A Groomer's World

My favorite handyman (Joe! Love that husband!) installed some shelves for me by my desk.  I've amassed quite a collection of lotions and potions in the shop and I needed a place to put them all!  I feel much better having them where I can see and reach them.  Remember that you can always click on my pictures to view them in a larger size, new window.  Enjoy!

   Isn't this the best shelf installation job you've ever seen?

  Here is one of my favorite 'Tzus.  His name is Roscoe, and in this picture he is washed, fluffed, and ready for his haircut!

  This is my "cousin" Snoopy the Schnoodle.  You've seen him before, and you'll see him many more times!  Definitely click to enlarge this picture.  I'm proud of this groom job  ;)

This handsome feller is Schnitzie.  I always love those floppy ears.  He's a nervous drooler, so he never gets to go home with a pretty beard.

This is Baby.  I had to groomer her in a hurry because her Daddy doesn't like her to be away.  Spoiled!  She's a very good girl, so I told them, "No problem!"

And one of MY baby, of course!

   Cameron is "riding" one of his new best friends  :)  This toy often gets in "trouble!" and put in the corner.  "Ba' boy!"

The Crabbiest Pekingese

    

This is the face of eeeeeviiiiiiiillllllllllll.......

 

Oh ok... You know I love my Crabby Abby!



Does she look familiar?  You've read about her here!

Shop Talk: Thursday, Oct. 9 2008 (and a Before and After Bonus!)

I had a pretty calm, easy day in the grooming shop today.  One of my clients pulled a permissible switcharoo:  She brought in her Schnoodle instead of her Schnauzer.  Fine with me.  The other client is a total sweetheart and so are her two cute little Shih-Tzus. 

I did spend a HUGE amount of time experimenting with the female Shih-Tzu, Lilly.  My default method for doing trims on 'Tzus is to use a blade/attachment of whatever length my "psychic powers" (ha!) tell me the owner might want on all of the body, legs, etc.  I don't typically leave the legs longer or anything.  I'll stylize the ears, tail, and head, but everything else is roughly the same length allover with scissor-neatening.  Well, today I tried leaving the legs a little longer on Lilly.  It seemed to take forever because it's a technique that's new to me and because her legs were quite matted.  I didn't charge extra for the time because it was my idea, my experiment, my own lesson.  I did a #3 on the body, blended into a #1 Andis attachment comb on the legs.  It's cute, but took way too long!  I believe I ended up scissoring enough excess that I should have used a shorter attachment to save time.  I can't forget the delay caused by the mats, either.  In the end, I think I liked the "look" when I was finished.  I'll have to keep practicing! 

Ready for some bonus before and after Shih-Tzu grooming pictures?  Sweet Lilly's pictures are as follows:  "Before," "#3 on the body," "After blow dry,"  "Finished," and finally, "The smile of a happy customer!"  (Click on the thumbnails to view the full-sized image in a pop-up window.)

          

Here are the boys:  Lilly's brother Nashville ("Nash") and Mini the Schnoodle.  Yes, Mini has a client-requested  doggie mohawk!  Or is it mo-hawk?  Doesn't he look like some grungy guy with a mohawk and unruly goatee?  I really do love when my grooming clients request such creative hairdos  :)

   

Well, now that you've seen a picture of a dog with a mohawk your life is complete...  ;) 

Because I had a leisurely three-dog day, I had time to catch up on some call-backs, rescheduling, etc.  You know, the stuff that eats up a groomer's time!  I'm definitely looking forward to the day when I can hire someone to help with those things!

I hope the rest of you had a great day!  If you have any cool stories (or rants/raves) to share about your day, leave a comment! 

Grooming Picture Posting Madness!

Because it has been so long since I've done a regular "shop talk" update, I'm just going to go on a catch-up grooming picture posting spree  :)  I've been a busy gal!  And I still forget to capture quite a few of them... *huff*

Here we go!  (Remember, to view the pictures at regular size, just click on them and you'll see them larger in another window.)

  Mr. Beau, a member of the family.  He's a tiny (some would say "teacup") Yorkshire Terrier.  3.5 lbs at 3 years!  (This is his "before" shot, by the way.  The "after" shot didn't turn out!)

"Big Boy" is what I called this Border Collie mix.  He was a rescue with no name!  A total sweetheart.

  This is Itsy.  He's a country boy who comes in chock-full of burrs!

