Grooming Smarter

What NOT to Wear

We all know that you never get a chance to make a first impression twice, and it is also true that impressions you make with clients last forever. A client that walks into a salon and sees the help looking like a ragtag bunch with dirty clothes, holey jeans, scrubs covered in hair, holes in jackets, or pants sagging is going to think to themselve, "Man they could at least try to look professional!" or even, "If they cannot take care if themselves, how can they make my dog pretty?". 

 

Most of the time I am wearing what looks like street clothes when clients come in the door and they are all the time telling me that "shes dirty, dont get your clothes dirty!" to which I laugh and say "this is work clothes so its ok!".

The shirt to the left is one that I made myself out of a satin in a zebra print. The mandarin collar is flattering and protects the neck and chest from hair getting into the skin.

The proper clothing, including long sleeves, are critically important to keeping hair splinters from getting into your skin and possibly getting infected.

I expect my staff to dress appropriatley as well.They don't always do it though.

 

I had these two items of clothing on people that work in my shop this past week and I had to step in and say, "CHANGE please!" Saggy sweat pants and torn jackets do NOT belong in my shop.

I love the idea of uniforms for staff and do not mind supplying jackets and pants if needed. They do not all have to match but they DO need to be clean and maintained. If it rips, tell me and I can fix it or replace it. If its dirty then wash it. Simple? You would think. Not always true though.

I require a grooming jacket or tops that shed hair (I will cover this in a minute) on everyone that works in here, even my husband wears them when bathing dogs. I prefer nylon pants as well, but am OK with jeans provided they are hole free and fit well. NO SAGGING ALLOWED! I do not mind shorts as long as they are a nice length, but tank tops I frown on because they can be considered less than professional, especially on men. I find the guys that work here all like the "skater" shorts and the girls are usually worried about getting scratched so they wear jeans or pants.

I am not a huge fan of zippered smocks because they are boring and bland. They make everyone look big, and never fit well. I tend to buy tops at stroes that have fun clothes. I can find them at Cato, Ross, TJ Maxx, and many more places for under $25 each. I shop by feel. If it is shiny, satiny or silky, chances are it will repel hair. That allows you to have some style and actually feel pretty when you are working.

Aprons are another way to keep regular clothes looking great while you work and the hair to a minimum. Many of the beauty suplly houses sell fancy or more stylish aprons that the grooming providers have. Wimex has many aprons in all colors and many styles. I have four or five in different styles and colors to keep my clothes clean. This apron is another cute style available. I googled "hair stylist aprons" and found a huge selection of unique, stylish things to wear. I do not reccomend the shoes however for every day grooming wear. Might be hard to walk in across a floor with hair on it!

 I love to wear skirts, and can usually wear a simple jersey knit skirt with a top to work in with no problem. When it gets hairy I blow it off with the HV dryer, but there are also aprons you can buy from Wimex Beauty ( Apron )that are skirt cover ups and that works amazingly well. I still feel practical and pretty as well as comfortable. 

 Jeans and scrubs are practical in many ways and no so practical in others. They are comfortable, easy to find and wear well, lasting a long time. They also stay wet, collect hair and hold odors. Nylon or satin does not collect hair, dries incredibly fast and because it dries quickly it doesn't smell either. 

Shoes should be closed toe and non slip. I know that people who work in shops love to wear flip flops and sandals, and so do I, but to keep it safe a proper shoe is critical. Also, a good shoe will make you more comfortable and cause less pain in the feet and legs at the end of a long day grooming. Crocs are great for some people but I cannot wear them. Sneakers are good support but get wet and that's it. I wear Alegria shoes in several styles to work in. they are great and cute to boot! I require my staff to have on good shoes and they can get in trouble if they don't have on shoes that fit the bill.

 Overall, a clean, neat appearance is important if you want to be treated as a professional and be respected by your client base. If you are charging a premium for your services it is CRITICAL that you dress the part of a person that is worthy of that price. Remember that the clients perspective is the most important one, and they WILL judge a book by its cover.

Dress for success and it will find you.

