How to Groom A Ganaraskan

Cadie, planting her figurative flag on my chest. "This one's mine"

So I noticed by looking at my stats that one person found this site by googling "how to groom a ganaraskan". Unfortunately this is not the best site to show you how best to do that. This is the only good picture I have of Cadie with the proper Ganaraskan cut, this was done by the groomer when we picked her up, I have NEVER insisted on this in any subsequent grooms for 2 reasons:

1) At first my friend was doing my grooming and she didn't know how to make the eye brows (that's the lynch pin in the Ganny cut), and I was so grateful to have her doing my grooming that I easily compromised on the eye brows. Now that I am having her groomed in doggie parlours, they don't know what a Ganny cut is, and I end up with a schnauzer, which I don't like on her



Blurry I know, but she just looks so cute all shaggy!


2) I really like both the puppy cut and the shaggy dog cut on Cadie. They are easy fore me to maintain, and it makes it easier for her to fly around the park, so I think we both prefer a "do" with few bells and whistles.

So I apologize to any potential readers that were looking for some help with their Ganny cuts. I am, however, not totally useless, in that I think I can make a good referral. This site. ourganaraskans.com is a great site. I suspect, based on the name of the people who run it, that they are connected to the breeding groups in Port Hope. I was in contact with them when I was first thinking of getting a Ganny, and they are very responsive and helpful. So happy hunting, and I hope you find what you're looking for.

New Home, New Hair Cut

Cadie had a hair cut today. Salt’s mother and I are getting much better, and it’s starting to go a lot better. The first time she groomed Cadie my guess is that it took us about 4 hours, now we’ve got it down to a lean 2. And Cadie looks fantastic. A is a real stickler for detail, and she has done a perfect job as a result.


The weird thing about grooming Cadie is just how much hair comes off of her; she will go to bed tonight 3 inches shorter than when she woke up this morning. Because we were getting rid of her winter hair there were quite a few mattes that have left some bald spots, but that’s okay, a couple of days and they will fill in. The other thing I was surprised to see is that Cadie actually has a square face. The winter hair had grown in so thick, especially on the face, which it had started to appear round. I liked the fluffy round face, but I just love this sleek square one.

Now Cadie is all set for Easter.

The Best of the Simple Things

I woke up this morning feeling like my legs were made of lead, so I made sure that I got home in good time, so that I could get some veg time. Cadie was thrilled to see the snow. This is only her second winter, and while She doesn’t like the cold weather, she does love the snow. We got a good sprinkling of snow yesterday evening, so today’s trip to the park was particularly exciting. There were times that she was walking sideways. Of course, Cadie was not going to be given free range at the park. My thinking is that we got lucky on Sunday, and I am not keen to push my luck, especially not at rush hour. Cadie did get a good run, but I was holding onto the end of her leash the whole time.


Cadie and I have been following the Olympics. It’s so nice to come home after our evening walk and set up camp on the couch, with a hot cup of ginger tea and a big, fluffy blanket. Cadie comes and snuggles right up beside me, making sure that I get a good luck at her cutest face. There’s just something so nice about curling up under a warm blanket in front of the TV, especially when the world “outside” is so bleak and damp.

I also use these moments to try to keep up with Cadie’s grooming. I won’t lie, I won’t even sugar coat my thinking; I hate grooming. I hate grooming myself, and I hate doing it for Cadie. I mean, I know, it’s irresponsible of me, and I hate it about myself, but I am so lazy. As a result, when it is up to me to maintain Cadie’s grooming she tends to be more matted. I’m about to move to a new apartment, and I’m hoping that the move will jostle me into developing a schedule for both of our grooming, oh and the housework too, I’m not great at keeping up with that either. I’ve heard that a change of scene can make a huge difference to a person’s willingness and motivation, and I’m hoping that this is true. Now on the flip side, I once wrote an article on behaviour-change theory that said that it takes 3 years to successfully change behaviours. It makes sense, and I checked the references, and it seems to be air tight. This is less encouraging, I certainly don’t have the patience and focus for that. I’ll just have to restrategize ways that I can get the work done without having to commit myself to doing the work. I believe that there is a way.