BC

Yep, I hate it when body parts are in the wrong place at the wrong time

I would only be bathing monthly with a mild shampoo, unless they roll in something Also, they do sell the spot on flea treatments such as Advantage etc for puppies and dogs less than 5kg's. You cant go past these for flea prevention.

I know what you mean. I have rarely had a problem with larger dogs legs, but the littlies can get a bit funny. In saying that, most of the ones I have problems with are just left outside to their own devises, and as they're matted and dirty their owners dont have much interaction with them as they smell So they have not had much handling at all, let alone their feet and legs. This is just what I have found. The little ones that are well cared for and gromoed regularly I dont have that much of a problem with at all, unless they have had a prior injury or pain etc (that I have later found out from the owner). They will then kick up a bit of a stink.

Thanks Luvabull, thats what I was talking about, just shows how lazy I am :wink:

I'm not a groomer but Dru has accurately described my efforts at grooming my Cavaliers. I'm improving with experience though ;) Practise make perfect though so you will get there one day.

I think the OP means the dog is "gawking" or distracted by everything and not keeping focus/attention on the handler while outside of the yard.

I think with this one, and any grooming you do ask heaps of questions, so you understand what the owners are wanting and they fully understand what you're going to do and how it will look. I ask a million questions on dogs I have never done before and I'm sure I drive the owners nuts, but I rather get everything right, that have a nasty surprise afterwards.

Mine get left over veges, but not much, and it is not part of their daily diet. They love mashed spud but I normally eat all of my tucker Avoid onion, grapes, saltanas and chocolate. Didn't know about Avocado, but mine dont eat it anyway. There is a thread on what foods are toxic to dogs, so just do a seach and you should find heaps of info.

No, a real bugger normally takes me 1.5 hours max. I will charge $55 normally and $60 for matted hair. I dont charge any extra than that regardless of the dogs behaviour. Any dogs will hate having their legs/feet clipped if they have not had them handled properly from a young age, or "grooming trained", or if something has hurt them in the past, eg, nails clipped too short or if they have been cut etc. They remember it hurt and anticipate it happening again. I had a little dog last week, that went absolutely coco bananas when I went near his bum. I soon found out that 2 weeks prior he had a prostate check at the vets and was squealing the whole time, so there is always a reason. We got there in the end with assistance from a muzzel I think one of the major factors in grooming is your dog handling skills. I dont allow the dog to hide anything from me. I always have said anyone can clip a dog, but not everyone can handle a dog. You get all sorts to groom, agressive, submissive, frightened, bouncy, snappy, squealers, puppies for their first groom, adults that have never been groomed, dogs matted and in pain etc and need to be able to handle each and every one with minimal fuss and get the job done.

Unfortunately yes, I get quite a few in summer. It depends on the condition of the hair as to what can be done, but I have only seen 1 matted cav. Most people want it all shaved off, so just check with the owners what they want. I do this with a 5#, just as I would a malt, but leave the ears and tail. Check though as some people even like ears and tail all shaved off. You can also do a spaniel clip on a cav. Check out pics of the English Cockers and how they're clipped. Also, if you have a good grooming book, just follow the style of the English Cocker Spaniel. This clip does look quite nice on a Cav. But you're right, it is not a breed you would normally clip.

Full of crap Ask him how would we train out dogs for obedience competitions if they could only understand 5 commands ;) Or how do the scent dogs work, and other sporting, working dogs obey on only 5 commands etc

Very normal puppy behaviour. Nothing to worry about, he's just very excited !!!! I have a little dog I groom of 3 years old that still does it when she gets excited

Squeeze them. Some smaller dogs (especially) get anal glands that are over-full and if the stuff leaks out in the house it stinks (worse than poo). I do both dogs when I bath them, just in case (about monthly). Sign of a problem is if dog scoots along on it's bum. That is gross! So I should squeeze them on Blayd once a month??! I don't even know how to find them. yuck. will stuff come out?? gross! He did scoot on his bum the first week i got him... i didn't know what it was, but he only did it for the one day or so and hasn't done it since. It was in the house though. Gross. I hope nothing came out. Ugh... shouldn't have eaten breakfast before reading this lol sorry for the thread hijack... i'm just... perplexed. And grossed out! Dont do it unless you have been shown by your vet how to do it, and they need to be done. If he has a good diet this should be done naturally. There is a technique to it, and it is not pleasant. Stinks, to the point of watery eyes and spew in your mouth if you have never seen or smelt it before, and can shoot out like rocket, so you need to keep your face out of the way.

I do: Full body clip (either very short or a bit of length and shaped) including feet, 10# essentials as you described, shaped face etc Wash Blow Dry Nails clipped if needed Ears cleaned and plucked Anal glads if needed Cologne My price is $55 to $60 depending on the condition of the dogs coat and takes me around 1 hour to 1 hour 15 mins for a dog that is reasonable co operative. A bit longer if they are a little bugger. Matted coats need to come off short, and I charge more as it takes a while to get bad matting off and wrecks you blades and scissors.

