Well here we are in the throes of Wimbledon and I'm thinking of signing Peach Basset up for next year's round of Ball Girls. That dog has found 3 tennis balls this week and she finds them in the deepest of undergrowth which are completely invisible to anybody else! I wish I could hone that skill so that she could put it to use finding something a little more valuable. She'd be a great Sniffer Dog if anyone ever tried to smuggle drugs inside of tennis balls!
It's so funny how she loves a ball and so often I hear "oh a Basset Hound chasing a ball". Admittedly the lazy, sleepy hound image is clearly not for the red and white hounds that I know as, Stanley Basset (also a red and white) loves his ball too. The tri-colours however (Buddy-Love, Dolly and Daisy) are only interested in the ball when somebody else wants it and will certainly not chase after it when it's been thrown!
I never believed that the colour of the Basset would denote its personality but it does seem to work that way. Certainly in my experience, the tri-colours are a different character to the red and whites. I've no experience of the red blankets or blacks but, give me time!
We have had another mixed bag of weather this week and my wardrobe decisions in the morning are still switching between shorts and trainers or long trousers and boots. I've managed to play it pretty OK so far but it's sometimes on the toss of a coin as the weather can change so quickly and frequently! It is certainly much cooler for the doggies and they are enjoying a good play and run around. 
I have found I have another keen swimmer in my hound family. Out on our lunchtime group walk on Wednesday, towards the end of the walk and Daisy and Buddy decide they need to have a little drink out of the Ferring Rife. I'm so busy watching that Daisy Basset doesn't fall in head first off the bank (as she has done before!), I hear a splash, turn around and Buddy-Love is swimming along past me with half the reeds from the river draped across his nose. I love the way he looked so calm as if to say "I meant to do that Mum, I fancied a swim!". I help him out up the bank and he promptly shakes all over poor little Doug who was most put out and starts barking loudly at Bud. That's it Doug you tell him off!
On the grooming side of things, we have had a couple of new visitors this week and keeping busy with all our regulars too. My new hairdryer I'm trialling is working OK at the moment. Having tried it last week on one nervous dog and it not making any difference, I was worried it wouldn't work but kept going with it and used it on another couple this week and it's been a success. Well in so much that I can at least dry their faces while brushing them without them squirming away or trying to escape in pure Houdini fashion. So we will perservere with it for another couple of weeks and see how it goes.
I'm still toying with the idea of investing in a new ultrasonic toothbrush especially designed for doggies and offering teeth cleaning as an add-on service. I have seen a lot of other Groomers have great success with it in cleaning plaque off. It's quite worrying the amount of dogs that I see that have awful breath or worse still, end up having a severe amount of teeth removed through decay. I brush my hounds' teeth daily every morning as I do my own. Granted they're not keen on it but I'm sure they'd be less keen to visit the Vet and have an operation to remove numerous teeth and my Bank Manager really wouldn't like that either! I'm still doing some research and may well purchase the brush for use on my own hounds before I offer it out. They love being my guinea pigs for new products! 
I've been visiting one of my oldest kitty clients this week too, little Esme the Siamese who I think is now around 17/18 years old. Bless her, she's very vocal when I arrive and loves a good fuss. I've been visiting her regularly when her owners are away since 2010. I love my repeat clients it's so nice to build up a relationship with them! 
This time of year is always busy for cat feeding with the holiday season in swing and about to get busier. It means I have much longer days as earlier starts and later finishes but at least I get a feline fix. I miss my old fluffy Ginger cat. I had her for 18 years and it's incredibly hard when they're no longer here as you almost take them for granted as a piece of the furniture. Mr Furry says 3 dogs is enough so no more little furries in our house for now.............until I can persuade him otherwise. Meanwhile, I enjoy everyone else's little ones!
That's about our lot for now. Only remains for me as always to thank you for your continued support and for listening to my wafflings about the woofers! Have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend.......until next time.
Much love
Sally
Furry Dogmother
Basset Hound Slave
xxx
