About Me:

I am a professional Pet Groomer. I have been grooming for 28 years. This Blog is a kind of diary of my work. I wish I had started years ago, writing some of the experiences I have had while grooming. Most days are fun, some can be sad, some can be just down right crazy. If you are a pet owner and come across this blog, I hope it helps you understand how your pet is groomed. If you are a Pet Groomer, I hope you can relate to some of the stories. Maybe even learn a grooming tip or can leave a friendly grooming tip for me. There is always something to learn, no matter how long you have been grooming.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Yorkie Day

You tend to get those days once and awhile, where half of your day is full of one breed of dog.
It mostly happens with Poodles or Bichons.
Some days, you can get too many Cockers in one day.
Any more than four Cockers in a day and you might as well shoot yourself.

Poodles aren't too bad, because they come in different sizes and colors.
Of course, Poodles mean a lot of shaved feet, but even then some Poodles don't get their feet shaved.

Bichons can be rough though.
If you have a day full of Bichons, you feel like you are going snow blind if you don't have a darker color dog in the mix somewhere.

Friday we had a Yorkie day.
It's not unusual to have two or three Yorkies in a day, but Friday we had six on the books.
Yorkies...they can be a pleasure and easy groom, or they can be a heart attack waiting to happen.
I don't even want to talk about what it is like in the grooming room when you have a yapping Yorkie.

Imagine six of them yapping at the same time.

Thankfully none of the them were yappers.
Just the occasional yappy out burst when you walked by them with another dog.

Yorkies also come in different shapes, sizes, and coat types.
Most of the Yorkies on Friday had thin wispy coats.





This little guys owner has specific instructions about the way he wants his dog groomed.

Face: Leave beard and head long with bangs.
Body: Leave long with part down the back, but scissor the sides and chest up to the body outline.
Legs: Scissor short to around an 1" to 1 1/2" left.
Feet: Short
Ears: Shave tips with #15 and scissor









This little lady normally gets clipped with a #4F blade, but it's getting colder, so Mom only wanted a bath and trim to neaten.




 This little guy gets clipped with a #4F blade on the body and legs.

The head is shaped up round, but at the same time leaving the beard and side of the head on the longer side, to keep the Yorkie look.

This guys hair does not grow very well on his ears, so they are scissored to neaten.


This Yorkie and the two above were groomed by my daughter.


This Yorkie has a very thick, plushy coat.

He normally gets a #5F on his body and legs, but his owners wanted him a little longer for winter.

So I clipped his body and legs with a 3/4 blade, and scissored to finish.
The owners like the head short, so I clip the top of the head with a #4F blade and skim down the sides of the head.

This Yorkie slobbers a lot, so I take the beard off with the #4F blade and scissor the mustache up tight to the lip line.

The ears are tipped with a #15 blade, and then scissored tight to blend with the rest of the head.


The cut on this Yorkie is similar to the cut on the first Yorkie.

The owner of this dog likes to have the look of long hair, with the part down the middle of the back, but she also wants the hair shortened without cutting into the body.

So I do a very tight outline trim on the body, scissoring the skirt and chest up to the body.

Even though the legs look short, they are only shaped up to neaten.

The head is left on the long side, but trimmed up enough to be in proportion with the rest of the body.

The ears are tipped with a #15 blade, and then scissored and blended into the head.


The sixth Yorkie was a No Show.

At least these 5 Yorkies were quite. :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

5 comments:

  1. Hi, Danielle here!
    I just wanted to let you know that here in our salon in toledo, ohio you have become something we look forward to reading everyday :] I found you by mistake through google one day and ever since, I've been tellng everyone at work the funny and helpful stories you write.. so now, I take my laptop to work everytime you post and we all read it together. We love the fact that you could have a day of ugly grooming and still love what you do! you make us enjoy our stressful hectic our job so much more, and I'd like to let you know your pictures and in depth posts are very very much appreciated!
    LOVE : Danielle & salon!

