A Long Day

Do you ever have times when you feel like the week will never end?

This week is one of those weeks.

No time to blog tonight, but I thought I would quickly share one of my really cute grooms today.

A 12 week Havanese puppy.

She is very, very sweet.

Her Mom is starting her early for the grooming so that she will get used to it.

It's is so nice when an owner works with you.

I was running behind today, so my daughter bathed her for me and I finished her up.

If only all owners would start grooming their pets early.

This little girl was good about almost everything.

She did not like the dryer around her face, but we will work on that over time.

 Grooming is such hard work.

She is pooped.

 

Wish I could take a nap after grooming some of the dogs that drain all of my energy.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

A Small Rant...Sorry

For the last month or so we have been getting a lot of calls from people being referred to us by another groomer that will be having a baby soon.

This other groomer grooms at a Veterinarian Clinic about 6 or 8 miles away.

I have only a passing acquaintance with this groomer.

Over the past few years she has sent some dogs to me, and I had come to the conclusion that she was sending me dogs she didn't want to groom, or owners she didn't want to deal with. lol

That was okay, I didn't mind.

Unfortunately, she did not contact me and ask if I had room, or time for her customers.

I have already groomed about half a dozen of them.

Most of them are just looking for me to groom them until the other groomer comes back from having her baby.

So what is the problem?

At first it was just a few people calling here and there.

This week the phone has been ringing off the hook with her customers.

They are taking up all of my customers appointment spots.

I didn't have that many appointments open to begin with.

I have about a dozen left in October.

A few in November.

And, no appointments left in December.

I am a little torn.

I don't mind helping out a fellow groomer, although I wish she had called and asked if I had room to groom her dogs.

The problem is, I have already had a few say they liked the way we groomed their dogs, and want to have us be their groomers from now on.

Also, as I said before, her customers are taking appointments away from my customers.

I have no desire for this groomer to get angry at me if some of her customers don't go back to her.

I am not trying in any way to take customers away from her, I have plenty.

Today was the icing on the cake.

We had had a number of the other groomers customers calling all morning.

We had to start putting some of them on a waiting list.

Then the lady with two Portuguese Water dogs called.

The funny thing was, I was in the middle of HVing the only Portuguese Water Dog that I groom when she called.

I had also groomed another Portuguese Water Dog yesterday that was one of her customers.

She was a very sweet dog, but she was a pelted, filthy dirty mess.

Anyway, back to the lady on the phone with the two PWDs.

When my husband answered the phone, she went right into telling him that her groomer was pregnant, and that her groomer had recommended us to groom her dogs just one time till she was back from having the baby.

My husband found two appointments on the same day in November.

She was okay with that.

So far, so good, right?

Then my husband came in and said that she wanted to know how much I was going to charge her.

Now, I do not give exact prices over the phone.

Actually, I try really hard not to give any prices over the phone.

Even if you give a ballpark figure, which is what I do, they only hear the lower price.

I have been burned way too many times by listening to owners descriptions of their dogs and their dogs coats, giving them a price, only to have something totally opposite of what they told me walk in the door.

This woman insisted on having a price for her dogs, sight unseen, before she came in.

Let me just say, my prices are very fair.

I price by the work I do on the dog, not by the breed.

You can line up 5 Goldens, or 5 Cockers next to each other and they all have different coat lengths, or thickness, or coat conditions.

I don't think that it is fair to charge every Golden owner the same price when one Golden may be on the smaller side and have a thin, sparse coat, and another Golden comes in as big as a bear and is packed with undercoat.

That is why I price by the dog.

I also quote high on the phone.

If the dog turns out to be really easy, I will charge them a lower price than I quoted, and the owner will be pleasantly surprised.

I don't want to quote low, and have to explain why the price is higher than 

I quoted.

Okay, once again back to the lady on the phone.

Because I had no idea what these dogs looked like, how she wanted them groomed, how much hair they had on them, or what kind of temperament they had, I quoted her between 60 to 70 beans.

