The pictures and video below are of Andy the Westie. A very sweet 17 year old Westie that has an amazing benign growth on the left side of his face very near to his eye. Today was my first time grooming him. His regular groomer declined to groom him because of this growth so, his owner had to find another groomer to give him a haircut. Sadly, he also has another benign tumor in his rectum.

When I arrived at his house I sat on the floor and he immediately came up to me and wanted to be patted. Inspite of his age and these growths, he has great vim and vigor, loves his food and loves to be patted and showered with attention.

Grooming a dog that is 17 years old is always a challenge because they can be feeble and somewhat cranky so I did it in stages. Firstly, I removed the long hair, basically gave him a rough cut so that he would not have to tolerate lengthy drying time and then put him in the garden to have a quick pee. I then bathed him and washed around the facial growth gingerly and softly. It didn’t bleed. Since it was very hot in Marin today, I went back into the garden with him to allow the sun to dry him naturally for 5 minutes. The bath was little stressful so allowing him to stretch his legs again relaxed him so I could then dry him and give him his final haircut. I scissored all around the growth, it was like surgery and he behaved like a prince. I had the scissors right next to his growth and he didn’t flinch, quite the contrary. I felt him surrender into my trusting hands and allow me to work on his face with patience and accuracy.

It took me many, many years to gain the experience to accomplish this grooming today. I felt a great sense of satisfaction knowing that Andy is so much more comfortable and that his owner is happy that her dog in his final months/years will be groomed lovingly and expertly as this growth grows and changes and as Andy ages.