Size Matters

Got your attention didn’t I?

 
You wouldn’t dream of grooming a Standard Poodle with a pair or 5 or 6 inch shears, yet many people will not hesitate to use the same equipment they use on very large dogs on every dog that comes into the salon.

In the past few years the increase in tiny dogs, or pocket dogs as many call them, has led to many groomers seeking out tools to work on them with. My shop seems to specialize in small dogs that are under ten pounds, so it is important for me to have the proper equipment to make the job as easy as it can be.

Unfortunately, many of our manufacturers do not take into consideration the small dogs we are seeing in today’s grooming salons. They are still making the same equipment they made years ago despite the fact that the size of our pets is shrinking. Since small dogs are so small, they use less shampoo and conditioner. They also take less time to bathe and dry, thus using less water and electricity than a large dog. They take less time in general to groom than dogs three times their size, yet are harder to groom because of their size.

You must charge for your time that it will take to groom these perpetual puppies, and explain to the client that their pet is a special pet and takes specialized equipment. I have found that while owners think that their pet is so small it will be easy to groom, when I explain that it takes a while BECAUSE they are small and that it requires tools I wouldn’t have to have otherwise, they understand and are willing to pay for the work we do.

Some pieces of equipment that I feel are critical to grooming the under ten pound dog are listed below.

 

• Small trimmers like the Zipper, Arco mini or Bravmini.

• Small shears, both straight and curved, under 6 inches.

• Cordless trimmer, like the Bravura or the Speed, for bodywork.

• Snapon combs for the trimmer of your choice.

• Small, fine tooth comb.

• Small, soft slicker brushes, like the Les Pooches single brushes.

• Small tables.

• Nail clippers for humans, as well as small pliers type nail trimmers.

• Variable speed dryers are helpful for the smaller breeds.

 
The reason for small trimmers is easily understood. They are smaller blades, in many cases under an inch wide, and in the case of the Laube Zipper, three blades that range from about ¼ of an inch to an inch wide. Because they are so small and cordless they are perfect for tiny dogs and puppies.

 

I prefer cordless clipper on small dogs too because they are easier to maneuver around the small parts of the dog and there is no cord to get in my way. The snap on combs that come with them or are available to fit them make it possible for me to groom them in plush, stuffed toy looking trims that their families love.

I love my LesPooches comb, but many of the puppies I groom are smaller than the comb!  
I have an Aarronco handled comb that fits their small bodies perfectly. Flea combs also work well on these guys. Many of the mini breeds I see are Poodle or Maltese mixes and as a result tend to have super soft hair that requires a fine tooth comb to get all the hair separated. A good comb is essential for these types of coat.

                                                                                                                                                     Many small slickers are available, including the single sized LP brushes. I prefer softer slickers on the smaller dogs because their skin tends to be more sensitive, and as a result I have to be careful. I have the Gold and Silver LP that I use on most every dog we do.

 

 

If you have room, a small, high table will be an invaluable tool in your salon. The puppies can move all over the regular sized tables we use daily, but a small table will make them be more still, and the more still they stand the better off you are. A small Lazy Susan table that sits on your table will serve the same purpose and are available in most supply catalogs.

 

I use regular human toenail clippers on many of the small dogs we do. Even a two year old dog under 3 pounds can be too small for a regular nail trimmer that I would use in the shop on a routine basis. Dremels are also hard to use on the tinies I groom daily, so I use a nail file that is made for artificial nails. Those work well and are quiet enough the small dogs don’t freak out.

For drying the little bitty dogs, a variable speed HV dryer is 
invaluable and a hand held dryer is also a great idea. I found a hair dryer with a brush and comb attachment that makes drying the little ones very easy.

Handling the little guys is hard as well, and many times I end up holding the dog to do things like toenails and even drying or brushing out a dog. It is really hard to get a three or four pound dog to stay on the table in many cases so I hold them in my arms and work on them that way. I have an entire set of equipment, right down to high end hair dresser shears for the little guys I groom (4.5 and 5 inch Kenchiis) and I cannot imagine grooming them with the larger tools like I used to have to do.

