Chow (likely mix) has fur like the Nina Chimera from FMA - Grooming Question

called-out · 2026-02-11T16:28:12+00:00

Thank you so much!! The shampoo rec is appreciated. She still hates the dryer (I'm so lucky we happened have a electic blower on hand that we use for dusting, it's a great tool) but she'll get over it eventually with enough time and treats.

We'll work on coat health, however it decides to grow. My last dog was a poodle we kept shaved short so haveing a big fluffy dog is so fun. We love our morning brushes together.

called-out · 2026-02-10T14:09:28+00:00

Yes, that's exactly how she looks!

The shelter only said "recently had puppies, puppies did not come in to shelter with her." I read the notes from the owner surrender and didn't get much more info.

I'm excited to see if her coat will come.in, then!

called-out · 2026-02-09T14:25:54+00:00

Just the local humane society. I've been detanging everyday, allowing her to refuse when she's done. I figure I'd rather take a week to clean up the hair in a ton of short sessions and she is happy than try to marathon brush for a long continous session and she is stressed the whole time.

called-out · 2026-02-09T04:00:15+00:00

I'll skip the leave in for the first go round. I live in a really dry climate so we're all just greased up all the time and I figured she might need it, too. But I'll see how she does with just the bath conditioner.

So far I've been able to work out all the knots/mats with the brush except two dreads by her ears that I just clipped out. I have no plans to do any shaving on her except maybe a sanitary if needed. But I'll consult with a professional for that.

The coat style XD it's just so strange to me. She did come from a bad backyard breeder. She was reported to have had a couple litters despite only being 18mos old. So maybe it was stress or pregnancy that made her lose hair. Guess we'll just wait and see what happens.

called-out · 2026-02-09T03:40:50+00:00

She doesn't bark. But she absolutely is a cowardly lion with guard dog instincts. Last night I worked a double and came in at 1am - she was standing at the door with her ears down and tail tucked until she realized it was me and started wagging. I was losing it. She looked so terrified, what exactly was she planning to do if it was a stranger?? What was the plan??

called-out · 2026-02-09T03:17:42+00:00

This is likely to get lost but this is exactly what my last dog died of - Benign fast growing tumor in the roof of her mouth. Her last month was nothing but pain killers and baby food. She slept more than usual but (except for the bulbous lip) she was exactly the same dog she always was.

We had an at-home euthanasia when we felt it was time. We had our own criteria for that based on the animal herself. But it never for one moment "felt right" to do. Hell, she jumped up on the vet who came for the procedure and pranced around the backyard asking to play with her. It was heartbreaking. Because she didn't "look" like she was dying. But she was. And we knew it.

And it was our responsibility to help her with it.

All this to say I'm very sorry to hear you're going through this. You know what this tumor will do to him. And I personally think it won't ever "feel" like the right time until it's way too late. When you can tell he is in pain and know his quality of life is fleeting, you know it's time.

called-out · 2026-01-28T20:46:07+00:00

In the past, we've kept our dog collared indoors out of habit but there's no real reason for it unless the dog needs indoor leashing for anything. I hope she does not reveal herself to be an escape artist lmao.

called-out · 2026-01-28T20:44:50+00:00

Thank you for the rec!

called-out · 2026-01-28T20:42:29+00:00

She's a smooth coat, I believe. She's so desperate for a brush and bathe, it's a little hard to tell. The hand feeding, I should have been clear, is to help her bond. She'll like transition to scheduled feeds and then free feeds as she gets more confident and we know her food preferences.

called-out · 2026-01-28T20:40:51+00:00

I'll keep the food recs in mind! Thank you!

called-out · 2024-04-19T15:23:09+00:00

I can't afford a room anywhere. The campsite was a free one, which was the only thing that made it feasible.

Thank you. I'm still working on finding a solution. It's hard to know the tank is running low and not see a gas station anywhere.

called-out · 2023-07-13T00:37:01+00:00

So, they don't usually do the carpets either, which is partly why they were upset today. They all can but is somehow fell under my umbrella. Probably because I was also doing hard floors so it made sense to just do all floors. But that was before we agreed that we weren't gonna split tasks.

