Grooming Smarter

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Quick-Stop Do's and Don'ts

We all hate to do it, but it happens. We quick a nail. No one can avoid it, no matter how hard we try. Dremels HELP to reduce quicking but even a dremel can get into the quick and cause bleeding, and once it happens you have to stop it. There are several options out there for products that make the bleeding stop, but I think that overwhelmingly the most popular product is Quick-Stop.

That is what I want to discuss today. 

I hear all the time that Quick-Stop (QS) makes a mess and gets all over tables, dogs and the floor. I never really understood why there are so many people with problems. There are some simple things you can do to make the process of applying Quick-Stop easy and mess free.

Things to DO include:

• Using small containers of QS not really big ones is a good idea. If the small ones spill you will have less mess to clean up. I use small plastic containers that are designed for travel and transfer the QS into it for use at the tables. This makes the large container last longer as well.

• Use in dry areas. QS when wet, leaves stains and clumps up. It is hard to clean up when it gets wet. I prefer to use it in the grooming room not the bathing room because of its tendency to stain and clump when water is present. If you happen to get QS stains or a clump, the dogs foot may have to be washed off. 

 

• Stop excessive bleeding before applying QS to the nail. I always apply pressure immediately after quicking a nail to minimize the bleeding. To do this, you place two fingers, one on top and one on the bottom, of the pad right behind the nail and press firmly. That will slow blood flow. Then, I use a paper towel to remove any excess and apply my QS. It is easier to do this if you have two people, but if you have to stop and open the QS bottle, then you resume pressure after you get the applicator ready and wipe any blood off before applying. I am pretty good at taking the top off my container with the hand that is holding the nail by holding the top and twisting the bottom. I always have the applicators where I can grab one easily, and a paper towel or washcloth on my table ready in case I need it.

 

• Apply with a Cotton Tipped, First Aid Applicator or Q-Tip moistened and dipped in the QS, not fingers. Yes, it is easier to pinch some QS out of the bottle and apply it, but that is wasteful and messy. Too much QS is less likely to work as well as a small amount on a wet applicator. I usually stick them in my mouth to dampen them and then apply just to the bleeding tip of the nail, then hold for a minute and the bleeding is stopped with no excess present on the hair or gooped on the nail. Bottles of Kwik Stop brand say to apply with a wet Q-Tip and when I tried it one day I realized it works better. Reading directions is always a good thing! Q Tips do not work as well as these applicators do. The cotton in these is wrapped tighter onto the stick, making the process neater and faster.

 

• If possible buy the QS with Benzocaine. It acts as a numbing agent and antiseptic. It will help the pet feel LESS burn from the styptic.

 Things you should NOT do include:

• DO NOT use on wet hair! Water and QS result in a chemical reaction that makes the styptic powder turn brown or black. If the dog is wet, and you use QS on the nails, you are likely to get it all over the hair leaving a nasty brown stain. This is almost impossible to remove. Use only on dry dogs whenever possible. 

 

• NEVER use it on wounds.  I know for a fact it burns on open scratches or cuts. It also will spread to the hair around the injury and make it really hard to remove the excess. if you HAVE to use it, on say an ear nick, the wet applicator will make the mess minimal and it works better.

 

• If spilled, use a dry brush or vacuum, IMMEDIATELY to get up the bulk of the powder. If allowed to get wet with mops or scrub brushes, it will stain floors, walls, tabletops...essentially everything it touches.

There are QS holders that you can pack the powder into and then stick the nail in, but I have never found those to be very effective as the QS dries out or gets sticky when I tried it. The way I am doing it now, I am using less QS and have nothing to clean up afterwards. 

There is a concern from some that the moisture from the applicator will make the QS in the bottle hard or sticky. It doesn't. The tip of the applicator is slightly damp and it doesn't leave water in the bottle, since QS is attracted to the water, and coats the tip really well, leaving dry QS in the bottle. I have been doing this for a long time and never have had a problem with water getting into the bottle this way.

