[Kissyfur]

And, do you give like really specific instructions to the groomer? Any really good or bad experiences?

 

[adorableaccentsdogbows]

I do mine myself because I keep them in full coat. I comb them and claen their eyes every night before I go to bed. Then once every few weeks I do their nails, ear plucking and foot trimming. They usually get a bath every couple weeks as well. I love doing their grooming them. It relaxes me.

 

[doctorcathy]

you'd have to give some sample pics to a groomer. i had one at petco and she was really nice---but she had no idea how to cut. WELL, she kept begging me to grow out sprites hair, and i said no, and to shave her. so that might've been my fault. and meet the groomer and talk to her, does she seem to like dogs? mine would look at every detail. she was like "sprite has a cut on her back, what is it from" (turned out it was because of a piece of metal sticking out from under the bed) and she was like "her hair is nice and soft, use this type of shampoo". stuff like that.

ask them if they use cotton in the ears and if you cant watch the first grooming session. i went to this place called Chow Bella, and it seemed like a nice place but they washed sprite and she had HUGE mats, like the size of kiwis on her side. and i saw how they were treating her and the groomer was brushing really hard and i was like "i want her now". then i take her and gruffi home--turns out that the little handkerchief that they put on gruffis neck was tight....and thats when i noticed the mats. she had like 3 or 4. i had to CUT THEM OUT. it would've been extremely painful for sprite if i brushed it(like that groomer) and she had bald spots. she didnt have mats like that before the groomer. ---anyway, that was my bad experience. the only reason i caught it was because i went early to pick the dogs up.


oh, my other bad experience--Precious Pets in Saugus...they gave sprite 2 ear infections! and gruffis hair looked burnt!!

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

I also groom Lexi myself. I keep her is a puppy cut. I give her a bath every 1-2 weeks and cut her hair about every 1-2 months.

I did take Lexi to the groomer's once. The lady was great. I took pictures of what I wanted done. I hade one for the body, another for the head. She was great. Lexi looked so cute afterwards. I was planning on taking Lexi every 2-3 months. Well Lexi's hair grew an inch in the first 3 weeks. At $35 a haircut I couldn't afford to take her every month. That is when I decided to do it myself. I bought a human hair clippers for $35 and it works great.

 

[pico's parent]

My vet, who has 3 Maltese but grooms them at his place of business, recommended my groomer here in San Antonio and I have been totally happy with her. The only drawback is that Pico has to be caged for the 5 hours or so he is there when he is not being actively groomed. But since I know he is in good hands, I don't think once a month is traumatizing.

They just love him and the girl who bathes him has Downs and she always comes out to kiss him goodbye when I pick him up.

$35 every month for his grooming means no pedicure for Mom but I'm just not willing to experiment and the nail cutting freaks me out. Plus, I've tried expressing his anal glands and can't do that, either. Since my vet charges $16 to do that and $5 to cut his nails I just wouldn't be saving much trying to groom him myself.

I totally admire you who do. I bow in awe.

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

At first I didn't want to cut Lexi's nails, but I decide to try and see if I could. It is not as hard as I thought it was going to be. But I lucked out. Lexi has all white nails, so I can see were the vein is. Not sure if I would have tried it if she had black nails.

As for the anal glands that is something I will gladly pay to have done. So far Lexi has not needed this done. If she ever does I will be having it done plus have her bathed before I take her home.

 

[Brinkley & Neyland's Mom]

I attempt to do Brinkley myself. I am getting pretty decent at most of it.
He won't let me do nails, and it makes me really nervous, so the vet does nails and anal glands. It is reasonably priced, so it doesn't bother me to much. I like to do it, I just wish I had more training with it. I am a "need to see it done" person. Then I need to have someone watch me and give me pointers. LOL
Anyway, so with me and Brinkley it is trial and error and a little bit at a time. I usually trim SOMETHING on him every week. Sometimes his footpads need it, but everything else can wait...things like that. Anyway, I don't think anyone would hire me, but it is getting better.
Luckily, it grows out!!!

