I started taking new customers again a few years ago after quite a few of my regular dogs started to pass away.
I usually average a couple of new customers a week.
The last couple of months we have been getting more and more calls for new customers.
It is great having regular dogs, because you know what to expect from the dog.
You are used to the cut they get, and most of the time the grooming goes quickly because you and the dog are used to each other.
New dogs can be fun too.
It is something different from your regulars.
The problem is that they can take longer to groom while you spend time getting to know them and them getting to know you.
Some are great.
They have nice owners.
The dog has great hair to work with.
The dog is really well behaved and socialized.
The problem.
You rarely get new dogs that have all of those great things going for them.
Today we had four new dogs scheduled.
The first one for the day canceled.
The other three did show up.
This hairy guy was my first new dog of the day.
He is around a year and a half old.
He is a rescue.
His new owners found him tied to a tree, skin and bones, and severely matted, in a park.
The park is notorious for dog dumping.
He is very healthy now.
His new owners cut all of his mats off themselves and waited till he gained weight and was better to bring him in for a professional grooming.
His new Mom said that two people had to hold him down for his nails, and that it took them three weeks to scissor all of the mats off of him.
They did not know if he had been to a groomer before.
He was a little scared of the water when I first turned it on, but he quickly realized it was not going to hurt him.
He did really good for his bath.
Yes, I was playing with his hair.
The dryer really scared him at first, but after talking to him for a few minutes with the dryer still on him, he quickly learned that it was also not going to hurt him.
He even let me use the dryer around his head and ears.
All fluffy and clean and ready to be hand scissored.
His Mom only wanted about 1/2" off.
His new owner was taking great care of him.
The only mats he had were behind his ears.
He had great hair to scissor.
He stood there and did not move.
He was so good about being scissored.
I kept waiting for something to bother him.
He even let me clip his nails without too much fuss.
Just a little growl.
I guessed that he was going to be pretty good about everything...
Famous last thoughts!
Almost looks like he is smiling in this picture doesn't it?
Don't be fooled, he was opening his mouth to bite.
The only thing he did not like was scissoring the corner of his eyes.
Scissor the top of the head..okay.
Scissor above the eyes..okay.
Scissor his beard..okay.
Go anywhere near the corner of his eyes..growl, snarl, snap.
The more you talked to him the more he growled at you.
Stop fooling with his eyes... happy man again.
Who me?
Not me!
Do I look like I would try to bite?
Just leave my eyes along.
Well, it took me a little while.
I scissored a little, then did something else, then went back and scissored a little more.
By the time I only had a couple of snips left, he had stopped growling and snapping, but he made sure I could still see his teeth. :)
He wanted to make sure that even though he was letting me scissor his eyes now, he still didn't like it.
He turned out to be a good dog.
He has a good home now.
My next new dog of the day was a Springer Spaniel that came in around noon.
He is around 6 years old and has never been professionally groomed.
His owner had been shaving him herself at home.
He takes the name of his breed seriously, he was ready to spring at any moment for the entire groom.
He was not crazy about the bath, and did not like the dryer at first.
I slowly got him to except the dryer.
He even let me use the dryer on his head and around his face.
Of course, this was after I peeled him off of the ceiling whenever I tried to dry his feet.
I kind of liked him shaggy, but his Mom wanted him short.
Shaved short.
His owner likes to take him on hikes.
He did do pretty good for the clipping.
The only problem was, he would stand stone still staring at the grooming room door, and then without notice, he would whip around on my table to stare out the window.
He never gave me a moments notice.
Door.
Window.
Door.
Window.
That was the only thing going through his mind.
AND...
To top it all off ...
He was a fully intact male.
He suffers from allergies that make his belly breakout.
I had to very lightly skim his belly and scrotum, not touching his skin, and leaving the belly fuzzy.
I'd like to say that both my son and daughter gave me a hard time for having my son take this picture.
My son was very offend.
Oh, have I mentioned that I hate grooming un-neutered males dogs?
I clipped him with a #5F blade, blended his ears, then scissored his ear to the leather.
He was very happy when Mom picked him up.
My last new dog for the day?
What can I say.
It was a seven month old Pomeranian.
I would bet it has not been socialized.
He cowered in the back of the kennel.
He was scared to death when I reached in to get him out.
He hated the bath.
He hated the dryer.
He was sure he was going to die.
He flinched when you picked him up.
He flinched when you brushed him.
He flinched when you scissored his rear.
(His Mom wanted his ears neatened up and trimmed.)
He flinched big time every time I tried to use my thinning shears around his ears.
He never stopped moving, spinning, and hoping up into my arms.
So imagine my surprise when I loaded my pictures onto the computer and found that I not only managed to get at least one clear picture of him, but I also managed to actually get his ears fairly even.
It's a little blurry, and I had to squeak like a mouse to get him to be still and look at me, but it turned out to be a nice picture.
He is a cute little stinker isn't he?
His Mom really needs to work on socializing him.
I don't know if I have any new dogs on tomorrow.
I didn't look.
Happy Grooming, MFF
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