She flipped!

"My groomer only charges me 50 beans." she said angrily.

My husband; "I don't know what to tell you ma'am, that is what we charge."

"I am only going to come to you once, why can't you charge me what my groomer charges me? she argued.

"I will pay you 10% more", she suggested.

"Our prices are what they are to meet our overhead ma'am, and for the work involved in grooming the dogs," my husband said, struggling to keep his cool.

"Why are your prices higher when you are located in Parkville ( a middle class neighborhood) and my groomer is in Timonium? (slightly higher income neighborhood) she said very insultingly.

"I will not be coming to you!" ... Click..., she hung up.

Bye, Bye!

Thank you to the powers that be that we avoided grooming that woman's dogs.

I have read on the boards before about customers that haggle over prices, but in 27 years, I have never had someone haggle a price with me.

Make comments about the price... yes, they have.

Want to know why the price was what I charged...yes, they have.

Ask me if I would give a discount for multiple dogs...yes, they have.

Try to tell me what they would pay...nope, never had that one before.

The more I thought about it, the more I have come to the conclusion that this groomer may be taking the opportunity of her pregnancy to either get rid of certain customers, or send some of her low paying customers to me to find out how good they have it with her.

I have some of those kind of customers.

I wish they would call around to find out that someone else would charge them more than what I do.

You know, the ones that you don't know what the heck you were thinking when you charged them the price you charge to do their dog.

Please don't tell me that I am the only groomer out there that has dogs like that!

 

I think the other groomer is sorry that she only charges this woman 50 beans to groom her two Portuguese Water Dogs.

They are big jobs, even if they are only clipped down short.

To end the story. 

My husband called the Veterinary Hospital and told them thank you for the referrals, but we were very booked, and most likely would be turning a lot of their customers away, so it was up to them whether they wanted to still refer us.

We will see how many more calls we get.

My husband said that the receptionist seemed to be surprised that we were not just sitting around waiting for customers to call.

They did not seem to take into account that we also have a clientele to give appointments to.

Okay, rant over.

That woman really got under my skin.

I had to get it out.

I feel better now.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

Tuesday's Tip #32 Brushes, Brushes, Brushes

I have bought soooo many brushes over the years, always looking for that special brush that would be like my right arm.

These are the brushes that are in my drawer right now.

 How many of them do you think I use everyday?

Only one in this picture...

..and, one other one once and awhile.

First I'll tell you about the ones that I hate.

I don't know why I still have them.

They have been sitting in my drawer for so long, that they have started to rust.

Why do I not like them?

They are flat.

They ride over the hair.

They are too small for me.

I think that it is time that I throw them away.

I bought this brush thinking that I would like it because it was curved, and it had a lot of teeth.

I thought that all of those teeth would really cut through the hair nicely.

It turned out that there are too many teeth.

The brush gets caught up in the hair and pulls the hair too much.

The dogs seem very uncomfortable when being brushed with this brush.

So that one went into the brush grave drawer.

 Then a few years ago I decided to try the 'Paws Bothers Double Sided Flex Slicker Brush'.

Boy, was that a mouth full.

Yes, I know it is a cheap knock off of the LesPooch brush, but I thought I would give it a try.

Actually, it is not a bad brush.

It works well on small, thin coated dogs.

It is just too flexible, and bends back too much when brushing thicker coats.

I tend to forget that I have it.

I always go back to my trusty, cheap Universal Slicker Brush.

I have been using this brush since I graduated from grooming school.

I remember when they used to come in different colors.

Boy, I am getting old.

Anyway, I only like the regular size, I do not like the Grande.

I always liked this slicker because it fit really well in my hand and it curved.

I could use it on any size dog, and any type of hair.

Sadly, they don't last for very long.

I would get about 6 months use out of one before it got demoted to the bathing room, and I broke a new one in.

That was okay, because they were cheap enough to replace a couple of times a year.

Then, a few years ago, I was given a couple of new slicker brushes to try.

