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.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Just For Fun

Sometimes an opportunity presents itself that you just can't pass up.

Well, that is my excuse and I am sticking to it.



 This little lady came in for her regular grooming yesterday.

They go a little long between groomings, so there always seems to be areas that the owner scissors on.

This time the owner had scissored up all around her mouth and put some holes in her legs from scissoring out mats.



I don't know....maybe it was because of all the Japanese grooming I have been looking at lately, but I instantly saw an opportunity to do something 'out of the box', and 'just for fun'.

So this is what I did....








She gets her face clipped with a #5F blade.

So that is what I did, only I did not clip out her cheeks, just her muzzle.








Then I rounded the rest of her face and head.

I would have loved to shorten up her ears and blend them into the her head and cheeks, but the owner only wanted about 1/2" off of her ears, so I could not play with them.










Then I gave her boots.







Hmmmmm...what do you think?

I think that she looks like she is wearing furry Ugg® boots.








I didn't have much time to play, so I didn't do a lot of scissoring.

Do you think that the owner liked my 'out of the box' grooming?


We will never know.....










....Because I cut it all off and gave her her regular groom. :)










 You didn't really think that I would give her to the owner looking like that, did you?

Her regular groom:

Body: #5F blade all over
Face/Head: #5F clean face, short, tight topknot
Ears: scissor 1/2" off
Tail: poodle tail with #15blade and pom
Feet: short, do not shave


✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂ 

7 comments:

  1. Hahahaha!! I do this all the time in the summer with the short shave downs that I have to do. Before I completely shave the dog down, I do a mohawk from the base of the head to the base of the tail....JUST FOR FUN! After I blow it all out, I'll shave the rest before the owner picks the dog up. Just something to do to lighten up the difficult days I have. A little fun can go a long way when you do what we do!! She looked cute in her boots!! Karen in Nj

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    1. Hi Karen,
      So nice to know that i am not the only one who does this. lol
      Lisa, MFF

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  2. Cute!!! I have a question, could you possibly give me some advice? We just adopted a cocker that I think might have some poodle, he has very thick, VERY curly hair. It looks like they tried to give him a lamb cut, but his legs are way too long and they bathed him when we picked him up and he has those corkscrew little mats in his legs, so I set up an appointment to have him groomed. I don't know what to ask for though! I know I want his ears left alone (they're short) but about the legs... I want them longer than shaved down summer clip, but not too long. Would I tell them a short lamb cut? I don't want to spend forever describing what I want and end up sounding like a picky jerk...

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  3. Hi Miss Marie,
    Congratulations on your new fur baby! :)

    Unfortunately, there may be no choice other than to have your new Cocker clipped short for the first groom. It really depends on how tight those mats are to your Cockers legs. It also depends on the groomer that you take him to. Some groomers feel mats and they automatically go for the really short blade because they do not know any other way.
    It is a little hard for me to give advice when I can't see and feel your dog. I always try to to get the longest blade possible through a matted dog.
    Maybe the groomer could get at least a 3 3/4 blade through the legs. They may be a little shorter than you want, but they will be plushy and grow back faster. It really comes down to the experience, education, and attitude of the groomer.
    One last thing...don't be afraid of being a 'picky jerk'. I would rather have a customer come in knowing exactly what they want even if they can't quite explain it exactly. I am usually pretty good at figuring out what they want.
    I would tell the groomer that you understand that the legs are matted, because the rescue bathed the dog without bruising it, but that you would like them to keep the hair on the legs at least (insert the length that you would like left) long. If that is not possible, use the longest blade possible in the airspace between the mats and skin. That way the groomer would at least know what you would like. A short Lamb cut is a good description as long as they understand that a Lamb cut means short on the body and longer on the legs. :) Some times a Lamb cut can mean something eles to groomers in another area of the United States.
    I am sorry. I feel like I am rambling, and not helping at all. Good Luck!
    Lisa, MFF

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    1. Thank you! I think I'll go with 'Short Lamb cut' then, the place has the best reputation around, so I think we'll be okay. At least the mats aren't the wide ones over the skin, they're like tendrils that are twisty-matted, if you know what I mean? I'm going to try and take the slicker to him while we're watching tv at night and start teasing them out, but I'm not sure how he is to brush yet and I don't want to rush him. He's such a doll! Our first cocker I did all the grooming myself and kept him in a full skirt for at least 5 years, I've decided I've put my time in and I'm going to pay someone for this guy :-D

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  4. I think if you gave the boots more of a "leg warmer" look it would be cute, so taper it a bit is the word? If you have seen gogo dancers, their leg warmers are really cute. Lemme try to draw.

    / \
    / \
    / \
    / \

    but not quite so drastic :p

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    1. Thanks Tong,
      I would have done some more scissoring if the owner had really wanted this cut, but since I was only playing, I didn't do much. :)
      Lisa, MFF

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