Will This Day Ever End?

Actually, I should say, will this week ever end?

Believe me, I am very grateful to be so busy in February, but there are just some weeks and days that you can't wait to be over.

Today was one of those days.

It just seemed to go on and on and on.

I have had dreams of days like this.

Have you ever had one of those dreams?

If you are a groomer, you know the ones.

It is the dream where you get to work and all of the kennels are already full of dogs, they all have special times out.

You are running behind from the start.

Worst of all, every time a dog is picked and taken out of the kennel, another dog magically fills that kennel again.

The kennels are never empty.

You keep grooming.

The kennels keep filling up.

Grooming, grooming , grooming....

Until, somewhere in your dream state, when you are on the verge of a breakdown, some little voice in your head says; "Wake up stupid! You're only dreaming!"

Please don't tell me that I am the only groomer who has had dreams like this.

I had this dream all of the time when I was pregnant with all three of my kids.

Thankfully, I haven't had one like this in a very long time.

Today didn't start well.

As my son was getting our dogs out the car at work today, he heard something.

"Mom, come here," my son called me to the opposite side of the car.

"Do you hear a hissing sound?" he asked me.

Yep, I sure did.

There was a large screw stuck in the rear tire, and the air was just pouring out.

The bright side?

Was that my son discovered this before the tire went flat.

Then my daughters 8 am appointment hadn't shown by 8:30.

This is a regular customer that we have been grooming their dogs for a very long time.

They are almost always late.

My daughter called them at 8:30.

They did not know about the appointment.

Forget the appointment sheet that we gave them at their Christmas appointment.

Forget that my husband gave them a reminder call yesterday and left a message on their machine.

You know what I am talking about right?

That thing called an answering machine.

The machine that more and more of my customers tell me everyday that they don't even bother checking the messages on it anymore.

Apparently, this customer doesn't bother checking theirs either.

Oh, and since no one answers their cell phones anymore either, she called back 20 minutes later to say the she would call her husband and have him bring the dog right away.

After all, he was off work today.

By now the dog is already an hour late for his appointment.

Did he ever show up?

Yep, at 10am.

Then there is the customer that had an appointment for noon.

She came in at 9am.

"Can I pick him up at 1:15?" the customer asked.

"His appointment is not until noon," my daughter reminded her.

"I know. I had to drop him off before work. I don't want him to have to stay all day," she told my daughter.

She had specific grooming instructions also.

She wanted 1 1/2 inches scissored off.

The only problem was, he only had 1 1/2 inches on him.

It didn't matter anyway, he was matted.

My husband called her to tell her that I would be taking her dog short.

"I don't want him too short....it's cold," she told my husband.

"How short are you going to take him?" she asked my husband.

In turn my husband asked me.

"I am going to use whatever blade will safely go between the mats and his skin," I said, giving my husband the usual answer.

"He is matted really tightly on his neck, chest, and belly. He is also matted on his back legs and shoulders. I will leave him as long as possible." I told my husband.

She agreed.

 I was able to get a 5/8HT blade through most of his coat.

I had to use a #4F on his neck, chest, and belly.

Then after I took this picture, I had to go back and fix the crooked beard.

Yes, I got the dog done for her by 1:15.

Yes, she picked him up by 1:25.

  I had a little Maltese today to.

That should be easy, right?

A Lamb #4F with a 13mm clip comb on the legs and scissor.  Simple right?

Wrong.

She has that really soft hair that you fell like you scissor, and scissor, and scissor, trying to get a nice finish.

You comb up, and down, you pluck at the hair, you comb it and brush it, and it just looks terrible.

She doesn't look too bad in this picture, but trust me, I had to finally stop and give up before I scissored all of her hair off.

Then I had two of my thickest, curliest dogs come  in today.

These two dogs are like trying to straighten out curls on a Brillo pad.

I use Best Shot Ultra Conditioner and Baking Soda to help relax the curl.

This guy is so sweet, and sooooo thick!

He gets a Lamb #4F with a #3 3/4 blade on the legs.

The longest part of his grooming is the drying.

 Then there was this girl.

She is an Australian Labradoodle.  :)

She is just as thick and tightly curled as the Cock-a-poo above.

Oh, and she keeps her eyelashes.

Did I mention that we had three dogs in today that keep their eyelashes?

THREE!!!

On the same day!

As if my wrists weren't bothering me enough today, I had this guy on the books  too.

Do you recognize him?

He is my Pikachu dog.

I blogged about him before.

His hair has gotten even thicker since his last grooming.

I have never seen a coat come back from almost bald to this before.

Especially an older dog.

Those were just some of the jobs today.

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I started writing this post last night.

I was almost finished when my daughter came upstairs.

"Mom, I woke 'Zoey' up to take her out to the bathroom and she is really limping, and her eyes are swollen," she told me.

'Zoey' is my daughters 15 year old Bichon.

She got a Rabies booster today.

I had to stop writing this post and we ran her to the Vet ER.

Her eyes were almost swollen shut and she was very lethargic.

Did I say 'would this day ever end?'

Thankfully, she is fine now.

She had an allergic reaction to the Rabies shot.

This was the first dog that we have ever had have a reaction.

She will not be getting anymore Rabies shots.

Fifteen years of Rabies shots is more than enough. (that is my personal opinion)

So, I am posting this a day late.

Today (Saturday) was a much calmer grooming day.  :)

Now it's the weekend!......and I have a sore throat.  :/

I am glad this week is over!

Happy Grooming, MFF