I happily groomed Newfoundland’s, St. Bernards, Irish Wolfhounds, and the like for the first thirty years of my grooming career. I experienced all the fun these giant dogs can offer, like trying to lift them when they pretend they have no legs and do a pancake imitation, or when they decide to drag you from place to place. I spent hours washing, conditioning, drying, brushing, and trimming, and to be honest, I loved it. Seeing a huge, clean, well-groomed dog wag its way to greet its owners always made me happy.
Although cats are well-known for their attempts to self-groom, many require a bath. Pet owners are often surprised to learn that most cats tolerate a bath quite well if it is given in a feline-friendly manner. “What is that?” you ask. The steps are outlined below.
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.
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:
There you are, trimming a dog's claws. It's something you have done so many times you can practically accomplish the task blindfolded, but when you get to one claw, you notice it doesn't look normal. Maybe it's thicker than the others or shaped differently. Perhaps it seems to be cracked, or the outer layers seem to be flakey. Possibly, it angles away from the toe in a way that is different from that of the other claws. How should you proceed?
It's never good when you pop a dog into the bath, and as their coat becomes saturated, you realize you have unwanted company in the form of fleas.
In the "olden days" of pet grooming, dealing with fleas and ticks was a regular occurrence for those livingin climates where external parasites are a problem. Before modern flea and tick preventatives were developed and widely used, many, if not most, pets arrived for grooming with hitchhikers hiding in their coats. Groomers regularly doused animals with toxic dips. Speaking for myself, I am glad those days are over.
Dog faces. Some are smooth, some are fluffy, some are wrinkled, some are beautiful, and others are adorable. What they all have in common is they get dirty and smelly. Maybe it's from digging in the dirt, rolling in something that stinks, or having salmon for supper, but cleaning those faces can be a serious challenge.
A gentleman watching me groom his pet last week asked, “Why does he let you do all these things to him? He would never allow me to trim his claws or remove a tangle.” It’s a question groomers encounter occasionally, and it’s interesting to consider the answers.
Muffy, the American Cocker Spaniel, arrives for her annual spring shave down. Just like every year, Muffy is matted. Her ears are particularly bad, with tennis ball-sized tangles weighing them down.
You have a freshly washed and dried Cocker Spaniel on your table to groom, and you gently flex his leg so you can trim the claws. Then you do a double take. Is that fur growing out of his paw pad? As you look closer, you see that long, thick, hair-like growths are coming off the large pad on his paw. What in the world is that?
