Anutta Blog

Life With Poodles

Boris Update

by | Aug 15, 2012 | Uncategorized | 5 comments

My project dog, Boris, is doing amazing!  He has a clean bill of health from the vet, all normal blood work, and was started on heart worm meds.  I was sweating the results of his heart worm text, but thankfully that was negative.  As I stated in yesterday’s blog post, he was given his first bath inside the house.  The last two times I have bathed him I did it outside with the hose because that was his comfort level.  Yesterday I pushed the limit by taking him into my shower.  He melted like butter on the floor of the shower, but by the end he was doing really great.  Standing up, letting me give him a gentle shower and a nice good scrub.  It took 3 washes to get all the grim out of his coat.  He likes digging under my shed out back, and it is amazing such a big dog can get under that shed.  This morning I shaved him down.  My sister is going to adopt Boris and she requested a total buzz cut.  I aim to please, so his hair is ultra short, wash and wear.  My sister has Lupus, it isn’t easy for her to groom her own dogs these days.  Boris is not going to a groomer anytime soon, so we both decided the best option would be to take him down short and she could shave his face and I could give him a full shave down when I visit every few months.  He did considerably better with his front legs than I imagined.  This is not to say he enjoyed me touching and shaving his legs, but he was able to calm, do a little zen meditation and firmly look away from what I was doing to tolerate the experience.  Poodles are quite good at blocking out a bad experience by refusing to look at what is happening.  Merlot would often look away from the kids when they would come up and pet him.  He was saying “If I don’t see them, they are not there”.  Boris has taken this route to leg shaving.  I did not shave his feet.  He was really good for me trimming around them with scissors and he did allow me to shave the bottom.  I simply didn’t want to push him to much during our first grooming and bonding moment.  I am very proud of him for trusting me.  Dogs are truly amazing creatures with hearts full of forgiveness for past experiences.  I often see in his eyes “I do not think this is a good idea, but I trust you” and so he does what I ask.  Granted, it is with a bit of panic and a touch manic but he keeps it together enough to move past the fear and into calm.

Below is a video I took this morning after his groom.  When Boris arrived he had no idea what being in the house was, he was only comfortable outside or in a crate.  Look at this boy now!

Boris will be traveling to Arkansas this weekend. The kids and I, plus Jazz for some company will be making the trip bright and early Saturday morning. Keith, Flash and Mocha will remain behind the hold down the fort here in TX. Lisa and I will be spending next week in Rhode Island. Lisa has a business trip and I decided to tag along as I have spent very little time in the North East. My wonderful Mother is keeping the kids, and Lisa’s husband Don and her son Chris will be watching Jazz and bonding with Boris. I am hoping Jazz will make the transition a little easier for Boris. She has stayed in Lisa’s home many many times. Lisa has Gatsby, her 7 year old male Std Poodle. I think Boris and Gatsby will get along great.  Lisa’s family suffered the loss of two of her Standard Poodles this past winter (Moraine was 11.5 and Merlin was 14).  After giving it a good 6 months they believe Gatsby was just not meant to be an only dog.  We are hoping Gatsby and Boris bond, as Boris has a very similar personality to their beloved rescue boy Merlin.

Read Boris’ Story Here

~Becky