This was a first

I had a 1pm grooming appointment show up today with her new Pomeranian. (old customer, new dog)

I promptly talked her out of the the cut she wanted.

I also unintentionally talked her right out the door.

Let me explain...

If I can...

Still somewhat stunned.

I am pretty darn good at understanding what my customers want on their dogs, if I do say so myself.

Believe me, it has come from years of practice.

In my early years of grooming I didn't always get it right.

It has been years now since I had any trouble figuring out what a customer wanted.

I did not have any trouble figuring out what my customer wanted today either.

I just did not agree with the groom she wanted on her 4 month old Pomeranian.

Now, I did not tell her that I did not agree, I just explained that I thought the cut she wanted may possibly destroy the coat before it even had a chance to come in.

What did she want done?

She wanted me to scissor all of his guard hair down to be even with the undercoat fuzz.

Her Pomeranian was a very scraggly black and tan puppy.

He had what I call the "puppy ugly's".

You know, when the coat is just starting to come in.

Well, this puppies coat was really sad looking, and it was going to be awhile before the adult coat came in.

 

I did not get a picture of her puppy, but this is my Pom when she was around 6 months old.

Her puppy fuzzies where almost gone, and all of her pretty guard hair was just starting to come in.

This is my girl about a year ago.

I love the natural full coats on double coated breeds.

When someone comes in and asks me to shave their double coated breed, I always try to talk them out of it.

I always warn them about what could happen to the coat over time.

I truly believe that these breeds are not meant to be clipped short.

Their hair was only meant to grow to one length and then stop.

I have discovered, that over time, most of these coats will become ruined, some sooner then others.

Here are some examples of dogs I have groomed over the years.

This is 'Chester'.

He is a PomX.

I have been grooming him for a long time.

I talked his Mom out of clipping him down when she first came to me.

She decided on a nice short outline trim.

At the time I warned her that his hair may eventually not grow back right.

I warned her again, each time she asked me to take him 'just a little shorter.'

It took a few years, but I was right.

This is what he would look like when he would come back in for another groom.

This is 12 weeks of growth.

This is another dog I groomed for the last half of it's life.

She was a Sheltie/peke cross.

She had already been shaved a few times by the time she came to me.

At that time her coat was still growing back okay.

I still explained to her owner, what could happen over time, she did not believe me.

Her hair was growing back fine at the time.

The picture above was a few years after I started grooming her.

Her owner came in and wanted to know why her coat looked like this.

I reminded her about our first conversation.

The owner decided to continue clipping the coat because she did not like the way it looked.

This is how the coat grow in as the dog got older.

This is 4 months growth.

She was clipped with a #5F each time.

So when my 1pm appointment came in today, and wanted me to scissor her 4 month old Pomeranian puppy all over, I talked her out of it.

I did not want her to ruin the coat before it even got the chance to grow in.

Just because she did not like the scruffy puppy hair.

The owner understood what I was explaining.

The pictures above helped.

If she had insisted, I would have scissored the dog.

After all, it is HER dog, and she is paying me.

The last thing I expected, were her next words.

"Okay, well I will call to reschedule" the owner said.

Reschedule? I thought, what does she mean reschedule?

I quickly said; "Well, you have an appointment. I can still bathe him for you, and do his nails, and clean his ears for you.

"No. I can do that at home" she said. "I will call you later." 

She turned, and out walked my 1pm appointment.

That was a first.

I have talked people out of cuts before, but I have never totally lost the appointment.

I am still glad I talked her out of the cut she wanted.

I know it would have ruined that puppies coat.

I also have no doubt that I would have been blamed if that dogs coat did not grow in right.

Well, I must say, owners always seem to find ways to surprise me, even after all of these years.

Happy Grooming, MFF