This is one long blog.
Three days worth.
I can't wait for this week to be over.
Is it Christmas Eve yet?
I don't mean to sound like Scrooge, I really don't.
I like the Holiday.
If only I could skip grooming between Thanksgiving through Christmas.
This week started out rotten, and has not gotten any better.
It is amazing how many people who have not bothered to get their dog groomed for the last 4-6 months all of the sudden expect us to have openings 9 days before Christmas.
"He's only a small dog. He won't take you long."
( Most likely a 60lb matted mess )
"We have been coming to you for awhile."
( Twice in '08' and once in '09' )
"I have sent a lot of customers your way"
( Groomed the dog twice in 8 months. Thank you, I can put you on the waiting list )
"Come on, I have called everyone else, are you sure you can't groom him. You can keep him all day, I can pick him up as late as 10pm."
( No comment )
Let's not even talk about all of the calls on the caller ID from 7 in the morning to as late as 10:45 at night.
I don't live at my shop people, and even if I did I would not be available 24/7.
Sorry, had to vent, vent ,vent.
If you want to keep reading, I'll see if I can vent some more.
I am on a roll.
Wednesday:
This is 'Jerimiah'.
He first came to me as a puppy.
His owner is a hair dresser.
'Jerimiah's' owner spoiled him rotten.
He bought 'Jerimiah' the best collars, leashes, sweaters and toys.
His owner was also very picky about the groom.
'Jerimiah' was to only get hand scissored.
That lasted up until the beginning of this year.
Then his owner missed an appointment.
Then 'Jerimiah' started coming in matted.
'Jerimiah's' dad missed his last appointment even after getting a reminder call the day before, and confirming that he would be there.
This upset me more then other No Shows, because 'Jerimiah's' dad is a hairdresser, and we have discussed rude people who No Show.
'Jerimiah' is a sweet dog, but he has a terrible coat.
It is a fine, cottony, thick coat with little wiry hairs that stick out in every direction.
It always looks tacky to me, even after a good bath.
'Jerimiah's' dad wanted him hand scissored for the winter, but he was way too matted.
I had to do a #4f on the body and a 3/4 blade on the legs and scissor.
Poor little 'Jerimiah' looks terrible in a clipdown.
He really needs a long puppy cut to hide his confirmation flaws.
He is way too skinny also.
I don't know what is going on at home.
I just know that 'Jerimiah' is not as spoiled as he used to be.
And, I am not happy that his Dad has No Showed on me 3 times this year, and canceled last minute twice!
He is a Hairdresser!
Vent, vent...
This is 'Charlie'.
He was another one of my many grooms Wednesday.
I have groomed 'Charlie' four times.
Each time they have asked me to take him shorter.
This time I did a #15.
I have not shaved a dog down in a #15 since Grooming School.
No kidding, not even a matted dog.
When 'Charlie's' dad picked him up, he said that he has been shorter then the #15.
I will not go shorter then a #15!
We will see if I will still be grooming 'Charlie'.
"I am sorry 'Charlie', I don't know why your owners didn't buy a Chihuahua."
After little 'Charlie', this was my last dog of the day, Wednesday.
Big 'Charlie'!
The biggest, hairiest, laziest Breaded Collie you ever wanted to meet.
'Charlie' is very sweet, and does not mind being brushed and combed out.
But, he is one of the laziest dogs I groom.
'Charlie's' idea of hard work is to stand up for more then 2 minutes at a time.
When he wants to sit or lay down, he drops like a ton of bricks.
His groom is full of up, down, up, down.
'Charlie's' groom consists of a bath, blowdry, thinned out with the Mars Coat King, round off his feet, and trim long bangs.
'Charlie' will sit anywhere and on anything.
"Are you comfortable 'Charlie'? We're almost done.'
Wednesday was a long day.
Thursday was no better.
Our wonderful weathermen were calling for snow, 1-3 inches.
You would think that they where calling for 1-3 Feet of snow.
If this had been 2 weeks from now, most of my day would have canceled at the mention of snow.
Because it is only 8 days until Christmas, all of my customers showed.
No one said a thing about the snow, until...
It actually started to snow.
Then the phone started to ring.
"Is my dog done yet, it's snowing."
"Can I come pick up my dog, I don't like driving in the snow."
Luckily, it didn't start to snow until around 1:30 in the afternoon, and most of the dogs were done or almost done.
Be prepared, my next picture will show the blizzard we had.
We got a whooping 1/2 inch of snow.
Schools closed early.
(They never closed early when I was in school)
People rushed to pick up their dogs.
You would think after the record snow storms we had last year that people would have laughed at this little spit of snow.
I still had the big hairy's to finish.
This is 'Sam'.
He is a very sweet Cocker, who's owners like him in a long puppy cut with very full feet, full head, no cocker ears, and a lightly clipped face.
I groom 'Sam', my daughter Jessica, grooms his sister.
'Sam' has some long legs.
This is 'Mattie' the Goldendoodle.
Talk about some long legs.
'Mattie's' owner wasn't worried about the snow, she was over an hour late for her appointment.
Last but not least of the long legged crew, was 'Charlie'.
'Charlie' was rescued by a customer of mine.
She was sitting in her vet's lobby when someone brought 'Charlie' in to put him to sleep because they could no longer keep him.
My customer took him on the spot.
The large, dark gray patches of hair on his sides and legs are where the hair was rubbed off of him from living in a crate that was too small.
'Charlie' is one lucky dog.
He has a great owner now, and his best friend is a 5 pound Pomeranian.
We had no problem driving home in the snow, except for getting behind the drivers who were going 25-30 on a 40mph road!
Then I tried to Blog...
In 5 months I managed to fill 1GB of free space for my pictures.
Do I use too many pictures?
I Love pictures.
I Love taking pictures.
Can you tell?
So, I bought more space so that I could continue to post grooming pictures.
20GB for $5 a year.
How long do you think it will take me to fill that up?
Now for today...
Groom wise, today went well.
Another full day of dogs, and they were all good.
But...
Around 9 am I got a call from a customer who's dog we groomed yesterday.
We have been grooming this customers dogs for over 20 years.
My daughter used one of her dogs to compete in Hershey when she was 13.
This customer works as a Vet Tech for my Vet.
She called to let us know that her dog ATE the Christmas bow that I put on her collar yesterday!
In her opinion I should not put any more bows on the collars.
I have been putting bows on collars and in ears for 26 years.
This is the first time I have ever gotten a call like this.
I didn't put bows on anyone today.
I am not sure what to do.
Her dog throw-up the ribbon which had unwound and was around a foot long.
It gives me chills to think of that ribbon getting wrapped around her intestines.
It has never crossed my mind that one of the dogs would eat the bow.
I just don't know. :(
I can't wait for this week to be over with.
One more day.
I have had enough for drama for the week.
Tomorrow is the last Saturday before Christmas.
We are booked solid, and the Self-Serve will be packed.
Oh, and they are calling for more snow.
Still don't know how much yet.
The more radars and computer models the weathermen have, the worse they get about predicting the weather.
Wish me luck for tomorrow. :)
Happy Grooming, MFF
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