Another Batch of Before & After Pictures

Here is a collection of before and after pictures from a few days of work last week.

I have a really hard time getting pictures of my daughters dogs, because she has them in the tub or put away before I realize it.

Or, I take a before and forget to get an after, because she does not remind me.

She is like Mighty Mouse on speed.

She does not like to stop and wait for me to take a picture.  :/

I did manage to get a few of her dogs this week. :)

Enjoy.

This little guy gets a yellow clip comb (5/8") attachment and scissor.

Round head and face, scissor tight around the mouth.

 This little girl looks so happy after her groom.

She also gets a yellow clip comb (5/8") on her body and legs.

The owners like a full head,and full ears scissored 1/4" from the leather.

 This little lady had that fine, tacky kind of hair that shows every scissor mark, but Jess does a great job on her.

She get 5/8HT blade and scissor, with a proportioned round head and long ears.

Groomed by Jess.

This old guy gets a #3F blade and scissor, with a full face.

 This little girl couldn't look any more offended when you groom her, but she is a sweetheart.

She would rather be in your arms than on the table.

She gets all of her feathering hand scissored tight to her body to make her look even all over.

This guy comes in regularly and gets a clip comb (13mm) and scissor, with a round face and long ears.

 This guy gets a #5F on the body, #4F skim and scissor the top of the head.

Clip the sides of the head with the #4F and scissor muzzle tight and round, but not a clean face.

 This little lady has been dealing with some skin issues, and she was pretty matted for this grooming.

The breeder told them that she has skin issues because they give her too many haircuts.....Grrrr.

Jess was able to clip her with a 9mm clip comb, and scissor a round head and face with long ears.

This little girl absolutely refuses to look at the camera.  :)

Groomed by Jess.

This guys Mom tries so hard to keep him brushed out.

She always seems to miss the same areas.

The belly, the lower sides, the neck and the dogs cheeks.

The rest is brushed fairly well, so I always save him.

This time his ears where matted and even though I was able to demat them, I used the matting as an excuse to scissor the short Bichon ears.

He is hand scissored.

My Bichon heads are getting a little better. :)

 This Shih-tzu-want-to-be-a-Lhasa is owned by an owner that refuses to believe that he is matted.

He is always matted, just in various degrees.

I always demat him...bad me.

His Mom blow it this time.

He was a mop this time, as you can see in the before picture.

When she put him on my counter, I knew he was in bad shape without even having to touch him.

"He is pretty matted this time," I told her.

"He is not that bad, I don't want him short," she said in a very matter of fact voice.

She hit a nerve.

I think that it was the tone of voice that she used.

"Yes, he is," I said very firmly.

I immediately turned him towards her and parted the hair on his back hip and said, "he is so matted here that you can not even part the hair to see his skin."

I turned him again and grabbed the hair behind his ears and around his neck, "he is very tightly matted here also."

She started petting him and mumbled, "okay, but not too short."

"I am not sure how short we will have to take him," I told her. "It will depend on what blade I can safely get through the coat."

Again she looked at her dog and said to the dog, "why are you shaking?"

"Because every time time you bring him to me you want me to demat him. That makes him not like me and not want to come here. " 

"I am tired of being the bad guy in his eyes," I told her.

 

At least I think it was me.

I am not usually that forceful, but she pushed a button.

It turned out that he was scheduled on Jess.

She did a great job saving the legs and the long, full face that the owner likes.

Jess bathed him in Best Shot and Best Shot creme rinse.

She HVed the mats away from the skin.

He got a 5/8HT blade on the body, she skimmed the legs and scissored.

 I like this cut on this dog.

I think that it really shows off the brindle in his coat.

The owner said nothing when she picked him up.

He was too short for her.  :(

I thought that he looked great.

Groomed by Jess.

This girl gets the dead coat combed out and then all of the feathering hand scissored tight to the body.

This guy was a matted mess.

He is one mellow matted mess.

He thought that he would take a nap while I clipped him.

His hair is very thin.

I was able to get a #4F through the mats even though he looks like he was clipped with a #5F blade.

I finished off with a cute round face and head.

We used to do just a heavy trim on this guy, but his owners wanted him shorter and shorter.

He gets a clip comb (13mm) and scissor. :(

This little lady is so shy.

She gets a Lamb, #4F on the body, 5/8HT and scissor on the legs.

The owners like  long bangs over the eyes.

This guy comes in regularly and gets a 1/4" hand scissored off.

The owner likes the head and face scissored tight and round.

I wish that we could get them all to look happy.

Some just seem to have sad faces.

This guy got a #3F and scissor with a proportioned round head.

The ears are scissored to the leather and blended into the head.

This little girl has a lot of medical issues going on right now.

I have been grooming her for a very long time.

She is one of the sweetest Maltese that I have ever groomed.

She gets about a 1/4" hand scissored off,  and a long, full face.

I  have never trimmed the ears or the tail as per owner instructions.

This little, sweet guy is one of the most dangerous dogs that we groom.

He is not mean, or a biter.

He is a very happy wild man.

You can never take your hands off of him.

He is constant motion.

Which makes it very scary when clipping and scissoring him.

I don't remember how many pictures I took before I got a couple that were not blurred.

He gets a #4F with a proportioned head.

I just love this face.

I wish that they brought him in more often.

He got a #4F on the body and legs.

The head was skimmed with the #4F blade and scissored tight.

Trim up the ears.

Groomed by Jess.

This guy got a Puppy cut with a  5/8HT blade and scissor.

Full head in proportion with the body.

This guy got a #3F clip and scissor with a full round head.

I had to go back and fix his beard after I took this picture.

It is amazing the little mistakes that you see through the camera lens. :)

This 15 year old guy really needed a grooming.

He is blind and deaf, but very sweet.

I am sure that he felt much better after his groom.

Jess did a great job on him.

He was bathed with Best Shot and Best Shot creme rinse.

Most of the dead coat was HVed out.

All feathering was hand scissored tight to the body to make him look even all over.

There was one more dog that I wish that I had gotten before and after pictures of.

It was a Bichon and a new customer.

The husband brought the dog in.

It was a mess and dirty, but it was not very long, maybe about an inch and a half long on the body with a very full head.

I asked the husband what he wanted done on the dog.

"I don't know," he said, pacing back and fourth in my lobby.

"I asked my wife to come and talk to you but she said that she was going to take a nap," he continued, throwing his hands up in the air. "She said to cut her like a female Bichon...you would know."

A female Bichon????

Okie-dokie.

Since she wasn't very long, I fluffed her up and scissored about a 1/4" off.

She didn't have long ears, but they were not short like a Bichon either, so when she was almost done I had my husband call the wife with a pick-up time and ask her if she wanted the ears short like a Bichon.

"What ever the groomer thinks," was her answer.

So I made another attempt at a true Bichon head.

It turned out okay.

I wish I took some pictures.

I  also wish that I had a video on when I took the dog up to the owners.

Both wife and husband came in to pick up.

The wife loved the head, and the cut for that matter.

What happened next was priceless.

The wife was holding the dog when the husband reached over to rub the top of the head.

Before you could blink, the wife did something that I have been wanting to do for years.

Her hand flew out and she slapped her husband hard on the hand.

"DON'T TOUCH HER HEAD!!!! YOU'LL RUIN IT!!!!!" she yelled at him.

I couldn't help it...I burst out laughing.

That made my day. :-)

Happy Grooming, MFF