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.
Pet hair is insidious. In the grooming environment, it gets everywhere, along with its companion, dander. The dastardly combination of the two can get into spaces you never imagined and clog up motors on the tools we use. This can make them work harder than necessary, overheat, and even burn out
One guaranteed way to put a smile on my face is to walk into my grooming studio and say, “It smells good in here.” Pet-related businesses have many reasons to smell unpleasant, and most of those reasons have four feet. Dogs come to us needing the bath we are about to provide, so they often have an unpleasant odor. And they sometimes urinate or defecate, causing a whole new level of bad scents.
Some people buy shoes. Some people buy jewelry. Me? I buy grooming tools. I am a total sucker for any new whiz-bang gadget that might make my job better, easier, or even more fun. But here is the truth: day in and day out, there are specific core tools that I reach for over and over on almost every pet. No matter your workspace, I bet you have limited space to keep your hand tools. From where you sit or stand to work, there is most likely a relatively small radius of available surfaces for you to keep your combs, brushes, clippers, trimmers, and scissors.
Picture the following scenario. You have just washed, dried, and brushed the long-coated poodle mix on your table. You have thirty minutes to finish up the groom when suddenly the dog releases its anal sacs. A few moments ago, the pet on the table smelled like a rose, but now it smells very different. In an ideal world, you’d pop that pup back in the tub for a wash, but there is certainly no time for that. What can you do?
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.
Imagine yourself drying a dog you have groomed regularly for many years. Let's call him Gizmo. He is in his senior years now, perfectly comfortable and familiar with the grooming process. On this day, as you work the high-velocity dryer over the coat, Gizmo suddenly begins barking in a high-pitched tone. He is obviously in distress. He urinates on the table, and when you look at his face, there is no recognition of you or awareness of his surroundings
I don't know many shops or mobile groomers who don't use a shop or "wet/dry" vacuum regularly. These wonderful tools are endlessly helpful for sucking up all that fur that hits the ground as we work, nabbing cobwebs, cleaning the filters in our dryers, heating systems, fans, and more. But let's be honest, they tend to get smelly.
Sometimes, we find a tool that changes the way we work for the better. It has been almost two decades since I was introduced to such a tool, the Groomers Helper. The starter kit for the Groomers Helper system has become a steadfast companion to me as I work on almost every dog, every day.
