About Me:

I am a professional Pet Groomer. I have been grooming for 28 years. This Blog is a kind of diary of my work. I wish I had started years ago, writing some of the experiences I have had while grooming. Most days are fun, some can be sad, some can be just down right crazy. If you are a pet owner and come across this blog, I hope it helps you understand how your pet is groomed. If you are a Pet Groomer, I hope you can relate to some of the stories. Maybe even learn a grooming tip or can leave a friendly grooming tip for me. There is always something to learn, no matter how long you have been grooming.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

"The Groom was Perfect Last Time!"

I guess that most groomers would love to heard their customers say that.
And if the customer was saying "Your grooms are always perfect," that would be wonderful to hear.

It is those two words, 'last time', that get me.

The first thing I feel like asking is, "Oh, only the last grooming?"
"Were all of the other grooms bad?"

Those two words also mean that the groom is not going to be 'perfect' this time.

The customer that made this statement is a nice customer.
I am also sure that she did not mean anything by her statement, other than to tell me that I got all of her instructions exactly right last time, because most of the time she wants to talk to me about one little thing that was not quite right the last time.
Sometimes she knows exactly what she wants to change and other times she is not sure, so I am not always sure if I am getting the groom right.

The funny thing is, I remember the last groom.
The owner came in and wanted to talk to me the last time.
We talked about the fact that the owner didn't think that the head and tail was balanced after the last grooming.

I really don't get upset when customers tells me things like this, as long as they are not rude about it.

It does amaze me when I have customers come in and try to tell me how to groom their dog.
I don't mean when they come in and tell me what they want done.
I mean the owners that come in and proceed to tell me how to groom their dog.
They will throw out a blade number that turns out to be no where near the length that they are describing.

It's funny, my husband gets upset when customers tell me how to groom their dogs.
He can't understand how I can laugh and shake my head after they leave.

I can't explain it either.
I just find it funny when I have an owner who thinks they can tell me how to do my job.
Most owners could care less how I groom their dog as long as I give their dog the cut they want.

I do have one customer that I only recently started grooming her dog.
I have groomed the dog twice now.
The first grooming, the owner kept me in the lobby for 30 minute interrogating me.
She was happy and cheery and pleasant, but you better believe that all of her questions were an interrogation.
I don't doubt for a second that if I had not answered her questions to her satisfaction that she would have been out the door.
The owner also went over her dog with a fine tooth comb when she came to pick her dog up.

I have to say, I don't think that I ever had a customer go over a dog like she did hers.
She picked up all of the feet, looked at the pads and toes.
She picked up the hair in places on the legs to make sure that all of the hair was cut evenly.
She checked the ears.
She checked the eyes.
She had me take the dog back to cut around the top of the eyes closer.
There was no more hair left over the eyes to cut.
I did check.
Really I did.
I combed the hair up, forward, back....there was nothing left to cut.

I took the dog back up and said,  "how is that?"
"Perfect!"
She made another appointment.

I have groomed the dog twice now and both times the owner has sat the dog on my counter and gone over her.

I wonder how many time I have to get the grooming right for her to stop that?

I will admit that the first time she went over her dog I was a little taken back by how thoroughly she went over the dog, right in front of me.
I do remember being a little perturbed by it.
I remember standing there thinking 'you have got to be kidding me.'

I really didn't get mad.
I don't know what I was feeling exactly, other than amazed, stunned, that really didn't just happen.







So anyway, this is the perfectly groomed dog....'last time.'

Isn't he cute?

This is his perfectly grown out cut.  :)






His Moms biggest concern is that the cut is done the way she wants it, but balanced at the same time.

She likes the body short.
The legs a little longer than the body.
Dome type head.
Ears neatened.
Sides of the face short and tight.
Leave the mustache.
Shave the top of the nose and blend down into the mustache so the hair will not stick up into the eyes.
Trim the tail to balance with the head.








Don't look too hard.

Remember it will not be perfect this time.

It is never 'perfect' two times in a row, or three, or four....











But that is okay, because the owner is nice when she tells me, "it wasn't quite right the last time."










So try to keep a chin up when a customer makes comments that they don't really intend to be mean.

Try to find the humor in it.
 If you don't, people will drive you insane.

Just do the best work you can.

We can not please everyone all of the time.

Groomers are only human, even though some customers think we are Magicians.

Happy Grooming, MFF

4 comments:

  1. You inspire me with each post. Thank you for all your insight. It gives me hope ;)

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  2. You've inspired me

    http://diaryofamaddoggoomer.blogspot.com/

    Thank you, I really LOVE reading your blogs.
    I needed to document some of the things that happen in my shop.
    I have no idea why, it's a bit early in the season, but I've been getting at least one VERY matted pet a day.
    I'm still scratching my head over it, really.

    Oh and here is the video, if you would like, about that program. By the way, when my husband says that it doesn't tell you how many no-shows they have, he was mistaken, it was right there on the screen, and I guessed it perfectly.

    I hate the sound of my voice, I've had a lisp my entire life and sound like a little girl.
    :(
    I hope this helps you.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNkIFRncyDA
    If you would like to get it, e-mail me at lulusgroom@yahoo.com
    I can send you an e-mail back with a discount.

    ~Serena

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  3. What are the details on this dogs cut? It looks very nice and I was just wondering what blades/guides you used? Thank you

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  4. Thanks gipsiwriter, I'll be cheering you on. :)

    Serena,
    I got your e-mail. I will be e-mailing you back. I am running late tonight. :) I look forward to reading you blog. The youtube video did not come up the first time I tried it, I will try again and let you know.


    Lauren,
    Thank you for the compliment. I meant to write what I did on the dog. (I write these posts too late at night) I used a #5F on the body, a #4F on the legs, not quite full pressure, then scissored them up. The face was similar to a poo face only I took the cheeks off with a #5F blade and scissored the mustache and beard round. I scissored the head in a dome shape similar to a poo topknot. I hope I covered everything. Thanks for reading my blog. :)

    Lisa,MFF

    ReplyDelete