They had just come out on the market.

They were designed by a groomer named Kitty Dekeersgieter.

She is a 'World Champion Poodle Groomer', and had won the Cardinal Crystal Achievement Award for 'International Groomer of the Year'.

She was the one who gave me the brushes after one of my competitions at Groom Expo.

I LOVE this brush.

It has replaced the Universal Slicker that I had been using for over 20 years.

I use the regular size pin the most, on every dog.

She also designed a longer pin brush in firm and soft.

I don't use this brush as often as the shorter pin brush.

I like this brush for dogs with really long coats.

This brush is called 'Tuffer than Tangles'.

I have only been able to find them at 'Ryans Pet Supplies' and 'Cherrybrook'.

http://www.cherrybrook.com/index.cfm/a/catalog.prodshow/vid/442715/catid/201/vname/Transgroom_Tuffer_than_Tangles_Slicker_Brushes

For the price, these brushes are worth trying.

My daughter and I both liked this brush so much, that we were always fighting over it till we got more.

I have been using the original one that Kitty gave me to try for three years, and it is still holding up very well, although it has recently lost a few of the pins in the corner.

Now, on to what I broke down and bought at Groom Expo this month.

First, let me just say that in 27 years of grooming, I have never spent more then 10 dollars on a slicker brush.

I had been reading rave reviews about LesPoochs Brushes.

Imagine my shock and disappointment at how much they cost.

I just could not bring myself to spend that kind of money on a slicker brush.

What made that brush so special to cost that much?

You see, I am one of those people that cannot stand to pay a ton of money for something just because it has a designer name on it.

Well, this year I broke down.

After refusing to pay 60 dollars for a slicker brush for at least 6 years, I broke down.

I have been hearing such rave reviews for the 'Mat Zapper', an extreme-dematting brush, that I finally invested in one.

I will say that I walk by that booth about six times.

I checked the brush out about three of those times and walked away.

The last day of the show I bought one.

60 dollars!

OMG I spent 60 dollars on a slicker brush!

So, am I kicking myself?

Do I like it?

Is It worth the money I spent?

Does it really make short work of mats?

The Mat Zapper.

A little red slicker brush.

With two sides.

Why two sides?

I don't see any difference in the two sides.

I didn't ask.

I wish I had.

I remember buying another tool that I was not so happy about the money that I spent on it.

Maybe I was just mad that I hadn't though about making it first.

After all, I had been holding a blade in my hand for years using it the same way as the Furminator.

I just didn't have a handle.  :/

I bought mine when it first came out.

Before they made a bunch of different ones for short hair and long hair.

I bought mine before they put them on QVC and dropped the price by about 20 dollars.

I was not happy.

Anyway, back to my 'Mat Zapper'.

Does it really make short work of mats?

Yes, it does a really good job on mats.

The mats seem to brush out more quickly, and easily.

But, IMO you must use this brush with a light touch.

I can see this brush causing brush burn if someone pressed down too hard with this brush.

I learned the hard way that I had to hold this brush differently.

As you see in the picture, I tend to put my finger on the back of the brush when I brush a dog.

It took me three time of pricking my finger with the pins to start to hold the 'Mat Zapper' differently.

The "Mat Zapper' pins are very sharp to me.

I bled my darn finger three times!

Is it worth the money I spent?

No, but I am not kicking myself.

It does do what it says it will do, but I was able to brush mats out fairly quickly with my 'Tuffer than Tangles' brush also.

The 'Zapper' will demat a little quicker.

Do I like it?

Yes and no.

Yes, I like how it  quickly it removes the mats.

No, I don't like the fact that it could potentially brush burn a dog.

For 60 dollars, this brush better last about 10 years.

I still love my 'Tuffer than Tangles' Brush the best.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

The Making of a Creative Groom

Even though I did not win any prizes at Groom Expo for my Creative groom, I promised to show the progression of the groom.

There are so many pictures that I had to make collages of them so that I would not have to upload a ton of pictures.

