Benny was here on my grooming table today. He is a little Maltese-Poodle X weighing in at maybe 5 pounds. He is a little gentleman on the table for his whole groom. Today his trim length was a #3 blade with a short round face and poodle feet. He usually has a #5 blade trim the rest of the year but brrrrr it's cold outside so his owner wanted a longer length. He tends to flatten out a bit on the table when moved about so I double loop him to help with the stand up part for finishing the look of his legs. What a fun guy for Christmas eve!

Sunny, Emmy and Buster

Busy two days went by. First on Monday Sophie, Monty and Molly came to visit my grooming table. What fun it was to have them for the whole day while their owner drove to Williams Lake.

Sophie is a Yorkie that has had 3 grooms by me. Her trim is along the lines of a schnauser body with a traditional round Yorkie head. She used to have the single bow topnot but now has a sportier short look. She is a dream to work with on all counts.

Monty, a Maltese X, visited me about 3 weeks ago. This time he got a #5 body with a #3 leg with a round face. I refer to this vaguely as a daisy cut. He is excellent on the grooming table...very willing and sweet natured.

Molly enjoyed her first visit to my grooming table with a simple bath and brush...she is a somewhat timid yet loving Chihuahua.

On Tuesday Emmy and Sunny came in for their first full grooming. They are both 6 months old and from the same litter...poodle-maltese x. They have visited before for puppy trims...face, feet, bum and groin only. Their trims were identical 5/8 all with short round face...I left their ears and tails natural. They look quite different as Emmy follows the Maltese half and Sunny follows the Poodle half. So cool to have had them since they were very small and to see how they have grown. Very calm and delightful dogs to work with.

Later on Tuesday Buster visited my grooming table for the first time. He is a ShihTzu, tri colour and is 5 months old...the 'runt' of his litter. But what a big personality he has! He was very calm and brave through every thing...almost. The bath and dry went very well...he settled quite nicely. The trim...a full groom...was 5/8 allover with a short round face...ears and tail left natural.

He set up a bit of a fuss over having his chin held for the face trim but after much coaxing and reassuring he accepted it. He was unreliably still...out of the blue he would shake his head like crazy so I had to settle for using my blending shear to do his entire head and face. I could not count on him to be still for regular 'pointy' shears. He will get better at this in time. I left his ears plucking for the end as I suspected that given his sketchy behaviour with the head and chin thing that this would be an issue. Yeah well I was correct...I did manage to get his left ear done and half of his right ear done. He simply stressed too much over that. Next time...I start with the right ear to be sure I get that done completely. His owner came to pick him up 20 minutes early so it was impossible to continue to try anyway...so it goes. And, boohoo, I forgot to take his after picture....next time I guess.

Sadie was my grooming table visitor today. She is a black cocker spaniel...kind of an old gal with the usual assortment of warts and lumps and bumps commom to cockers. She is possibly the sweetest cocker that I have ever groomed. She has a very willing disposition and none of the grooming procedures upset her at all. Typically though she takes a long time to dry. Her regular trim is a #10 all but with the weather hitting -30C here her owners wanted to go longer. So, I used a #4 instead...not a super tidy or easy length on her wavy coat but she will be cozy. I did her feet as tight and tidy as I could with that length of coat so she will not track in too much debris. I forgot to take a before photo and well...black dogs don't photograph the greatest but here she is. She is such a delightful dog to work with but, oh my, that shiny black coat nearly blinds a person after a while...just the way a bright white coat (and snow) does.

Yesterday and today were Poodle days. First Black Jack came to visit me. He is a year and 1/2 old and what I would consider a 'moyen' standard poodle...of shorter and more compact stature. He was very matted and his owner hoped his coat would not be very short. Oh well...I did manage to get a 5/8" blade under the matts on his body but had to go to a #4 on his legs. This was a pre-bath shave so after the bath I went to a #3 3/4 blade to do the finishing. He turned out looking okay and not uber short. His very matted ears ended up feathered with a 1 inch comb with a #10 clean face. This photo of him is mid-shave of pre-bath and I forgot to get the after shot.

Today Angel came for her turn on my grooming table. She too was very matted. She is 2 years old and also a 'moyen' standard poodle. For her coat I was only able to get under the matting with a #4 blade body and legs for the pre-bath shave. I followed up after the bath with the #3 3/4 blade to finish her body and legs with a #10 clean face. She turned out quite good considering what I had to deal with. Her ears were way less matted than her buddy's were but I feathered them with a 1 inch comb as well. The before photo is also mid shave off pre-bath and I managed to remember to take an after photo of her.

Both were 3 hour jobs but the results were pleasing to all concerned.

Julio came to my grooming table today. He is just the sweetest Maltese Shihtsu cross to have on my table. Nothing about the grooming process bothers him. I do use the fan to finish drying his face while I work on the rest of him though. His usual groom is a #7 all with a short round face and just a tidy to the ears and tail. Today his owner requested shorter so he can go through to the spring. So, today I used a #10 on the body, #5 on the top of the head and down the sides of his face and shortened the muzzle to match. I usually only take barely 1 inch off the ear length so today I took a good 1 and1/2 inches off. I still only lightly tidied the tail. Apparently he has been licking the bottom of his left front foot...there is a dark wierd looking strip, almost a crack, between the pads. I pointed this out when he was picked up and suggested they keep an eye on it. It might be a fungus or yeasty thing going on. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable visit with my little friend.

Today after Keeta left I bathed and groomed my two dogs...standard poodles...Freedom and Zak. They were sooo dirty since the weather has been snowy followed by melting to mud, mud, mud. Maybe now it will stay frozen so they can manage to stay clean. I did a simple tidy on them today... face, feet, bum, and groin. Their winter length is 5/8 inch all including ears with poodle feet using a # 10 'with' the direction of hair growth. They sport a poof ball at the end of their tails which I love to watch bouncing along as they walk. Up to now I've given they a clean face...now they are starting to grow in moustaches and beards. The growing in stage looks a bit odd. It was a good time ...they are very good on the table for me.

Keeta came to my grooming table today. He is a 5 year old ShihTsu that a lady adopted last July. For his first visit in July he was a bundle of mats sporting some very weird warty growths on his tail. So great to see him now in such good shape. He only has one ordinary wart on his chest now and very little matting...a bit on the tail this time. His nails were very long again. I gave hime the same groom...#10 all, #7 on top of the head, and ears with a clean face. He was a bit fussy about his front legs but not bitey. I had to exercise caution whil plucking the ears though...he was not happy with that at all. Of course once the groom was done he was his usual sweet and fun loving self. What fun!!!

Yesterday Monty came for a looooonnnggg visit to my grooming table. He is a 3 year old maltese. His trim is a #4 all with #4 teddy ears and tidied tail. There were lots of tiny mats in his coat but the blade was able to slip under all of them. His tail took some time to demat though. The reason for his long stay had nothing to do with grooming. His owner had to attend an appointment in a city 2 hours drive away and since I had no other clients on the books for the day Monty got to hang out with me for the day. Just before Xmas I'll have all three of her dogs for all day to get them all spruced up for the holidays! He was good company and settled down nicely with a few cuddle sessions and outside pit stops to keep him comfortable.