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“Frustration is the mother of invention”…here is the result of one of my frustrations!” Joyce Johnason wrote. With her permission, I share. Read Quick, Inexpensive Grooming Table Transformation for directions.

I’ve used something similar for years, inserting dowels inside the metal legs.

I got the following inquiry and thought it would be a great opportunity to further build out the grooming page on the website. I often overlook the very obvious, so would appreciate input from you bloggers. What advice do you have for Tina?

Hi my name is Tina and I have two Lhasa’s.  One is ten monthes and I have his half sister who is five months old.  I have every intention on growing thier natural coat out.  I have a grooming table and just about every brush or comb known to man, but I am a novice and don’t know anyone with a long haired Lhasa.  I have interviewed a bunch of local groomers and my husband would rather I just do it myself.  Do you have any words of advice or maybe some websites to check out on grooming?  thank you,  Tina

Above is the dog Katy mentioned and below is what she wrote.

Here’s the Calender Apso for June:  (His name or date is not listed).  You can tell that his “bangs” are cut, though, in between his eyes above his stop, and extending in that inverted “V”.  Maybe some over his eyes, too,  extending back from the outside edge of his eyes; hard to tell.   It also looks as though his muzzle hair is cut on a bit of an angle descending from around his mouth.  And all of his head hair blends in with his long ear hair. 

 I’m going to have to keep Zeke’s hair from draggin the ground, for sure.  If he’ll let me cut it along the lines of his sexy little body, and keep his head and muzzle hair a reasonable length, we’ll be in good shape.  Since I explained to him that it’s just simply not acceptable for Apso’s to have matted hair, and when I find a matt, we go and “remove” it immediately (if possible), he’s been much more agreeable with his brushings.  He also seems to enjoy his baths much more, especially since the weather turned hot!  He’s a wild and crazy guy!   And he seems to know how gorgeous his is (owing in no small part to the fact that we tell his how handsome he is all the time!).  Love the blog!  Katy

His black puppy hair is growing out and leaving behind silver and gold with black points on his ears, muzzle and tail.  He’s very beautiful! He really seems to want to keep his hair long, so we will accommodate him, as long as he understands that he must be brushed, bathed and trimmed regularly.  And he’s getting much better at that, too.  I’m trying to learn how to trim his “bangs” in that inverted V in order to just keep his vision clear.  And how to trim his muzzle hair to allow him to eat his meat and chew his bones without it clinging to him all day long!  We’ll learn! (My first attempt is growing out:  he was definitely a “moving target”!)  There’s a great photo on my “Apso” calendar for the month of June of a beautiful silver Apso with his long hair cut in a way I’d like Zeke to wear his.  And it’s obvious that this Apso in the picture has an “attitude”, too, just like Zeke. He’s not a show dog, he just likes his long hair.  Sorta like the “Fonz”!    

From Ken:While this may sound a little strange to some folks, I must tell you what happened recently. As a pilot, I am often out of town, and must leave Zeke home to protect my wife Katy and the parrots, goats, and chickens. That is his job: sentinel. He takes his job very seriously too.One night when I was gone, the dogs in the neighborhood began barking. This is not unusual, since there are a lot of dogs in the neighborhood. There are also lots of rabbits, quail, ravens, and coyotes at which to bark. Most people who know dogs know that the alarm bark of a dog is different than the “I am bored” dog bark. Zeke will ignore the routine barking, but he listens intently to the alarm barks. These particular barks elicited a very intense reaction from him. Katy got out of bed and took him outside, where the conversation taking place was more audible. Katy asked him, “What is it Zeke? What are they saying?”Now, I know that dogs are amazing at understanding human speech and responding appropriately, but when Katy told me she received what amounted to a telepathic image from Zeke, I was skeptical to say the least. Yet as she told me the story, I had no reason to doubt her since her love and empathy for critters is well known. She was so excited that she called the hotel to tell me the story.“Bear”, she said Zeke had told her. The dogs are alarmed about a bear. Not a coyote, not a person, but a bear. Now we have never in 15 years had any bears in our neighborhood, or even close by. So I passed it off as a sleepy wife and overly protective Apso and hung up the phone.But the next day, as I drove home from the airport, there was a young black bear in a tree down the street from our house. Game and Fish, and animal control were there along with the State Police. There WAS a bear!Now I don’t pretend to know how this is possible, but it seems that Zeke communicated to my wife what he heard those other dogs say. I have no doubt that many would try to pass this off as coincidence, but I think not. It must be true. Zeke, the Apso said so.