I've had a few quiet days in a row now so...it was a good time to get Zak and Freedom groomed. Zak has a nasty yeast infection in his ears and is on an in the ear drops medication. Needless to say his ears and throat area were a gummy mess to clean up. The vet's all seem to be at odds with how to treat his recurring problem but this new guy seems to have the right idea now. The others had us pouring vinegar water in his ears followed by a burrows solution...basically keeping his ears wet on a weekly basis. Certainly did not work. This new plan is to clear the infection with this medication and after rechecking in with the vet...using an alcohol based solution to dry things out in there. Sure hope it works!!! Anyway, I groomed both boys with a #10blade on the body and a #5 blade for the legs. They have a scizzored topknot and poof ball at the end of their natural tails. I did a Euro style ear in a #10 blade on both. They look very tidy and clean and very pooodddlllyy! It is a long day in the shop for them but they don't care to leave each others side...makes for fun grooming at best.

I am having limited success with the "No-Sit" saddle that I recently added to the shop equipment. I am not entirely sure whether it is a good item for me or not. It is too short for tall dogs like my Standard Poodles...and most of the small dogs I have tried it with tend to hop over and out of it very readily. Also it gets in the way of scizzoring legs. I'm sure that I'll keep trying it but so far it seems somewhat awkward to use. This photo is Ratboy in the saddle...he has limited ability to stand due to an ATV accident. For some parts of the process it works well...like drying, nails, pads. The jury is still out on this item.

Missy, a 5 year old Yorkie was my most recent visitor for grooming. She came in quite matted on the legs and underside. Her owner wanted a trim that would last a long time and solve the matting issue for that 'long' time. She also did not want the ears "tipped". I gave Missy a modified Schnauser type trim using a #10 for the body and a #5 to get under the mats on her legs. I scizzored around the paws tightly. For the face I scizzored a short round look to keep her looking like herself in spite of the dramatic body difference. She looks cute and should be easy care for a few months. She is definately a much more comfortable dog without all those mats. These are before and after shots of her.

Molly the ShihTzu came for her spring grooming today. She is a bit nervous about the drying process but otherwise excellant on the grooming table. I gave her a 5/8" trim all with a scizzored leg, short round face and round feet. There seemed to some static cling going on during her groom which made the legs a bit fussier to do. She is a pleasure to groom every time!

I had a new puppy come for her first grooming session today. Coquette is a 9 month old Pomeranian/Poodle X with a very soft brindle coat. This was her first experience at a professional grooming shop so she was understandably skittish about everything. The really good thing is that as soon as she realized that a procedure was not hurting her she would calm. I have before and after shots of her including those of her right hind leg where the "at home" attempts with scizzors were the worst. The client was hoping for a 1 inch all over trim but that was impossible due to the shortness of the many scizzor divots all over her body. I managed a 5/8 blade for the body to blend down the coat though. For the legs I used a #4 blade and scizzoring on the other 3 legs but the right hind required the magic of blending shears to camoflage the divots there. The next time I'll be able to do the 1 inch all trim! I look forward to grooming her again...she is very sweet.

Two days ago I had two Rough Collies come to visit my grooming table. They are Macs and MacKennna. They were both very matted up in the chest, underbelly and pants areas. I shave off the heavy and seriously close mats prior to bathing. After the bath and dry I was able to demat the rest. I tidied up the hocks and feet. They looked and I'm sure felt 100% better when done. I remembered to photograph Macs but forgot MacKenna. Macs took 4 hours and MacKenna took 3 hours to comlete.

Pretty little Pebbles came to visit my grooming table yesterday. She is a Cavalier...meek and mild. I've done her grooming many times and each time she is super sweet and easy to work with. She gets a #7 all over. No photo this time round...I forgot.

Today KC, lovely black Lab, had her turn for a good bath and ear cleaning. She is my daughter's dog so she and her fiance did all the work on her while snapped photos. She is a sweetheart!!

It's been a busy few days in the grooming shop. Buster, an 8 month ShihTzu came in for a nice short spring to summer trim. What a little wild thing he is for ear plucking!! He knows all the moves and FAST...wow. The rest of the groom went well enough BUT it is a good thing he was a #10 all over. It was the only safe blade to use on such a live wire. He is a very sweet boy for the afterwards cuddle time though. I managed to get a photo of him...cute.

Rooster was my next visitor. He is a chocolate Lab just over a year old. Very willing and just a tad nervous. I forgot to get his photo...maybe next time. He gets a bath and nail trim here every 6 months or so.

Keeta was next in line for his usual groom. She gets a #10 all over. She is an older ShihTzu with a very willing and cooperative way about her. She is not too fond of having her front paws worked on but all she does to show it is crinkle a lip. When she starts to lick her lips a lot I simply move on to something else briefly to give her a break. Then I go back to the paw in question. I did get her photo too.

The following day Maggie came to see me for bath and hair trim. She is an older Bouvier that has had some bladder issues recently. There is still a bit of lack of bladder control still going on with her so it was a challenging groom to complete. Very dribbly from time to time. I used a 1 inch comb on her body and a #4 blade to bring down the hair between her hind legs. The fronts of her hinds and the front legs themselve were done in a #3 which allowed for nice blending down of the body hair. I sprayed the hair between her hind legs and under her tail with an odor terminator to help with the pungent odor which results from her bladder issues. She was an good and patient dog to work. I did forget to take her photo though.

Very pleasant day in the grooming shop today. Both Sunny and Emmy came for the usual grooming. They are Poodle/Maltese X dogs not quite a year old. They are from the same litter but as it is with the X very different looking. Sunny is curly and has a very poodle face and body except that her legs a very short. Emmy has straight hair, a maltese face and is smaller in over size than her litter mate. Both are excellent dogs to groom. They both have wonky front legs so the only challenge is to camoflage them to look like straight legs. Creative clipping! Today I got to try out my new 'no sit' saddle...it works very well with these size dogs. I'll sit have to use my spare arm as a no sit with a grooming loop for Benny when he visits. The saddle will not reach far enough for him. No new photos today. My big dogs were still outside when the girls arrived so my time was used up calming things down and getting them inside.