Spinning pet hair

LOL Sounds good to me... I only wish I were a spinner. I recently had the pleasure of meeting up close and personal a standard poodle for the very first time. He didn't have the *usual* puff ball cut done on him, nor did he have a fancy name that you expect for a poodle ... his name was Butch, if you can believe it, because his man didn't want him to have a sissy name. LOL The longer parts of his coat were gorgeous and so soft and thick dark grey. The woman owner said "Poodles don't have hair, they have fleece like sheep!" I was so smitten by how friendly and sweet the dog was that I never even thought to ask if she spins his fleece.

*hugs* Gemini

Should think it's a bit like rabbit fur to spin, very fly away although would mix well with other spinning stuff.. how long is each hair? thats the key to spinnng is how long each fibre is..

hugz cher

Oh, pick me!!! Pick me!!!!! (she says waving her hand wildly in the air.....)

Finally, something I can contribute - I found this quite by accident a couple of weeks ago and bookmarked it because I have cats. Thought it would be interesting to look into further.

shall go quietly out to my studio now........ No more disruptions -at least for now.

Have a good day everyone - it's a cold, wet, wild, windy Sunday morning here. I'll check in this evening to see what everyone's been up to this week.

Lori

Poodles dont' have hair like other dogs, they have hair more like a human, not really wooly like sheep. Thier coats don't really shed, either (so they're clipped) which is why they're good for allergy sufferers who still want a dog. Samoyeds have been bred in their native countries for generations for thier wooly undercoats. Max, our old German Shepherd, Collie, Malemute (now on the other side of the Bridge), had the perfect undercoat for spinning. My dogs now are all short coated with little or no undercoat.

My BF, however, decided after seeing the alpacas yesterday that he would really like a couple... despite them being a small fortune to buy in the first place.

Yes, the woman did say something about poodles being good for people who tend to be allergic to dogs. But really, about the hair I mean? I've never known anyone with hair so thick, yet so soft as that poodle had. It really did feel thick like sheep's wool... but unbelievably soft and fluffy. :o) There was a LOT of hair on the parts of him that weren't cut short, I really had to put my hands in far to find his head to scritch him. LOL

I was also surprised at his bark. I was expecting one of those higher pitched yippy type of barks, but he had a normal kind of bark. The woman said he barks in different tones to mean different things. She said the bark I heard was his "Hey, how are you doing?" friendly bark, but if I showed up at the house after dark and she was alone there with the dog I would hear a totally different bark and would think twice about coming inside. I guess I never really thought about poodles as being guard dog types, but I suppose any dog can be territorial and protective of their human families. :o)

Aww, sorry for your loss of Max.

They are cute, and they may be quiet, but aren't alpacas smelly, like sheep?

*hugs* Gemini

Thanks. He's been gone for a few years, but we still talk about him. Most of the time it's something nice, but mostly it's about how much hair was always in the house (we had to sweep the carpet with a push broom before we could vaccuum because it would kill the vaccuum cleaner).

I didn't notice any smell, at least not anything worth getting worked up over. I'm used to horse, cow, and pig smells (living in Amish country with lots of farms everywhere) that I didn't notice anything other than the smell of the hay in the mangers. They do leave communal dung piles, which is neat to me since I have scooped out my share of chicken coops. They're pretty small as barn animals go-- 36" and

125-175#. Not bad. Only a little bigger than a Great Dane or St. Bernard. Totally managable if it weren't for the initial pricetag (I'm used to chickens being $1 each, so when I saw $5K for a cheap alpaca, I balked).

-Amanda

This brings back memories for me. My ex and & I used to have a black Maine Coon cat. He was such a sweetie and we called him "Schwartz", which in German means black. I too used to brush clouds of hair off him, and he loved being brushed. He also allowed us to "hoover" him too. I would get out the vaccuum cleaner, start it up and he'd come running, just stand there and wait to have his coat cleaned. He had a magnificent mane. ;>)

Shelagh

I know I've seen things about Golden Retriever

I thought some of you might be interested in this link!

is such a great cause and I find it so wonderful what these ladies are doing!! If I only lived a bit closer :) Debby (FL)

"Amanda Tikkanen" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

before you go spending that small fortune, check to see if there is a llama/alpaca rescue in your area. you may be able to get a couple for free or just a nominal fee. don't get just one. they are herd animals & do pine & die from loneliness (although some bond just fine with other animals like sheep) don't fall for the investment hype. that's, um, just pyramid marketing. the alpaca market is near saturation so it's a bad time to "invest". get them because you like them & can use the fiber (which means you could get cheaper animals that aren't breeding or show quality, too). lee

"Amanda Tikkanen" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com:

sheep have lanolin. that's what is smelly about sheep. alpacas don't. they don't smell any more than a cat does. however, that communal poop pile thing is highly variable. :) boys are more likely to spread thier piles out. girls are more likely to decide to use thier 3 sided shed as thier outhouse. alpacas do have sweet "hay breath". that's a pleasant smell. getting the morning's grain ration spit all over you because you made them upset is pretty stinky though...

They're pretty small as barn

you can get them for less. try a rescue. alpacas are easier to shear than llamas because you lay them on a table, do one side, flip them & do the other. i have a chute for shearing the llamas. keeps thier head forward so they can't spit (shearing tends to annoy them) & has belts so they can't kush or jump. cuts my shearing time by 2/3rds :) one other word of warning: if you have deer in your area, keep your alpacas on a once a month worming schedule. deer carry menenginel worms (which are alternate hosted by snails & slugs), which kill camelids in a slow & nasty way if they happen to accidentally ingest one of those slugs... once you see symptoms, it's already too late. lee

Hello, Lori, and welcome to RCTY, if I haven't seen you before. Now that you have de-lurked, stay and play. New people are always welcome.

Higs, Katherine

Here's an article on it on Annie's attic site

' curious about the Rakestraw spinners has anyone tried it, it lookseasy enough, I'm thinking about getting one, and though I'd see ifanyone here has one first..