New to K9Mania

[TheRices6]

Hello everyone! I'm very excited to see there is a community like this on the web. I'm sure there are more but this one just seems very user friendly. I am going on my 6th year as a dog groomer. My husband and I are the proud parents of our 6 poochies. Here's the run down.. Wrangler (Bubba) 6 year old Brittany, Maggie (Mag Pie) 15 year old golden mix, Cashmere (Cashy) 9 year old apricot/white toy poodle, Faith (Monkey) 5 year old black mini poodle, B.B.Shags (Shaggy) 4 year old old english sheepdog, & Hooch (Hoochie Pooch) 3 year old chow mix. We are currently living in Epworth, Iowa and just moved here from central Nebraska. Looking to move again as soon as we find some land to build on so the poochies have more room to run. Shags is my therapy dog and goes to retirement homes and helps out with the reading with rover program at the public library. He currently has his TDI certification and we are going to have the Delta testing done in September. We are very excited to get more visits set up at places like the Ronald Mcdonald House and the hospitals. Other then that our dogs go everywhere with us and we consider them our children.

I hope at one point or another I will be able to help out with any grooming or general K9 questions.:confused:

Take care!
Karrie & K9 kids

[DebbieKan]

Hi -

I have a grooming question for you. I have a Pomeranian (Pepper) and a Sheltie (Sammy). I have found some books on grooming each one of my dogs. I have no grooming experience though. Do you think that someone could learn to groom their dogs from a book? I don't want to spend the money just to find out that it's too hard for a novice to do.

Thanks for your input.

[TheRices6]

Debbie,

It depends on if you just want to be able to "blow" their coats or actually give them a haircut. With both breeds I always suggest to thin out the coat by brushing and working out the undercoat and just trimming them up a little. By shaving the dogs you are taking away what protects their skin. In some cases when you shave them it doesn't always grow back correctly. Sometimes the coat will grow back in patches and it does change the texture of the hair. The best thing you can do is to give them a good bath with a rich conditioner, dry them completely (a forced air dryer is your best bet to get all the undercoat to release-it's a little expensive but there are less expensive ones for home use-the drying time is much less then with a household dryer and you will find it's well worth the money), then you will want to get a tool called a "king comb" to thin out the coat (be careful with this tool because the hook part is a blade so around the flanks you can cut them. If you use the tool correctly it works like magic!), follow up with a good brushing with a wire brush (when you purchase one take it out on cement and rub it around to dull the points so you are less likely to "brush burn" the skin), if you choose to you can trim up the long hairs around the pads, feet, legs, hind end, etc-anything that is a little longer, & for a last touch there is a product called Emu Oil made by Kenic that does wonders for shine and it gives mosture to the coat and skin. I hope all this has helped and if you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Take care and good luck,
Karrie

[chrisjonesxx]

Karrie,

What excellent advice ! I wish there was guidance as concise and practical in the books I have read. Not that I am expert, it is just that I am the official ‘bather’ and groomer of our pack of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and have never been sure if I am doing a good job or not.

Unfortunately, Cavaliers are like ‘Pig-Pen’ of the Peanuts cartoon – bathe them, dry them, brush them until they look perfect, then take them out – 100 yards down the road and they are scruffy again. I only bathe them every 6 weeks to two months (or when they get very dirty or smelly), but brushing and combing is always a problem. I do not want to cut their coats because when they are tidy, they look fabulous, but tangles and knots appear daily and unless dealt with grow into lumps. I read your remarks about wire brushes – the ones I have used become broken and useless after a short time – I must have bought the wrong type.

Ears are the biggest problem, they only ever look right the moment after they are brushed; next minute, they look untidy. Perhaps they need conditioner, it is something I have never tried.

Also, I use Johnson’s Baby Shampoo – I guess that is just plain wrong.

I start at the back end and work forward (we treat for fleas, so have no concern of working the fleas to the dog’s head). The reason is that Cavaliers do not like wet ears at all and by leaving them until the end, they tolerate baths so much better.

I also use a ‘people’ hair dryer – again just plain wrong.

I will look for a king comb the next time I go to the pet store. And I’ll be careful with it if I buy one !

Thanks again for the advice you posted, I shall re-consider how I groom from now on.

[DebbieKan]

Thank you Karrie for your advice. I am going to try your suggestions and see how things turn out with my two long-haired dogs. I too have been using a regular blow dryer to dry them after their bath. And it does take forever!!!! Thanks Again.

Debbie

[k9mania]

Welcome Karrie and thank you for your professional and thoughtful information to the members of our community.

[Doggies4Evers]

Hey, wow a dog groomer, I would love to hear how you got started and love to hear more about it, I have different dog goals I want to try for and reach. I would love to chat more with you, is there a way to contact you and talk easyer and faster then a forum?

[TheRices6]

Doggies,

I actually kind of stumbled across what I'm doing. I was a property manager for Retirement housing foundation and HATED it! So I quit when I realized that life is too darn short to be doing something you don't enjoy. I took some time to try to figure it out and in the mean time I was waitressing to make some money. After about 8 months at that my father-in-law told me about a job walking dogs at a boarding facility. I went in and talked to the manager and found out there was a whole lot more then just boarding. The facility I worked at was two different businesses that offered everything. When I say everything I mean it. It was a wonderful Vet that owned the whole kit and caboodle. He had the vet clinic in town that also offered puppy kindergarden which is a wonderful socialization class for the dogs and their people. Then the second part was where I worked. It was out in the country on acreage with a beautiful pet cemetry at the bottom of the drive, a barn where he had basic and advanced obedience classes, a yard for agility classes, hiking trails, & the main building was a boarding facility, doggie daycare with puppy playtimes, the grooming salon, & an exam area for any of the pets staying. I started out walking, feeding, & medicating the dogs. Then went on to conducting the puppy playtimes--sounds easy but when the facility has up to 100-300 dogs you gotta know what you're doing. Then the grooming salon needed some help with the bathing so I came in to help out. The manager of the boarding/grooming facility saw that I had a way with the dogs and they responded well to me and asked if I had ever thought about becoming a groomer. She was a firm believer in the fact that not everyone can do it and you have to have a way with the dogs. Now there are two ways to become a good dog groomer--1-go to school or 2-learn from an established groomer. The groomer that taught me had been in the business for over 25 years and had taught all of her own groomers. This takes at least 1 to 1 1/2 years--at least. I'm going on my 6th year and I'm still learning new things. There are conferences to go to every year to learn new fads and ways to groom. New products and tools are always coming out to make grooming easier or better for the dogs. Every groomer is different though. The last place I worked (where I learned to groom) there were three other groomers other then myself and one of them would rather use clippers then scissors any day. Now me on the other hand I would rather take the more artistic approach and scissor everything and never use a clipper. I like more of the sculpting & take time in doing cosmetic grooming (a good example of cosmetic grooming is a skinny legged dog with a wide barrel body--you know we've all seen them--I leave the legs longer and cut the body shorter to give the illusion that it's the correct shape to the breed standard) Anyway I could go on and on but I won't.

So what are your different dog goals? I would love to hear about them. My direct email is TheRices6@yahoo.com. I don't really get onto any instant messengers that often. I'm also on myspace at www.myspace.com/littlebigred80 and I do have myspace instant messenger.

Well you take care & I hope to hear from you soon

Karrie