Pet Groomers

A new client contacted me recently about her dog whose nail quicks have grown too long.  Her vet told her that she would have to have the nails cut back often over the course of time until the quicks receded, and she was referred to me by a friend.

However, it has been my experience that to get quicks to recede, you have to actually cut the nail back.  As in, they are going to bleed, a lot, and it's best done under the care of a veterinarian.  Is it possible that just frequent nail trims will really cause the quicks to retreat? Or is that just a good way to bleed a customer for money (not my goal, and I would rather educate them than take their money)? Or is it possible to do it with a grinder, but not nail clippers?

Any advice you have on this is appreciated, so I can best help my customer.

It's been a while since I've shown any photos and I just took a bunch at work recently. So here goes...

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So, we've decided that Rommel is going to be a dinosaur for Halloween this year.  And that will be accomplished with hair.

He already has a mohawk, so we are growing it out all the way down his back to the tip of his tail.  The plan is to eventually cut triangles into the back mohawk like a stegosaurus and make it green.  I've also decided to document this process over the next 4 1/2 months each time he gets a haircut.

This was the cut I gave him at the beginning of May.

It's a #10 lamb clip.  The legs were basically untouched, about 5-6 weeks grown out from a #5.

This is what I started with today, about 5 weeks later.


To get the line down his back, because I am so OCD about wanting this straight, I used 2-in painters tape to set the pattern.  Barely stuck to him, which is why I picked it, stayed in place just long enough for me to set the line.  Otherwise, I did a #10 lamb clip and again didn't touch his legs.





And some questions, since I don't have any books.  I used to groom, was learning as I went.  Rommel is probably the 6th poodle I've ever touched and the first standard I've ever worked on (probably would have had a much easier time learning on standards), so my poodle experience isn't much.  I'd only done a lamb clip a few times before, and the legs were much fuller and the body wasn't as short as I like to do with Rommel.  I'm having a really hard time blending the front legs with scissors.  I don't have tons of different shears to choose from and use mostly my 8in curves and 10in straights, though I do have some shorter straights.  Last time I blended with my clippers and I still had a hard time on the front legs, especially at the chest.  Any tips with blending?  I can use all the help I can get!  It's completely possible I feel like I'm having a hard time because of how the #10 makes his coat look compared to the longer legs.

And then feet.  (Once again, no book to reference)  Rommel HATES to let me do his feet.  I love poodle feet, but if I could get away with not doing them as often, I think he'd be happier and I'd be less frustrated.  I currently use a #10 to do his feet.  What do you normally use for feet?  He's otherwise amazing for grooming.  He just doesn't want me messing with his feet.

any thoughts on top performance shampoo?
thank you!

It's been a whole whopping 2 1/2 weeks since Rommel's last groom and I am already itching to groom him again.  For those of you that have pets of your own that require grooming, however often do you do it?  It's driving me nuts that he's growing out, but I'm trying to wait until at least 4 weeks.

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Hi there!

I am no longer a professional groomer (I just don't have the stamina or patience to do it as a job).  I am here because I just adopted a poodle a week and a half ago.  He's a gorgeous standard and we are already so in love with him.  I've joined because I don't have a ton of poodle experience (and hadn't even touched one in 2 years) and figured this would be a great place for help and ideas if I need it.

The day before I brought Rommel home, his original owner had him groomed in a beautiful but far too froofroo town and country clip.

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I definitely want to play around with his coat and have fun grooming him.  The boyfriend even agreed on poms (I never even dreamed of bringing it up to him.  LOL)

Hope to get lots of info and advice from you guys.  Have a great day!



ETA: If any of you are in Dallas (and I mean Dallas Dallas, though I am willing to go to Arlington as I train a dog there once a week), I am looking for recs for a sharpener.  Help please!

I hadn't seen one of these made for groomers yet, so I went ahead and made one.

What do you folks typically do when dealing with a dog with bad skin? Rashy, crusty, smelly, etc...

As far as washing is concerned, my salon has separate sponges and towels for dogs with bad skin.

As far as blades, combs, brushes, tabletops though... I typically use a coolant or spray disinfectant on my stuff after doing a dog with bad skin. For the table i use either dilute bleach spray or some sort of pet disinfectant (parvosol or something similar?) sold by the typical catalogs..

Barbricide is not an option for me because i carry all of my stuff back and forth (the salon i work at provides the sprays).

What do you folks typically do? What have you learned NOT to do? What rusts blades, etc...

What shoes do you all wear while grooming? I work at a kennel/grooming facility so there is water and hair around me at all times. I currently wear a pair of Hydroslips, which I can barely find anywhere now... they were very dusty on the store's shelf. These I've had for barely two months and they're already scratched up, so I'm looking into others. Normally I just wear rubber boots. Got a "fancy" pair of Bogs for Christmas and hair gets all over the fabric part so I had to literally vacuum them every night before going back to work.

Anyone wear those Vibram Five Fingers shoes to work? I would worry about hair getting stuck in the fabric like the "fancy" pair did. I may just stick to rubber boots again or get another pair of "fancy" boots that don't have the fabric on top. Thanks for your advice and experiences!


Edit: Found some more links with grooming shoe info if anyone else was looking
http://www.petgroomerforums.com/ch…

http://www.petgroomerforums.com/ch…

Can we talk about de-skunk methods?

We had two skunk-dogs come into the salon today. The one on my schedule was a golden doodle (thankfully, clipped quite short). We use Espree brand shampoo in our salon, so I started out with their baking soda odor neutralizing shampoo. Didn't cut it. So next I tried a eucalyptus mint scented shampoo and that worked surprisingly well. I was quite impressed. Still slightly skunky; but mostly just minty. I followed it up with Espree brand De-Skunk formula which works sorta like a leave in conditioner....supposed to let it dry on the dog.

So between that and the eucalyptus mint stuff, the skunkiness was mostly gone but I could still definitely smell it a little bit.

Any tips or hints on how to get rid of that last lingering bit of skunkiness?