The dogs we groom come in a wide variety of coat types. There is the silky coat of a Maltese, the wiry coat of a Cairn Terrier, curly Poodles, and thick double or triple-coated dogs like Huskies and Samoyeds. Then, there is a lesser-known category known as broken-coated.
Mr. Jones hands over his elderly cocker/poodle mix for its grooming appointment and says worriedly, "Please try not to cut off his lumps and bumps this time." You might not have had to roll your eyes quite as hard as you did, but you remember that you have talked about this topic with Mr. Jones on more than one occasion in the recent past.
The dog on your table is bathed, dried, brushed, and ready to have some length clipped off. You snap a blade on your clipper and get to work. All is well for the first few swipes, but then you notice that the fur is ridged, uneven, and choppy where it was cut instead of a nice, uniform finish.
Like you, most of my grooming days are filled with shampooing and conditioning, claw trims and ear cleaning, clipping and scissoring, brushing and combing. But sometimes, the job goes beyond that. Yesterday was one of those days.
Have you ever experienced a moment (or more!) while grooming a pet when you felt completely overwhelmed? Here are some examples:
The three sizes of Schnauzers (miniature, standard, and giant) are frequent visitors to grooming shops everywhere, with the Miniature version being the most popular. These sturdy little dogs make good pets and have specific and frequent grooming needs.
Many pet owners think their cat should not be bathed because they believe cats don’t like water. However, many cats tolerate the bathing process very well if the procedure is feline-friendly. Getting dry seems to be more objectionable to most cats. There are ways to safely and kindly dry cats. Read on to learn how.
Frankie was a teeny Yorkshire terrier that I groomed for years. As he got older, he developed a problem with discharge from his eyes. His owner brought him to me every twelve weeks to be shaved from nose to toes (we did leave funny fluffs on the tips of his ears as his trademark), and all was well. Until it wasn't. Let me explain.
If you struggle to make faces on dogs such as poodle mixes and drop-coated breeds like Shih Tzu and all of the above mixes, look as adorable as they can, read on to learn some tips and tricks to create cute faces fast. The first key to creating faces that make the pet owner say, "Aww!" is to ensure that the fur is immaculately clean and perfectly fluff-dried and combed out before you begin. Since faces get pretty grimy, this may mean shampooing more than once to remove all the dirt and oils so the face reaches optimal fluff. No matter how well you can trim and scissor, greasy fur will never look pretty.
A kind veterinarian once said to me, as he was patching up a dog I had accidentally nicked, "Groomers work with sharp tools on moving objects. It is amazing that more accidents don't happen." He made me feel a little better, and I recognized that he was correct: grooming wiggly pets with tools that cut is an invitation to accidents. Following, you will find seven safety tips that I have learned the hard way:
