31 Days Till Vacation!

I am not really counting down the days, because I really love grooming, but after days like today, I can't wait to go to the beach.

The morning seemed to be going pretty good when we pulled up to the shop 15 minutes early.

No rushing around to get ready for the day.

Then it started.

One of our 8am appointments pulled up at 7:50.

We still had the CLOSED sign out and the light in the lobby was still off.

Did they wait till 8am to come in?

Did they wait till I turned the sign around?

Did they wait till I turned on the lobby lights?

Hahahahaha...NO!

She is a nice customer, but she was totally oblivious to the fact that we weren't open yet.

The closed sign and lights out must not have been enough of a clue.  :/

That was only the beginning.

Almost all of my early appointments wanted or needed their dogs back asap.

On top of that, my 1pm appointment, a very large Cocker that can not stand, and that I try to get back out as quickly as possible, came in an hour early.  :p

Thankfully everything went smoothly, and I got everyone out on time.

I also managed to find a little time to clean up my grooming area.

I don't know about other groomers out there, but my area starts out really nice and organized... 

This was 8 months ago.

 ...then over time it becomes a mess.

My  tool draw become a total mess.

The top of my dresser becomes an even bigger mess.

The hair is mat that I was saving.

It was off of a very matted Yorkie that I groomed Saturday.

When I have a dog that is so matted that it causes sores, I take pictures and hold on to the mat for a few days.

Yes, some times I leave it sitting on top of the dresser.

I straightened things out today.

I have determined that I have too much stuff.

I will say that I do use all of it.

~The Happy Hoodie on top of the Ear powder bottle.

~The toilet paper to clean out and dry runny eyes.

~The hairspray for limp topknots.

~The mineral oil for cleaning out ear mites.

I use everything on the top of my dresser.

After 26 years of grooming, I will admit that I have collected A LOT of tools.

I do use all of the tools in this drawer.

I am not going to show you the other drawer that is full of tools that I have bought, tried and did not like.

I don't like to think about all of the money I have spent on that stuff.

Especially the $100 dollar shears I bought on someones high recommendation.

Unfortunately they just sit there and collect dust.

I would love to organize a large groomer yard sale one day, to buy and swap tools with other groomers in the area.

I am just not sure how that would go over.

Anyway, it is amazing how good it feels to get your tools in order.

I know that some groomers would say 'why don't you just straighten up after you finish everyday?'

I do start out doing that, really I do, it just slowly seems to get out of control.

Some days I look at my dresser after a very long day, and say I'll straighten up tomorrow morning before I get started.

Then tomorrow morning comes, and your first two dogs are waiting for you, and you promise yourself that you will straighten up when you finish today...not.

I know, I am making excuses.

My daughters dresser looks nice all of the time.

Don't people like that drive you crazy?  :)

Well, at least my dresser will stay nice for a little while before it turns messy again. :)

One other thing before I go.

We had one new customer today.

A little Yorkiepoo.

 I was so surprised to see all of the tight curls on this dog.

All of the other Yorkiepoo's that we groom have wavy hair.

Isn't he adorable?

Look at those curls.

I think if he were mine, I would actually let him air dry, and keep him curly.

It turned out that the owner HATES the curly hair.

She hates the hair in general.

She has always had Beagles.

She hates having to get the dog groomed.

 She wanted everything shaved off.

So my daughter shaved him with a #7f, everything off.

The owner wanted the cut to last till winter.

Why is it that the people who own the dogs with the nice coats want them shaved?  :(

31 days till vacation.  :)

Remember to take some time for yourself during this busy grooming season.

Happy Grooming, MFF

Tuesday's tip # 25 Removing Ticks

**NOTE**
 This post has been updated and a few corrections made.
One of the most important corrections is a warning not to squeeze a tick while trying to remove it. 



Thanks to a lot of the topical flea and tick spot-on treatments, I don't see very many ticks on dogs anymore.

If we find one, it is usually in the tub once the dog is wet.

If we miss one in the tub, the HV will defiantly find them.

Most of the ticks that we find are the common Brown Dog Tick, or the American Dog Tick.

Sometimes they are already dead or close to it, because of the spot-on treatment, and can be picked off very easily.

Other ticks may have recently attached themselves, and can also be removed fairly easily with the aid of a tick removal tool.

When bathing a Shih-Tzu the other day, my son found this female tick, engorged with blood.

This was the first time he had seen a female tick that was as big as this one.

She was so full of blood, she was just about ready to fall off.

I told him to lift her up and see if the male tick was still under her.

Sure enough, there he was.

If you come across a female tick, there will almost always be a male under her. 

A female American, Brown, and Deer Tick will change size and color as she feeds and becomes engorged.

