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.

Monday, March 26, 2012

ShowEdge Blades

Maybe I should say 'blade'.
 
I have only bought one so far.




As you can see the teeth are closer together than the #7F blade.

The ad for the SE (ShowEdge) Blade talks about the blade being designed to 'create the smoothest finish possible.'
It also talks about the blade requiring 'fewer passes through the hair.'


 
I bought this blade at Hershey 6 months ago.
I like trying new tools.
The unfortunate part about that is, that you have to buy them to try them.
I hate to admit that I have a number of tools that I didn't like after I bought them. :(

I did try this blade when I first got it, but it was riding over the coat that I was trying to clip and I got annoyed with it.
To be honest I put it in with my other blades and forgot about it.

Then, the other day I was looking for another blade when I came across it again.
I had forgotten all about it.







Saturday I had a Terrier mix in whose owner likes everything very short.

I normally clip her with a #7F blade.

I decided to try the SE7 blade again to see if I saw any difference between the #7F and the SE.






  I clipped a section with the #7F.







This section of coat was clipped with the regular #7F blade.

If you look closely you can see some lines, but to be honest all you have to do is run your hand over the coat and those lines disappear.






 Then I clipped another section with the SE7.

At first it started to ride over the top of the hair again.

I tried again using a little more pressure than I usually do.







  As you can see, it is a smoother finish, and I didn't have to run my hand over it to smooth it out.

Although, I haven't ever had a problem getting a nice smooth finish with the #7F blade.



 
 The ShowEdge blade comes in blade numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 30.
I am curious to try the SE #4 and #5 because those F blades do to tend to leave certain types of coats a little choppy.
I am also still not sold on the SE7 blade.

I don't like having to use a lot of pressure to get a smooth cut on a coat.
I always use a light pressure when I clip.
I am always prepared to pull the blade away if I meet the least bit of resistance.
You just never know when you might hit a small wart, a skin tag, or a small mat pulls the skin up into your blade.
Using a light touch when clipping has saved me more than once.

If I have to use more pressure to get the close teeth on these  SE blades to go through the hair, than I would rather not use them.
That being said, knowing me, I will probably brake down and buy another one.
The SE4, I think,  just to try it out.
I might like it.
I hope that I won't be wasting my money. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, some of you who read my blog regularly may have noticed that I have changed the water mark on my pictures.

I have read posts on the groomer forums about people who post ads on Craigslist saying that they will groom your dog for $15 dollars.

Today when I was at my Bank, the teller was talking about going to Craigslist to find someone to watch her dog.
I warned her to be careful and find someone who was Bonded and Insured, and who could also give her references.

It got me wondering what kind of grooming ads were on Craigslist.
So I went to Craigslist services.
Most of the ads were for pet sitters.
There were a few groomers.

All of the groomers that I saw with ads were groomers advertizing their shops or in-home grooming shops.
Just about all of them had websites.
I like going to websites.
I like looking at other shops and grooming pictures.

One of the groomers ads had her website and facebook page.
So I went to her facebook page.
She has a home shop that is an hour away from me.
She had a lot of before and after pictures posted to her facebook, so I scrolled down her page looking at the pictures.

Scrolling....

Scrolling.....

Scrolling......

Then I see a picture that stops me dead.




This picture!

Of my girl!

On another shops facebook page!

Advertizing creative grooming services.

With my watermark still on it.  :/






I was flabbergasted.

I have heard about groomers using other groomers picture on their Websites, but.....
I just don't know what to say or think.

She is advertizing Creative grooming styles.
She does not claim that the dog in the picture is her work, but she doesn't say that it isn't either.
Like my daughter said; "it is on her facebook, her customers are going to think that it is her work."

Why????
Why would you put another groomers work on your facebook or webpage?

I have shown other groomers work on my blog.
Pictures that I took at Groom Expo or Intergroom, but I have clearly stated that it is not my work.
I have also put the groomers name with the picture if possible.

I like to think the better about people.

There is a possibility that she didn't see anything wrong with showing another groomers work to advertize her creative grooming services.
The only thing is, when I went through the rest of her pictures, she had other pictures of dogs that she have done some creative on.
It was her creative, because the pictures were taken in her shop.

Why use mine?

The picture was originally posted on my personal facebook page that is very private.


I had put this picture on facebook a couple of years ago, and another business acquaintance had asked me if she could put them on her facebook page. (she sells dog treats)
I gave her permission to.
I noticed that the groomer using my picture is also a friend of the same business acquaintance.
I am guessing that that is where she found the picture.


I haven't decided whether to message her or not.