_{You can see how, even on this white dog, there is no QS On the hair, only the tip of the nail}

Faster, easier and less messy! Sounds like a winner to me! Try it! You might like it!

Whats good for the dog....

I have seborrhea, and while most of the time it doesn't bother me very much, today it was driving me crazy looking at all of the scaly, itchy skin, and the constant digging at it trying to get some relief from the itching.

I had lotion but as I was looking for it, I had a thought. If it works on dogs.....and I pulled out my sugar and scrubbed my arms for a minute, rinsed and man I am HAPPY! No more itching and the scaling is gone.

I am embarrassed at the way the before photos of my arm look to be honest with you. It has been very dry here and cold, and we are running heaters day in and out. I had to bathe a few dogs this afternoon and it played heck with my skin. I also had been scratching at it big time, and I ran out of my normal body scrub I used and had to use regular soap last night when I showered. All of those things made my arms look like I had some type of skin disease this evening!

I despise lotion, especially when I am working due to the way it attracts hair and causes irritation, so I don't use it often enough. I think the pictures make it look worse than it appeared in person. I hope so anyway! Lotion would not have helped do anything but mask the symptoms, and tomorrow the flakes would be back, looking for more lotion.

Before:

After:

So even though I looked awful beforehand, just a spoonful of sugar helped the skin flakes go away! No loofa, no shower pouf, just a bit of sugar on wet skin, scrub, rinse and viola! Smooth skin that even feels as smooth as it looks!

So while some say what's good for the goose....well I say what's good for the dogs is good for me too! At least in this case!

Another Poodle Topknot video clip

I had the opportunity to do Suzie, a little silver toy I have done forever (I think she's about 12) and she had not been done in almost 4 months because her mom has been ill. My son helped me shoot this video clip so you can see from all angles what I did, start to finish. I did spend another 2 or 3 mi nutes on the head after the camera was done shooting, but you can definately see the technique in this 3 minute video clip.

Here ya go!

 

Poodle heads with snap ons?

Yep! You can definately do them easily with a snap on used to set the length and shape on overgrown heads to make them faster, easier and more consitent.

We have all had these overgrown, massive heads presented to us from time to time. Many people start whittling away and it takes them forever, and goodness help us if the dog jerks, or leans at the wrong time, because all that shaping is out the window.

I like to get things done fast, and that includes overgrown poodle topknots or bichon and teddy bear heads. Snap on combs help me to do just that.

This post will concentrate on a poodle topknot today and I will cover teddy heads and bichony heads in another post as well as a webinar! The tricks are as follows:

• Comb out the head completely.
• Comb it UP and Forward.
• Using a SS comb (I use my Bravura) you go from back to front in the center of the skull.
• On the sides, stand your clipper up at a 90 degree angle to the ears and set your ear line, going back to front.
• Comb it again, up and forward, and go from front to back.
• Then, if you like, you can go from center of the face to ears holding the clipper upright.
• Then you comb, shape with shears and you are done in no time flat.

Now if you are wanting to leave a shelf over the eyes (I rarely do that in my salon because people will complain the hair is in the dogs eyes in a weeks time) then skip the part about going front to back and only go center to ears. 

When you come from back to front, you have to be careful not to dig and to float off towards the nose as you come off the head.

You choose your comb size based on how large the dog is and how short you want the topknot to be. I generally use an A on toys, a C on most minis, and if I had to do a standard I would likely SKIM with a C, not touching the head with the comb, just shaping the hair fast. You can go shorter if the owner wants a short topknot. Ther are no set rules, just practice to figure out what works best depending on coat and owner preference.

Here is a brief Video clip of me setting a topknot on a toy. I had already used this technique to remove the majority of his hair before it dawned on me to video it. I will try to replace this video shortly, but you can see how it is done and what the comb does to make this easier and faster.