This is a female, American Dog Tick that is fully engorged on blood.

The brown and tan shield, just above her mouth, gives her away as a American Dog Tick.

The female Brown Dog Tick has a solid black shield, with a short mouth.

The female Deer Tick also has a solid black shield, but has a longer mouth.

The length of the mouth is one of the only ways you can tell a female Brown Dog Tick and Deer Tick apart when they are engorged.

Before removing a tick, I like to soak a cotton ball with alcohol and hold it on top of the tick for a few minutes.

Sometimes the alcohol makes the tick loosen its grip, and helps you to remove the tick a little more easily.

If you have no tick removal tool to remove the tick, get your fingers as close to the ticks mouth and the dogs skin as possible.

Slowly twist the ticks head, as close to the mouth as possible, to bend and help release the spikes holding on to the dogs skin, being very careful not to squeeze the ticks body.

Squeezing the ticks body can cause more of the ticks saliva and/or stomach contents into the dogs blood stream.

If you do not have a tick removal tool and are not able to remove the tick with your fingers without the chance of squeezing the tick, try this trick.

Place some dish detergent on a cotton ball, place the cotton ball (with the dish detergent) directly on the tick.
Slowly move the cotton ball back and forth across the tick until the tick releases its hold and comes off in the cotton ball. 

Clean the bite area well.

If you are unable, or do not feel comfortable removing the tick yourself, see your groomer or Vet.  

The female has been feeding for a while, and has caused a sore to develop.

Repeat the removal process with the male tick.

(The female tick looked similar to the male before she started feeding.)

This ticks back is tan and black.

It is an American Dog Tick.

These ticks can carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

They do not carry Lyme disease.

 Both ticks have left a sore.

I clean the sores with Peroxide.

*Tips: ~Always tell an owner when you have removed a tick of from their dog.

~Show them the spot if you can.

~If you think the tick could possibly be a Deer Tick, scotch tape it to an index card, and give it to the owner so that they can check with their Vet.

~Let them know that the sore will develop a scab, and most times a very large scab.

~Also let them know that the scab may be there for a few weeks before it falls off.

Before the spot-on treatments, I used to get dogs in that were covered with ticks.

When I used to clip before the bath, I would be clipping a dog and suddenly panic because I saw blood.

Let me tell you, it was no fun when your blade hit one of those engorged female ticks.

Talk about nasty and bloody.

I also had a Shepherd puppy come in once covered in ticks.

When I say covered, I mean covered.

You could not even count all of them.

We even found about 30 baby ticks in the webbing between each of his toes.

We found out later that the owner was keeping the puppy out in his wood shed.

Ugh!

One other thing, when my white St. Poodle was around a year old, she rolled over for me to scratch her belly and I found a perfectly round bulls eye mark on the inside of her thigh.

There was no tick, just the bulls eye.

I took her straight to my Vet and he confirmed my fears about a Deer Tick bite.

He said it was a text book Deer Tick bulls eye.

He also said that it was the first time that he has seen one so clear and perfectly formed on a dog.

He had all of his Techs come in and have a look.

Thankfully I found it in time.

So, whenever I find something similar on a dog, I tell the owner to have the dog tested for Lyme.

It is always better to be safe then sorry.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

Almost...

I almost goofed up last week.

I tend to get into a zone when I am grooming.

My family has to ask me questions a couple of times before I realize that they are talking to me.

Not all of time time, just some of the time.

I am not that far gone yet.  :)

Last week, while I was grooming a Cock-a-poo, I decided that I needed to give myself a heart attack.

Well, I didn't purposely decide to give myself a heart attack, I just was not paying attention to what I was doing.  :(

I get so caught up in my routine sometimes, that I am working on autopilot.

This can be dangerous for a groomer.

If I get too caught up in my routine, I tend to make mistakes.

They are only small mistakes, but mistakes all the same.

What kind of mistakes?

Usually special instructions.

Like, no cologne, don't clip the belly, don't pluck ears, leave eyelashes, leave hair on the penis.

I am so used to routinely grooming these areas, that when asked not to, I have to really make an effort to remember.

Like, 'Leave hair on the penis', I have made that mistake a few times.

I am obsessed with cleaning that area on a dog.

I can't stand a  hairy, messy, smelly sanitary area.

I don't clip it on purpose, if the owner wants the hair left, it is just so second nature to clip that area clean.

I was at a seminar once at Intergroom, the seminar was about putting the pattern on a Cocker.

As the speaker was clipping the face, she asked how many groomers in the audience had had customers ask to keep the eyelashes.

Just about every groomer in the room raised their hand.

It became the topic of conversation for a few minutes.

