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Oh My God - what sort of world do we live in?

I give tablets by putting them in cream cheese (not the light kind ) If it is a new dog or a visitor I give them small pieces of cream cheese with no tablet and then slip the tablet in to the 3rd piece of cheese and they just gobble it down. My guys line up for tablets - they think it is an extra special reward.

Is it not possible to prove parentage of crossbred dogs if parents are dna tested? A breeder who is in breach of a code because their dog "just slipped one in" should be fined for a breach of the code - this could encourage them to tighten up the management of their breeding stock. I do not want to belong to a pure bred dog organisation that encourages or at worst turns a blind eye to the breeding of crossbred dogs. JMO

Perhaps you need to fire off an email to Hills with your enqury, Erny, it seems a very reasonalbe question to want to know the answer to.

The quilt looks wonderful - well done guys!!! I am sure it will bring much warmth and joy to the recipient!!!!

In this heat I only do ball throwing after 4.30pm and in the shade and we stop after 10 mins and my 2 year old mini poo and 9 month old standard are panting like nobodies business. I would be checking heart pretty thoroughly.

Personally, given the crappy way things are made today - I would not buy an electrical good that could not be covered by warranty.

Haven, hugs to you what a horrible way for your beautiful Loki to pass - perhaps there is some comfort in the fact that Loki probably wasn't aware of what was happening to him - my gran had siezures towards the end of her life and would wake up in hospital feeling fine and say - "what am I doing here?" and would have no memory of the seizure.

Red Angel - that is way more than my very active mini poo gets LOL I would cut way back - give vegies to bulk up or as snacks

I bought a pair os Sketchers recently which began to come unstitched after I wore them out twice - once to go to lunch and once to do some shopping - they were the most expensive pair of rubbish - and no they weren't ebay knock offs - they came from a reputable shop. Not happy and would never buy another pair.

I attempted (after much begging on the owners part) to clip a spoodle several years ago that was so aggressive it really needed to be pts - it was seriously psycho - never seen anything like it and no it had not been mistreated or had a bad experience at a previous groomer etc - owners were at their wits end.

I Have not bought Wahl blades for over 10 years (didn't like any I tried) and only buy Oster blades. I have Wahl and Heineiger clippers and have no problems. I use both the elite and normal cryogen blades and probably actually prefer the cryogen blades - I find the elite rust easily. I notice that Wahl have bought out a new range called Ultimate Competition which supposedly cut 2 and 1/2 times faster than the Comp blades. They also say that EACH blade is hand tested before leaving the factory and is 100% guaranteed to cut. I assume this is because a lot of people were finding that they had to send new blades to be sharpened before they could use them.

No, she actually means clip the dog while it is still wet - I have never done this as I am too worried about being electrocuted LOL but I know several who do. From your description the dog in the blog was not as matted as your little client. My favourite blade for clipping badly matted (I get these through rescue to do) is a 7 skip tooth - I find it a lot better than a 10 ) This is a random blog I found http://groomblog.blogspot.com/2005/03/more...wo-studies.html

Book him for a bath and blowdry and good brush out - ask them to tidy up over his feet if you want. Be warned - if you use the word "trim" and don't explain what you want you could end up with a naked dog.

LOL, yep Jules P - I actually refuse to do weird things (ok I will do a mohawk) but no shaving halfway up the legs or poodle feet or head on anything but a poodle etc - my customers know not to ask LOL I do tick clips on a couple of farm poos but they still have topknots and a couple of terriers have tick clips.

Personally, If I had to have my poodles groomed by someone else I would only send them to someone who showed poodles regardless of certification/qualification. Unless you understand how a well constructed poodle should look you are not going to be able to scissor to make the most of the dog - you might get a beautiful "finish" on the dog but I find a lot of these grooms seem to lack a feel for what a poodle should be . However, as Clyde pointed out - I am not your average poodle owner so I would expect more. I currently get my mini showgirl scissored by someone else and I am learning heaps from that - but there is no way in hell I would let any old qualified groomer loose on her - Certified Master Groomer or not.

