NCGIA National Cat Groomers

Firsts

At the NCGIA, we like firsts.

The NCGIA is the first association for cat groomers.
We have the first set of cat grooming standards and the first certification program for cat groomers.
And our school is the first school in the world that teaches cat grooming exclusively.

This is the first session where we have had 3 international students attend at one time.
It’s the first time we’ve had a student from Hong Kong attend.
It’s the first time we’ve ever had a student from Australia attend.

It’s the first time we had a major grooming celebrity visit our school.
It’s the first time we had a tornado watch during a school session.

Each of our students spent the past two days of class performing a variety of firsts: lion cuts, comb cuts, de-shedding treatments, cat bathing and drying, face trims, SoftPaw applications, sanitary clips, belly shaves, using clippers and Air Muzzles, and getting peed on by a cat.

Firsts are usually fun and always memorable.

Here are some photos from class today……….enjoy

Lion cut rough-in plus nail trim, all in less than 20 minutes

Drying in the Catty Shack Vac

Bath time for a very greasy, very large DLH

Perfecting the leg lines on a lion cut

armpits

comb cut on a Shaded Silver

holding techniques while finishing a lion cut

Full coat groom

what a pretty ruff

After the groom – silky and clean

Comb Cut

Another comb cut

Nice lynx pt pattern on this unusual Himalayan

Face trim – doming, roundness, and clean lines

Figuring out where to go on the face trim

Softpaws

Definitely in a need of a groom – and they say cats groom themselves

A very overgrown face with lots of build up around the eyes

Wow

Hair on the table is the result of one cheek pluck – one more to go

Trimming over ears and up the tophead

The same cat, only after the groom – the pink around the eyes is a result of all the build up that was there before the groom

.

Much better now!

(I have no idea why the pictures always post in a long line on this blog system........crazy set up. I apologize for the layout.)

 

A Busy Day for Dollar

Meet Dollar.

He lives at the school and watches over things, making sure the school building is safe at night while we are away.  During the day, Dollar sleeps a great deal.  Typical of a cat. Every once in a while, though, we make Dollar pitch in and help with the daytime duties of class activities.

Today was particularly busy for Dollar.  He started off the morning assisting Patty with the CPR and Animal First Aid class. He doesn’t like it much, but he does it anyway, because he knows he will get treats afterward.

Once the CPR class was through, Dollar went back to his favorite spot in the hallway and took a nap.  It was a short nap, maybe 20 minutes or so.  By that time we were ready to begin filming some footage for the Learn2GroomCats.com website that is operated by Melissa Verplank and the Paragon team.  We needed Dollar to assist with a film segment, and he was happy to help.  He loves being photographed and was excited to think he was now going to be in a video!

After the filming of various lectures, guided tours, and cat grooming demonstrations, Dollar went back to his spot and napped for the rest of the afternoon.  He was thankful that he was not needed for the actual grooming part of the class schedule.  But then Dollar knows we would never actually GROOM him, because he knows we groom real cats at our school instead of stuffed animals.

 

Ford vs. Mercedes

http://nationalcatgroomers.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Presidents-Letter_March_2011.pdf

The link is to an article I wrote for our latest eNewsletter that went out in March. If you are not signed up for the eNewsletter, it's easy and free!  Just go to the NCGIA website and enter your email address at the top right.  We put out not only a monthly eNewsletter with useful information about cat grooming and growing a cat grooming business, but we also publish a weekly eNews called "Additional Mews" that highlights the week's current events and what is going on in the cat grooming industry.  

If you are a cat groomer, get in on the action!  We'd love to have you!  
We are all about education and high standards at the NCGIA. The few, the proud, the elite.......become a CFMG!

 

A Million Years!

I’m not fond of spending long hours in an airplane or at airports. Nevertheless, this is what was required to cross the Pacific and then the US to return home to my family.

Weary from nearly 32 hours of travel, I was aboard a flight from LA to Atlanta where I would then catch one last flight back to Greenville. As we approached the Atlanta airport, the pilot banked to the left, tipping the wing toward the ground. Over the noise of the plane’s engines and the quiet of the passengers, a small voice of a child called out, “Hey, look! He’s turning around! We’re going back!” This drew smiles from my fellow travelers as we all enjoyed the excitement and innocence of this little guy somewhere at the back of the plane.

