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