if I wanted a lab I would have bought one). After talking on the internet I found a product to help get the mats out, I forget the make, but it is used on horses for detangling, and boy do the mats comb right out. I also talked to the breeder we bought him from, and she said if we shaved him down, he of course first of all could sunburn, but she said her experience was it tended to cause skin alergies in Newfies. I went through the skin alergies with my last ShihTzu, and it was horrible, and caused Cushings disease because of all the steroids they gave him through the years for that.
Groomers do not always have the right answers.
K Sullivan
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I thought that groomers would be a bit more knowledgabe than they present sometimes.
When I first got my bouv, I inquired with a groomer if they knew how to give her the "proper" bouvier cut. She said sure, took down the calendar from the wall, flipped to a picture of a bouv, and said "I'll use this as a guide."
:o
Holy cow, I could do that myself!!! (Use a photo as a guide, I mean.)
So now I do! She may not have the proper cut for a show dog, but I think she's a looker! ;)
Daffodil
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I would love to know what type of detangling mats product you use?
Lisa
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I wonder if ksullivan was talking about Mane & Tail...I use it on my own hair too! :)
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::)
I have been asked so many times if my dogs are purebred I can't count them.
They look "different" from what most people are used to seeing around.
Then I get SOOO many people who will visit with Penny when I have her out, and then say, Yes, I have one that looks JUST LIKE THAT at home.
I've waited on a puppy of this quality for 20 years. I'm sure they have one that looks just like her at home. LOL
My favorite, of course, is the ever present, "Is that a ROCKWILER?"
Nope.
Heeeeeeeeeeeer e's your sign.....
;)
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Around here groomers ask "what kind of dog is that?" I think its a bit odd.
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I wonder if ksullivan was talking about Mane & Tail...I use it on my own hair too! :)
I have used it too and loved it. My husband thinks it's weird...but he thinks I'm weird anyway....
Vicki
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My hubby thinks I'm wierd too Vicki!...In fact his favorite thing to do it stare intently at me & say, "you're never coming back are ya' kid"...lol!...If they think we are wierd & they married us it kind of makes you wonder about them doesn't it?...lol!
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Sanity gets a lot of huge/funny looking Pitbull comments. Once when I informed a man that he was in fact a Great Dane puppy, but that's OK alot of people say that, he looked at me with the MOST patronizing degrading look on his face and said "Sweety, ONLY pitbulls come in stripes". Ooooooo I wanted to SMACK him. I don't mind when people say something dumb (Like the lady who called the cops on us for starving our "Dalmation" who should weigh 80 pounds, ie our English Setter who is only supposed to weigh 35 pounds). It bothers me when people insist that you're the idiot, and that you're some poor vulnerable schmuck.
Ang
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Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I haven't been on line. I use Main and Tail, I read about it on Newf-Net, and I love it. I ordered 4 bottles of it, and have gone thru the first bottle fairly quick, but it isn't expensive. I haven't looked, but someone said they thought Walmart carried it too. I just typed main and tail in and found it on line. It is wonderful stuff. I have a fried with thick long curly hair, and she has used it on herself also.
Ksullivan
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znothing bugs me more than groomers or vets who are not educated on breeds, when i started working at the vet clinic, i bought dogs usa, and the anniversary addition, i read each and every breed standard, studied it and knew every dog breed that walked thru those doors, even for grooming, i would walk the groom area at the shows and study the people at work so i knew the differences of the show stuff vs the pet stuff.
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Im a Groomer :'(
The only dog I get comments on is Mr. Grey, he has been a pitbull, dalmation, catahoula [I know I spelt it wrong] and a lab mix, oh and a Great dane mix cause danes dont come in his color ::)
I also love it when people call Zeus a ROCKweiler ???
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Gyp - definately use the polar bear hybrd..lol...b et people would believe you!!!
Willow gets the same thing as Mr Grey - Danes do not come in that color. Also comments about the ears. My black Pom gets called a chow puppy or a mini-chao (didn't know they had mni-chows)
I have the worst time finding a good groomer..it is very frustrating... .I thought I had one I really liked but she took a chunk of my male pom's ear and i still paid for the grooming.... Very frustrating... One reasn my daughter and i went with a dane because of the coat... Newfs were my next choice but the dane won out.
Timmie