Fun Grooming day Friday

[LizStreithorst]

We're fixing to have our last cold snap.  It always happens in March or early April aftrer a long stretch of beautiful Spring weather...

So...I have no dogs booked for Friday when it will be drop to below freezing.  If I get any it will be just one or two.

My neighbor's daughter rescued a Great Pyrenese a bad neighbor I will have nothing to do with.  The dog is her's now because he stays with her where he was being cared for.  The dog is huge, larger than most of his breed but he needs a professional grooming.  He was shaved when the bad owners got him and luckily for the dog, the hair grew back fine.  But every time a double coated northern breed is shave down there's a huge rish of the hair not growing right because shaving inhibits top coat growth and invites undercoat growth. 

She's bring him Friday.  I'll give him what I call a blow job with my powerful force air dryer.  (I only call it a blow job to people who can handle the joke)  I'll use my desheding shampoo and conditioner, put him under the fans for a while, then give him the blow job, brush out what's left, and then do the finish which will be the easy part.

It will cost nobody anything.  I won't loose any money on a freezing Friday.  The dog is good kind soul as is my neighbor who gave him a home.  Only bad thing about the dog is that if he comes to visit you dare not leave a door open.  He's walk in and squire a shot of pee on everything verticle

[Ron Sower]

Only bad thing about the dog is that if he comes to visit you dare not leave a door open.  He's walk in and squire a shot of pee on everything verticle

Some guys just like to claim their territory! 

[LizStreithorst]

Only bad thing about the dog is that if he comes to visit you dare not leave a door open.  He's walk in and squire a shot of pee on everything verticle

Some guys just like to claim their territory! 

I wouldn't say this if I hadn't had 5 Olulto's   When my gentleman friend visits and wakes up in the morning, and say's he gonna go out and pee on a tree, I always tell him to pee high on the tree so if any other men come sniffing around they'll think that he's a big guy and stay away.  I doubt this works with human but it might on a subliminal level.

[Mugwump]

LOL......

[Ron Sower]

I like you, Liz!   

[LizStreithorst]

Well, that was a job and a half.  I thought the undercoat would blow out more easily.  The dog was delightful (Pyr's always are).   The owner helped me get him in the raised tub.  He needed 2 baths.   With my bathing system bath time took about 25 minutes.  I used my deshed shampoo and conditioner which may have been a mistake.  I put him in my largest wire cage and put 5 fans on him while I groomed 2 small dogs, about an hour and 45 minutes.

Then I pulled him out and gave him the blow job.  Hair did not go flying like I'd hoped.  I ended up doing a whole lot of brushing and combing.  I had to use the mat splitter  in a few places above his tail  and under his neck where his drool had made him mat.  Then there was a lot of work with the heavy duty brush and wide tooth comb.  I was going over him with my longest snap on comb when the owner showed up.  She helped me position him while I worked.

The dog actually needed the whole procedure done over again but the dog had had enough and I was whupped.  The hair is about 2" long and a comb will go through it.  It was fun, too.  Hands on time was about 3 hrs.

I want to do him again in a few weeks.  Next time I'll use a silicone conditioner that should make undercoat more slippery so it blows out more easily.

[Mugwump]

Dog was bigger than you, ?.....

[Ron Sower]

Wow, Liz! 3 Hours!!!

[ilroost]

Nothing like a 3 hour b.j. LOL

[LizStreithorst]

The dog, Ollie, came to visit this morning.  He considers my land part of his territory.  Pyr's are guardians but the area they decide is under their guardianship is up to them unless they're fenced.  He didn't look bad.  Everyone thinks he looks great but I'm the one most criticle of my work.  I know for sure that he still needs another wash and blow.  I will do a lot of Furminator work first.  His undercoat....I don't have words...

There was a Schnauzer judge at the grooming competitions who befriened me.  His name was Paul something.  He was an excellelt all breed judge but showed Schnauzers.  He said, "Undercoat is our enemy".  I thought of making a T shirt for him that said:

Uncercoat is our enemy

Paul 3:16

[Mugwump]

I'm learning more and more about dog grooming done properly.  There's much more to it than I'd ever thought would be....

[LizStreithorst]

Learning more that you want to know is more like it

It's not at all what people think.  Folks tell me all the time that they would love to do what I do but don't have the patience.  In my mind, patience has nothing to do with it except for the fact that all work involves a degree of patience.  One prerequisite is understanding the mind of the dog.  Different dogs need to be handled differently.  Another, if you want to be any good, is having a sence of balance and symmetry.  Techniques can be learned.  Different tools and products can be experimented with.  Some work well on one coat type some work well on others.  A dificult thing is figuring out what the owner wants and translating that into into how to accomplish it while at the same time getting the most attractive look for the dog.

Of course, there are those who buy a clipper and hang out a shingle.  I put them in the category of those folks who advertise as "handy man"  and screw up everything they touch.

[wsantia1]

I have a "broken coated" Jack Russell that I used to have hand stripped when he was younger. It is so hard to find someone that can actually hand strip a terrier and as Liz said "keep a sense of balance and symmetry".

At one point I thought I could do it myself and bought some tools and gave it a try. What a fool I was. Not only did I mess the poor dog's coat up I hurt my hand in the process. .

t is really hard to find a really good groomer and when you do you need to take good care of them.

[LizStreithorst]

You could have done it with a little instruction in the use of the stripping knives.  You already know the right look.  I bet that most of the groomers you took him too left the furnishings too long.  A JR is NOT the same as a Wire Fox.

BTW, I no longer hand strip.  There is no demand for it here, I'd have to charge for the time it takes, and I don't know if these old hands could handle it any more.  I had st sleep in wrist braces after having done that Pyr.

[PaulineMi]

We used to call Sadie, our broken coated JR, "Fuzzy Butt".  I'd strip her coat every spring but she'd get really mad when I'd get to her rear end. We didn't care that she had a fuzzy butt cuz she was our pet and varmint dog. No balance and symmetry even though they look so nice when properly stripped.