Dear Miss Brown,

I am not made of money.

Love,
Your Human

Her ears are infected again, so back to the vet we went. Cultures
showed yeast and bacteria in both ears and on her feet (same as it
always has, but I think it's important to make sure nothing's
changed). We got Mometamax ear drops, ear wash, Malaseb foot wipes,
and ketoconazole (an oral anti-yeast/fungal med). To the tune of
$115. I was also told bo buy zymox with hydrocortisone online, which
will be about $50.

I am hereby cancelling Festivus, because my dog has officially become
a money pit.

Harriet was very, very good, though, even when the scoping and
swabbing hurt like hell. She just cried and then gave the vet
appeasing kisses. The vet kept commenting on how good tempered she
is, which is nice to hear, when you've got a tweaker dog.

The good news is that the ear/foot problem does not seem to be
related to her recent food change. She's doing fine on the Wellness
Supermix 5, which is good, as it's higher in fat than the Natural
Balance food she was on. Her coat had gotten kind of dull and her
skin was flaking like crazy. She's still a little bit flaky, but not
as bad, so the extra fat seems to be helping.

Oh, and I bought a sewing machine, so I'm going to try making a coat
for her. I'm thinking a horse blanket type coat made from denim
lined with red fleece (or maybe plaid flannel? or one of each?) will
be both cute (always important!) and warm.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

Shelly wrote:


Oh, and I bought a sewing machine, so I'm going to try making a coat
for her. I'm thinking a horse blanket type coat made from denim
lined with red fleece (or maybe plaid flannel? or one of each?) will
be both cute (always important!) and warm.


Well, you could go with a single layer of Windbloc or WindPro fleece,
which would be wind-proof, lightweight, washable and fast drying:
http://www.milldirecttextiles.com/de...21611321152881
http://www.milldirecttextiles.com/de...21611321152881
-or-
http://owfinc.com/Fabrics/Fleece/P1000,2000.asp#Windpro

If you're set on a double layer construction you might want to go with a
nice, hard wearing, fast drying cordura.
http://owfinc.com/Fabrics/NylonWoven/Cordura.asp

These fabrics look expensive at first glance but both the Cordura and
the fleeces are 60" wide so you may very well only need a single yard of
fabric. Plus you end up with a coat that will stay good-looking and
warm through multiple launderings. Once I tried using the good Malden
Mills fleece from Mill Direct I became completely unwilling to use cheap
fabric store fleece for anything other than braided tug toys. It just
gets all pill-y and shag-nasty looking too fast for it to be worth my
time and effort.

I made my dogs' vests out of blaze orange cordura lined with fleece.
They are washable, fast drying, wear like iron and stand up to brush and
even barbed wire. Nevertheless it gives me a major case of the heebie
jeebies to see one of them dive through a fence and hear the RIIIIIPPPP
sound of barbed wire deflecting off of their vests..

The purpose of my dogs' vest is primarily for visibility while out on
the trail but the materials would work well for a lined horse blanket
style jacket as well. My dogs' vests in action:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...caleid=en _US

Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics also carries hardware like surcingles, snaps,
buckles, velcro, wide elastic and reflective tape. You can also
cannibalize old bookbags and back packs for their hardware and straps.
(Yes, I am a hardware 'ho.)
http://owfinc.com/Hardware/Hardwaremain.htm

To cut nylon or polypro straps and webbing so they don't fray, find a
piece of wood to use as a cutting board to protect your counter - a
chunk of two-by-four is what I use. Heat an old butcher knife over the
burner on the stove until the edge of the blade starts to glow and use
it to cut/melt through synthetic straps and webbing. Makes a nice, neat
non-fraying, fused edge.

I would recommend soft-link polypro webbing or wide suspender elastic
for any strap that will run directly over the dog's skin, especially for
a nekkid dog like Miss Brown. Nylon webbing can rub, or even cut.

For my dogs' vests I used wide elastic straps (2"), with velcro closures
at the neck and under the chest - nice and flexible so it doesn't pinch
or bind even during their wildest acrobatics, and if, god forbid, they
should get hung up they would have to work at it to be able to strangle
themselves. I had my own dogs right there for fitting so I just used
velcro closures, but when I make them for sale I add buckles and cams to
make the length of the straps more adjustable.

I also added racing stripes of silver reflective tape. I love
reflective tape - I put it on all sorts of stuff. It's really amazing
how it shines out in even a tiny bit of light. Plus, it looks cool.
Sew it to the outside of the jacket with a wide zigzag stitch, after
you've got the straps and everything done so you can get it lined up
correctly. I like using WashAway Wonder Tape to position trim. It's
much easier than pins, you can sew right through it and it doesn't gum
up your needle and it's water soluable so it washes out with the first
laundering.

And speaking of needles, if you go with a cordura shell you'll need a
size 16 or 18. OWF also carries double strength Gutterman Polyester
Thread in big (765 yd) spools, which is plenty tough enough for this
type of project and will work well on any household sewing machine.
It's also much cheaper than buying your thread from the fabric store.
Avoid the heavy duty nylon upholstery threads. They give many household
sewing machines the hiccoughs.

In article ,
Shelly wrote:


Oh, and I bought a sewing machine, so I'm going to try making a coat
for her. I'm thinking a horse blanket type coat made from denim
lined with red fleece (or maybe plaid flannel? or one of each?) will
be both cute (always important!) and warm.

She'll look cute while you're both on the street corner with your tin
cup ;-D

Hoping for quick healing.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Kathleen" wrote in message
...

If you're set on a double layer construction you might want to go with
a nice, hard wearing, fast drying cordura.
http://owfinc.com/Fabrics/NylonWoven/Cordura.asp

I'm not married to the idea of double layers. I was just thinking in
terms of what I've got sitting around. But, Polartec would be less
bulky, so more comfortable, and it'll be warmer than what I was thinking
of.

These fabrics look expensive at first glance but both the Cordura and
the fleeces are 60" wide so you may very well only need a single yard
of fabric.

They actually look pretty reasonable, price-wise, especially considering
the amount of fabric needed and the durability factor.

Nevertheless it gives me a major case of the heebie jeebies to see one
of them dive through a fence and hear the RIIIIIPPPP sound of barbed
wire deflecting off of their vests..

Yikes! That's not a problem here, but I can see why you'd want
something rip-proof.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...caleid=en _US

Very snazzy!

http://owfinc.com/Hardware/Hardwaremain.htm

Bookmarked. Also, good tip about scavenging hardware from old
backpacks. I've got several around that I don't use, or that the zipper
has gone out on. I almost tossed them in the last move, but decided at
the last minute to hang onto them.

Thanks for the tips and links! I'm saving your post so I can refer back
to it later.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...

She'll look cute while you're both on the street corner with your tin
cup ;-D

Luckily, she knows how to work the "poor, pitiful me" angle, so
hopefully folks will feel sorry for her and ante up more money. It's
about time she earned her keep.

Hoping for quick healing.

Thanks! She's over the worst of the ear pain, at least, so now it's
just a matter of getting this infection kicked in the butt once and for
all.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)