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  2. Hi Danielle & Gang!!
    WOW, I can't tell you how your comment made me feel. I was grinning the rest of the night. I am so happy that you enjoy reading the blog.
    I used to search for blogs on grooming. Most things that I found would be filled with so much technical mumbo-jumbo that I would get bored reading it. I wanted something real.
    I love the grooms that competitive groomers do, but to me they are not real world grooming. Their dogs have beautiful coats, and are well behaved. THAT IS NOT the real, everyday pet grooming world. I also wanted to keep it simple, easy to read, and sometimes funny. Most of all, I LOVE pictures. I am a visual learner. I love to see other groomers grooms. I like helping other groomers if they let me.
    It is so sad that more groomers don't socialize with each other. There are so many dogs out there. Enough to go around. We could help each other so much if we would band together. I would love to have another groomer that I knew close to me that I could send a customer to when I am overbooked. Sadly, the groomer friends that I have made, at Expo's, and on my blog, are all in other states. :/
    Please keep reading! :)
    Thanks again!
    Lisa, MFF

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  3. Aw, no problem :] We love all of the pictures, they make your work and posts look SO much more alive in our heads :] We think you're a phenomenal groomer! and you're right about "PET" grooming as i've said before in a comment that someone told me we get to go PLAY with dogs all day.. ha! maybe I'll move up there to work with you! lol.
    Have a good weekend clipping away!
    -Danielle

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  4. I completely agree! I was looking for something in a google image search, clicked a photo and BAM! I was here! I've loved it ever since, just started commenting today, I was a bit shy. It's hard to approach other groomers in Louisiana, southern hospitality is a myth... 80% of the groomers I come into contact with are catty and cutthroat :( It's nice to read something that seems like I wrote it myself, your stories are more than relative for me. I own a grooming shop, have been grooming for 8 years professionally, have owned my own shop for 5 years. My husband runs the front of the shop, answering phones, e-mails, checking in customers, and occasionally lifting and bathing a few pets (mostly sweeping and things). I have two kids a 3yr old boy, Jack, and a 1.5 year old boy, Luc. We plan to have more but we can barely close the store to take a weekend vacation, I was cussed by 3 customers for just closing for Thanksgiving :( I'm not intimidated by my customers anymore, finally, if they don't like the best job I can offer then I'm sorry to them. We still take the pity walk-in every now and then, and live to regret it. I absolutely love reading your blog, I also got to see your website for your store, I love that too. I'll most definitely be back for more great reads! It's so much fun to hear about similar experiences I feel thrown into, with a twist of humor to lighten the mood :)
    Oh and for volunteers to play with your pets, some local high schools have a program where you can borrow a student that gets out 1/2 a day to intern in their field of choice, it's a great program. I hope it's not just a Louisiana thing, we do often have things backwards :))
    Thanks for the blog! It's the second thing I check when I get on, after facebook :))
    ~Serena Bel-Hebert
    P.S.: I'd love it if you added us on fb :)
    Facebook:
    https://www.facebook.com/lulusgroom
    Website:
    http://www.LuLusGroom.com

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  5. Hi Serena,
    I am glad that you are enjoying the blog. I agree with you totally, it is very hard to find groomers in your immediate area to talk to. They all seem to think that you are out to take their customers or hurt them somehow. It is very sad. All of the grooming friends that I have are in other states or even out of the country. :/
    You sound like me. I have had my shop for 24 years. My husband works the front and the Self-Serve, and all of the other odds and ends. We raised all three of our kids at the shop. We have Home-schooled all of them after I took my oldest out of 3rd grade do to bullying. My 20 year old daughter has been grooming since she was 10, and Home-schooled all of the way through High School. My 17 year old son has been working as our bather for the last year and a half. He will graduate from his Home-school program this spring. We are still Homeschooling our 11 year old at the shop. We have a room set up just for him.
    I did not take vacations for the first 10 years that I groomed, except for maybe a long weekend here and there. You should try really hard to take at least one week vacation or a few long weekends. The kids grow so so fast. Open a savings account, take one groom dog a day of money and put it in that account. Example: $40 a day x 6 days = $240 x 4 weeks a month = 960 x 12 months = 11,520. Would that cover your rent for a month and salary for a week so that you can take a week vacation.
    I don't have other employees to keep my shop open when I take off, so I have to save up enough money to cover that weeks receipts. You need a vacation or you will burnout. Take it from someone who has been through at least two burnouts and almost shut the doors. Most of my customers are okay with us closing for a week to take my kids to the beach. The customers that aren't...to bad, family first.
    I checked out your website and facebook page. They are great. You are very good about keeping up with your facebook page. Wow 5000 friends! Holy crap batman! lol
    I have not been a good girl with mine. I spend so much time with my blog that I have let the facebook go. Here is the link if you would like to check it out.

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Furry-Friends-Grooming-Self-Serve-Pet-Wash/241000615021

    I have to get back to posting on it. :) The Christmas pictures with the customers and their dogs is great. How in the world do you find time to do that and groom? I love the Christmas costumes that you have for the dogs. I have to start taking formal pictures of my customers dogs again. You have inspired me to do so again.
    Thanks for reading the blog. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
    Lisa, MFF

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