 

 

On more note. If the sides of the head are too long and you want to drop a size or two down in combs, you can do the sides of the head in front of the ears, b y just coming straight off the ear towards the nose. DO NOT cut across the eyes, draw a straight line from the ears to the front of the topknot. That will reduce your scissoring and make it more consistent as well. 

Hope this helps you out! With the summer shavedown season fast approaching this is a technique that will save you loads of time. 

Sugar Scrub and Yogurt Soaks

I have found that sugar scrubs and yogurt soaks, either after shampooing or while shampoo is still on the dog, work fabulously to remove yeasty crusty skin and dander buildup as well. Hot Spots? Sure thing! Any type of skin condition that has a scabby scaly type of thing going on. This is a way to help it heal and remove the crust that prevents a good groom from being done, safely, without compromising the dogs skin health. I have also found that ears covered in grease, discharge or yeast on the EAR FLAP are greatly helped by using this technique to clean that area. 

Sugar also has chemicals in it that help skin heal and act as moisturizers to help skin heal. I do not know exactly HOW th is works, I just know that we are having fantastic results.

I use Raw Sugar and Natural, non-flavored Yogurt with active cultures. 

The raw sugar is not crystallized like white sugar is, so it gives more scrubbing ability before dissolving.

Here is a video clip of my using it on Lil Man, who did not really need it, but it gave me the chance to show you how to do it. 

 

I start off with a regular bath, then if we are using a medicated shampoo we follow up with that. Then I apply the sugar and work it into the skin until dissolved. Then, over the sugar, I apply the plain yogurt and let it sit for a few minutes (no more than ten minutes, depending on the intensity of the condition). Rinse and dry the dog as usual.

You will find that the crusty skin is gone, and underneath it, there is fresh skin, ready to grow in. We use a flea comb to remove all traces of skin that are loose and stuck in the hair away from the skin, but be careful not to irritate the skin. That will only open you up to more problems in the long run.

Yeast is NOT KILLED 100% with this technique. It only treats the top layers of skin, removes the extra yeast and dead skin, allowing a fresh layer of skin to be exposed. To remove this problem completely, this can be done two times a week, and treat from INSIDE with low carb food and if needed anti-fungals from the vet. 

I have found that on the very few cockers I groom that have this problem, this has removed the  vast majority of their issues within two baths. Their skin tends to grow in clearer and with less problems. I think that sometimes the yeast on the surface feeds on itself and just multiplies. If you can remove it safely without hurting the skin, you can help it go away permanently. 

Chris Sertzel has a different technique she uses and has documented on her blog at http://groomwise.typepad.com/smartstyling/2011/05/canine-soak-sugar-scrub-videos.html

I have never tried her way, but she says it works. We are in this to make dogs more comfortable after all, but not to diagnose. So treat topically to make the pet feel better. 

You never know, it may make your work better as well without all the dander or scales in the hair. 

Welcome to the Future of Education for Groomers!

 

Recently, I was approached by Mary Oquendo about being a part of an exciting Educational opportunity and I could not say yes fast enough! 

Mary, myself and 14 other top members of our industry will be offering webinars to the public. I am so excited to be part of this adventure.

Each one of the people involved is a speaker, a blogger or someone that is well known in the industry and we will offer our own specially produced webinars on topics we are passionate about beginning TODAY!January first 2012.

Many of you cannot get to shows and if you do yoyu still sometimes miss topics. Some topics (like my Wet Shaving) are not offered very often and as a result you may never be able to take a class on it. Shows that you can get to may be so far in the future that you cannot wait to take courses. Webinars are the solution to your problem! Many will be available on demand, pre-recorded so that you can watch them at your leisure.

Now these webinars will not take the place of trade shows, hands on classes or travelling teachers, but they offer options that until now were not available to many groomers in this country as well as around the world.

My classes will range in price from $19.99 to $49.95 per class depending on the length of time the class runs and whether or not it is live or recorded. That keeps the classes affordable for everyone! 

I hope you take this opportunity to heart and use it for what we intended it to do. EDUCATE! 

Happy New Year and may this be the year you make yourself a better groomer!

