I have been working on another blog.
I haven't gotten very far because I spend so much time on this one.
I started the other blog for pet owners, since this one mainly talks to groomers.
I started the other blog because of all the google grooming questions that I saw pet owners asking.
I would read a question and I wanted to answer it.
I want to help try to educate pet owners about grooming their dogs.
I want to explain why groomers have to do some of the things we have to do.
Like shaving, why we don't want to de-mat their dogs, why their dogs shake when they come to see us, and many many more.
I got away from working on it for awhile, but I am going to try to post at least once a week on it.
Here is the link if you would like to check it out.
I already have a long list of posts that I plan on doing, but if there is something that you, as a groomer, would like me to talk about please leave a comment.
On a side note....
There is a show that I ran across last year and I am addicted to it.
It was called 'Tabatha's Salon Takeover.'
This season it is called 'Tabatha Takes Over'.
It is about a very successful and mouthy hairdresser going into Hair Salons that are failing, or having trouble with their staff.
She goes in, finds all of the things that are going wrong and fixes everything.
She also makes over the salon.
Last year she only went into Hair Salons.
This year she is still going into Hair Salons, but she has also made over a Yogurt Shop and a Nightclub.
Tonight she will be making over a Doggie Daycare and Grooming.
If I understand correctly from the previews, the women who opened the place know nothing about Grooming or Daycare.
I can't wait to see this. :)
The show comes on Bravo at 10 pm on the East Coast if you would like to check it out.
I have worked for non-groomers before, and it was no fun.
Let's see how bad these ladies have messed up their business.
Happy Grooming, MFF
hi! i read your grooming blog all the time and love it! Just wanted to make a comment on your other blog for pet owners. I clicked on the link you gave and it came up but I can not read it at all, the font size is to small. Just thought you may like to know.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I can't wait to read along with that blog as well!
ReplyDeleteI really love your blog, I tried doing something like that on my facebook notes a while back. It was no where near as well constructed and concise as yours, great job!
ReplyDelete~Serena
Hi! Your blog was mentioned in a horse forum I read and I was curious. I have spent the last hour reading and looking at pictures. You really do an excellent job. I have a question, that perhaps you could help me with. We recently brought in three Great Pyrs. They are the farm livestock guardians and are outside with the sheep all day and night. I also have my herding dogs, who are inside dogs, only go outside to work. The inside dogs are kept groomed and have perfect coats, but I can't figure out what to do with the guardians. They will let me brush them out for hours, but I truly don't have the time to spend an hour on each dog every evening so if I wait to brush on weekends their coats are absolutely out of control. Do you have a suggestion on how to keep their coats in better shape? I realize they are working animals and not "pets" per se, but it is weird for me to see my shepherds look like supermodels while the other guys look like no one loves them. Thank you
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous, (from 3/13)
ReplyDeleteI changed the font size. :) I hope that helps. Thank you for letting me know.
Lisa
Thank you Jacki and Serena!
Let me know if their are any topics that you would like me to write about that you would like pet owners to know.
Lisa
H Anonymous, (from 3/16)
WOW! THREE Great Pyrs. That's like having three polar bears walking around your property. lol
I have to say that I commend you for even trying to brush them out every night. I don't even get the time to do that with my three Standards every night, and all of them are in full coats. The groomer never has time to groom their own dog.
Anyway, back to your three...this is probably not what you want to hear, and I am not one to say clip their coat easily. I love dogs in their full, natural coats, but some life styles just don't allow that.
I used to groom a Golden that lived on a Vineyard. The owners only got him groomed two times a year. He lived outside with the horses. You could smell that dog coming a mile away. He would be so matted and so full of burs and hitchhikers that he would have sores all over him.
I never shaved him, but I would scissor every bit of feathering up as short and tight as I could, in hopes that it would keep him comfortable for a while. I could never get them to bring him more often.
First of all, your lucky that you have Great Pyrs. that don't mind being brushed. I have groomed a few over the years and none of them liked being brushed. Of course, it didn't help that they always came in in bad shape and I had to be the bad guy who tried to brush them out.
Anyway, since they will be spending all of their time with the sheep, I think the best thing to do is keep them short. Try to find a groomer that won't just shave them, but maybe start out doing a heavy outline trim all over, meaning scissoring all of their long feathering on the legs, rear, belly, and chest up tight to the body, blending it all into the rest of the body. (I hope that made sense)
See if that helps to keep their coats more manageable. If not, then maybe the groomer could clip them with a clip comb attachment that would take their coat shorter but not shave them to the skin.
Unfortunately, grooming a GP is a lot of work and is expensive to get professionally groomed.
Maybe you could try the scissor trim yourself.
I don't have any pictures of groomed GP's, but if you go to
http://petgroomingthegoodthebadthefurry.blogspot.com/2011/08/grooming-shepard-mix.html
it will take you to a post where I scissored all of the feathering up tight on a Shepard mix. Maybe it could give you an idea of what to do. Hopefully shortening all of their feathering and clipping out their bellies would help keep them cleaner.
I hope that this helped a little. :)
Lisa
Thank you so much for the suggestion. I will give the scissoring a try and send you before and after pictures, which you may not want to see as they are likely to be atrocious. I really would rather not shave the dogs and certainly wouldn't ever want it down to the skin since they are out all day ( though truth be told, during the day they mostly just sleep under the trees or in the shelters )I would LOOOVE to find a groomer anywhere in my area to come do the boys, cost notwithstanding , but we do really live in the country and the nearest large town is an hour away. Thank you so much for taking your time to help me with my furry, furry, furry boys
ReplyDeleteAna
This is a good article I have ever read for this day. You pointed out the best part of your post and I am really inspired with it.I am looking forward to see more of your work here.
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Kennels & Cattery
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