Several dog breeds have tipped ears as part of their breed profile grooms. Yorkshire, West Highland White, and Cairn Terriers are some of the more common ones. Tipping the ears on fluffy mixed breeds that have pricked or semi-pricked ears can be a fun style, too.
If you take a moment to look at pet grooming from the dog's viewpoint, it becomes clear that some of the things we do during a typical grooming session are things that no one else ever does to them and that the dog very probably does not enjoy. We get them wet, use loud, sometimes buzzy tools, and touch every part of their body. We lift them, turn them, and mess with their sensitive faces, feet, and everything in between.
Successful groomers will tell you the basis of a great groom is in the “prep work.” This means that no matter how beautifully you clip, scissor, and sculpt, the dog you groom will not look its best if the coat is improperly prepared.
It’s a mundane Monday. You are grooming your average lineup of poodle mixes, maybe a Shih Tzu or two and a chubby spaniel. The phone rings, and a potential new customer calls to make an appointment for a breed you have never groomed. A thrill of excitement tingles down your spine, but that delightful feeling immediately dissipates in a wash of self-doubt. You’d love the experience of grooming an unknown breed, but you don’t trust yourself. Now what?
There you are, happily clipping along on a dog that is getting a smoothie-style groom, and whoops! A bald spot suddenly appears. You stare in confusion at your clipper. Did it suddenly manifest into having a shorter-than-you-were-using blade? No. The problem is that you ran into a cowlick.
Macy is a small poodle cross well into her senior years. Whenever her owner brings her in for grooming, she says, “Try not to clip her moles and make them bleed!” As dogs age, many develop a myriad of lumps, bumps, and growths on their skin. Some breeds seem to be more prone to this than others. As groomers, we get an excellent view of these growths as we wash and dry the pets. The problem arises when some of them become irritated or bleed during grooming.
During the warm months, many groomers find that they are using a #7 blade more frequently. In some cases, this is because pet owners want smooth, easy trims for summer; in other instances, it is to remove heavy matting from dogs that have not been groomed in too long. No matter the reason, many of us struggle with making the feet of closely clipped dogs look nice. Here are a few tips to help you create neat feet when the trim is short.
Recently, a groomer related a story about a customer complaining about her poodle/retriever mix looking "too poodlely" after her last groom. The groomer was frustrated because the pet owner could not describe what she meant. This story or similar scenarios are familiar in our industry. During an era where poodles make up part of many mixed breeds, it is confusing to us that people intentionally purchase a dog that is part poodle but steadfastly demand that their dog not look like a poodle.
Opal is a pug we bathe monthly. Her coat is short and smooth, and to be honest, she always looks pretty good when she comes in for her appointment. Even though we groom dogs for a living, we still often comment on what a dramatic change good grooming can make on even smooth-coated pets. When her grooming is completed, she looks shinier; her coat looks smoother, and, of course, she smells terrific.
Dogs with long coats often come in to be groomed with lots of thick hair growing between theunderside of their paw pads. Trimming this fur neatly is an integral part of a complete pet groom. Untrimmed hair coming from the underside of the foot not only looks messy, but it can alsocollect dirt, sand, salt, snow, sticky things, and icky things and track them into the house.