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Good for you, Traci! That is kind of how it is for me. If I want to try something new I find pictures and print them out. Then I slowly start to cut. Every now and then I will step back and look to see how it looks.

The way I think about it it is just hair, it will grow back. Plus it didn't cost me anything! I am slowly getting better. I am getting pretty good with the clippers. I still suck with the scissors. But i think that is because I need to get a different pair of scissors.

 

[Toby's Mom]

 

[2happymalts]

We take ours in every three weeks for the full meal deal. I will bathe them in between as needed but they are only at the groomers 2hours max, they are in the same kennel (because they are always together and they don't stress this way) and they do a great job (this is my second groomer-we had a bad experience with the first after 7 months). She cuts it exactly as I ask and we worked a deal and since I bring them in so often and they are brushed and kept in good shape inbetween groomings, she only charges $25.00 each. So it is worth it for me to take them in for that.....

 

[Mystify79]

I take Tuffy in whenever he's looking extra scruffy and needs more help on his hair then I can do on my own. I usually give pretty specific instructions on what I want done or I bring in a picture. I've never had them do anything extreme to him so they haven't had the chance to screw him up :lol: Even though his hair cuts cost more than mine, I still take him in for grooming because I'm kinda lazy when it comes to grooming h34r:

 

[Sunshine]

Originally posted by Lexi's Mom@Sep 15 2004, 10:15 AM
At first I didn't want to cut Lexi's nails, but I decide to try and see if I could.  It is not as hard as I thought it was going to be.  But I lucked out.  Lexi has all white nails, so I can see were the vein is.  Not sure if I would have tried it if she had black nails. 

As for the anal glands that is something I will gladly pay to have done.  So far Lexi has not needed this done.  If she ever does I will be having it done plus have her bathed before I take her home. 

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[/QUOTE]

I do Abby's anal glands when I give her a bath. It isn't hard and I don't think it's as gross as I first thought. Just squeeze either side of the anus and don't put your face near it. You see a liquid ooze out and you just wash it away.

I also groom Abby once a day. She's getting used to it... slowly <_< lol

 

[Brittany Lot]

I am TOO SCARED to have Zoe go to a groomer. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it yet (and she has been home for over three months!) I would love to know how to cut her hair myself. I can trim the hair on her face without a problem and I just want to cut the hair on her body like 2 or 1.5 inches all over.
Does anyone cut their own pup's hair like that? I'm not sure how to go about doing it so any tips would be great

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Brittany Lot: Just want to make sure I know what you are talking about. You basically want to do a long puppy cut, right? That is what I am doing with Lexi right now. I like it because she looks like a puppy. A little ball of fluff. Not sure how long it will stay like this, though. Sometimes her hair matts so much that I have to cut it. So far no matts.

I would recommend finding pictures of different hair cuts you like. You can have one where you like the face but not the rest. And another where you like only the body. This helps a lot when trying to decide what to do.

After that you need to decide it you are going to do it by yourself or go to a groomer. You can see if you can find a groomer let you watch so you can see how it is done and then try it yourself after that. Or maybe look into one of the groomers that come to your house.

If you do it yourself you would need to use a scissors because the clipper blade guard only goes up to 1 inch (as far as I know). In Lexi's case I cut her hair to an inch and it is now grown out to about 2 inchs. You could try that. I just got a clippers for Sally's for $35.

The one time I took Lexi to the groomers (her first haircut) they told me that sometimes they are not able to finish the haircut on puppies. They don't want to scare them too much so if the puppy starts to get really scared they stop. When I first started clipping Lexi's hair I would turn the clippers on and just set it next to her so she could get used to the noise. Next I would turn it on and lay it against her (blade not on her body). This let her get used to the vibration and sound. Start clipping by doing a little at a time. Don't expect a young puppy to sit through the whole haircut at one time. Spread it out. Make it fun. Oh, and give lots of treats. This way the puppy with think getting its hair cut is fun.