If you have the right tools, in the right size, small dogs are not scary. They are profitable. By becoming adept at grooming the small dogs you can make more money in less time because they use less consumables and result in more money per pound in many cases than the larger dogs.

If you can groom them, they will come!

 

 

 

"Cat Feet"

 
No, I don't really mean a cat's foot, but rather a foot type on a dog. This style of foot is generally found on dogs such as Golden Retrievers, Keeshonds, Huskies, Pomeranians and the like. Dogs with fuzzy, tufts of hair that explode from between the toes are prime candidates for this type of foot. It is called a "cat foot" because when it is finished it resembles the foot of a short haired cat.

 What you need to accomplish this look is a fuzzy foot, slicker brush, comb, clipper for the pads, shears to trim the hair with, thinning shears and nail trimmers or a dremel.

Start by getting the dog clean and dry because the feet are the dirtiest part of the dog and I refuse to work on dirty dogs. Then, trim or file the nails as short as you can get them, and trim the hair from between the pads (or scissor the pad hair flush with the pads, whichever you prefer).

Place the foot on the table and brush the hair on the foot up towards the leg. If there are mats you can leave them in, since this is a sensitive area to begin with and it hurts to comb them out in many cases.  
 IF the mats are severe or really deep in between the toes, you can use a comb to slide behind them and then cut them out with either a ten blade or thinning shears. DO NOT cut them out with shears unless you have something behind the mat because skin can be pulled up with the matted hair and result in a badly cut foot. The comb slid behind the mat prevents the shears from coming close to the skin and leaves enough length in many cases to avoid a hole in between the toes. On dogs with mats you will not get as nice of a foot as on dogs with no mats between the toes, but the same basic technique applies. You can see in the photo to the right what it looks like when there are mats removed from in between the toes.

After you brush the hair up, you take shears and cut the hair off the top of the foot and the sides of the foot, making it as round as possible and taking all the hair around the foot OFF the table. When you have dome what you can from the top, lift the foot from behind the leg and fold it towards you, trim any hairs that hang below the foot and around the pads of the foot. Finish with thinning shears on the top of the foot to soften the look and make it look more natural.

This same technique can be used on spaniel feet and pekingese feet as well.

This video clip is short, and the dog was really not very cooperative. It was her first haircut ever and we had some issues working on her. You will hear the voice of my son in the background talking to her every now and then. SHe did calm down and allow me to work on her more after she got used to being handled by me. Overall she did really well.

 

Overall this is a simple, fast and easy way to accomplish a "cat foot" on most dogs. I hope this has helped you understand a bit more about how to go about grooming this type of foot.

Free at Last

 
I have had a policy in my salon for 14 years that a phone must be answered when it rings before the 4th ring, preferably the second. Recently however this has interfered with me being able to do my job the way I wanted to do it. There are times the phone will ring and I really want to throw it out the window. LITERALLY!

 

A few weeks ago I decided that we were solidly booked on a Saturday and there was no way I could take any more dogs. My son said "Mama, it is OK to not answer the phone! Put a message on that says 'sorry we are full' and let the machine pick up!" See, I have this real emotional attachment to many of my clients. I have a really hard time saying "Sorry" to some of them as they have been loyal, dependable clients for 10 years or more!

 

When we have 30 dogs in the door however, it is really hard to add any more without compromising quality. I had to do something, and my son, for all his talk, is no better at telling people no than I am, and my apprentice is getting to the point that she recognizes client's names on the caller ID and she has the same "illness" we have when it comes to telling people "Sorry, we have no room."

SO I have given myself permission to use my answering machine on days when we are open, not just on the weekends.

I state that we are busy, no appointments until XXX and ask them to leave a message and someone will return their call between 4 and 5:30pm. I also explain that we are not answering the phone to allow us to pay attention to the pets we are working on, and if their pet is currently in the shop, they will be ready at the appointed pick up time.

Today we let the machine pick up from 7:45am until noon. We had 10 calls to return at the end of the day. It meant I was able to help dry dogs without stressing about missing a call or stopping every five minutes to answer the phone, which means taking off my headphones, turning off my dryer, securing my dog, etc. etc..