A few minutes later, we hit a “bump” of turbulence that felt a bit like a roller coaster ride. Immediately a group of children yelled out in glee, crying “Wheeeeeeeeee!” And then another bump. And another cry of “wheeeeeeeee.” It sounded like we were on a roller coaster ride, I told the gentleman beside me. My fellow travelers and I exchanged smiles once again, chuckling at the enjoyment of these unseen children somewhere behind us.

Shortly thereafter, we touched down on the landing strip and out went a loud cheer from the youngsters at the back, shouting out “yeah” and clapping their hands. It certainly made my trip more eventful, in a positive way.

Once we pulled to the gate and were waiting for the seatbelt light to go off, one of the kids said, rather loudly, “Man! That took like a million years!”

He was lucky he was only flying from LA instead of from Australia. According to the little guy’s figures, I had been traveling for about 5 million years that day.

 

Kangaroo Jerky

Well I learned something: one cannot bring beef jerky from America into Australia, however one can take kangaroo jerky from Australia to the US.

My beef jerky was confiscated upon entering New South Wales.  My kangaroo jerky traveled across the Pacific and into Los Angeles and then westward across the US all the way to my house where it was quickly consumed by my children.  They said it tasted good.  I never tried it. The more I look at these kangaroo pictures, the more they creep me out.  I still like the koalas though.

Feeding a joey in his momma's pouch. And to think my kids ate kanga jerky.......

 

Hop On, Hop Off

It takes thee buses and two trains to get from Baulkham Hills in NSW to Bondi Beach, known as surfer’s heaven. When you are toting luggage on this journey, it becomes something of a challenge. Knowing when to get off of a bus or train and which one to catch next requires paying very close attention to street signs and landmarks along the way.

I am a small-town girl. The places I have lived do not have public transportation systems as vast and large as the one in Sydney and its suburbs. Watching people hop and off of trains and buses and scurrying to their destinations in an efficient manner is a new experience for me. I was not like the other travelers in that I had no idea where I was going. I only knew that the ultimate destination was a place called Bondi Beach (pronounced “bon-dye”) where I would hopefully be able to locate Bondi Hotel and obtain an available room there for the next two nights.

After successfully making it through two bus routes to a train station, I found a ticket booth and purchased a ticket for the next leg of my trip. Once arriving there, I would have six minutes to get off the current train, locate another ticket booth, find the next platform and board the next train, all while packing a suitcase and two other bags.

I was not successful in executing my plan in six minutes or less, which meant hanging at the train station for a while until the next train arrived. By this time, I wanted to chuck the suitcase and was considering the relevance of the other two bags that were now digging into my shoulders and creating the need for a serious chiropractic adjustment as soon as possible.

More than two hours after I had departed the hotel in Baulkham Hills, I was aboard the final bus and heading straight for the Pacific Ocean. I could see it up ahead, which confirmed I was, indeed, on the right bus. A few minutes later, we rounded a corner and there it lay before me: Bondi Beach! Sandy beaches, sparkling blue water, thrashing waves, and rocky cliffs in the distance. Breathtaking and beautiful! At that instant I wanted to LIVE in Bondi. Just retire and take up surfing. Send for the family to come join me. Forget South Carolina. Forget cat grooming. Forget life as we knew it back home. Bondi Beach was calling!

I got off at the next stop and asked a passerby where the Bondi Hotel was. Only one block away; I had gotten lucky! The Bondi Hotel was old. Built around 1920, it looked as though it had not been touched since the 1940s. Facing the ocean along an English-looking street, it held a great view of the coast and hills of North Bondi beyond.

My room was small, very European looking, and reminded me a great deal of my travels throughout Europe when I was 18 and fresh out of high school. After dropping my baggage in the room, I grabbed up my money and my camera and headed off in search of some adventure and sightseeing.

