Bronze Resin Cast
This is stage one of making the Bronze Resin Cast of Alfie’s paw. We’re working with First Impressions and I mentioned to you a few weeks ago that we had received the box all ready for us to make the casts. Alfie could have gone to their studio in London and Mum thinks that would be a good idea if you have a dog who enjoys travel or live nearby. However, with Alfie’s dementia sadly that was not an option so we said we’d make the moulds at home and then send them to them.
Full Instructions
Mum takes instructions very seriously. That’s why it’s taken so long for us to get to the point of making the moulds. That and the fact she needed help by another human. One of the things if you decide to do the cast at home is that once the material you use sets it is hard to get off. You can of course do this part outside, but on balance Mum decided that Alfie would be happiest doing this in the kitchen where he is most relaxed. You have to remember too that as Alfie has good days and bad days with his dementia, trying to do something as strange as this on one of his bad days would never have gone well.
She decided that after lunch when he was most ready for a snooze or in the evening would be the best opportunities. She also decided she needed to allow a lot of time for set up and to do things without getting stressed. On a more practical level she needed old clothes, newspaper, an old yoghurt pot, something to mix the paste in and some butter or oil to lubricate Alfie’s paw. She used a 79pence plastic measuring jug from Tesco to mix it in and it was about the right size.
The Preparations
First of all, having read all the instructions several times, Mum covered the kitchen with some old sheets and some newspaper. Given how co-operative Alfie was, she didn’t need to go quite as far as she did. Then she did a test cast of her finger tip. She’d already put the gloves in at that point and it was so funny because when she took her finger out they stretched and then pinged back on her suddenly taking her by surprise.
After that she realised how much fun it was and wanted to make moulds of everything! We held her back. We reminded her what she was supposed to be doing and she used olive oil to coat Alfie’s paw thoroughly. That was the point she told him he really needed to cut his claws. Anyway, after that it was a question of mixing the special powder with water and getting it into one of the containers before it set, then getting Alfie to hold his paw still in the container while it set. You know what stage it’s at, as it changes colour from purple to pink to white.
A patient dog
That was the point we all agreed she’d picked the right dog to do this with. Alfie is so much more patient than I am. It might have been ok with Shadow or Ari but I would have been hopeless. I’d have been constantly pulling at my paw to see if it had set yet. Apart from thermometers, which Alfie has a habit of sitting down on, Mum can do just about anything with him. He patiently let her do all three casts and apply more oil along the way. He only tried to clean his paw right at the end when she said everything was finished.
Then we carefully packaged up all the moulds and took them to the post office to send back to First Impressions so they can do the next stage.
Once it is all done and you can see the end result we’re going to have a special offer for you so that you can do this with your own dog. It’s all very exciting and we can’t wait to see the results.
Have a lovely Monday
Wilma