Bitsy is the sister to Itsy!  They are both Shih-Tzus.  Yeah, I know...  ;)

Meet Buddy and his hairy mess.  He's a good boy, but his owner drives me crazy with her no-shows, early arrivals, and insane demands!

Have you ever met a shaved lab?  The beautiful Labrador Retriever Miss Emma shows off a growing trend in my shop.  I get it.  Labs shed A LOT!!!  If the owner can't keep up with the brushing, combing, and vacuuming, then a good zip with an 8 1/2f blade does wonders!

Labs aren't the only large-breed shedders!  Blue Heeler (Cattle Dog) Gracie wears the "8 1/2 zip" as well, and so well!

Ok, clearly I have a ton of clients who like their dogs low-maintenance  :)  This is Harley the shaved-down Pekingese.  He's one of the super-sweet Pekes!

Oh Izzie!  I can't believe I got her to stand still long enough to take this picture!  She's a rambunctios Yorkie mix pup who is thankfully coming up on her first birthday.  I hope she loses some of that wild girl attitude, but not all of it because I can't help but to love that about her!

What a sweet "Lady-face," Miss Kaydee!  That's what I call these sweet, puppy-eyed buff Cocker Spaniels.  She's a doll inside and out.

 Where do these super-thin, wispy, white Schnauzers come from?!  They're always sweet with a lot of spunk and very difficult hair.  I mean it's easy in the sense that it's barely there, but it's hard to make it blend and look right...  Luckily Maddie's momma requires most of her hair to "get lost!"

Max is a Schnauzer who has a lot to learn about trust.  He is very difficult about his feet, face, butt, and ears.  He's a rescue, though, and making progress!

This is Minnie.  She may not be a show-quality Pomeranian, but she's the type of Pom I'd want!  I could brush and comb her silky hair alllll day.  And I think she'd let me!

Awww, isn't Roscoe so cute!  If you look at the enlarged version of this picture, you might see a problem that I have grooming Shih-Tzu faces.  On the right side of his muzzle he has a bit of a hack mark.  That's because I only use straight shears!  I bought a pair of blending shears, tried them a couple of times, and it just seems like they don't do anything.  Perhaps it's the wrong tool for the job?  Maybe it's too cheap?  I don't know.  Until I figure something out, I'll just stick with my regular shears and suffer a hack mark here and there...

Here's Rufus, another Shih-Tzu.  Notice how I didn't do much trimming on his stop?  That's an owner request.  They say when it grows in from being shaved it pokes his eye.  Alright.  He's a handsome devil with this 'do anyway  :)

Sammy Jo is another Shih-Tzu!  She's very petite, but it seems that she's getting the middle-aged spread!  This poor little sweetie has developed some skin problems that I just can't crack.  I believe her vet just gives her the "allergy shot" routine...  I'm not in the mood to get on my soapbox tonight.

For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of this poor old guy.  He doesn't even have enough teeth to hold his tongue in!  I'm pretty sure that he was a good boy.  I'll have to edit later when his name comes to me.

It's another nameless schmo!  At least you get to look at a forgotten Yorkie instead of another Shih-Tzu  ;)

 

That's it for now!  I have LOTS of cat grooming pictures, before/after pictures, and Little Dude pictures waiting to be posted!  Look for them tomorrow night.

Shop Talk (Finally!) - Tuesday

Sorry that I've been behind on the shop talk.  You've missed quite a few cute dogs and even a couple of cats!  We finally pronounced the old camera dead and bought a new one (did you miss that story?), so I've been much happier about taking pictures and will get back on the ball for you guys!

Today wasn't too bad.  I started out with everyone wanting to come in at a different time than they were scheduled and  actually ended up flip-flopping the actual service schedules!  So my last scheduled dog was groomed first, a walk-in was thrown in next, then my first scheduled dogs were finished last.  Confused?  :)  It worked out quite well.  I got through 4 dogs in 3 hours.  Gotta love a short day! 

Here's the lineup:

The first dog to be groomed was Gator.  He is a HUGE American Bulldog with a neck that's wider than my waist and the face of a puppy!  He's a little wild, but with a little firmness he'll mind.  Because of that wild side I can't exactly call him a gentle giant, but I can say he wouldn't (intentionally!) hurt a fly!

Next was Scrappy.  He had just gotten his stitches out of a couple of battle wounds and the owner wanted me to shave him down to the same length of the area around his stitches.  Thank goodness this trick only required a #8 1/2 blade!  I believe this was his first time being groomed.  He was a trooper! *I blurred out his big gash for my queasy readers!