Feel free to use your answering machine as a receptionist if you are truly too busy to answer the phone. Your clients that truly value your service will appreciate that you care enough about the pets to not answer the phone while working on their babies. New clients will be a bit harder to impress, but with luck they will think you are very busy and that will make them want to bring their puppies to you. If you are busy enough to use the machine however, you will not necessarily want new clients! Use this as a tool to help you do more work in your salon and relieve stress in your life to a degree as well.

 
Service with a smile is still my motto, but in order to continue to offer that I have to make some changes, and this is one that makes me happy(er).

I feel like a free woman! Free at last to do what needs to be done without being tied to the telephone! Now if I can just get more people to leave a message.........

Keeping Dogs Dry...

Some times we have dogs that just love to drool. They can be a huge challenge to keep dry until their owners get to the shop. This is Lexie and left in a cage, even with her buddy, she will be wet to her toes without some creative intervention by us.

One way to solve the problem is to have the ownrs come back right away and pick up the dogs after they are finished, but that doesn't always work. 

A simple solution is to hang a small fan on the cage to keep the faces and feet dry even if the pet drools. Many times a box fan will top the pet from drooling as well for some reason I cannot figure out.

Use it on low and secure it with a short grooming loop fed through the handle and VIOLA! Dry dogs that only need a quick brush out before handing them off to mom and dad!

 

If you like, you can use a clip on desk fan or even the fans made for carriers, but I find that a box fan on low does a great job, and box fans are inexpensive, easily available and very quiet.

Hope this saves you some stress, time and aggrevation!

Neat Feet

There are a couple of tricks to getting feet to look neat no matter how short the dog is taken on the body. I am going to show you how to get the feet tight, round and neat in appearance easily and quickly.

No matter whether you are doing a long scissored trim or a short, 7F blade all over this technique works wonderfully.

Start with the pads, and clipper the hair as short as you can go with a trimmer or a tight blade. I also take the hair that is hanging down between the toe pads off with the same blade to ensure the foot is neat. Then trim your nails and remember, the shorter they are the easier the foot is to trim.

Then you clipper the body and the legs. When using a blade or snap on comb on the legs make sure that the blade or comb goes down the entire length of the leg on all sides, coming completely off the foot. It is important to hold the leg as straight as you can to prevent a "dip" below the knee or at the ankle. The video clips show you how to do that on both front and back legs. If the videos appear to be cropped, double click on them and they will open in the full size window at YouTube.

 

 

 

After you have the leg hair trimmed to the length you want, pick up the foot and comb the hair down, holding it tight in your hand and forcing the hair down past the foot. I then hold curved shears at a slight angle and trim off any hair that is falling outside the line my hand creates. If the hair falls past the toes, the pads or beyond my hand it comes off.

Then, I sit the foot down on the table and comb the hair to one side, then the other, trimming any hair that falls outside the line of my foot. I continue this up into the leg as well to ensure the leg and foot are neat and tidy.

   

With the foot still on the table, I then round off the foot again, using a small curved shear at a slight angle. When you are trimming it helps to start in the front and make sure the foot is round not pointed. Starting at the back can lead to a point in the front.

By beveling the foot slightly and raising the hair off the floor you will get a foot that is tight in appearance and will nt drag in as much "trash" from the yard. Once you realize the technique is the same for any length of leg it is easy to get a nice, neat foot. Sometimes, on harsh hair, it may be neccesary to use thinners to blend and soften the hair but it is just not something that I do a lot. 

On a ten shave down, which we do see some of this time of year, I will sometimes take my clipper and skim out the hair in between the toes, not doing poodle feet per say but simply removing the hair that otherwise would stick up and is usually matted. 

I need to add something here. My left hand is fused and does not bend fully. As a result it sometimes looks like I have a leg or foot at a weird angle but usually it is just the realtionship bewteen my hand and the foot that is "off". I assure you no dogs are put into weird positions, only my hand is.