It depends on what the living conditions of the dog are. If it is inside, and you are sending it to the groomers every 4-6 weeks, then that should be fine as long as you brush it every 1-2 days. I find the best to make sure there are no knots etc in a malt coat is a metal comb. This gets down to the skin and finds every knot. Unless you layer brush the entire dog with a pin or slicker brush, you will find most brushes will just brush to top of the coat and not to the skin so just be mindful of this. Good luck

You'll find the 7F will not look that much shorter than the 5F. I agree though, keep a little extra length on the legs by scissoring in a nice cylinder shape.

When Cooper plays with other dogs, on the rare occasion I let him, it has to closely supervised. The other dogs are enjoying chasing the ball, but Cooper enjoys herding the other dogs, and most do not really appreciate this. You will never get this instinct out of the dog, it is what they were bred to do. The only thing that stopped Cooper, is me having more control over him and being able to call him off when his herding starts to kick in. Lots and lots of obedience training and control over him from a distance. When he starts to herd, I call him back to me, and he has to sit there and watch the others dogs play until I say he can go and play again. After a couple of times of me calling him back when he starts to herd, he soon gets the picture and starts to play more and more with the other dogs. He is slowing learning what is accetable and what is not. I dont know what else to suggest to you, except when the herding kicks in, call your dog back to you and not let him play until he knows how to play nice. As I said, it is a hard one as you will never get this drive out of him, but you need to learn to control and manage this behaviour through training and focus on you. Good luck

I dropped it on concrete That's what I drop them on too. It normally involves them flying up in the air before down so they are falling even further than table height. They still rarely break but they do get misaligned and nead a trip to the sharpeners. Good thing they dont break often because I think I've dropped every blade I own at least once. Yep, me too. I've dropped the clippers too while they were going :rolleyes: And I also try and catch falling scissors Oh well, the hole in my hands and feet from scissors falling and blades dropping will go nicely with all of the cut marks and dog scratches. My hands look a treat

I will only restrain a dog I have never done before, or I know will need to. I cannot affort for a dog to jump off the table and do damage etc. The restrains in the bath are so that they can only just get their head over the edge, and the table restrains are so they cannot get over the edge of the table. However, in saying that, I NEVER take my eyes off them, it only takes a split second for something to happen. When filling the bath etc up where my back will be to the dog, I prefer to have them on the floor running around. I only use martingale type collars and not correction chains. I just dont like them and some dogs will pull that hard, or are that afraid, they are literally choking themselves on correction chains. I know of 1 groomer, who when she first started grooming, had an elderly schnauzer on the table, who was deaf and blind, but was OK up there as he had many many years of grooming and was standing very still. She turned around to pick up a towel off the floor, and bounced back up to this almighty thump. The schnauzer had taken a step off the table backwards, and on the way down had smashed his jaw on the side of the table. Apart from not being able to walk due to damage in the legs, the entire jaw was shattered and resulted in the dog being PTS. That is why I never ever take my eyes off them unless they're on the floor. My main concern at all times is the dog, even if that means it will be safer for the dog to be restrained. But the majority of the dogs I do, will happily stand on the table and bath without any fuss. I know the ones that dont though and take measures to prevent injury

My 30# blade has a tooth missing cos I dropped it and I still use it, but it is such a fine blade I dont have any problems. And yes, you should be able to buy blade parts. I know ther person who sharpens my blades, often puts in new screws and rubbers, or replaces stuff when I ask. They will actually be doing this shortly as one of my 7# blades has a whole screw missing, so it is only being held together on one side Also wait until you drop one on the top of your foot Dont ever ever ever groom with thongs on like I did a couple of times last summer, you're asking to be stabbed in the foot

I use the heavy duty clips from Bunnings. They're an oval shape, with one end being smaller than the other if that makes any sense. To clip them onto anything you just push the side in. I have used weaker/cheaper ones and have had dogs snap them so I hear ya.

I dont mind myself if clients are watching me, and if they have any questions I will happily answer them. I would rather see a well groomed dog, regardless of whether I did it or not, and if the owner wants to have a go themselves, that is fine with me. I at least know the owner is making an effort in looking after their dog and is willing to learn. At 4.5 months old, your dogs coat will change as it gets older anyway. Depending on the breed of dog whether clipping will change the coat as it regrows, but with my experience in clipping you x breed, it just grows back exactly the same.

I agree with showdog. Find yourself a good groomer, who, for the first few grooming sessions, can get your dog some "grooming manners" and used to what is being done. You will also get a nice shape, which you can then follow when you decide to do it yourself. The reason I say to go to a groomer is, your dog can tell if you are nervous, and will react to that. If you accidentally injure your dog due to inexperience (not knowing danger areas of dogs, incorrect blades in certain parts of the dogs body, cutting dog with scissors etc) , it can be very hard to get a dog to cooperate again. A groomer will do this with confidence and in a much shorter time than you, which will then give your dog confidence, and will be much better behaved when it comes time for you to have a go. You could also ask the groomer if you can watch so you can get the idea of different holds and positions, and how to shape faces and scissor legs and feet, and they can explain to you what baldes they are using and for what reasons etc etc. Good luck

Yep, she always does well. Very nice dogs too

me me, I'm right at the top of the list