My Dog, the Fiber Animal

I have a Standard Poodle named George.  George is 10 years old and came to me as a puppy from Giselle Bursee, an excellent  breeder who lives in Scarborough, Ontario.  I adore George, and consider him to be one of the smartest and sweetest tempered dogs I've ever known.

George also sports a very fine coat that never fails to pique fiber people when they meet him.

They plant an inquiring hand on his head, stroke the ear fluff a little and say "Have you ever considered spinning this?"

I've heard a lot about spinning dog fur and hair, and I do think that someday, I'd like to blend a little of George into some BFL for a keepsake (because dogs don't live forever).  Truth be told, some breeds of dog produce more fiber a year than most sheep, but my understanding of dog fiber is that it never quite surrenders the doggy smell, and it does need a little wool to help it stick together in the spinning.

So the answer is yes, I have thought about it,but no, I won't be sending George out for a shearing any time soon.  He does bear a resemblance to the Mary Pratt fleece you see there next to him, doesn't he? (acquired by Juno at Rhinebeck--thanks again dear-- finally finished washing this weekend, destined to be an Aran of some sort, if you're asking)  That resemblance struck me on Thursday as I dug it out and prepared for the nice fleece drying weather we had.  I thought about it again, like I need more fiber, but decided against it yet again if only to preserve George's good looks.  A shearing is such an undignified haircut for a pet.  I mean, have you ever seen a shaved cat? 

Comments

[claudia]

I hope George doesn't figure out how appraisingly you've been looking at his locks.

[Rebekah]

Yes actually I have seen a shaved cat q uite a few times! My mom used to shave her cat Static, each year. Static's fur was long and in the summer he'd get so hot because at the time mom and dad didn't have central air. He looked funny, but he was comfortable. He died a couple of years back and the new cat Scruffy also occassionally gets shaved, even though mom and dad do now have central air. But scruff likes to play in water and often gets matter quickly. If only I had spun with Static was alive, his fur would have been lovely. Scruffy's, not so much. But I wouldn't shave an animal just to spin it's fiber, no matter how big the temptation.

[jackie]

I sometimes regret that I haven't saved all the fur from my dog Ty over the last 3.5 years - he's a probably bichon poodle mix and his fur is SO wool like, he even looks like a lamb sometimes. I'd have an afghan by now!

[rose]

hehe i love the fact that you have a picture of a shaved cat here... i read your blog a lot but idon't really comment a lot but heheheh

[Mary K. in Rockport]

We had Hungarian Pulis serially for years, and they have quite a sheeplike coat. As we live near the beach, we cut their hair short in the summer, otherwise they'd get sand, dampness, and bits of seaweed caught in their curlicues. It always seemed a shame to just throw out all that "wool," but at that time, I didn't know where Puli hair could be spun, or even that it could be spun. Sadly, our loved pets are in Dog Heaven so I can't try out pet hair knitting, but I would if I could.

[Cheryl]

Well, if you decide to go for it I'd be happy to lend you my copy of the oh-so-cleverly titled "Knitting With Dog Hair : Better A Sweater From A Dog You Know and Love Than From A Sheep You'll Never Meet".
I've heard the same thing about the doggy smell though.

[Beth S.]

Yeah, I've never really understood the folks who spin dog hair compulsively. It may be soft and silky, or long and lustrous (depending on the breed) but who wants to smell like a wet dog? Especially if you get rained on while you're out and about in your new hat, scarf, and mitten set. Yikes! Better to stick with the sheep. ;-)

[mamacate]

My dog leaves bits of cashgora all over the house. I have a bagful of my dearly departed Sheba in the fiber closet. It's really VERY much like angora (rabbit) fiber. And therefore you can't really wash it before spinning it and...well. I've heard mixed things about whether you can get the smell out, but if it's stinky when you spin it, well, yuck.

Your dog looks like he might be a hair breed, not a fur breed. The best for spinning are the double-coated breeds (husky, samoyed..and my double coated mutts).

[Jen K.]

This is my first time commenting, but so appropriate. My spinning group held a challenge recently where we all brought some random fiber, and we carded it together to make "mystery roving". One of the ladies brought poodle hair, which I carded with mohair, a bit of llama and a bit of bunny. It is so soft and beautiful, and so far doesn't smell at all like dog. We'll see what happens when I set the twist...

[stephanie]

The other thing I've heard about dog hair is to never, ever make a children's garment out of it since the scent never quite goes away.

[Catherine Harrison]

O my Lord! WHERE did you find that cat pic? That is LOL funny :D

[Laurie]

I think George would be flattered.

After it all grew back.

[ErickaJo]

Oh. My. Gods. That is probably the best laugh I've had in a week.

I've got an orange tabby, and if he doesn't straighten up, he might get a very similar hair cut. Barn cat hair wouldn't be great for spinning though, methinks. I think the coon cat would be better, but I could shave her. She's the good twin. Good twin, evil twin... wonder where that puts the third cat.

[Tammy B.]

I am saving the fur from brushing my aussie cross to send to this company: https://vipfibers.com/pet-yarn.htm#odors

Tammy

[Juno]

Dude. That picture is SO WRONG.

I used to shave my cat down to sort of regulation marine/plush toy to beat the heat in the summer. But never BALD.

That would be mean.

[Denise]

I have a black standard also. I toyed with the idea of saving his fur. It's not like he'd miss his fur, we keep him pretty short the majority of the year.

[Ruth]

The Goof's fur is soft and silky, but impossibly short. Although he's in the process of losing his winter coat right now, so we have clouds of fur bunnies roaming the floor plotting to take over the house which look sort of batt-like, if you squint your eyes and tilt your head just so.

[anna]

Hi. There is a friend of mine who lives in the St. Louis area who actually has a business of spinning fiber out of angora/wool with dog hair. She has some wonderful things she makes out of them for her clients and for the record - it does NOT smell like animal/dog scent. The scent is washed out and does not come back

http://www.geocities.com/roverscomb/