I am left handed.
As many left handed people know, we spend our lives adapting to a right handed world.
My mother was left handed.
I say 'was' because when she was going to Catholic school, the Nuns tied her left hand behind the chair to force her to write right handed.
To this day she writes with her right hand.
When I was in school, I was one of only two kids in my glass that were left handed.
I didn't really think a lot about it back then.
If I ran into trouble doing things left handed I would just switch to right handed.
That is what I did when I went to Grooming School.
My grooming kit came with right handed scissors.
I was told that they would try to get me left handed scissors, but I didn't want to fall behind in the class waiting for lefty scissors. (which never came by the way)
In a way, it was already natural to scissor right handed.
I had already been using scissors in my right hand, at school and at home, because they would never cut when I tried with my left hand.
So for the last 28 years I have been scissoring dogs with my right hand.
I have always been on the look out for nice left handed scissors so that I could scissor both left handed and right handed.
I did buy a pair about 22 years ago, but did not like them once I tried to use them.
I was also still working on my right handed scissoring skills, and starting over with my left hand seem really daunting at the time.
For the last few years I have been looking at left handed shears at Groom Expo and Intergroom.
There really are not a lot to pick from.
I wasn't crazy about a lot of them either.
The other thing that bothered me was investing money in a pair of scissors that would be useless if I failed to teach myself to scissor left handed.
The last day at Groom Expo last year I found a pair of scissors that could be used in either hand.
They would be perfect, because I could scissor with them right handed if left handed didn't work out.
I also liked the feel of them.
The only problem was that I had already spent my limit, so I waited till this year.
I bought one straight and one curved at Groom Expo this year.
They are shorter than I like to use, but they did not make them any longer.
Friday I decided to try them on this little Yorkie.
He is a simple clipdown #5F.
So I pulled out the scissors to scissor his face.
OMG it felt so strange!
I felt like I didn't have any control over the scissors.
I am naturally left handed, this should come easy, right?
Well, it didn't.
I felt like I was moving in super slow motion.
I don't remember it being so hard when I was in Grooming School.
I don't remember taking so long to scissor.
I don't remember feeling like I couldn't make the scissors do what I wanted.
I felt like I couldn't cut a straight line to save my life.
I was scared to death scissoring around the ears.
I felt like I couldn't even hold the ear right in my right hand.
I thought... was this what it was like when I first started grooming and I just don't remember?
I think that I even scared the dog.
He looks scared doesn't he?
I am sure that he was picking up on my unease.
I have been grooming him every 5 weeks for a long time now.
I am sure that if he could talk, he would have asked me what the heck did I think I was doing.
Scissoring around the feet did not feel as strange.
But, I was still going super slow.
Scissoring the back leg felt really awkward.
I felt like I could not get the scissors to do and cut what I wanted.
My hand would suddenly jerk the scissor cutting more than I wanted.
I did not mean to scissor this chunk of hair out of the leg.
The scissors did it!
They had a mind of their own..I swear!
Thankfully I was able to fix it with my right hand. :)
There was one other thing.
Can you see it in this picture?
Every time that I put the scissors down to comb or brush, I would pick them up and use the wrong finger to hold the scissor.
I also could not get my thumb to sit right.
It kept sliding too far through the hole, causing me to lose control of the scissor.
Needless to say, I only scissored one side of the dog left handed.
I could have scissored up a couple of Yorkies in the time I spent on that one side. :/
It felt so good to pick up my scissors in my right hand.
I am going to keep trying...at least once a day...if I have the time.
I will have to go back to the exercises that I learned in Grooming School to strengthen my left hand and fingers.
I am going to try really hard not to give up.
My goal is to post about a dog that I scissored entirely with my left hand.
Maybe by this time next year? :p
I'm a lefty and WOE IS ME trying to find scissors :[ My first pair for academy were terrible. Now I just use gator shears, but I wish I could buy some of the more fancy ones I see in magazines, but they NEVER make leftys.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say how much your blog has inspired me. I'm in a bit of a grooming rut right now (work in corp. It blows. Moved to a different state and worked in a diff salon and ended up walking out because everybody was so horrible and no matter how much I talked to the managers nothing was done. The girls were so mean to each other and especially to their dogs :[. Now I'm moving back to my old state and hopefully I can beg for my old job back) but whenever I get super upset about it I just come back to your blog and remember why I love grooming so much :]
Hang in there Pealuh,
ReplyDeleteI almost quit grooming a couple of times during my first three years of grooming. Mean bosses, mean, back stabbing co-workers, and dogs not treated right.
Take before and after pictures of your work, and build up a grooming portfolio. If you get your old job back, don't stop there. Call around and check out other grooming salons. Maybe walk in and check some out on your days off. If you like what you see when you walk in and the person that come up to wait on you is nice, there is a good chance that it would be a nice place to work. Ask if you can fill out an application. It may not happen right away, but one of those shops may call you if they saw your pictures and had your application on hand.
