Well, that is the way I feel sometimes.
I don't know.
It just happens sometimes.
You get a dog on the table.
A dog that you have groomed before.
A little dog that should not take you anymore than 30 minutes to finish.
A simple Lamb clip.
A #4F on the body and scissor the legs full, but not too full.
You start clipping, combing and scissoring.
Combing and scissoring, combing and scissoring.
And more combing and scissoring.
Suddenly you feel like you are not getting anywhere.
You just can't get the legs to look the way you want them to.
You scissor and think that it looks good, then you comb the leg again and see more that you need to cut.
You finally turn the dog around to scissor the other side, and low and behold, you see something else you need to fix on the other side that you thought you had finished.
Then you start finishing the other side and the hair just doesn't seem to want to lay the right way.
Every scissor mark shows.
Every time you comb the hair, you see more to cut.
Oh, and to add to all of the fun you are having, that cute little dog loves to turn and stick his nose in your scissors as you cut.
Then you think that you are finally all done, but you keep finding little hairs sticking out.
You go to scissor that one little stray hair and guess what happens?
The dog moves.
At just the right moment.
That little stray hair turns into a dent in the leg.
Now you have to go back and scissor the whole leg again, because the dent is too big to smooth over with thinning shears.
You feel like you are never going to finish this little dog, that should have been so easy to groom....before you forgot how to.
To top it all off, as your taking pictures of your finished work, you notice that the dogs beard is crooked!
Will this groom ever end?!
I did finally finish the little guy.
I didn't look at the time so I don't know for sure how long he took me.
It just seemed like forever.
I felt like his hair was growing right back on his legs as I was cutting it.
I felt like I forgot how to groom.
I would like to blame it on the recent solar flairs.
You know, maybe they don't just effect satellite and cellphones.
Maybe they effect brainwaves too.
No???
Well, it was worth a try.
It happens once in a while.
Those days when you feel off.
Those days when you feel like you forget how to groom.
That's never happened to you?
It's just me?
I knew I was nuts. :)
Happy Grooming, MFF
Haha. That happened to me a few days ago actually. I did like half the pattern and turned around to pick up my comb. When I turned back around and looked at the dog I could only think "duhhhhhh." I could not remember for the life of me what I had been doing or where to start and I could not visualize what I was supposed to do to make the end product happen. Lol
ReplyDeleteHi Tam,
ReplyDeleteNice to know that it happens to other groomers too, and I am not just getting old! :)
Lisa, MFF
I feel so relieved knowing that i'm not the only one either. Haha!
ReplyDeleteIt's a horrible feeling..and since i'm still attending grooming school i have to go up to my teacher and ask what i'm supposed to do next and how to do it. And the worst thing is that it's so very hard for me to do that because i'm not one who goes up to people to talk (I've read your blog for ages and I've only just got the courage to comment :D) so i have to whisper it into my teacher's ear(this is what is making me rethink about going into the grooming business). Luckily, she's nice about it and will gently remind me even though i'm taking one of the higher level course.
hehe. that happens to me every so often. like yesterday, I almost forgot what the rear half of the schnauzer was supposed to wrap around the rump & down the backs of the legs a little/. I was just standing there, panicky, wondering why it didn't look right. been grooming for 5 years. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, congratulations on becoming a groomer. Grooming school can be scary. So much to learn and retain. Don't be so hard on yourself. Keep a little notebook by your table and take tons of notes.
Even after 28 years of grooming I get breeds in that I don't do very often, and I have to refresh my memory by checking my 'Notes from the Grooming Table' book.
I am also learning new things all of the time at seminars, but most of your instruction will come from the pets owner when you get out of school. Grooming school is really just for the basics. A foundation to get you started. You will be learning on the job for the rest of your career, because no two dogs are the same. That is what makes the job fun. It is certainly not a job you could get bored with. :)
You sound a little like me when I went to Grooming School. I didn't like to draw attention to myself, or appear stupid by asking a lot of questions. Instead, I read everything that I could get my hands on about grooming. My Grooming teacher liked to yell and make you feel stupid, which didn't help, but I REALLY wanted to groom.
Take advantage of that nice teacher. That is what she is there for. YOU are the one paying her to teach you and answer your questions. Also, to go over things as many times as you need till you are comfortable.
Hang in there, and try not to worry about asking your teacher to come over and go over something with you. It shows that you care and want to do things right.
When you get one of those groomer brain farts, remember that it even happens to us old timer groomers. I used to get those brain farts a lot during my first couple years of grooming. Even to the point of making myself cry. Whenever I started feeling that way while grooming, I would stand back and give myself a stern lecture. "Come on Lisa, get a grip. You know how to do this!" Then I would go over my grooming routine in my head. It DID help me. I also had a checklist next to my table for the first few years of grooming, just so I could make sure that I remembered to do everything on every groom.
Again, don't be too hard on yourself. Grooming is a skill that takes time. You get better and faster with time. Hang in there! :)
If you ever have any questions you can e-mail me at:
furryfriendpets@yahoo.com
I would be happy to answer your questions on grooming.
Lisa, MFF
Hi Kat,
I know what you mean. It's kind of the same when you are writing something and you spell a word, you know that it is spelled right, BUT it just doesn't LOOK right. It drives me crazy. I'll even go to the dictionary and see that it is right, it just doesn't look right!
Boy, now I really do sound crazy. :)
Lisa, MFF