Today 2 Shelties, Molly and Zoey came to visit my grooming table for the first time. Their coats were quite matted and heavy with undercoat. They each took 3 hours to bathe, dry, demat and tidy. Very time intensive job but very satisfying to see them look so good one completed. They were awesome good and patient considering how long it took and the amount of dematting required. Good challenge for the old grooming skills!!! I only had a chance to get a photo of one of them this time...Zoey.

Buddy visited my grooming table today. He is a diabetic ShihTsu. He has front leg issues and hates ear plucking. For the most part though I consider him to be a good boy. He grumbles throughout the whole process but is only troublesome for nails and ears plucking. He is quite a frail fellow and tips over easily. I find that taking my time, talking calmly and giving him time to cooperate with what I need him to do...we get along just fine. For his summer do I used a #5 blade on his body and on as much of his legs as he could cope with...then I scizzored the rest of his legs. This photo is an oldy...looks like a 5/8 inch trim.

I have had 2 new visitors to my grooming table. First Pepper a Border Collie came in for a groom. She was a bit nervous at the beginning but was so smart. It took no time at all for her to figure what I wanted her to do. I used a 5/8 inch blade to shorten her lovely coat for a summertime of fishing on the lake. There was a lot of snaggled undercoat to work at getting under but I managed.

Next Ceasar came for a grooming. He is a Yorkie and his family is up at the lake for the summer too. I used a #10 blade on his body and a #15 blade to deal with the wispy leg hairs. His face and ears were shortened using blending shears. He was kind of pully with his legs but over all a good little guy. He will enjoy his sand and water beach time with this summer trim.

I had a visit from Sunny and Emmy yesterday. They are poodleX sisters and so cute and full of mischief. The groom was as last time...#4 allover with scizzored legs. They arrived right in the middle of our renovation work but the lino was down so I got the grooming done without difficulty. The walls were all gone on the inside so they had lots of room to roam around. This reno work is going to turn the grooming shop into a boarding kennel for cats and dogs as well and add a washroom and a coffee/snack room.

Today I met a new little friend in my grooming shop. Sammy is a Silkie/Yorkie X with only one eye. He is quite a nervous little guy but he settled down nicely as the groom progressed. I used a #10 blade on his body, #15 on his legs and scizzored and blended to give him a short face to go along with his summer do. I'm not sure is this was what was wanted...the instructions were for short...which as we all know means different things to different folks. He has very sensitive skin so I was careful not to back brush too vigorously...I used the reversed brush technique so the pins of my slicker would have a softer feel against his skin. I hope to see him again but...alas...they are seasonal folks here for the summer at the cabin.

Today Tinkerbell came to visit my grooming table. She is a very timid Poodle X and was very matted this time. I used a #10 blade all over with a #7 on top of her head and #5 for the muzzle. She started out a bit scrambly but was quite good for the groom once she figured out that all I wanted was for her to stand in a certain position for a certain amount of time. A very smart little girl! She will enjoy this tidy clean coat for her fun days in the barn with her buddies.

Today Coquette came to visit my grooming table. She is a cute little Pomeranian/Poodle X with a luxurious brindle coat and a very winning and cooperative attitude toward being groomed. I used a 5/8 inch blade for her body and blended down to a #4 blade length on her legs. The top of her head is also done with a 5/8 in blade and her muzzle is a #5 blade length. I used blending shears to bring her ears down somewhat to maintain the wispy look on them. I lightly tidied her tail. She was a delight to groom. Today is her birthday...one year old!!!

Two new little friends came to visit my grooming table today. Bugsy is a 14 year old intact male miniature poodle. His buddy is a young intact male Chihuahua. What fun they were to groom. Lots of excitement, barking and jumping about by Bugsy...until he got on the table...then he was a solid steady delight to groom. I used a #4 blade on his body, gave him a #10 clean poodle face with a 5/8 top not, poodle feet and a flag tail.

Chico was in for a bath and brush and nail trim. Both excellant dogs on the table.

Today I had 3 visitors to my grooming table. Annie is a young mostly white ShihTsu female. Bianaca is a 4 month old Pomeranian/Yorkie X female with a unique color. Chevy is a 7 month old black ShihTsu X male.

I had to shave Annie using a #15 blade to get under the tightly felted matting on her body and legs. She looks quite naked now...but...it will grow. She had quite heavy hair growth in he ears for plucking out as well.

Chevy got a #7 all over trim to deal with the matting on his legs and belly. This was his very first trip to the groomer and he needed it. His ears were gummy and needed plucking overmuch. I was very pleased with the way he accepted the grooming process.

Bianca was here for an introductory puppy trim...face, feet, bum and groin. She is a little cutie and behaved very well for her first time!

I only had time for after photos as the owner needed them all done before heading to work. I got them done in about 3 1/2 hours with the help of my handy dandy bather/hubby. Thanks hon!