The hop-on-hop-off bus tour cost $35 for a 24-hour pass. The bus routes traveled through Bondi and the surrounding beaches and all over Sydney, where a tour guide told of all the interesting sights along the way. I could hop off at any time, at any stop, and then hop back on to continue the tour whenever I was ready. Or when the next bus came by, which I learned can take longer than I would have liked.

I saw some amazing sights during my two days of play including the Darling Harbor, the famous Sydney Opera House, the Sydney museum, Rose Bay, Sydney Harbor, an old jail for the criminals shipped off to the continent of Australia way back when, and a variety of other places of interest. I did a good bit of hiking around downtown Sydney and enjoyed such things as a hot cup of Starbucks peppermint white mocha for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, a little local shopping, looking at and almost buying a beautiful opal, walking along Darling Harbor, and even playing about eight too many hands of blackjack at the Star City Casino where I quickly won nearly $600 and then lost it all in a greedy attempt to make it an even $700. In the end I walked away with my own money still in my pocket and a splendid two days of seeing the lovely city of Sydney, New South Wales.

Tomorrow morning the journey home begins. I do miss my family! Wishing I could click my heels together, say the words, “there’s no place like home” and then magically be there, a la Dorothy style.

just to show I was really there, standing in the sand at Bondi Beach…..

Bondi

The “other” side of the Pacific Ocean.

There are a lot of rocks at North Bondi, not a good place to surf, obviously.

Bondi Beach, near the baths.

Bondi Hotel, current version built in 1920. Looks and feels pretty much like that era.

And they say Starbucks is expensive. This little cup cost me the same amount as a venti white mocha at Starbucks. And not nearly as good!

Sydney Harbor

Syndey Harbor

Rose Bay

downtown Sydney

Oh yeah!

downtown Sydney

City Hall

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbor Bridge, aka “The Coat Hanger”

Sydney Opera House

prison

Darling Harbor

Australian naval ships in port at Darling Harbor

I guess that means “be careful not to hit your head.”

 

Cat Grooming Down Under

I had a marvelous time with the attendees at the 2-day cat groom workshop held at Kellyville Pets in New South Wales.  Day one was spent on lectures covering topics such as cat breeds, colors, coat types, health, temperaments, and business building.  Near the end of the day, I groomed two cats, demonstrating a variety of handling and grooming techniques.  I really missed my Catty Shack Vac during this time!  Especially when I was choking on cat hair and pulling it out of my eyes later that evening.

On day two the attendees did some grooming of their own.  We had a nice variety of cats to work with, as far as breed, coat types and temperaments.  By the end of the day, we all were in danger of coughing up hairballs.  Note to self: get Catty Shack Vac built for Australian voltage asap!

 

Wallabies and Koalas

They have some unusual creatures here in Australia.  After arriving in Sydney around noon on Friday and being safely delivered to the hotel in Baulkham Hills, I decided to venture into town a bit and see some of the sights.  A brochure told me that Koala Park was about a 30 minute bus ride away.

With some printed directions from the nice ladies at the hotel front desk, I set off for an adventure in Australia.  The printout told me I had to catch two different buses, making a switch at a place called Castle Hill.  This seemed easy enough.

After walking the few blocks from the hotel to the bus stop, I encountered my first problem.  The lady at the front desk told me to catch the bus directly across the “round-about,” just past the hotel parking lot. Only there were TWO bus stops on the other side of the “round-about.”  Did she mean the one on the left or the one on the right?  I had a 50/50 chance of picking the right bus to take me to Castle Hill, where I would change to another bus and make my way to West Pennant Hills and Koala Park.  The wrong bus might send me straight to the outback where I’d be lost forever. I had to figure out which bus stop to wait at, and I had to do it fast!  The bus was due in 3 minutes!

I started across the round-about, which in South Carolina we call a “circle of death.”  It’s one of those intersections where there are no stop lights of any kind, and drivers simply turn into a circle and drive around until they zip off in another direction, down another road.  We don’t have many of these in South Carolina.  If we did, our death toll would be much higher than it already is.  Crossing a round-about, as a pedestrian, is a dangerous feat for anyone, but it is particularly dangerous for someone who is used to looking to the left for oncoming traffic.  In Australia, a pedestrian would need to look to the right, instead, for oncoming traffic, before darting out into a round-about or circle-of-death, or any other type of vehicle passageway.

