Do you ever have one of those days that feels like it goes on forever and ever?
When you finish for the day, you have to really think hard about who your fist dog was because it seems like so long ago.
Today was a day like that.
There weren't any more dogs than I usually groom, it just seemed like all of them had some kind of issue.
My first groom of the day was a Wheaton mix that I have been grooming since he was a puppy.
He is a very sweet dog, but he is a nervous peer.
He pees when I greet him in the lobby.
He pees when you take him out of the kennel.
He pees when you pick him up.
He pees on the table if you do not warn him that you are about to pick up his back leg.
He pees when you take him out of the kennel to go home.
Did I mention that he is a really sweet dog?
This sweet lady was my second groom.
She comes in every 10 weeks, but she missed her last appointment.
I only have three large dog kennels in the shop, and only book three large dogs a day.
My large dog kennels are booked out 3 to 4 months.
She had to wait for her next scheduled appointment, so she is 10 weeks overdue for a grooming.
Needless to say, she put me behind for the day.
Her topknot was one big mat.
Her ears were also matted.
I think that it took me just as long to fix her topknot and ears as it took me to clip and scissor her entire body. :/
At least I was able to give her her normal cut.
A #4F on the body, and #3/4 on the legs.
Not bad for how matted she was.
My next dog of the day was a Miniature Poodle who is a very nervous, very cage shy dog, whose owner always manages to get in my personal space when I go up in the lobby to get her.
No matter how hard I try to avoid it, she always gets so close to me that I can feel myself bending backwards just to get some personal space back.
Anyway, the dog will not let my bather touch him, so I have to groom him straight through.
The less you bring him out of the kennel the better.
Meanwhile my daughter had a new Labradoodle in today.
The customer that owns the Labradoodle also owned a Sheltie that my daughter had been grooming for the last 8 years.
The Labradoodle is 3 years old.
We didn't even know that they owned a Labradoodle.
The Sheltie passed away in January.
When the owners called to make the appointment for the Labradoodle, they lead us to believe that they had been clipping the dog for the last three years.
We had no idea what to expect from this dog.
After we took the dog in, I asked my daughter what the owners wanted done to the dog.
(Warning! The following conversation may offend some people. My daughter has a very sarcastic sense of humor.)
Me: "What do they want you to do on the Labradoodle? "
Jess: "They want him short. I was thinking of using a #4F on him. What do you think?"
Me: "I think that will look good on him."
Jess: "They want me to make his head look like a boy dog."
Me: "A boy dog?"
Jess: "Yeah, I'll guess I'll put a penis on it."
Needless to say, she gets tired of hearing;
"Don't make him look like a Poodle"
"Don't make the head look too puffy"
"Don't make him look like a Schnauzer.
"Don't make him look like a girl dog."
"Don't take much off of the face."
"Leave the head shaggy."
That is only some of the comments that we have heard about Labradoodles.
He turned out to be great for the grooming.
We found out that they had taken him to PetSmart a few times for grooming, because they open at 7am and we don't open til 8am.
Ooookay, you have been bring your Sheltie at 8am for 8 years.
(Shaking head) I gave up trying to understand my customers logic along time ago.
Yes, she liked the cut.
Another dog of mine today was a Shih-Tzu that also will not let my bather bathe him.
I've been grooming this dog since he was a puppy.
He used to have a beautiful coat.
He used to get a lamb clip with full legs, then he developed sever skin issues.
He is now a clipdown #4F.
He has so many bald spots, and spots with sticky, smelly skin, that it seems to take forever to get the clip to look decent.
He still looks choppy no matter how much you follow up with scissors and thinning shears.
At least I ended my day with one of the sweetest, gentlest Poodles that I groom.
Love this Poodle.
Isn't she beautiful?
It was a nice way to end the day.
The day that took forever and ever.
I didn't even bother to look at what is coming in tomorrow.
I'll deal with it when I get there. :)
Happy Grooming, MFF
I hear the same comments, I wish people could explain themselves better. Don't make my poodle look like a poodle, or my favorite is "you know, short! But not shaved, you know. You're the groomer you should know." I have to stop them and say that I'd rather not go too short, and I'll hold up my hand and ask if 1/2in is okay, had one woman say okay and still freak out, she gets a full inch on her yorkie every time now. Vague descriptions get vague haircuts. There is one woman that comes to get her toy yorkie groomed every 12 weeks, her hair barely grows. She wants the feet nearly shaved, the legs to blend upwards from 1/4in to 1/2in to 3/4in at the shoulders and nearly an inch on the body :\ It's a reverse skirt and I think it looks awful, I take blending shears to it to make it look seamless but I just can't bring myself to take a photo of it. The whole 'don't make my poodle look like a girl' cracks me up, I've heard that a few times. I figure it means smaller poofs. I just smile and tell them that their dog looks just the way it looks, all I can do is give him/her a great clip, but that their dog is beautiful no matter what. Though I do bite my tongue when they are overdue for grooming and they look like a total ragga-muffin. People's descriptions of haircuts crack me up... but the best thing that keeps happening, of the funniest I should say is when they make a full grooming appt and make it, they are standing there with the dog and saying 'I don't know what kind of cut we want, I don't even know what 'we' would cut' I just ask them, "What about his look made you think he needed a cut enough to make an appt?" Some people just want the feathering taken off and neatened up lightly all over, but have no idea how to communicate that. It's a rough job, but the hardest part is customer service :\
ReplyDelete~Serena
Ok, I REALLY like your daughter! HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!! Yes, I get SO very tired of all those exact same instructions! Here is another: "I want him short, but not TOO SHORT!" I feel your pain on the days that won't end. Hope the rest of your week flys by. That Poodle at the end is gorgeous! Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI AM LAGHING SO HARD MY EYES ARE IN TEARS AND CANT KEEP READING JAJAJAJJAJAJJA UR DAUGHTER IS HILARIOUS!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments D and Jessica, you made my daughter smile.
ReplyDeleteLisa, MFF