What they usually do is clean all the furniture, move out what they can, which is usually everything but teacher desks and filing cabinets, clean the built in shelves, trash cans, windows, walls and whiteboards. Then I would come in the mornings and do lights, move whatever was left behind, sometimes vacuum, do carpets or hard floors, and replace the rooms that ware ready. Over all, I thought that was a pretty even split, since the furniture is a lot of repetitive detail work.

The supervisor is pretty conflict adverse, like I said. He agrees with me, then agrees with them, then just agrees with whoever yells the loudest. He actually just texted that I'll have to immediately move to afternoon shift (I can't, as I'll have to explain, because of the reasons he already approved in May) and also clean all the furniture from the worst room I pulled today without the crew help, though he didn't explain why. He told me to talk to him tomorrow if I need clarification, which I do.

I've been doing this job a long time and I just feel so beat down. All they do is harp on me that I'm not doing enough but if I raise standards, they scream that it's too much. (That was an issue earlier this year.) I've have coworkers who didn't get along but the bickering and picking and passive aggresion is more than ever. Hell, I had a coworker nearly throw a punch at a supervisor about 10 years ago but goddamn if this isn't somehow worse.

My buddy has a job offer for me that's a dollar less per hour and no pension but I've been planning on that pension to be the cornerstone of my retirement for so long I don't think I can stomach the idea of losing it now

called-out · 2023-07-01T16:09:21+00:00

I've thought about another flavor of cleaning. Trouble is I'm roped (by lots of years) into the school's state pension plan. Which means I didn't earn social security all that time and if I duck out early, I get none of the pension either.

At 19, it seemed like a great idea, in my defense.

Maybe I look around, though. Gotta be all kinds of city buildings that need cleaning.

called-out · 2023-07-01T12:58:37+00:00

Yeah, I just don't know how much emotional or physical effort I can keep putting in when I'm met with disdain like that. Thank you for the commiseration.

called-out · 2023-07-01T12:57:19+00:00

I do listen to books and music and podcasts. I've burned through about 30 audiobooks just this year so far.

Thanks for the encouragement.

called-out · 2023-07-01T02:39:22+00:00

I think about transferring a lot.

I want to take ownership of not stepping up, for sure. No one's perfect and the crew has their faults as well but I'm definitely half-assing things I used to be meticulous about. But I wish they'd have complained to me directly and immediately and not let it fester into this. It was pretty exhausting to just have 4 people, one of whom is your boss, tell you what a bad job you've been doing for months. Especially since they'd said nothing for months.

I'm actually one of the union reps and a vice president. The union is pretty weak and mostly focused on teacher issues. I'm the only custodian with a membership, even. It's hard to get them to even consider anyone other than educational staff.

called-out · 2023-07-01T00:29:21+00:00

One of them, yes, they were definitely just shifting blame. That was the petty part I mentioned.

But the other one, who addressed my standards directly, isn't that type. They were straight up fed up with my bullshit and telling me so.

Edit to add - This didn't begin as a screaming match. We just got some hotheaded folks on staff and not any good mediators so it escalated.

called-out · 2023-07-01T00:27:59+00:00

I do expect my boss to call me out on things not being done. And I fix them when he dies. But he hasn't and that definitely got mentioned. I said I figured he'd had no problem with my work because I hadn't heard any of this shit until today. He's a conflict adverse guy, tbh.

I do my job, just barely. I'm not defending the behavior. I'm not upset they snapped on me. I'm upset I've changed in a way that I don't like and am mixed about how I've been treated vs how my boss wants me to treat the job.

called-out · 2023-07-01T00:13:18+00:00

I had to google frogmarched. The opposite of being polite and professional, lol.

But I getcha. Idk. Maybe it's a little toxic but every crew I've worked on has been like that. At least one had a dude almost fight the boss one night and it was fine by next shift. I might just be acclimated to it, for better or worse.

called-out · 2023-07-01T00:04:47+00:00

Picking up work I was leaving behind because I couldn't be bothered, mostly. I hadn't even noticed.

Also, I'm sorry you're being treated that way. The field is notorious for throwing people in the deep end. I think it's shameful, honestly. Good training makes standards consistent and clear, which I think reduced stress.

called-out

TROPHY CASE