All I want for Christmas is my OWN DOGS BACK!

_O

_{Oh my gosh! They abduct kittens too!}

I was married once a lifetime ago to a wonderful man with whom I had three children. At some point, about 12 years after we were married, he changed so drastically, virtually overnight that I always said aliens came down and abducted the man I married and replaced him with this other person. We could not live together and I am actually surprised that we have not killed each other yet.

NOW It is happening with my dogs, and I want MY DOGS BACK! 

Case in point: Minnie, the Chinese Crested mix we have used to be content to go outside and play in the play yard and would stay all day long, pouting when she had to come in. She loved it outside! She also would sleep in her kennel with no issues. Had a blanket and bed she adored and had to be pulled out of in the mornings. Now, as I type this article she is curled up as close to my legs as she can get almost pushing me off the recliner. She refuses to sleep in a kennel anymore and sleeps in the bed pushed against my legs or my husband's back. If you have to put her in a cage for any reason she screams and will get out of most any cage we have tried. Dog forbid you close the bedroom door with her on the opposite side than you are, because she will tear the wall down to get out. I know this because I have had to replace sheetrock in my bedroom and tile as well in front of the door after she got accidentally locked into the bedroom one day.

Aliens are the only explanation. Nothing else makes sense. 

_{Huh! Cows.....who would have thunk it?}

Then, there is Pixie, my rescued maltese who was neglected severely before she came to my house. I have placed her three times and end up getting her back every single time. She always despised people and would rather be with dogs than people. and really enjoyed being dirty. It usually takes three people to get this 4 pound dog groomed. WELL the aliens took her too! They left me with a puppy that shadows my husband, climbs in his lap while he is watching tv and demands to be petted all the time. Ignore her and she will bark and scratch your legs to make you pay her attention. Last weekend she got her monthly bath and I was able to shave her face (her eyes drain horribly) and get her feet and nails done by myself! She is currently curled up in the chair next to my husband and looks perfectly content to be there.

I have also decided that they are stealing client dogs. I have no idea what they are doing with them, but their owners as well as myself would like their dogs back!

_{Watch your dogs! They lure them away and then replace them. This is your proof!}

"Charlie" (name changed to protect the abductee) has been coming every two weeks since he was 12 weeks old. He has always been a great dog to work on! WELL since his abduction, his replacement is a wimp! He fights being bathed, brushed, touched, dried...OK he hates the entire process! His mother says he is becoming "needy" at home and since he hates being brushed she no longer does it. He also is very picky in his food choices now and will not eat if he does not get what he wants. He also refuses to go into the kennel at home. 

We have no idea where he was when he was abducted, but obviously he was!

Then there is "Murphy" and "Lola" (names again changed to protect the abductees) who are almost evil when it comes to touching their feet or trimming their nails. In fact, sometimes nails just don't get done. Mom and dad will tell you that they cannot touch their feet either and that they will bite you if you try. They have always kept them away from their grandchildren as well. They were replaced with some of the nicest, easiest dogs I have ever worked on. Overnight. Last visit before today they were unfinishable. Today they were perfect. Turns out that the grandchildren were allowed to play with the dogs for the first time ever last weekend!

To be honest, we do not mind this type of abduction and replacement. We truly enjoy those in fact. We do wish there were more of them!

Some of my clients were replaced as well. Clients who never tip have been replaced with ones who tip large amounts routinely and ones that were high maintenance are now so easy going it is not really possible to understand. Ones who did not care are now extremely picky! 

I again will say the only explanation is aliens. I have no clue where they came from or why they are doing this. I just know that sometimes they do good things and other times they really mess things up. I feel for the aliens that have the bad dogs at this time. I feel sorry for us that have the bad dogs now as well. Maybe they ARE dogs! Alien dogs or cats for that matter! That makes much more sense now that I think about it. 