Most groomers agreed that they hated leaving the eyelashes on a Cocker.

One groomer said that she always cut them off, even if the owner wanted them.

She would just tell them that she forgot.

I was really surprised at the number of groomers that agreed with her and thought that that was a good idea.

I have never purposely done something against an owners wishes.

Believe me, there have been times that I would like to, but my feelings are, that they are paying me, and they are the ones who live with the dog, not me.

Of course that hasn't stopped me from trying to talk them out of some of the things they ask for.  :/

The Cock-a-poo's owner likes to leave the eyelashes long.

After bathing and blow drying, I read the dogs file to remind myself of the exact cut that I am supposed to be doing.

I had it marked in several places about leaving the eyelashes long.

And, in capital letters too!

I clipped and scissored one side of the body, and then started working on the head.

I brushed out the head and face again, and then combed all of his hair forward on the head.

Then I picked up my scissors and cut across the front of the eyes.

Then I did a second cut.

THEN, I had a heart attack.

His head was so thick and full that you couldn't even see the eyes much less the eyelashes.

I panicked for about 5 seconds, and took my hand and pushed the hair back from his eyes.

'Thank you Lord', they were still there!

Somehow I had missed cutting them.

Thank you, thank you.

I am sorry, but I don't have any desire to go up and tell a customer that I screwed up, and I am certainly not going to screw up on purpose.

Besides, I have already experienced a customer 'go off the deep end' because I accidentally cut off the eyelashes.

I left them.

They are hanging in the dogs eyes, but that is what the owner wants.

I will admit that I did cut just a few eyelashes right at the top, inner corner of the eyes.

Just enough to open the eye a little, but so that the owner couldn't tell.  :)

Routine while grooming is a good thing, but at the same time, you have to always stay sharp and pay attention to what you are doing.

I know that some people enjoy a good adrenaline rush, but I am not one of them, and certainly not while I am grooming.

Happy Grooming, MFF

No Poodle Look

Why?

Why is that the first thing out of the mouths of so many of my customers.

"Don't make him/her look like a Poodle!"

I can understand if they have a Poodle and don't want the clean feet and face, but  I get that comment on breeds that I couldn't make look like a Poodle if I tried.

I know that I am probably not the right person to talk about this.

I own 4 Poodles, and I love the Poodle look.

I think the problem is, that most people think of the show clips and the pom pom clip that they see Poodles in.

Or they have seen Poodles like this Model dog, with big puffy heads, and poms on their tails.

People don't understand, that if I was cutting their dog to look like this or like the picture above, it would cost them mega bucks.

 Today I had a Standard Poodle in that belongs to a long time customer.

This is her third dog.

I have groomed all three.

The first one was a short haired LabX that lived to be 18.

I only groomed her the last few years of her life.

Her second dog was a Shep/SpanX, with medium length hair that lived well into her teens.

She always had the Shep/SpanX's feathering scissored up tight to the body.

I was a little surprised when she rescued the St. poodle.

She would not be used to the high maintenance.

I blogged about this Poodle a while back.

 Her owner wanted her face to grow out, no poodle feet, no pom on the tail, and she wanted her coat curly.

The curly coat thing did not last.

The face grew out to about 3" before she started to ask for the face to be cut a little shorter.

I had a feeling that the feet would be shaved eventually.

This owner was very used to having dogs with very short, shaved type faces and feet on her Lab and Shepard mixes.

I have to say that I was surprised when she first got the dog and told me that she did not want the dog to look like a poodle.

Every groomer knows how frustrating it is to make a Poodle NOT look like a Poodle.

No matter how a Poodle is cut, it will always look like the breed it is!

Even  with this little guy, who I saw groomed at one of Groom Expo's competitions a few years ago, you can tell is a Poodle.

The many looks of a Poodle:

 The Pom Pom cut.

The Town & Country cut.

The Bikini cut.

Whatever you want to call it, I have heard it called all of these cuts.

Body/Legs:  #4f, #5f, 7f, #10 can be used on the body.
*Tip: If you are using a long blade on the body, go one blade length shorter on the legs to help define the pom poms. Kind of like a reverse lamb. Make sure to blend the two lengths.

Pom Poms: Hand scissor round

 The Pet German cut:

Body: because this is the pet version, the body and legs were done like a Lamb cut. 3/4 blade on the body and scissor the legs to the desired length.
Ears/Tail: This is what gives the cut the German look. Ears off with a #4f, #5f, 7f, or #10. The ears pictured were clipped with a #4f blade.  The Tail was scissored, and blended into the body, tapering at the end.

A competition German cut.

Hand scissored by a very skilled groomer.

 A Lamb cut.