My final two were a pair of petite little stinkers named Rye and Krashana.  I have to groom Rye (poodle) first, because if I groom Krashana (shih-tzu) first she will remind Rye that he's supposed to act like a booger.  They both hate having their nails messed with, so they usually end up wearing a muzzle for toe time.  Otherwise, they're pretty good kids  :)  BTW:  The super-short ears on those two are owner-requested.   

Shop Talk: Tuesday Sept. 23

Today was another easy breezy day.  I only had the Pekingese Abby (or "Crabby Abby" as I like to call her) and my two sweet little mother/daughter Schnauzers Sissie and Millie.  I used my spare time to chill out, talk with the other gals in the shop, make a few business phone calls, and do some cleaning. 

Here are the pictures of the girls (Millie, Sissie, and then Abby):

As always, you may click on a picture for a larger version, and any comments and/or constructive criticism are welcome  :)

Shop Talk: Friday and Monday

Hey everyone!  I had written a huge post about Friday before the weekend, but as I was getting the pictures setup the Upromise toolbar decided to eat my browser and I lost the whole post!  I was so mad that I just shut the laptop and gave up  :p  Don't you hate when that happens?  I think I have fixed the problem, so it had better not happen again!

Anyway, Friday was what I call a "crazy-busy" day!  Here's the lineup:  I had Snoopy the Schnoodle, another handsome cousin of mine  ;);  Miss Chloe the Yorkie;  Coco the sweet old thin-haired Poodle;  Teddy, an old, blind, and deaf Shih-Tzu who bit me (! He only got his top teeth out of the muzzle so it was just a surface scrape.);  Another old Poodle man named Merlin (Hi, Andrea!);  and finally another cute little Yorkie named Coco.  That's 6 dogs in 5 1/2 hours!  My speed is nowhere near J's yet, but I'm definitely getting better.  Pictures will be in the same order as above:

Monday was a light day and I was glad.  I always feel like just messing around and taking my time on Mondays, plus I had some heavy-duty deal shopping to take care of before the boys came home!  I had three dogs.  I Shih-mix named Terri, a poor yeasty Shih-Tzu named Coco, and a little black Poodle named Rojo who has some wonderfully thick hair  :)  That's it!  Hope everyone had a great weekend...

Shop Talk: Wednesday

Wow!  Wednesday was a whirlwind.  I did 5 dogs in 4.5 hours! Some of you may be saying, "Big deal..." but I am the pokiest groomer around.  So it is a big deal to me.  I love days like this, though, because the practice of having to groom so fast really does increase my overall speed.  I had a couple of "terrible terriers," a lab, a yorkie mix, and a poor old Bichon that I always have to do straight through.  If I let this dog have even 30 seconds of idle time she starts scratching and chewing her skin off.  I think it may have started as an allergy problem, but now it seems to also be a neurological problem.  The owner always brings her E-collar in case I get done before they return and have to crate her for whatever reason.  Here's the grooming pictures lineup:

First we have those terrible terriers.  On the left we have Spike:  A schnauzer mix who really does not enjoy having his feet messed with, so he has to be muzzled for that bit.  Otherwise, he's a pretty good boy.  To the right is Jordan:  He is a humongous Schnauzer (not neutered) who tries to eat me when I pick him up, touch his feet, snag a hair, and pluck his ears.  He and the muzzle are good pals as well  :)  Jordan looks a little unkempt because he was just a santi/feet/face/bath.  No scissor finishing for him today.

My pretty girls today included Sarah the lab, Dulce the Yorkie-Poo, and Sally the Bichon.  Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of Sarah!  But to the left you'll see Miss Dulce who got to have her "cool weather cut" today, along with poor little Sally who always has to be stripped bald with a #15 all over.

I know what you're wondering, and the answer is:  No!  I did not take a picture of Sally in her silly E-collar.  Give the girl a break! Sheesh...  ;)

Shop Talk: Monday

It's time for Monday's pictures and shop talk!

I had one cancellation, my other four showed, and I did a full Soft Paws application!  I was so excited  :)  I just started the Soft Paws program for dogs, and so far I really enjoy it.  It's a great benefit for the seniors, especially, since their babies have a tendency to rip their thin skin wiiide open.  I'm not charging much:  $10 for two paws and $15 for four (haha, buy 3 get one free?) but I'm still making money from them and gaining clients.  It's so hard to set prices in our area because so many of our clients are wonderful low-income clients who really care about their critters and want to take care of them.  I just have to stay away from those pricing surveys for a while, I guess.  If (when!) I get my own place, though, there will have to be a total pricing restructure.  But anyway, about Monday:

This is going to be a short one, because I am still not in the habit of taking pictures of everyone!  I had a... Cock-a-Tzu?  Followed by two black poodles and a yorkie, with a Soft Paws application somewhere in the middle.  Everyone was good, and I only have pictures of one of the grooming clients, so he can be the Before and After star of the day! 