I know that aliens most likely did not abduct any of the people or dogs in my life, I just have no other explanation for the changes in their personalities. It is puzzling to me that overnight a dog (or person) can change from nice to mean, or vice versa, or independent to totally dependent.

I need to know how this is possible.

So I blame aliens. That's my story and I am sticking to it! 

 

PS. Its been a long month, and this is my way of relaxing. I hope you enjoyed this article, as it is your Christmas Present from me! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Spray, Spray the Dirt Away!

I have a confession to make. I detest bathing dogs. Seriously detest bathing dogs. I refuse to bathe dogs without a bathing system in fact because it kills my wrists and hands as well as I feel like I am wasting shampoo when it is in dilution bottles. I feel like I spill as much shampoo down the drain as I get on the dogs! 

Now, that is off my chest I have another confession to make. I have a full grooming salon at my home except for a bathing system. I even remodeled my kitchen last year and put in a large, single basin sink with a high profile water faucet with hose for rinsing. I have a folding table with an arm that I keep at home and my backup force dryer stays here as well. I only have to bring home my shears and I can groom anything that I feel like doing here at home.

That being said, since I really detest bathing dogs, so I do not use the equipment very often! Today was one of the days I did use it. I bathed sixteen of my own dogs, 12 had Face, Feet, Tummy and tail done along with a bath and brush and 4 got a full groom.

On my way home from my shop this morning taking care of my boarding dogs, I decided to bathe my guys so that they would be clean for the holidays. I usually take 2 or 3 a day to work with me and get them done there because it is easier (and my staff will do them for me) but not this time. I stopped by the Dollar General to get some baby shampoo (I use it on faces) and I decided to find something I could put diluted shampoo into for ease of application. I didn't find anything however and was about to check out when I remembered reading somewhere that you can apply shampoo with a garden sprayer that you use to apply chemicals with, but I didn't have one. I did however find spray bottles at Dollar General.

I bought three spray bottles that had dilution ratios marked on the sides of the bottles and mixed up flea shampoo, General cleaning shampoo and a highly fragrant holiday shampoo that I bought for the shop. I also bought one of the net bath pouf sponges that is used with body wash. I thought if the spray bottles failed then I would put undiluted shampoos onto the pouf and wash that way. 

I used the shampoos at 10 to one ratio, labeled the bottles and got the sprayer set to where it applied enough to wet the dogs thoroughly and quickly.

I decided Toto would be my first victim. I wet the pouf slightly and applied baby shampoo and washed his face without wetting him down, using only the water on the pouf, and I misted him with shampoo, again, while he was still dry, and I used the pouf over the body to lather the shampoo, adding water as needed to the pouf, not to the dog. 

I was completely surprised at how fast and easy the shampoo lathered and how little was needed to get him clean. Because there was very little shampoo used the rinsing was fast and easy and the dogs were CLEAN as they could be. I was so excited! It had WORKED! 

I dried him and brushed him out then went on to the next puppy, Minnie. She was dirtier than Toto but I did the same thing to her and then after rinsing repeated the process. To my amazement she was squeaky clean and smelled great! She dried super fast which tells me she was completely clean. 

THe bathing and drying was going so fast that I just kept washing dogs! I had intended to wash about 8 and more tomorrow, but because of how fast this was and how easy it was, I was able to do 16 dogs, schnauzer size and under, in 5 and a half hours! All of them got the nails, feet face and bellies trimmed and 4 got full grooms, as I stated before, but I found the dogs were so clean they were drying in 5 minutes or slightly more on average. Amazing isn't it? 

Clean dogs dry faster than ones that are not completley clean and because the shampoo was applied to dry dogs it helped to cut grease faster and easier than if I had wet them first. The pouf allowed for easy scrubbing and it helped remove dirt and skin scales that were present on the skin and hair of my little guys. It was easier on my hands too becuase the pouf did the work for me that my fingers would usually do.

On top of all that, I used about 2 cups of diluted shampoo to bathe all 16 of my dogs! TWO CUPS! The dogs were all clean as can be. I was so surprised that that is all I needed to bathe them, but it is true! 