I learned this the hard way, almost getting hit by a bus, which, as it turned out, was the very bus I needed to take me to Castle Hill.

After riding the bus that nearly killed me for some distance, I began to wonder what the Castle Hill bus stop looked like and how I was supposed to know that we had arrived.  What if I had missed it already? The bus driver was not announcing any stops.  Obviously you had to know where you were going before you got there to have any success at all.

I started paying close attention to street names and business signs, looking for some indication that we were nearing Castle Hills.  Finally I saw something that told me we might be close.  I took a chance and hopped off at the next stop.

It was there I waited for the next bus, the 632, to take me to West Pennant Hills.  This time I asked the bus driver to alert me to when we were at the stop closest to the Koala Park.  I wasn’t taking any chances on missing my stop this time around!

Finally, I was let off at Koala Park, and so began my adventure with creatures from the land down under. I got to feed kangaroos, see a joey jump in his momma’s pouch, pet a koala, and see little penguins (their name, not just their size), wallabies, wombats, dingos,cassowaries, freaky looking bat-like fox things that hang upside down, and a chicken.  A plain old chicken.  Not quite as exciting as the other animals, that’s for sure.

 

Left, Right, Whatever

They drive on the wrong side of the road in Australia.  We drive on the right. They drive on the wrong. That’s my take on it anyways. It’s all very confusing. What with the driver and passenger sides all mixed up and, on top of that, driving down the wrong lanes!

Several times I walked to the driver’s side of the car to get in, thinking it was the passenger side.  And the Australians would laugh and me and ask if I planned to drive.  If I had, we would have surely been killed.

I kept expecting to smash head on into the oncoming traffic.  Fortunately this did not happen.

Even so, Sydney is a lovely city!  The harbor is magnificent! I think I’d like to stay here for a bit.

Darling Harbor, looking back into the city of Sydney

Rose Bay

Sydney Harbor

Sydney Harbor and the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge

 

Wings

April 1, 2011 just after 6:00am Sydney time

There’s something about an airplane wing that makes me want to whip out my camera and snap some shots. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen a lot of places for the first time from the topside of an airplane wing. Now that I think about it, I always seem to end up in a seat right at the wing.

I boarded the plane in LA at 10:30 local time and prepared to chase the night for the next fourteen hours. By the time I left LA, I had already been gone from home for just over twelve hours and was completely exhausted and wishing for some comfy pjs and my own bed. How was I ever going to make it on a flight for fourteen long hours?

Vaustralia, that’s how. I figured this out within seconds of boarding the airline. I’d never flown on Vastrailia before. In fact, I’d never heard of it until I was sent an eticket with my itinerary. First glance told me it was the place to be if you are going to spend fourteen hours stuck on a place.

The flight attendants that greeted us upon boarding the plane were all young men. And not the sweet, sugary type that usually go for that kind of job. No, these guys were all tall, rugged, handsome Australian men. With accents. The accent wins you over right off. I can tell you that flights are definitely better when the attendants are good looking Australian dudes.

Once I got to my seat I saw the remote control right there in the seat back in front of me. Everyone had his/her own remote. And these were the airplane version of the universal remote, the kind that powers everything all at once. There were buttons to turn on lights and cool air and run the music and video selections. There were buttons for playing all sorts of games and checking out the current flight status. And there was a button for calling a flight attendant. An Australian one, with an accent and stuff. (okay, I know, two days ago I wrote a nice blog entry about my wonderful husband. I’m just saying.)

Once in air, I took a sleeping pill. When I woke up I used my personal, universal flight-to-Australia remote to check our flight status. Three hours and fifty minutes to arrival. The sleeping pill worked out better than I had planned. Other than the crick in my neck, the trip was moving along faster than anticipated. We were served breakfast. And then the sun started to come up. Or rather, we caught the sun somewhere over the Pacific, not far from the western beaches of Sydney.

The morning was spectacular, dawn breaking over the first glimpse of Sydney harbor, the sun’s first light breaking through the clouds, casting a reflection on the wings of the plane. It was beautiful! A great start to a new day in a new land!