Coalie's Mom wanted to try out square ears and, so they are in transition from round to square.  She also wanted me to do the crazy shaving above his eyes, but it actually turned out handsome on him.  You'll see Coalie before, Coalie after, and then a picture of Button with her snazzy new Soft Paws pawdicure  :)

      

Shop Talk: Friday

I took it pretty easy today.  This week has just felt like a long one.  I've been working my buns off on this blog, and literally working my buns off with the diet & exercise program my husband and I started on Monday.  Oh yeah, to get back on topic:  I've been pretty busy at the shop, too  :)

Today I had a couple of Shelties:  Maggie (left) and Rusty (right).  Maggie is a spry young  lady who enjoys bouncing around and driving her elderly friend Rusty insane.  She wants to play, while he wants to sleep.  You know the story. 
They are both farm dogs who come in monthly (rare, right?) and they're usually covered in fleas and cockleburs.  I've tried the Frontline speech a few times to no avail, so I gave up on that one.  These two dogs would be great Comfortis candidates, but the owner thinks it's too expensive for "just a pill."  In my [unspoken] opinion, it's better to pay the same amount for "just a pill" that will actually help your dog than to waste that money on top spots when they are not working due to skin condition or user error or whatever the case may be.  I'd rather see the dogs comfortable.  Ugh, moving on...

I only had one other dog today, and he was a very matted Maltese named Little Guy.  I was actually going to hang his pelt over my grooming arm and take a picture for dramatic flair, but The Groomer Behind Me swooped in and pitched the thing while I was bathing the dog.  I don't hold it against her because the thing was crawling with fleas.  The picture I'll post of him here is my favorite.  Do you see that smile!  He obviously feels much better  :)
I really hope I don't have to do any strips next week.  I am so stripped out!

***I'm going to have to give a big "Thank you!" shout-out to my friends at Novartis today.  Thank you thank you thank you for developing an inexpensive pill that I can pop into a dog to kill his fleas while at my shop rather than dousing us both with those yucky flea dip chemicals.  Capstar was my hero today.

Grooming roster for Wednesday

So today I was WAY too busy to mess with the camera phone.  Sorry, all.  I know you love those pictures! 

I had Yogie and Maggie:  Yogie is a cute little geriatric Yorkie while Maggie is a cute little geriatric poodle.  They are so tiny, cute, sweet, and OLD!  Then there were the two kitties:  Miss Kitty and Spooky III.  I shaved that poor Miss Kitty bald and she was not happy about it.  I didn't even get to Spooky III because Miss Kitty took such a long time.  She was so good for the first half of the groom, but when I got to her rear and her legs those fangs came out.  Last but not least, there was Sable, the 7-month old "puppy's first haircut" Shih-Tzu.  She was a good girl. 

Oh yeah, I had another surprise client that I forgot to write down!  Mr. Oscar the Shih-Tzu came in at noon.  This usually only happens a couple of times per year, not per week!  I don't know what's wrong with me lately  :p  Too many irons in the fire right now, perhaps?

Read this interesting fact:  I used to work about 8 hours and would groom 5-6 dogs per day.  I've cut my hours down to 5 (give or take half an hour) and I do 4-6 dogs per day!  Is that not crazy?  It's hectic and the answering machine works overtime, but I'm being forced to work more quickly and I like it  :)

Tuesday's lineup

Today was a fun-but-stressful day!

Groomers, have you ever has a "surprise" client come in?  One to whom you feel you should give the benefit of the doubt, because it's possible that you misunderstood something in the "appointment" phone call, or perhaps you forgot to write it down?  Well, I had one of THOSE today.  She came in at the exact some time that I had scheduled a squeeze-in.  Whoops!  So anyway, I was rushed and freaked out that I wouldn't get done in time to pick up Dude before the daycare locked him in for the night, but I made it  :)

Today I had:

Maggie and Izzy, my two beautiful little furcousins.  Maggie is a Bichon and Izzy is a Malti-Poo.  Did you notice Izzy's eyeliner?  One is pink (Malti) and one is black (Poo).  So cute!