One of the reasons that I opened my own place was because I couldn't find a good place to work. I have to admit that there are times that I wish I didn't have running a business on my back, and that I could just go to work, groom, and leave all of the headaches to the shop owner. :/ The grooming is the most important thing to me.
Maybe you could find a Vet that would add grooming and let you run the grooming area your way. Don't give up. The dogs need good, caring groomers out there. There are good shops out there, it just may take a while to find one. Good luck, and keep grooming. :)
Lisa, MFF
The problem I've noticed is that a lot of grooming places won't hire if you're from corp, so I am definitely going to start taking pictures so I'll have a portfolio ready when I move to a different state next year.
ReplyDeleteI had a job interview last week at an upscale place and I had to groom the owners dog. Lady wanted a crest and the crest was completely matted, as was the dogs legs. I KNOW HOW to demat due to reading your blog but I haven't had enough chances to practice it in person due to the fact I learned that any matting = shave it off so for the first 8~ months of my career that's what I did! Anyway, I got the dog dematted but the crest wasn't as awesome looking because I had to thin it out a bit. The mats were the size of my fist, this dog had so much hair! I was really proud of myself but they never even bothered to call me back. Worked on her dog for 4 hours, dematted the entire thing and handscissored the whole haircut. I don't think they were even looking to hire anybody they just wanted a free groom. Hence why I'm moving back home. My old salon was full of great people that actually enjoy their job, I miss the atmosphere.
Hi Pealuh,
DeleteSo sorry that that happened to you. I had the same problem when I got out of Grooming School. The Grooming School that I went to had a very bad reputation. I didn't know it when I enrolled, although it probably would not have mattered, because it was the only Grooming School I could get to at the time. (I didn't drive yet, and had to take two buses to get there) I found out pretty fast that most grooming shops wouldn't even talk to graduates from this school.
I also went on an interview at a very popular Vet/Kennel/Pet Shop and was handed a matted dog that they had already bathed and cage dried BEFORE I got there. They did not call me for a week, then when they did, they offered to pay me $100 a week until I built up my own clientele. Oh, and they got really mad at me when I told them that I already found another job. They were really pissed that I didn't wait for their call.
As for the interview that you went on...it sounds pretty bad when an upscale salon owner lets their own dog get that matted. I am sorry that she took advantage of you like that. Just the fact that you saved any of the crest with it being that badly matted was a great job.
Sometimes the small Mom and Pop shops are the nicest to work at. The one thing about grooming that bothers me the most is how some groomers treat each other.
I hope that your old salon takes you back. I think even with the Corp stores, it all depends on who is running them. We have one by my shop that does not put out the greatest work and also kicks out a lot of dogs that I have no problem with. There is another corp store closer to my home that puts out a lot of nice grooms and the groomers look happier there also. It is not all the groomers fault for the reputation that a lot of the corp stores have, it is management. So let your pictures show that it does not matter where you learned or work, it is the job that YOU do.
Sorry for the ramble. This kind of stuff ticks me off when a good groomer can't find a nice place to work.
Lisa, MFF
I am the same way..I'm right handed but have always scissored w/ my right hand...I don't think I could switch with sucsess but I have no desire to scissor w/ my left hand...I am enjoying reading your blog! Sherry
ReplyDeleteHi Sherry,
DeleteI am still trying to scissor left handed, but my hand gets tired so fast.:(
Thanks for reading my blog. I am glad you like it. :)
Lisa, MFF
I am a lefty as well and it was so hard to find thinning shears for my grooming kit :/ it's also a bit pricey but I find that ryans pets supply has the biggest selection of leftys that i've found and even then there's not much of a selection :/ When a grooming guy came to my class he told me that I made the wrong choice being left handed in grooming school...what the heck. I can use right handed scissors on my left hand but have to alter my hands upside down.. if that makes sense :) I hope it's not weird that I'm commenting on all your old posts either i've had a couple days off and i've been reading your entire blog. I love your attitude and the way you goom and i'm still a trainee groomer. (where i work you have to complete 100 dogs before becomming certified, after a month of academy) I just finished up my month! you've inspired me so much!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Joanna,
DeleteCongratulations! I am glad that I could help. I understand about being left handed. I meet more and more people who are left handed these days. (When I was younger I only knew one other person that was left handed) You would think that someone would make a really good lefty scissor without charging us an arm and a leg for it. I tried a pair of left handed thinning shears at an expo one time. They felt really nice in my hand but where so expensive that I walked away. I can't remember who had them.
Again congratulations on finishing your 100 dogs.
Lisa, MFF