Trainee Perfect Quilters Companion Was Groomed On Wednesday

Ella Pre-Groom

Pip and Charlotte at Just Pet Care turned a rather scruffy Ella into a beautifully groomed Ella in just two hours

Just Pet Care - Facebook







Ella was very scruffy when she went in due to her harness rubbing and creating loss of coat which is now growing back after new harness bought! This is also - as the vet explained - due to Ella being overweight. She is now enrolled in doggy slimming club and it is not the proudest moment of my life taking her to be weighed and having to report on all food eaten and treats given!
When we arrived with Ella there was a lady wanting her dog tidied and Pip had to explain that they could not do this now as Ella was a two person dog! Ella does not see the need for a bath, fur drying, grooming  .. but does like the coming home knowing that she is beautiful! And Pip and Charlotte have with remarkable patience performed another miracle!

Rob Donovan, my husband and Ella's other human wrote about her on his blog
robdonovanblogspot.com
"Ella is a monster but she is our monster"

Ella has moments - don't we all. She is also very loving, has high emotional intelligence and brings great joy.
But being groomed is another matter and we are so grateful to Pip and Charlotte that they turn our scruffy Ella into beautifully groomed Ella. They are miracle workers!

Another miracle worker in Ella's life is Carolyn Boyd. She has provided both help and insight into trainee perfect quilter's companion and her internal world of anxiety. We are grateful for her guidance and that she sees the dog we love and helps us to help her.

Carolyn Boyd - Website - stjustagility.co.uk

I was thinking about how much easier the grooming of  our Bearded Collies Molly and Darcy was for Mandy and Kim of Pet Perfection in Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

Molly and Darcy - Returned From A Walk

They went in happily and I would return to find them in their waiting stations looking great and happy. It was always reported how good they had been - a delight to groom. And visitors coming in to see them used to ask who those beautiful, well behaved dogs were! Ella could learn from her Aunt Molly and Uncle Darcy

Both Molly and Darcy were rescued dogs. After the loss of our Old English Sheepdog, Daisy, I had felt that I wanted to offer a home to a Bearded Collie who need rehoming. Quicker than I thought it would take we were asked if we would give a home to Molly aged 14 months. We were her fourth home and there was worry about how difficult this was going to be. Molly took one look around and settled. Being blonde she was the dog little girls took to on walks and she loved the attention. 

As all this had been so easy we thought that we could offer a home to another Beardie companion for Molly. We had to wait slightly longer before Darcy, aged 2 years, 6 months  came into our life. His breeder brought him to us. She had been worried about the family who bought him and was probably not surprised by hearing from their vet that he was concerned. The parents' marriage had broken

and he was proving to be an escape artist. He had been locked in a garden shed and managed to escape, taking himself off to the vets which was close by more than once! Hence the call to breeder! So Darcy arrived! He was a delightful but anxious Beardie, noise sensitive and hated being shut away. Luckily our home was pretty open plan. Thunder was traumatic as were fireworks. During thunder storms and firework time - which went on longer than I ever realised it did - he would sit on Rob's lap quaking. This lasted about a couple of years until we realised that he no longer reacted. 

I always saw Darcy as the Steve McQueen character in the Great Escape who was often sent into solitary confinement. He was not a team player, was determined dig his way out and wanted to see Berlin before the war was over.
They both lived to ripe old ages and are missed.
Ella has filled the gap left by two bearded collies wonderfully well! Can we hope that in time she will be as co-operative when being groomed?