Sadie, who is a Border Collie, whom I forgot to photograph.  Sorry!

Oakley the Shih-Tzu.  Doesn't he look like a man of leisure?

Finally, another Miss Izzy.  This one is a Yorkie-Poo.  She deserved a before and after.  You can click on most of the images on my blog to go to the full-size version.

If you'd like to know the tools/techniques used on any of these dogs, just ask!  Also, if you have constructive criticism then fire away.  I'm always learning! 

How to De-Mat a Maltese Ear

OK, so this is something I would NEVER have tried a few years ago. I would have just gone for the #10 and zipped the thing off of the poor baby. However, today I was inspired by another groomer blog I read (you can check out Ms. BB's post here) about mat removal. So here's my experience today with the dreaded deed!

First, of course, I needed a very patient subject with a high pain tolerance and a mat :) Miss Betsie was a perfect candidate. Second, I needed enough grooming experience (years) to know what amount of pressure a Maltese ear can take before ripping open. I've never done it, but I know it is very possible. Maltese skin is thin and sensitive, especially on the ears! Next, I needed the right tools. Finally, I needed about 15 minutes without interruptions ("Leave a message!").

You can see Betsie's left ear has a huge mat blob. There was a little free hair to the left, but hopefully you can see how huge and "involved" this mat is.  First, I saturated the mat with Bark2Basics D-Mat Conditioner. I really rubbed the stuff into that mat. Might I say that the Cucumber Melon scent is very soothing at a time like this!

Next, I really worked through the thing with my greyhound comb. I dug in behind the mat and pulled toward myself in quick and tiny motions. My main goals here were to work the D-mat in even further and to get enough space between the ear and the mat to use my next tool:

The mat breaker. Be very careful with these things! The ends are blunt, but the side facing toward you should be the one with the razor sharp blades made for actually cutting through the mat. You slide it behind the mat very carefully, then make a couple of very small saw-like motions with the tool in an "up and away" direction from the skin. You'll see faster progress with this tool than you saw with the comb.

Finally, once you have the mat loose enough that you only have a few "remains," you can pull the rest off with your fingers, the comb, and a slicker brush. Tada! You now have an ear that will probably look thin and "holey," but not bald!

Below is the sweet Miss Betsie. Everyone say, "Awwwww!"

Edit:  I have been asked, "What exactly is a greyhound comb?"  Well, it's just another word for "finishing comb," a long comb with no handle consisting of two different sizes of teeth divided half and half.  I guess it's like calling a tissue a "kleenex"  :)  If you want to see a brand-name greyhound, click here.

A little fun with before and after grooming photos

This is Mr. Scottie-Mac.  Since he is my "cousin," he gets to be the first star of the "Before and After" series  :) 

He doesn't get anything fancy.  He's just a #4f zip off the top blended into his so-called skirt, a little scissor neatening of the face, and a thorough brushing of his furnishings.  As little Dude would say, "Tadaaaaaaa!"

*I should note that he is having some pretty severe skin problems due to his allergies.  His coat just isn't as lustrous and thick as normal.  Poor guy! 

**Another note:  I know the image quality is not so great right now, but you're stuck with camera phone pics until we get a new digital camera!  What happened to our old camera, you ask?  Well, it's what we call The Chocolate Milk Incident...

God Bless the Patient Client

When I make my schedule, I have to consider many factors.  Who will be on time; who will be early; who will be late; who probably won't even show up at all?  Who will demand to pick up their dog in a crazy-small amount of time; who will be more flexible due to their work schedule or their angelic understanding soul?

Today I had a heck of a combination.  My rainbow angel Coal did not show, of course, and neither did his sister.  I totally understand.  I'll wait for her to reschedule when she's ready.  I had an impatient owner who showed up 20 minutes early, and a flexible owner show up right on time.  The flexi owner is ruled by two Standard Poodles, so of course they know I might keep the dogs all day  :)  Bless them! 

The impatient owner wanted her dog done in a snap, so I had to groom him straight-through and just put the standards on hold for an hour - poor kids!  It all worked out fine in the end.  Everyone got primped and puffed and sent out the door in style.   I even got done a bit early.  I love getting done early because I take every minute I can get to hang out with my little Dude!

Groomers:  I don't mind Ms. Impatient because she is very nice, polite, and a great tipper ;)  I find that I am much less stressed and annoyed by clients such as her than I am by those impatient grumbly mumbly cheapskate types.  Are you with me?