Crazy

Sorry I didn't post any Tuesday Tip or Test this week.

It has been crazy and weird the last two weeks.

There must be something in the air.

Some of my customers have been really ....weird lately.

I don't know how else to describe it.

They are forgetting appointments ,even after being reminded the day before and saying okay.

For the past five or six years, I can't remember anymore, we have been sending out letters for scheduling for the coming year.

We have been getting calls from long time customers with questions about the letter.

Really strange questions that don't make sense, like they have never seen this form before.

Those are just fairly little things.

The weirdest thing was three customers that I have had come in the last few days.

I have had a number of new customers in the past couple of months.

About half are customers belonging to the groomer that is out on maternity leave, and just needs me to groom her dogs till she gets back.

The other half are customers that have been recommended to me or have seen my website.

I am afraid that I have to say, I will be happy when the other groomer starts back to work again, because some of her customers are just....I don't no....strange??

Don't get me wrong, most of them have been very nice and are very appreciative of me grooming their dogs while their regular groomer can't.

It's just that a few of them have been way over the top. 

I had one lady that was very nice, but I had to spend almost half an hour reassuring her that I was not going to kill her dog.

I think that if someone had come up behind her and said 'Boo', or if a dog had chosen right then to squeal about a nail or having it's ears plucked, she would have run out the door.

I am pretty good at making people feel relaxed about leaving their dogs with me, but this lady took extra time to say the least.

She was very happy with the groom....thankfully.

Many of the customers belonging to the other groomer have made a point of telling me that they where only coming to me till the other groomer comes back from maternity leave.

That's okay.

It's nice to see loyal customers.

I can only hope that mine would feel the same way.

But, the last few of this groomers customers that I have done this week truly made me feel like I was going insane.

The first customer came in with her 13 year old Westie.

A very nice dog with a really nice coat.

As the customer filled out the information form, I held the dog.

He was a happy, kissy dog.

His owner told me about his medical issues, and I reassured her that I would have the dog out as quickly as possible.

Then she asked to say goodbye to the dog.

I put it up on the counter.

She grabbed him and started hugging him and rubbing his face, and saying over and over and over again, looking like she was going the cry I might add.

"I am sorry."

"I am so sorry."

"I am sorry."

"I am sooo sorry."

I mean really....I lost count of how many times she keep hugging and putting the dogs face in her face, saying the same thing over and over.

All I could do was just stand there.

I had to check and make sure that my mouth was not hanging open.

This dog was 13 years old.

It has been getting groomed for 13 years...right?

She has left it before...right?

Then, while still hugging the dog, she looked accusingly up at me.

"He is shaking."

"Why is he shaking?"

Really lady?

"He is feeding off of you," I explained.

"He can tell that you are nervous and worried about leaving him."

"Ohhh, should I stay with him?" she asked, startled.

I felt like looking around to see if someone was punking me.

"No, no I mean that he is shaking because he can tell that you are worried," I explained as quickly as I could.

"Once you leave he will be fine," I finished.

After another hug, she reluctantly let me take the dog from her.

I have had people worried about leaving dogs before over the years, but never like this.

This owner really looked like she was going to have a break down.

I almost didn't want her to leave the dog.

I have no problem with her going back to her groomer.

I had him back to her in a little over an hour.

I was not keeping him there any longer than I had to.

She still did not smile when she was picking up the dog.

She did not say one way or the other whether she liked the cut or not.

At least the dog was happy.

He was wagging his tail and playfully dancing all over the lobby.

As the Westie was leaving, my 1pm appointment showed up.

Yep, you guessed it.

Another new customer belonging to the other groomer.

A creme colored miniature Poodle.

The first thing the owner told me was, that he was the other groomers customer, and thanked me for giving him an appointment while his groomer was on maternity leave.

Okay, we seemed to be off to a good start.

Right???

While he filled out the information form, I picked up his dog.

She was a very sweet Poodle.

"I see that Dad does not like you to look like a Poodle," I teased the dog.

"How do you know that?" the owner stopped filling out the form, and looked at me with a confused look on his face.

"Can you tell by the way I look?" he asked.

"Uh, no, I can see that he is not cut like a Poodle," I told him.

I continued to pet and talk to the Poodle while he finished filling out the form.