I have such mixed feelings about this.....
I don't know what to do about this.
If you have any ideas, please tell me. :(


Happy Grooming, MFF

5 comments:

  1. Oh I would be upset! A groomer opened shop a few miles away from me, right out of grooming school and her website says she is a master certified groomer. I honestly think she doesn't know she isn't...and maybe this other groomer who used your picture doesn't know it is wrong! You message her and I'll message my groomer neighbor and all will be right with the world. Maybe.

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  2. Wow... I have never in my life wanted to give anyone advice, and I am warning you that this is still not that advice. I must, however, inform you as to what I would:

    I would contact her and I would ask her that if she uses my images, which I am well aware of the craigslist situation, she must use my name when using my work as her example, and let people know that this is not her work, merely an exibit of what she is willing to attempt on her client's pets.
    Otherwise she may use her own photos, but 'borrowing' another local groomer's photos is taboo.

    Then again, no, that is a terrible idea.
    But it's the first thing that came to mind...
    My gut is so terrible... it tells me to do what my heart wants... but my brain knows better and catches up with me eventually.

    But seriously... she is practically calling you out by waving your grooming photos to support her work... which is your work, granted she is far away enough for it not to matter... but still.
    She is either a fan, a stalker, or jealous.
    I'm not sure witch is more odd from the choices.

    I wonder if she can see this blog...

    :0

    I hope everyone can see your blog, we could all stand to learn something from one another. Groomers should feel free to communicate, we are just people like anyone else, granted we are mostly women, but we should be free to ask one another questions and be our selves without freaking out inside about what the other person 'might think'.
    I think she is probably a great person, but had no idea how to ask you,

    "Hey, I know I don't know you but I'm a groomer about an hour's drive from you. I love your work, I was going to ask if I could borrow one of your creative grooming photos to show people what I could do? I think your work is great!"

    It's more taboo to try to be friends and meet new people, some people are just odd, or antisocial.

    So...

    I was an only child growing up.
    My mother taught me at a young age to walk up to the person that I wanted to meet and engage them face to face. Make eye contact, shake their hand, say my name, ask their, and so on...
    My mother made me the bold and slightly crazy person I am today, and I wish to instill my wild sense of self onto my kids as soon as they are potty trained.
    :))
    Sometimes you have to be that awkward corny person, step up and say,
    "Hey, wanna be friends?"

    :P

    All right, I have a terrible cold and I'm going to sleep before 'light weight' here
    < me
    has too much Nyquill, and gets so loopy that I do something like....

    what I just did.

    Have fun
    :)

    Live a little
    Think outside the 'shop'
    ...as I say :)

    ~Serena

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  3. Hi Deb,
    The groomer near you was most likely told by the grooming school that once she graduated she was a 'Master Certified Groomer' as opposed to a 'Certified Master Groomer' lol. You're probably right, she has no idea that she is not a Master Groomer. She would most likely fight you on it, because her grooming school TOLD her that she was a 'Master Certified Groomer.'
    If I paid to go to grooming school and was told that I would be considered a Master Groomer once I graduated, I wouldn't be happy if another groomer came along and told me that that wasn't true.

    Hi Serena,
    First, I hope you're feeling better. :)
    Second, I agree with you. I wish that groomers were a tighter community. I have found that groomers are very nice when in an Expo type environment, but when you try to get to know the groomers in your immediate area, they all act like they don't want to talk to each other.

    I have decided to hold on and watch to see if she uses the picture again on her facebook. I checked her website. It is very nice. The picture is not on it. From her pictures, she looks like a very nice person, so maybe she didn't realize that it was not right to use my picture without asking first. We'll see....

    Lisa, MFF

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  4. Hope this sint too late of a response.....
    Lisa, I kinda know the girl who used your picture. I don't know her personaly but I know her through the pet groomer forum and we are now friends on facebook. I do not believe that she was trying to steal your photo and take credit for it. Im sure she thought that since it had the water mark there was no need to see it wasnt hers. Do I think she should of handled it differently? Yes. She should of asked permission and sited you as the groomer but sometimes people either over look or just don't see anything wrong with it.

    She seems like a really sweet girl. If I were you I would just email her and explain how you feel. Im sure she will feel bad and take it down if you wish.
    Hope this helps.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Danielle,
    I checked out her website and liked what I saw. Just looking at her picture, she seems like a very nice person. I think that it was just a shock to be scrolling down another persons business facebook and suddenly see my dog.
    I guess that I should take it as a compliment that she even posted my dogs picture. AND she did not claim it as her work.
    I thought about e-mailing her, but I didn't want it to come across as being angry at her, I wasn't... well maybe a tiny bit at first. I wasn't sure what to think. I have let it go for right now.
    Thanks for the comment. You confirmed my thought that she is a nice person. :)
    Lisa, MFF

    ReplyDelete