Is It Saturday Yet?

What a week so far.

Everyday it has been something.

Everyday challenging dogs that I am not expecting.

We schedule every Tuesday as an easy, early day.

All of the dogs booked are usually easy regulars.

No large dogs...usually.

I did have one large Goldendoodle Tuesday, but she has a thin coat and is pretty easy to do.

I was flying through all of my dogs, staying right on time, until my last dog of the day.

It was a new dog but an old customer.

They were never real regular with their other dog, but we had groomed him for a long time.

Maybe because no one else would groom him.

He was not a nice dog.

Their new dog is a nice dog.

Apparently they got her a couple of years ago after their other dog passed away.

The only problem is....this is the first time that they have gotten her groomed.

They had been grooming her themselves since they got her, or should I say, they have been trying to groom her.

Two to three years old, they weren't exactly sure about her age, and she has never been to a groomer.

Boy, could you tell.

Not by the shape she was in.

Yes, she was matted.

You could tell because she went ballistic the minute I put her in the tub.

Good grief...

The last dog of the day.

Well, I was running on time.  :/

I  got her through the bath.

I don't know who had more water on them, me or her.

Yes I do..me!

Let's just say head shy is an understatement.

What is it with Shih-tzu's and their heads?

Anyway, she didn't do that bad for her hair cut.

She was actually pretty good considering.

Her head...now that is another story.

Awhile back I posted a video on youtube about scissoring a Shih-tzu puppies head and face.

I called it 'a groomers nightmare'.

That puppy had nothing on this Shih-tzu.

I will admit, for the first time in a long time, I gave up.

Oh, I finished the dog and the head, but it wasn't pretty.

It was passable.

It was okay.

I wanted to get around the corner of the eyes shorter, but my little voice was telling me that I was pushing me luck.

She was not biting, but she was fighting so hard that I was afraid she was going to hurt herself.

Better to have an imperfect groom than an injured dog.

We ended up closing up shop an hour later than usual.

I was so tired and so glad to hand her over to her owner, who showed up early, that I didn't even think about getting an after picture till she was gone.

Wednesday....

The Cocker was back for the first time since he bite Jessica.

His owners had canceled his last appointment saying that he didn't need grooming, but we were pretty sure that it was because they were too scared to bring him back in.

His hair grows pretty fast and they had to bring him for this appointment.

He was filthy.

But, that wasn't the problem.

His unpredictable biting was not the problem either.

The thing that really upset me and pissed me off was that they doped him up before they brought him.

They told my husband that they gave him a lot.

They did not want him biting anyone again.

I was upset because we have told them numerous times before that I don't work on tranquilized dogs.

That the tranquilizers don't work.

And, that tranquilizers will not stop the dog from biting.

He did not bite me, but that was not for lack of trying at least once.

The groom took me extra time because of him being so wobbly on his feet.

This owner also walked in half an hour before I was finished.

He sat out in his car in front of the shop watching me groom his dog.

I hate when owners are waiting for their dogs.

We closed an hour later than usual that day.

This little lady was also in on Wednesday.

She is a good girl.

It is her owners that drive me crazy.

I have been grooming her for years, and for years her owners have been no-showing their appointments off and on.

The last time that she was do in, they canceled last minute.

Then they called a few weeks later needing an appointment right away.

Their next scheduled appointment was 3 weeks away.

They could not wait.

Now, normally I will work in a long time regular customer, but when you have burned me more times than I can remember, I'll still groom the dog (for the dog), but I will no longer do you any special favors.

We told them that we didn't have anything sooner than the appointment that they already had scheduled 3 weeks away.

It was true, I had no openings, and I was not about the fit them in.

This was immediately met with the good old, "Well we will just have to go someplace else."

When my husband told me what they said, I said okay that's fine.

The owner is very picky about the groom and I knew that going somewhere else would only back fire in their face.

It did turn out that a couple of hours after talking to this owner I had a cancellation.

I broke down and told my husband to call them back and offer the appointment to them.

They did not return the call till the next day and said that they already had her groomed, but that they would keep the appointment for 3 weeks from then.

They did keep this appointment.

They did not like the groom from the other place.

I didn't ask where they went.

They wanted me to fix her.

 I did.

I really like the dog.

Is it wrong for me to feel a little smug when the 'well I'll just have to go somewhere else' doesn't work out for them?

I don't like when my customers use that as a punishment just because I can't groom their dog when they want me to.

That comment is the wrong thing to say to me.

Today....

Today was the forth time that I have groomed this little one.

Each time she has been in, I have done some form of dematting on her.

I have also told the owner, after each grooming, not to bathe her with mats in her.

Why won't people listen to me.

She was matted worse then ever today.

Three strike and your out.

No more dematting.

I was able to get a #4F through her coat.

I had to shave her ears off with #7F.

Hopefully she won't be matted the next time.

 Then there was this little one.

It was his first grooming.

His owner has another dog that we already groom.

When the owner came in with this one, she wanted us to verify that this dog is really a Shih-tzu/Yorkie or Shorkie, if you want to use the designer name.

She wanted to make sure that she hadn't been cheated out of her money.

No comment....

He is cute!  :)

Then last but not least, I had another new customer for my last dog of the day.

 This one is 12 years old.

The owner would not let my husband hold the dog because she said that the dog was too nervous.

So my husband came and got me.

The dog was nervous, but the think that the owner had the worse of the nerves.

She told me that the last time she had had the dog groomed, his chest had been sliced open and he had to get stitches.

Okay, she had a right to be nervous.

Once again I had another dog that went nuts when I put him in the tub.

Whats up?

Where are these dogs coming from?

How can a dog be groomed for 12 years and still be so scared of the grooming?

Another dog that I had to work really slow with.

Very head shy, did not like any of his legs fooled with.

I didn't even attempt using the HV on him, so I hand dried him.

 It took a little while to talk him into letting me scissor his face, but he eventually relaxed and let me scissor him.

Guess what?

His owner walked in early too!

Really people, what part of 'I will call you when I am done' don't you understand?

I have to say that I didn't have to wonder if the owner liked the grooming on this dog.

Her jaw hit the floor when she saw him.

She could not believe how he looked, which I took as a good thing.

Once again, we closed an hour late.

And, the week is not over yet!

Tomorrow I have another new dog coming in.

A Westie... that the owner says hates to be groomed.

I declare, Terriers are the worst when they don't like the grooming.

They seem to be the most vicious.

He comes in in the morning.

Then my last dog of the day is the biting Cairn Terrier that I have been working with.

He hasn't been getting much better so far.

I haven't even looked to see what is coming in on Saturday.

Wish me luck that this Westie isn't as bad as his owner makes him sound.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF