Taking a Hiatus

Do to some medical issues, I will be taking a hiatus, but hope to return in a few months.  Happy Grooming to those of you who follow this blog!  I will try and pop in from time to time to post on relevant topics as they arise.

Finally some pics

Today was a long, hard day.  Another day where I question my ability to due this job full time.  Since the wreck my body just isn't capable of doing what it did before.  Today it reminded me of that fact.

On the bright side, I remembered to take some before and after pics of the entire TWO dogs I managed to get done today.

The first was a badly matted schnauzer. She was a sweet girl, but very head shy which made it very difficult. Had to do alot of scissor work because she flipped out with the clippers.  Here she is before:

And After:

Next came Gizmo, a severely matted Shitzu:

As you can see, I had to tunnel my way under this giant pelted mat.  As solid as they were though, I was able to do his body with a 5F blade.  His legs on the other hand, needed a 7F, and, in some places, even a 10.  He was a trooper for the most part.  That is until I got to his front legs. He thought he might want to try and bite me, so I had to muzzle him for the last part of his rough in. 

Once Giz had been bathed and dried, he'd settled down pretty well. I still had to fight to get those front legs done, most of which were done by scissoring, since he didn't mind that as much.  He wasn't quite finished in the 'After" picture, but mom took over to finish him off, and I wanted a picture of MY work.  But I was happy to find that there really was a dog under all that hair. And he was a much happier dog when he left the shop.

And last, but not least, I did manage to take an 'after' pic of  Molly, the Great Pyrenees that I did yesterday.  She was the sweetest thing ever.   

Monday I will start making calls to get the electrical work started on my garage/shop.  Finally taking the necessary steps toward getting my shop opened.  Sure hope my body hold up!

Fixing mistakes

Todays theme was fixing your mistakes. Poor dogs probably thought I'd lost my mind, but were so patient with me... mostly.

My first dog was a large cream colored Pekinese. They wanted her shaved down, so I started with a 5F blade.   The problem here was that he kept moving and I had lots of lines where his shifting caused the blade to move in  a direction NOT with the grain of the hair. On top of that, he had a ton of undercoat.  In the end I ended up backblading with a 4 and getting a beautiful finish, leaving only the tail with its fluffy beauty... until the owner came and requested I shave his tail too. The customer gets what the customer wants, and off came the tail... well the hair on it at least. Time to completion (including tail 2 hours 45 minutes) Yikes!

My second dog was just a bath and brush on a miniature yorkie.  Nothing to screw up there, thank goodness. Time to completion, 45 minutes

Lastly, I had a Lhasa that just wouldn't be still, insisted on standing with his back to me, and moving whatever body part I was working on as far from me as I could get. I wouldn't say I messed anything up, but had to go over him multiple times to get him smoothed out.  Then I began cutting on the head he kept trying to yank out of my hands. And cutting.... and cutting... and cutting...  Seemed to take forever to get all that hair under control and symetrical . Time to completion, 2 hours 15 minutes.

You'd think after all this time I would be speeding up. But it seems the faster I go, the longer it takes because I'm continually having to go back and fix things. I think I'm going to focus less on time, and more on efficiency, and hopefully with time the speed will just come. Thankfully, after having done the math, I realize that I can pay all my bills if I do 4 dogs/day.  I'm pushing for more though. One day.

Again, a day of no pictures. Just wanted to focus on getting the dogs done, and not worry about taking pics.  I'll try and remember tomorrow.

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, finally, after a hiatus of about 2 weeks, I was back to work.  Before taking a break, I was suffering from severe anxiety over 'messing up' every dog I touched. I'm not sure what caused the problem, but it was extremely debilitating.  Then along with it came a fear of being bitten.  Again, no reason for it.  It just WAS. For the last week before christmas I found myself unable to finish a dog for one reason or another, and let mom finish them for me. Some of it was time constraints, some were difficult dogs, some were silly things, like fear of cutting the eyebrows off a schnauzer. Go figure.

That horrible streak finally came to an end yesterday.  Although my dogs still took 2 hours each, and they weren't what I would call perfect by any means, they were done, they were clean, neat, and completed by me. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures because I was more focused on relaxing and getting the job done. But for the first time in about a month, I was relaxed and enjoying what I did.  I'm sure hoping to have broken that horrible streak of anxiety and lack of confidence!

Confidence, Or A Lack Of

It has been a rough week, and I'm not sure why.  I have been apprenticing now for about 5 months, and until now was feeling pretty good about the pace at which I've been learning.  My grooms, though far from perfect, have been improving, and I generally feel like I'm turning out dogs that I'm proud to give back to their owners. 

Then came this week.  It began with the fact that I'm finally doing poodles and just don't feel like I have the scissor control to make them look right.  Then there is my speed, or lack of.  I know I should be doing grooms in less than 2 hours, but for me to put out a dog that I'm proud of, I just can't seem to get them done in less.  That scares me, now that I'm ready to begin renovations on the garage to turn it into my shop.

Will I be ready when the time comes to open?

Will I enjoy it when I'm working full days?

Can I turn out quality dogs?

Will I be able to handle the more difficult/aggressive dogs?

Will my body allow me to keep doing this?

All these questions keep spinning around in my head.  I just keep pushing forward, hoping that all the doubts and fears will melt away as I continue to do what I'm doing.  Today is better. Of course, I slept better and didn't wake up in pain during the night for the first time in weeks.  I suppose only time will tell.  But I'm committed now, so I'll just keep trudging forward and looking forward to being self employed.

Am I the only person who faces such a staggering lack of confidence when they first start grooming?

Black Dog, White Dog

I am finding something that surprises me greatly.  I have difficulty seeing black dogs.  My depth perception and inability to see those 'standie outies' are frustrating me beyond measure!  I would have thought it would be much more difficult to see a white dog than a black one. Not so. At least not for me.  Yesterday I did a black poodle. It was a struggle. I forgot the before pic, but not the 'after' shot.

Apparently my camera has a similar issue. Or maybe I can't even see the black dog in a photo.  

I also did a WHITE dog with much better results lol. Here is her before. Her mom didnt want much taken off since its getting colder.

And here she is after:

Still so much learning to do. 

The Frustration of Designing my Shop

Today has been a long day.  I am beginning the process of converting my unattached garage into a salon.  As part of the planning process I conferred with people who know a little about the process: My ex (the plumber), my mother (a groomer of 17 years), her fiance (a contractor), and another friend who just happened to stop by and offer his advice to add to the pool.  Until today, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Now I'm being pulled in different directions.

I understand the need to keep things close together to minimize all the extra steps between  cages, tub and table.  I also know that I would get to feeling very claustrophobic in too small a space. Initially I wanted an open floor plan, something with plenty of room to move around in.  But in taking all the advice I've recieved into account my work space has been effectively cut into a third. I'm just not sure how I'm feeling about it.

The placement of a toilet is the most difficult part of the design.  Unless I put the enterance to it in the lobby, nothing is the modified floor plan flows efficiently.  I think that is what I'm going to have to do.  I suppose that will also keep clients out of my groom room if they have a toileting emergency.

At this point, my head hurts, but I feel like I'm reaching some sort of compromise.  I'm still not completely happy with the design, and suppose I wont be sure of anything until I get out there and measure everything to see how it all fits together, and how much room is left over.  I'll admit this is not my favorite part, and I'll be glad when it's all said and done, and the work begins.   I'm just a tad overwhelmed by all the decisions to be made!

A Leisurely Day and a Schnauzer

This morning started off slowly, so I spent the first part of the day making bows.  It's always fun to mix ribbons and make something different.  In addition, Mom brought her hot glue gun so I could attach Christmas bells to my bows.  Here are just a few.

Finally, the dogs began to arrive. 

It was schnauzer day!

So... I got to do a beautiful schnauzer. It was a bit intimidating. She had really long eyelashes that her mom wanted to keep. I was so afraid I'd cut them off when I did the eyebrows. Yay for me, I SAVED them!  I forgot to get my before pictures, but I did NOT forget the afters.  What a sweet girl she was.

The name I've chosen for my shop is "Cameo Canine Grooming Salon" .  The logo will be an oval cameo of a dogs head.  After doing this darling schnauzer today, I believe I will make the dog in the cameo a schnauzer.  What do you think?

Rug, anyone?

As I learned today, there are times when I will be faced with circumstances that both annoy and sadden me.  Today we had a sweet elderly cocker come in to get groomed.  She had a thick, beautiful curly coat. But beneath the coat was the evidence that the poor girl hadn't been brushed since God only knows when.  So mom and I worked together to free the girl from this horrible pelted coat.

It's difficulty to see the pelted mat here, but thats one big mat hanging down after removing the larger mats from her back.  (Another thing I learned today, is that I have a really hard time seeing anything on black dogs!)

By the time she was done, she looked and felt so much better. It was fun to watch how she rolled around like a pup in her towel once the mats were removed.

I certainly don't mean to pass judgement on the owner of this dog.  Only they know the circumstances that led to her becoming so terribly matted.  It saddens me that the dog had to suffer the discomfort, regardless of the circumstances.  I sure hope this is the last time she has to endure a day like this.

I thought I'd also take a picture and share my work station at mom's shop.  It's not much, but it's my own little space with my own tools. It's my happy place.

Tomorrow should be another busy day. Maybe I'll remember to take pictures of more of the dogs!

My First Poodle.

Today I got to do my first poodle from start to finish.  Here he is when he arrived:

As I've learned, the first rule of grooming: Do what the customer wants as long as it doesn't or won't cause the dog distress.  For this groom, because he is an outside dog, we did not poodle foot him. He also doesn't have a pom on his tail.  He was done with a 3 3/4 blade.  Here is what he looked like after his groom.

All in all, I felt pretty good about this groom. There were a few things I just couldn't figure out how to make look better, but he was pretty squirmy with that head. 

Christmas Color

Today Max came into the shop again, and I got to play with color.  I always enjoy it, though I'm not very brave with it yet.  But he looked good and his mommy loved it.

I find going back and forth in my confidence lever.  I have become pretty comfortable with certain drop coated breeds like the shi tzu, and curly coats like the poodles, but I have to be honest when I say that other breeds still scare the poop out of me. 

Today I began working on a long haired Yorkie. It was working on a jumping marshmallow. She was so delicate and just wouldn't stay still. Her hair was all over the place, staticky in spite of the anti static spray I used, and trying to clean up her sanitary area while fearing I was going to cut off that long hair that kept falling in the way... ugh!  I know I have to do them to get over the fear. Like mom says, its hair, it will grow back. But I'm just so afraid of screwing up something I can't fix.  I'm so ready to be comfortable and competent with all the breeds, but I know I have so much left to learn. (scissoring, hand stripping, carding, and many different breed styles.)  

My goal is to really pick up the pace and have my shop opened by March first, and to quit nursing by mid May. I'm not sure it's an optimistic goal, but one I'm shooting for just the same.  

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Playing with Color

Today was a fun day.  I had a little maltese named Molly come into the shop, and her owner was in an adventurous mood. So she allowed us to play with color!   Here is Molly before her grooming.

And after her haircut...

And after her color! We did her ears and tail...

She looked like cotton candy when it was done. So much fun!

And when it was all said and done, her mommy picked her up and LOVED it!  Days like this remind me why I like what I do!  Now if I could only do it faster! This cut and color took me 2 hours and 10 minutes to complete. Yikes!

A Wagging-Tail Welcome

Welcome!  I am a 38...OK, almost 39... year old single mom.  I have worked as a nurse for the past 17 years, minus a couple somewhere in the middle. I have reached a point in my life when I'm ready to do something new, fun, and different.  Most importantly, I am striving to become self employed.

In July I began apprenticing as a dog groomer!  I never knew what hard work it would be, nor did I expect to enjoy it so much.  One day I feel like I'm really doing great. The next I feel like I can't make my hands do anything my creative mind wants me to.  I decided to start this blog in order to chronicle my experience and growth in my new chosen career.  Here are a few pics from the first few months of my journey. In the future I'll try and remember to take before and after pics.

Max- my first attempt at temporary color