Once he was done with the form I asked him how he wanted the dog cut.

"Our groomer cuts her every 10 weeks, so cut her so she will last 10 weeks," he told me.

"She is also very aggressive," he added.

"Who! Her!" I said in shock, before I could stop myself.

I was getting absolutely no bad vibes off of this dog.

"Yes, she can be aggressive," the owner said.

"Don't worry, I have very low expectations," he added.

Excuse me!

Don't worry, I said it to myself this time.

"I am sorry?" I said instead.

I must have miss understood.

"Don't worry, I won't be upset if you can't do the whole cut."

"I have very low expectations," he repeated again.

"I don't think that I will have any problem with her, I think she will be fine," I tried to reassure him.

"Don't worry, my expectations are low," he smiled.

OMG mister will you please stop saying that!

Once again, someone must be punking me.

"I don't know how our groomer does it, but she gets her clipped," he told me.

"So don't worry if you have to call me because you can't do her."

"Just call my number if you need me," he said, as he started to walk out the door.

"I just don't know how our groomer gets her done," were his last words as he walked out the door.

Once again, I just stood there looking at the door.

Okay, I don't think I want to do anymore of this groomers dogs.

So I groomed her.

I gave her a bath.

I dried her with the HV.

I fluffed her up.

I clipped her down with the #4F blade.

No poodle feet.

Very short topknot.

Very short ears.

I clipped her nails.

I plucked her ears.

She was wonderful!

She did not mind me doing anything.

She never once so much as lifted a lip.

Was the owner happy?

He seemed annoyed.

He did not believe that the dog was good.

He seemed upset when he left.

I let it bother me.

I let both of these people bother me.

I could not help it.

I have gotten pretty good at not letting customers bother me.

But, these people...

I don't like doing other groomers dogs.

Does that make me bad?

I don't need this.

I have my own nutty customers.

Not quite that nutty though.

Then to top it all off....

Oh, you thought I was done didn't you?

Nope, today was a new day....and another new customer.

This was a new customer for me.

She was nice.

The dog was a very nice Lhasa/Poo

Everything went well with the check-in.

Then she asked me a question right before she left the dog.

"Will you trim things if I want them shorter?" she asked me with a big smile on her face.

"Sure." I told her, as little warning flags started dancing in my head.

This should be easy.

She told me what blade she wanted used on the dog.

She told me how she wanted the face and ears done.

The dog was very good.

I clipped it with a #4F blade.

I scissored the ears short.

I scissored the face very short and tight like she wanted.

I trimmed the tail.

The owner came in to pick up her dog, and....I was transported back to Grooming School.

She stood the dog on the counter.

She checked his face.

She checked his belly.

She checked his legs, plucking at the hair to see if there were any long pieces of hair left on the hocks and elbows.

She asked me to trim a little more over the eyes.

I had clipped the top of the head with a #4f blade and scissored it.

There was not much left on the head to trim....but I did...as she watched...right there on the lobby counter.

Did I pass?

I guess, she said she was happy.

Guess what?

No, I don't have another customer story.

At least not right now.

It's only Thursday.

I have two more days left in the week.

Happy Grooming, MFF

Wet Shaving vs Dry Clipping

I don't do very much wet shaving.

I am not really crazy about it.

I have always thought that I save more coat on a dog by bathing and drying it first.

Sometimes I get a dog that is so overgrown and matted that I decide to do a wet shave.

I had one in like that last week.

This guy came in last week.

It is the second time that I have groomed him.

I knew that I had groomed him before, and I remembered that he had been matted the first time that I groomed him also.

I clipped him after the bath the first time that I clipped him.

This time I decided to Wet Shave him.

 I put him in the tub and got him good a soapy.

Then I placed him on my drying table to clip.

I used my corded clippers plugged into a GFCI outlet.

As with any matted dog, I start out with the longest blade that I think will safely go through the coat, and work my way down till I get the right blade. 

I started out getting a 3 3/4  blade through most of the body, but had to go to a #5F blade down the legs, around the neck, chest and face.

After clipping most of the coat off, I put the dog back in tub to rinse off the shampoo and bathe him again with a Medicated shampoo.

He had a couple of places that were a little red and sore under the mats.

 I also left hair on his feet, tail, ears, and head to see if I could save anything after it was blown dry and HVed away from the skin.