I started growing my Poodles hair out in December of 2010.

For a month
I had been drawing designs and deciding what I was going to do.

By February, I was ready to start cutting the design into Hanna's coat.

I used the end of my comb to make the lines in her coat that I wanted to follow.

 

In March, I set the pattern deeper into her coat by cutting the coat that I didn't want very short.

I was also trying to decide what the smaller designs were going to be on her.

I used childrens hair bands and barrettes to hold the hair that I wanted to keep.

In the bottom right picture you can see were I was thinking about cutting out hearts on her hip.

I did not like the hearts so I played around with putting flowers on her instead.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time during the competition, and had to cut all of the flowers off.

I really wanted to do those flowers.  :(

I think that it would have made a big difference in the finished product.

I was also constantly playing around with different color designs in Photoshop.

I could not decide what I liked best.

By July, her coat was very long, and everyone was telling me that she looked like she had mange.

At this time she also had a reaction to Frontline.

She had a large bald spot on the back of her neck.

In August, I tested the Blow pens out, and tried out the colors that I planed on using.

I was also trying different things out on the butterfly.

Right up till a week before the competition I was still playing around with different ideas.

I was thinking of cutting off the butterfly and cutting out stars instead.

A couple of weeks before the Expo, I worked on my presentation.

The bridge.

The background, I painted with spray paint.

The clouds.

Boy, was it a pain getting this stuff to the Expo without ruining it.

 The night before the competition, we took the dogs to the grooming area in the lower garage.

It is a nice grooming area that is set up for the groomers to bathe their dogs before their competitions.

The light is not the greatest, but at least it is a nice sized area to groom.

My daughters Bichon was supposed to be part of the presentation, but all of the activity freaked him out a little.

A rainbow angel in training.

I had my whole groom timed out.

The IPG rules said that we had 2 1/2 hours.

The Groom Expo schedule said that we had 3 1/2 hours to compete.

I asked one of the Barkleigh employees about the time, and was told 3 1/2 hours.

Not.  :(

  We started at 10:30.

By 11:05 I was just about finished scissoring her.

By 11:10 I started to hairspray her hair.

This is where I changed the first thing in my schedule.

I decided to do the rainbow first when I had planed on doing the flowers first.

Why?

I figured that if I ran out of time, it was more important to have the rainbow done.

By 11:17 I started putting on the color.

By the noon lunch break, I only had one leg and the butterfly colored.

I was already behind.

 After the lunch break, I thought that I still had 2 hours left to work.

I finished up the first side and Hanna's head.

At this time I was starting to get a headache from blowing the blow pens.

At 2:00 they called for a 15 minute Sally Break.

Where did that hour go!?

During the Sally Break we were informed that we had a half an hour left of scissor time and 10 minutes to set up our background.

WHAT!?

Half an hour!

I still had one whole side to color, my flowers to do, the butterfly to finish, and the tail to finish.

I thought that I still had an hour.  :p

 

I had to make a decision.

I cut off the flowers. :(

I cut off the tail. :(

I didn't finish the butterfly. :(

I did blow my brains out finishing the rainbow.

With the help of my wonderful daughter and son, we got the presentation set up in time.

I don't know why, but they put a curtain up in front of the stage that blocked people from seeing everything.

This is the only picture that I have of what to whole presentation looked like.

If you can't tell, it was supposed to be the rainbow garden in Heaven with the rainbow bridge.

The blue fabric was supposed to be a stream running through the garden and under the bridge.

I wish I had had time to do the flowers.

I wish that the blow pen colors were brighter.

I wish I could have put the detail on the butterfly.

There was also supposed to be a flower on this side too.

At least I finished the rainbow.  :)

The presentation went well.

My poem only lasted about a minute and a half, but Hanna was so tired, or my poem was so boring, that she fell asleep before I finished.

She was one sleepy Rainbow Angel.

 It was fun, and my girl was great.

She is now all white again, and her hair is growing back out.

She is my Angel.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF