What a Day

I had to pick up a dog today.

This guy was waiting for me when I got to work.

He is a new customer.

He is 17 years old.

He was sent home from Pet***t a couple of weeks ago unfinished.

They said he was stressed out, and sent him home.

All they did was clip his body.

No bath, nails, ears, or finish clip.

Seventeen years old.

Is this my payback for taking a long weekend?

 

I personally think that if the groomer had bathed the dog first instead of fighting a blade through a dirty coat full of undercoat, he may not have gotten stressed.

I let him lay down for the bath.

I also kept the sprayer on with warm water aimed at him for the entire bath to help keep him warm.

The other groomer did a pretty good rough clip.

His owner wanted him very short.

He really perked up after the bath.

It feels good to be clean no matter how old you are.  :)

   I ran a #7f over him, and blended his head and ears with a #5f blade.

Then scissored up his tail, which he was not crazy about at all.

I have a feeling he was pretty spunky in his younger days.

You would think that one elderly dog a day was enough, right?

Nope.

Thought that I would groom another 17 year old dog.

I have been grooming this little lady for all of her 17 years.

She is still a doll, but she is so bony now that I can hardly run a blade over her body.

Why is it when dog goes blind they want to walk all over your table.

You would think that they would be too scared of falling and stand still.

I do the best I can.

She also does not like her face fooled with anymore.

Not to sound morbid, but as long as they stay alive for the grooming, I am happy.

I get them back home as quick as I can.

You would think that two 17 year old dogs would be enough for one day, right?

Nope, again.

This one is 15 years old.

This one was not on the books today, but Mom said she was.

I had had a cancellation, sick owner, so instead of arguing with the owner about not having her on the books, I took her.

The picture is blurry because this little lady never stops moving.

Even when you are holding her.

Three elderly dogs before noon.

Can I go home now?

Nope!

Another new customer.

This one came in with another dog that looked just like her.

He was very sweet.

I gave him to my daughter to groom.

I groomed this one.

I was getting a vibe off of her, and her owner for that matter.

Her Mom was singing her praises just a little too much.

I could tell that the dog was very nervous.

Oh, and Dad, very firmly, told me not to 'cut her like a poodle'.

As you can see they already did some cutting on her themselves.

This picture is of her after the bath.

I was going to take a before the bath picture, but she turned out to be kennel shy, and by the time I got her out of the kennel I had forgotten all about the picture.  :/

She was terrified of everything.

The water.

The towel.

The dryer.

The clippers.

Luckily, all you had to do was let her sniff things, combs, brush, clippers, scissors, and she would calm down.

A lot of baby talk helped a lot too.

She did start to bite when I was scissoring her feet, but I talked her through it.

I also saved her nails and ears for last.

She even surprised me by being very good as I talked to her while doing them.

Mom couldn't believe that they were so good for us.

I don't know why...she told me they were good.  :/

If your dog is a biter, tell me before I groom them!

Oh, she doesn't look like a Poodle, does she?

 I didn't take a picture of my next two dogs.

They were regulars.

Good and easy regulars.

I finished my day with this little guy.

Should be easy, right?

Well, let's just say he is getting better...for the finish anyway.

We are still working on the bath and blow dry.  :)

He has gotten much, much better for the finish.

Don't say boo to him.

Remember the cartoons where the cat is hanging from the light fixture with all of his hair sticking up on end?

That would be this little guy if you make a loud noise.

No old dogs tomorrow.

At least I don't think so.

I don't look at what is coming in the next day.

Although I do know that I have a 17 year old Boarder Collie coming in Saturday.

I think I feel a cold coming on.

Oh darn, I forgot, I don't get sick days.

Happy Grooming, MFF