I finished him up with the #4F blade.

Most of his face had to be clipped off with the #4F blade also.

I was able to use a 5/8HT blade on his ears.

I had to scissor a little more then half the hair off of the tail and de-mat the rest.

I can't stand the look of a shaved rats tail.  :)

I have a video on YouTube of me Wet Shaving this dog if you are interested in watching it.

Now, when this dog came in the first time for a grooming, he was longer and matted even worse than this time.

This was the same dog as above 5 months ago.

He was definitely in worse shape back in April.

 Every bit of him was one big mat.

I thought about wet shaving him back in April also, but I was curious to see how far I could get the mat away from his skin.

I did not wet shave the dog that time.

I bathed him just like you see him now.

I HV dried him straight from the tub, blowing the mats as far from the skin as I could. 

 I only concentrated on drying the coat between the skin and mat.

I did not completely dry the mats.

I dried them only enough to loosen them.

I was able to get a 5/8HT blade through the coat, legs and all.

So, which way of clipping did I like better?

Most definitely, clipping the mat after the bath.

Yep, that is what I said.

I think that it leaves a much nicer finish.

Even if I had clipped him with a #4F instead of a 5/8HT blade, he still would have looked nicer than the Wet Shave finish.

 

 I average about one to two wet shaves a year.

I don't think it will ever be more than that.

I personally prefer clipping mats off after the bath.

I truly feel that I can save more coat that way.

I hear you.

Stop yelling at your computer.

Yes, the owner does not deserve to have any of the dogs coat saved.

Well, I don't groom for the owner.

I groom for the dog, and I did not expect this new customer to wait 5 months before she brought the dog in again.

Even though a dog may come in very matted, I still want the dog to look good and cute when it goes home.

I don't like to send dogs home looking like skinned rats.

If a dog keeps coming in matted, and I can not get the owner on a regular grooming schedule, I am not going to kill myself trying to save some coat, but at the same time, I will not skin the dog if I can help it.

This dogs owner booked an appointment for 8 weeks.

I told her that she should keep the appointment even if the dog does not grow out much in 8 weeks, and she thinks that he does not need it.

I told the owner that she should bring him in anyway, even if it is only for a bath and trim.

We will see.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

What an Idiot

ME!

I am talking about me.

I was the idiot yesterday.

Let me just say, even us seasoned groomers mess up sometimes, and do things that we know better.

Let me give you a little grooming history first.

When I went to grooming school we were not taught how to dematt a dog.

As a matter of fact, 90% of the dogs groomed at the school I went to were clipped with a #7 blade or shorter.

Even the dogs we tested on.

There was nothing like taking a test on a Springer, or Poodle, or Cocker, putting the style clip on the dog, doing all of the scissoring, get graded, and then have to shave that same dog down before it went home.

We were not allowed to let a dog go out with a style clip unless the customer had asked for it and was paying for it.

The owners were not to know that their dog  was at a grooming school, or that a student was grooming their dog.

We were also not allowed to have any contact with the customers.

So, because almost every dog was shaved down, I didn't have to deal with dematting until I left school.

Boy, was that a rude awakening.

Now I had customers coming in wanting me to get the mats out of their dogs, or claiming that their dog was not matted and wanted their dogs left long.

I was not taught how to demat, much less taught how to say 'no'.

If only I had a dollar for all of the times I stood in the grooming room, in tears, trying to figure out how to get the mats out of the dog.

There was no internet then.

There was no one to ask.

I had to figure out how to demat on my own, and I did.

I got really good at it.

I got really fast at it also.

I tried different tricks to make dematting go faster and not hurt the dog.

It took me years to learn how to say 'no'.

I have gotten very good at telling people right up front that their dog is too matted and needs to be shaved.

Yes, I have lost a few customers over this.

I had one walk right back out the door because I refused to bathe the dog with the mats and give it back to them that way.

That dog was a Newfie mix that was so tightly matted that the mats felt like rocks.

Another customer that I lost was a small Yorkie.

The first time the dog came in it was a puppy whose entire body was matted.

The owners do not want the dog shaved no matter what.

They had been brushing the dog, but only the top part of the coat.

So I gave them the benefit of the doubt and dematted the puppy.