Come Tuesday morning when we reopen, my de-greasing shampoo and my flea shampoo will be in spray bottles at work as well. It is a time saver, a shampoo saver and an improvement in quality that I feel I need to be taking full advantage of.

If you do housecall it will save you time. You can preload one or two sprayers with the shampoos (and conditioners) you need and they will be less likely to spill too!

Mobilers, it will save you time. Because you are not pre-wetting coats you will save water. Because you use less shampoo you will rinse less as well, again, saving you water.

Those without a bathing system, it will save you time. It will save your body wear and tear and it will make bathing a lot easier.

TIme is money. Shampoo is money. Water is money. Add to it that the dogs are cleaner and dry faster, its even MORE time and more money. 

Who woulda thunk it? A simple $1 spray bottle could do all that?

Leave Paw Prints on Their Tree!

I offer each pet a toy off my tree, but I like to do something for the paying client as well! This year I wanted to do something different than I usually do, and I was looking around for ideas when I found a lot of frames at a Dollar Store. I cleaned them out (and the other three Dollar Trees in town as well). I did not have enough, so I kept looking and I found more at craft stores, and other sources that cost anywhere from 15 cents to $1 each. Then I decided to make paw prints for their owners with the pets name on it. 

This project sounds like a lot of work but it is really very very easy

What you need to do this project:

• Frames. You can use foam kits that are really inexpensive or more fancy, real photo frames. The ones I got are all under or at $1 each. I was able to get about 20 different styles in fact to have variety.
• Paper. I used watercolor paper because it is heavy and very absorbent but you can use any paper that will take the stamp ink.
• Ink Pads. I used Non-toxic, NON PERMANENT stamp pads. DO NOT use permanent as they will not wash out. These are available in any number of colors. Red and Green will wash out easily unless you let it dry. 
• Scissors. 
• Baby Wipes. We use them to wipe the bottom of the foot before inking.
• Colored markers for putting the names onto the ornaments.

This is a step by step tutorial on doing this project:

We have found that using the back left foot works best for us and we do the imprint before the pet is bathed.

1. Shave the pads and clip the nails.

2. Pull back the hair as much as possible.

3. Wet the pads with a baby wipe or lightly damp cloth. We do not know why this makes the ink adhere better, but it does.

4. Place the non toxic stamp pad against the pads and make sure it is covered pretty well. If you store them pad side down they ink the pads better than if you are stored bottom down.

5. Press the paw onto a piece of paper that will fit inside the frame you have chosen. You can do it the way I am showing you, or press the paper to the pad. Either way works.

6. Then you have the print. If you need to, you can "forge" the print by dipping your finger in the ink and lightly dab the extra ink onto the existing print. This is great for dogs with "funny" feet or where the ink was not heavy enough.

7. We then dip the foot into a bucket of water that contains a wet cloth and wipe off any excess ink. If you are mobile, or if the dog is going straight into the tub, you can skip this step and simply wash the dog before the ink dries completley.

8. Write the pets name and year on the front of the print. Verify spelling first if you are in doubt. I was surprised how many spellings I DID NOT have correct!

9. Cut the paper to the shape and size that will fit in your frame and insert the print. Most of the frames I made had a piece of paper with the dimensions on it and I used it to draw the size around the print at first. We then used my sons paper cutting machine to cut templates for us to use. 

10. Give these to your clients and wait for the waterworks to start. I have had people cry. I really have.

On a sidenote, I was lucky enough to get my local Dollar General Store to give me the racks that the ornaments they are selling came on. They throw them away when the ornaments are gone. They are the white covered wire racks like you see in closet shelving. I use one of those at my table to hang the empty ornaments we are using and one at the desk to hang the finished ones to make it easier to find the correct ones when the pets go home. You might check that out if you need a collar rack, jewelery rack or any number of other things you can do with those racks. I would bet that many places who get in prepacked displays will be throwing them away and will gladly give them to you.