It is very difficult. I do a much better job than my competitor with the very swish mobile van which has all the mod cons and she did a grooming course with a very reputable company - not sure what she learnt. I on the other hand am basically self taught due to owning and showing standard poodles for about 15 yrs. However, as someone else pointed out - I listen carefully to what people want - I also ask terrier owners if they want a breed clip and point them in the direction of another local groomer who does this beautifully. I specialise in poodle style trims with a lot of hand scissoring. A lot of my customers are crosses who have a "teddy bear trim" and the rest are mostly poodles. All of my clients are regulars and I only take new customers if someone leaves . I am also very keen to improve my knowledge and do this through other groomers, books, the net and poodle exhibitors etc. I have thought about doing one of the reputable grooming courses but they are sooooo expensive and my business is a part time hobby which evolved due to demand. My experience with hairdressers is that there are a lot who do a very ordinary job and they are all trained

I am not hard on my blades and my favourite Wahl 10 blade has been sharpened twice in over 10 years and my 40s & 50s that I use on my show dogs never LOL. When the Wahl blades were made in Germany they were fab but I will only buy Oster blades now although someone suggested that Heineiger blades are very good and I do have a Heineiger clipper which I love. I do love my Moser Arco SE because it is so light and small if somewhat crudely constructed.

Very unattractive LOL We get a lot of them here due to paralysis ticks - in fact locally people ask for a tick clip.

Since I use sewing machine oil in my $7 500 Bernina sewing machine I hope so LOL. I have actually used several different places over the years for shapening my blades and have been very happy with all of them Clipperworld Ian P A place in Taree (who do my Moser Arco SE blades that others said can't be done) Coastal Sharpening at Elanora Colin

Danielle, I have been grooming my own showdogs (poodles) for over 10 years so I can tell the difference LOL. I love that she can scissor my current showdog for me. It is very hard, as a groomer, to get that extra edge that moves you from very good to world class LOL. It is a gift and cannot come from just practice - you have to have that certain something to begin with. I am a perfectionist so really appreciate that quality when I see it in any area of life.

Forgot to add that the CMG who charges $50 and lives near me also wins grooming comps and has represented Aus several times so it doesn't leave me much space. She is lovely and does my show dog for me so not complaining I actually send her clients as I am full LOL. BUT, one does have to adjust to the competition, clientele etc I work from home and have few overheads (thanks Hubby) so I am not going to charge the same price as a salon although my trims are probably better than many (so my customers who have moved to the district tell me LOL)

There is a certified master groomer in the next village to me who only charges $50 for a small clip so I charge less than this as I do not have this qualification - I do nice style grooms not clip offs. Many of my customers are pensioners so I think it depends on the socio economic status of your clients and your purpose in grooming - I groom from home for a little extra income to cover my hobbies.

There is heaps of very good info on heat stress on the net - take the time to google some - we live in a hot humid country so it is good to have this info in your head. Panting is what dogs do to cool down more extreme symptoms obviously need to be dealt wiht by a vet eg unable to stand, vomiting otherwise get the dog to rest in the shade or airconditioning (if you have it) If you want to immerse the dog use tepid water rather than ice cold. Apppy water to groin armpit areas (these are areas where the blood vessels are closer to the skin) Place dog in front of a fan on a wet towel (don't put the towel over them) Dogs do these things themselves - they lie on tiles in an area where they get a breeze. Be cautious about allowing a wet dog to lie on tiles in a breeze for any length of time due to risk of pneumonia Do not let dogs over exercise in this weather - if the dog is too dumb to self regulate - then do it for them. My lot have a routine of outside toy games in the afternoon - over summer we have a couple of short sessions - I end them otherwise I would end up with overheated dogs. JMO

Don't use water and don't do anything else until you read the info on this site - if still in doubt give Colin a ring http://www.clipperbladesharpening.biz/index.asp