Once a Year Grooms...Grrr

Before I start this post today, I have an update on the kitty left in a carrier, in the pouring rain, out in front of our shop.

He has had his shots.

He has been neutered.....Hallelujah!!

He is very friendly and affectionate......if only we could get him to stop giving the love bites.

He loves and gets along great with our dogs.

We named him 'Radar'.

There is only one problem.

My son is having a hard time getting his school work done.

Radar loves to sleep on his books while he is trying to read.

This is the last picture that I could take before I had to put the camera down to meet the demands of an overly affectionate, and crazy orange shop kitty.

On to the post.

It's that time of year again.

Those once a year grooms.

A few weeks ago my husband came into the grooming room and asked me to come look at a dog that came in for the Self-Serve.

This is what I saw.

The owner was getting ready to give him a bath in the Self-Serve.

I talked the owner out of bathing the dog, and into making appointment.

She had to have a Saturday appointment.

She had to wait 3 weeks for a Saturday.

That was okay with her, she would go home and work on him herself in the mean time, because he loves to be brushed.

 He still looked the same when he came in this past Saturday.

His Mom reminded me, at least a dozen times that "he loves to be brushed."

I know that you will think I am nuts when I say this, but I actually like doing these once a year dogs.

There was a time in my early grooming years that a dog like this would scare me to death or send me into tears.

Now I look at them as a challenge.

The first thing I do is tell the owner the dog has to be shaved.

I don't want the owner to think that there is even a remote possibility that I could save any of the coat.

Let them be pleasantly surprised if I can.

Then I start checking out the coat and thinking about what blade I am going to get through the coat.

So my challenge to myself is, to save as much of this coat as possible.

Not for the owner, but for the dog.

I like to test my skills, and use whatever tools that I have to save as much coat as possible.

I will not cause a dog pain to save a coat.

When I say 'save', I mean that I don't think that every matted dog that comes in has to be automatically shaved with a 7, 10 or 15.

 If I am able to get a 4 or 5 blade through a matted coat, I am tickled pink.

Any longer blade is an added bonus for me.

I feel that the longer I am able to keep the coat, the less chance of irritation or owner over reaction.

So, what blade was I able to get through this coat?

 After a Best Shot bath and Creme Rinse, and a HV blow dry to pull the mats away from the skin, I was able to get a 3/4 HT blade through the coat. (19mm)

All except one leg that was too tight.

So, I ended up using a 5/8HT blade on him. (16mm)

His coat is very thick and wavy, so it left the coat looking nice and plushy.

I saved his ears with the help of the Mat Splitter.

I shaved out the sides of his head, and under his ears with a 7F, and let the longer hair from the top of is head fall to cover the shaved spots.

The tail?

I very carefully scissored 3/4 of the matted tail off, then dematted the rest.

The hair left on his tail was about 2" long.

I forgot to take an after picture of the tail.  :(

I hate a naked looking dog.

That's just me.

I clip them naked if I have to, but it makes me happy if I don't.

Isn't it a great feeling when you can make a dog feel good?

Happy Grooming, MFF