Body: any blade length.
Legs: usually two to three blade lengths longer than the body. Can be left longer and fuller if desired. Blending the legs, smoothly into the body gives the lamb look.

(This Poodle also had the German head and tail.)

The Retriever cut.

Body: #5f, #7f, or #10 blade. The shorter the blade the better the pattern looks.
Legs: Hand scissored full legs with sharp lines. Pattern set high on the shoulders and hips.

A Kennel cut.

Body/Legs: This is an even all over cut. Any blade can be used on the body and legs.


*This cut is also considered, by some groomers,  a short puppy cut.
**For me, this cut turns into a Puppy cut when any blade longer than a #4f blade is used.


Face: shaved clean with a #10 blade against the grain.

A Poodle face, short but not shaved.

Face: clipped with a #4f blade, against the grain, and scissored.

Tight, round face.

Face: skimmed with a #4f blade, with the grain, and scissored to shape.

Full, round face.

Face: Hand scissored full and round, in proportion with the body.

Schnauzer type face.

Top of Head:  #5f blade. Clip the top of the head and down the side of the face, leaving eyebrows and the beard. Blend into the top of the ears. Scissor eyebrows and beard to the desired length.

Poodle with no topknot.

Topknot, ears, and face clipped with a #4f blade.

Today that long time customer asked to try the Poodle cut this time.

She said that the face and feet were growing too fast.

She was still a little hesitant about 'The Poodle Look'.

I don't know about you, but the dog looked like a Poodle to me even when she had the fuller face and full feet.

This is what she looked like when I was finished with her today.

I say again....I like 'The Poodle Look'.

Happy Grooming, MFF

It Never Fails

When I first opened my shop, I had had a pretty good following of customers already, but not near enough to keep a shop afloat.

So, I would take everything and anything that called for an appointment.

I also got into the bad habit of taking walk-ins and same day appointments.

I quickly learned that every time I took a walk-in, it came back to bite me in the bu**.

~The dog was matted to the skin, and took forever to groom.

~The dog was a nut.

~The owner was a nut.

~The dog was a non-stop barker.

~The dog was a non-stop pooper.

~The owner would pick the dog up 30 minutes after closing.

Take your pick.

The walk-ins always turned out to have one of these problems...some had all of them.

It still took me a long time to stop taking the same day walk-ins or appointments.

When you are building a business, your desperate for all of the customers you can get.

After getting burned more times than I can count, I stopped taking same day appointments and walk-ins, and started to make them wait a day or two for an appointment.

That would bite me in the bu** sometimes also, because some people would not wait.

Every once in awhile I would still break down and take a same day appointment.

It would always bite me in the bu** one way or another.

So, you would think that after 26 years, I have learned my lesson and never take a same day appointment.

I have gotten better.

Really I have.

It's just that every ounce in a while I let the peoples sob stories get to me.

I did it today.

We were fully booked.

On top of that, we also had 3 very large jobs.

About 10 am a customer walked in with her dog...she was not on the books.

After checking the computer, we found the appointment she said that she made weeks ago.

It was for Saturday at 10 am.

"Oh, but I would not have made it for a Saturday when I am running around with my kids," she exclaimed.

"It was most likely the only appointment that we had open at the time," my husband told her.

"But  I am sure I would not have made it for Saturday!" she repeated.

"Well, we are booked up today. Can you bring him back on Saturday?" my husband asked her.

"You can't take him today?! I have a class in 20 minutes. There is no way I can take him home and get to my class on time. I am sure the appointment was today!" she rambled on and on.

Yes!

I took the dog.

Yes!

It bit us in the bu**!

He was a nice dog, but...

~He was matted to the skin. (we had not groomed him since Nov., although his owner insisted we had)

~He was a table dancer.

~He barked all day!

A high pitched bark that went right through your head, and made your ears ring.

Will I take a same day appointment again?

Me?!

I am sure I will.

Just come in and give me a good sob story.

I have sucker written all over my face.  :/

Oh one other thing before I go.

I had one of my regulars come in today.

She comes every five weeks.

Three weeks ago, she was attacked.

She lost her eye.

What attacked her?

A deer!

Yes, I said a deer.

It was a first for me.

Her owner said that the dog was out in their back yard when they heard screaming.

When they ran outside, they found their dog on the patio with a deer standing over top of her.

A deer!

Wow.

I live in the woods.

We have a herd of deer that hangout in the back of our property.

I haven't ever seen an aggressive deer.

Maybe this deer had a baby she thought she was protecting.

Poor little 'Sunshine'.

She is a very sweet Shih-tzu.

I am sorry this happened to her.

I will say, that it has not chanced her personality in the lest.

She is still as sweet as ever.

Happy Grooming, MFF