With Best Shot Shampoo and Conditioner I was able to demat the puppy fairly easily.

Although, I did not tell the owner it was easy for me.

I showed them the correct way to brush their dog, sold them a brush, and told them if the dog was matted like that again it would have to be clipped.

They came in three more times.

The first time there were only a couple of mats, and you could tell they were trying.

I did the 5 minute demat.

The second time the dog was about 40% matted, and the owner had excuses for not brushing the dog as much.

Again I dematted the dog, and told them that I would not demat it the next time.

The last time the dog came in matted all over just like the very first time I dematted her.

I clipped her with a #5f blade.

Yes, I told them before I did it.

I always tell an owner first.

I never just shave them down.

The owners were pissed.

I never saw them again.

I had made a mistake dematting the dog the first time.

They saw no reason why I could not demat the dog every time.

Lesson learned.

Now I no longer do large demat jobs.

Notice I said 'large demat jobs'.

I still like the challenge of saving ears and tails.

I also don't mind saving legs sometimes, if I feel that the mat is not that bad.

It drives my daughter crazy.

I actually like dematting, if the dog does not mind it.

As I said before it is a challenge for me.

It actually makes me feel good when I can save a coat, and not have to make a dog look skinned.

But, I have learned to control myself and only demat dogs that are not unreasonably matted...

Until yesterday.

Yesterday I had a OES come in for the third time.

The very first time that the dog came in, it came into the Self-Serve.

The owner was bathing it herself and asked me if she was doing a good job brushing the dog.

Actually she was.

The dog was in full coat and only had mats behind its ears and some dead coat stuck in its legs and chest.

A quick brush with a good slicker brush and all of the dead coat was out.

I showed her the correct way to brush the dog, getting all of the way down to the skin.

A few months later she made an appointment for the dog to have a full grooming.

Once again the dog had some mats, but 80% of the dog was mat free.

So I dematted the dog and hand scissored half off of the dog.

That was 5 months ago.

The dog came in yesterday.

His owner wanted a bath and trim.

She knew he was matted but did not want him clipped.

He was matted on his chest, behind his ears, and all four legs.

On top of that, she had given him a bath even tough I had told her to never bath the dog without getting a comb through the coat first.

My husband brought the dog back for me to check.

That is when I turned into an idiot.

I said okay to a Bath and Trim.

I did tell her that there would be a demat charge.

I don't no!

I don't know why I told her I would demat the dog.

Maybe because the dogs body was mat free.

Maybe because I knew that the dog was really good about dematting.

Maybe I just lost my mind for a few minutes.

My husband kept asking me, 'are you sure?'

I could hear the little voice in my head saying 'what the he** are you doing?'

I could hear my daughter saying 'why are you dematting that dog Mom!'

Then my husband came back in the grooming room and told me one of the worst things he could have.

He had told the owner that I would demat the dog.

The owner told my husband that they had clipped the dog down themselves at the beginning of the summer and did not think that the short hair needed to be brushed.

The owner told him that the dog was only matted a little around her neck, and a little bit on her legs.

She also told him, 'she (meaning me) dematted her for me before.'

Once again I have created a monster.

A customer that knows I can get the mat out, and has slacked up on brushing the dog herself.

It took me 3 hours to groom the dog from start to finish.

I was pissed at myself the whole time.

Not at the dog.

Not at the owner.

At ME!

Me! 

I knew better.

The inside of the back legs were so matted that I took a #5F to them.

I clipped the inside of both back legs 3/4 of the way down.

As a matter of fact, I clipped all of the matting that was very tight, and did not loosen up with the shampoo, creme rinse, and HV drying.

The green arrows are everywhere that I shaved off tight mat with a #5F balde.

I did have to use a #10 blade directly behind the ears and the belly.

Three hours for a groom that should have taken an hour.

She was wonderful!

This dog does not mind being brushed at all.

There is no reason for her to be matted.

Most of the mat came out fairly easily, it just takes time.

No reason why the owner can't do the same.

We told the owner that if the dog came in like this again, it will have to be shaved.

My daughter wanted to get that in writing.

By Me!

She wanted me to write down that I would never dematt that dog again.

She knows me so well.

The owner made an appointment for 8 weeks.

We'll see.

I'll try not to be an idiot again.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF