What Would You Do?

(Sorry that the first few pictures are messed up. I forgot to change my camera settings)

This little puppy was in for her third grooming today.

Her owner really likes the way that I have been grooming her. (a yellow wahl stainless steel clip comb and scissor to finish)

The last couple of days have been warm here and this puppy apparently does not like the heat.

Her owner said that she is always laying on the cool tile, and pulled her bed pad out of her kennel last night and laid down on the bare floor of the kennel.

I used to have a Shih-tzu that was the same way, always hot in the summer time (and winter for that matter), no matter how short I clipped him.

This dogs owner really did not want to take her dog any shorter, but she left it up to me.

She told me that it was okay to take her a little shorter if I thought that I should.

It is nice to know that my customers trust me, but I am not the one living with the dog.

What if they don't like what I decide?

So, What Would You Do?

I decided to do the same clip that the owners like....with one small difference.

I clipped off all of the hair on the under belly with a #5F blade.

I used the #5F blade, because the dogs hair is actually fairly thin and I felt the #5f would be close enough.

I clipped from between the front arms all of the way down.

I clipped the belly as usual with a #15 blade.

I also used the #5F blade to clip down the inside of the back legs.

Why did I do this?

By clipping the underbelly very close,  hopefully she will feel cooler when she lays down and her bare belly feels the cool floor.

This way the owners still gets the cut that they like, and hopefully the dog will feel cooler.

I will tell the owner what I did, and warn them that when their dog lays down and rolls over, they will see a bare belly.

After I shaved the under belly, I scissored to blend the side into what I clipped.

The left side is the side that I blended into the longer cut on the sides and the short cut on the belly.

I have not scissored the right side yet.

All done and watching out the window for her owner. :)

The owner was happy that I didn't take her shorter and understood what I was trying to do by shaving out her under belly.

We will see if that helps her. :)

This little puppy was also my happy grooming story today. :)

✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂

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Tuesdays Tip #51 Blending the head....

...on a Mix Breed (Border Collie/Span)

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Before I start the Tuesdays Tip, I have to share with you what happened this morning. 

At about 9am this morning I had just finished grooming me first dog and was in the middle of soaping up a 17 year old Maltese that I usually get back out asap.

I had just started rinsing off the first bath when all of the sudden my water pressure dropped to almost nothing.

At first I though that my nozzle was defective. 

Then I told my husband that I didn't have any water and to check and see what was going on.

 

He happened to look outside and see some county workers working in the manhole outside in the parking lot.

So he went out to see if they had done something.

Meanwhile I wrapped that poor Maltese in a towel to keep her warm.  

The county workers had shut off the water to change the meter.

You have got to be kidding!

No one notified us about this.

My husband came back in and told me that they said it would take an hour and a half to put the new meter in.

What!?

I had a dog in my arms that still had shampoo on her.

AND, she was 17 years old!

So, we started warming up water in a tea pot to warm up some bottled water that we had.

I soaped the dog up again with some warm shampoo and was starting to pour the warm gallon of water that we made up over her to rinse her off when one of the county workmen came into the shop.

They needed a special saw and would have to wait half an hour for it to get to the site.

They were going to turn the water back on for half an hour.

We had seven dogs in already, four still needed to be bathed.

We had half an hour before they turned the water off again for who knew how long.   

I had to finish the Maltese, so Jess and my two boys each grabbed a dog and started bathing. 

Jess put the Bichon that she was grooming away and got out my big guy to bathe.

She is the fastest bather so she did the big guy.  

My boys took two of the dogs back to our Self-Serve and washed them.

The saw got there sooner than half an hour.

They turned the water off again.

Luckily it didn't take as long as they said it would to put in the new meter.

We actually managed to stay on time today, even with the interruption. 

Hopefully the county will give some warning the next time.

Hopfully there won't be a next time. :) 

    

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Back to Tuesdays Tip.

Many times we have dogs come in that have long hair on their bodies, but the hair on their heads and face is naturally short.

Some dogs like Shepherd's, or Shepherd mixes have a coat type that changes color when the body is clipped.

I like to blend heads on those types of dogs so that the head keeps its natural color.

Like on this Shepherd that the owner wanted clipped.

I used a longer blade on the head and blended the head into the body to keep the heads pretty color.

On dogs that don't have a lighter undercoat, or are a solid color, you don't have to worry too much about turning another color after being clipped.

I still like to keep the head as natural as possible and blend it to the body.

This dog is being clipped with a #5F blade.

I start clipping the body a little below the back of the head.

I like to clip the body first and then go back to the head.

On this dog I clipped one side of the body and then moved back to the head before I turn him around for the other side.

I start with the top of the head.

I am using a #4F blade to clip the head and blend it into the body.

The hair just behind the eyes and towards the middle of the head is already about a #4F length.

That is where I start clipping with a very light touch. (broken line)

Then I increase my pressure as I move to the back of the head, (solid line) clipping down into the back of the neck.

Light touch to.....

....full pressure.

 I clip in the direction of the hair growth.

Then I move on to the side of the face.

Again starting with a light pressure just behind the eye.

I increase the pressure as I clip towards the cheek and neck.

  Then I clip under the chin, back to the neck.

I usually clip from the third whisker back unless the whole chin is hairy.

I don't usually clip the whiskers on the sides of the muzzle unless the owner asks me to.

I have had customers get upset when those whiskers are cut, so they must request it now. :)

I also clipped the outside of the ears with the #4F blade.

Then I lifted the ear and clipped under it, going in the direction of the hair growth under the ear.

This hair can grow in many different directions.

Then I clean up the inside of the ear leather with the #15 blade.

After the inside of the ear is cleaned up, I scissor under the ear to clean up and blend any stray hairs that the blade missed.

Then I scissor up around the edges of the ears.

The back of the head looks natural and blended with the rest of the body. (other than the collar indent)

He is a big (really big) sweetheart.

 If you are interested, this is the direction that I clipped his body.

Clipping on an angle, and not turning your blade too sharply helps to keep the cut smooth and not put any dig lines into the coat.

I like to blend off at the top of the front leg and scissor the feathering tight.

There may be some lines visible on some coats as you clip.

After I finish clipping, I take my hand and rub over the coat (like I am petting him) and most of the line disappear.

If you still have lines, back brush the coat and go over it again.

I hope that this was helpful to someone. :)

 ✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂  

Monday Makeover #12 Poodle Mix

This makeover is on a Poodle mix whose coat was left to grow over the winter.

The coat was in bad condition.

The matting was close to the skin.

The cheeks and ears were also very matted.

I was out of the Best Shot shampoo that I like to use for matted dogs, so I made a mixture of OatMella, Bright White, and The Stuff.

I did use Best Shot Ultra Max Conditioner on his coat.

I HV dried the mats away from her skin.

The mats were still tight, but I had been able to blow them far enough away from the skin to use a longer blade.

 I was able to get a #4F safely through most of the coat.

  I clipped the belly out with a #15 blade and used a #7F blade to skim off the rest of the matting that I was not able to get off with the #4F blade.

I did not use full pressure with the #7F blade if I did not have to.

Then I went over the body and legs with my scissors to even everything out.

 I had to use a #5F blade to cut out the large mats on the cheeks.

I lifted what good hair that I could up away from the mat before clipping it off.

That way I still had enough hair to scissor a round face.

 ✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