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.

Black Jack and Angel came to my grooming table yesterday. It was a long day at the shop as these are two standard Poodles of the 'moyen' size. They both have very beautiful hair quality...though Black Jack's is the most luxurious...very thick and of crisp texture. Their coats were not as long or as matted their first visit. It is just that it takes 3 hours each to complete each dog. I used a #3 3/4 blade all with clean poodle face and winter poodle feet. They both sport a medium topknot and poof ball tail. These are excellant dogs to work on...though Angel was a bit pully as I did her feet...no biggy. I have no photos as time and energy were a factor. They are welcome any time!!!

Nico came to visit my grooming table yesterday. He is a very large mixed breed with an extraordinarily absorbant heavy undercoat. This was a 3 hour bath and brush. It was like a blizzard in the shop as I blew his coat dry. A lot of the undercoat released but there is still a fair bit left to keep him warm until the real spring weather gets here. He has a very calm and kind nature...with me at least...apparently he bit someone a few days ago. There was not even a hint of any aggression in him while I groomed him. Trimming his nails went off without any difficulty at all. All in all it was a pleasant three hours...then it took an hour an a half to clean up the shop from all his fuzzies.

Julio came to visit my grooming table today. He is such a cooperative little Shih Tzu. Today his trim was a #10 all with a short round face. I did a light tidy on his ears and tail. His coat is always in excellant condition including that long tail! I trim his feet in nice and tight...not quite poodle feet. Our mild winter this year means lots of mud to track in so tight tidy feet are very popular indeed. Yesterday I groomed my own 3 dogs...the poodles ofcourse got their poodle feet and the pom X got tight tidy feet...gotta cut down on the muddy paws.

Today was Rollie's bath day! He's been visiting us for 2 weeks and goes home this afternoon. My but he was a dirty boy. But, so well behaved in the tub and on my grooming table. Mike helped with the bathing and drying process. With such a large and strong dog I really appreciate the help. He had a lot of undercoat and a few mats. I used my 'coat king' tool to slice through the mess and loosen things up. I was in the end able to get a comb through his entire coat including his tummy and pants. I trimmed his hocks and front legs for a nice tidy look. I also used my blending sheers down his pants to tidy up his rump. This was a 4 1/2 hour job. He looks great and his folks were thrilled to have him back and looking and feeling so good. I totally enjoyed working on his coar today and he was awesome good!!!

In the past few days I have had Sadie, the black Cocker Spaniel and Benny, the Maltese PoodleX visit my grooming table for their regular..."it's almost spring" trims. They are both such delightful dogs to groom. Sadie is definitly the nicest Cocker I've ever groomed. And, Benny is such a tiny little cutie...not sure if he even weighs 5 pounds. I didn't take new photos this time round but I sure enjoyed their company!