The Typical Grooming Session
The Typical Grooming Session
At our first meeting with you, we will spend some time to find out about your dog and its lifestyle, any health issues or trips to the vet, your dog's likes and dislikes, along with asking about how you would like the dog to be styled. Sometimes owners aren't sure what would suit their dog, so we can often help and advise. Some owners are able to help us by bringing a photograph of how they would like their dog to look. Let us know if the dog is allergic to any treats as we use them to encourage and reward good behaviour and trust. Once we have the brief from you we are able to start. This is the usual sequence of a grooming session:
1) We start the groom with a check of the dog looking for lumps/bumps, skin lesions, parasites, assessing nails, checking ears, identifying any coat problems, noting any problems so that we can feed back to you when you collect the dog.
2) We then clean the ears - we only pluck ears if your vet's advice is for us to do so - for the majority of dogs they dislike the process and it is not necessary.
3) Trim nails. This is not always necessary if your dog has been groomed regularly or the nails have worn down naturally. We can also buff the rough edges of the nails - this is an additional service
5) We offer water on the way to the bathing area.
6) Next, its time for a thorough bath, and some of the yummy facial scrub. We use a powerful hydro bath to get to the dirt which a regular bath can't get to. This is why your dog smells nice for longer.
7) Big dogs will be blast dried into the bath, and then transferred to grooming area for finishing dying and brushing out. This can take some time for long coats. Some dogs really enjoy being dried and others do not, we do our best to calm them during this stage. We use a happy hoodie to protect their ears, and sometimes we have to work very slowly if the dog is young or really sensitive.
8)The paw pads and sanitary areas clipped out
9) we scissor/ trim or clip the dog to ensure a smooth finish. Handstripped dogs are bathed first, and this helps to mitigate against post-grooming skin infections and ensures a high quality finish to the strip
10) finishing touches are applied to smarten up your dog, generally speaking - less is more. We usually give smooth coated dogs a polish with a coat spray and chamois leather pad. Others, we apply a light mist of moisturising coat treatment. We can sculpt some coats to give them a show finish but ultimately your dog will look as you requested. If your dog is heavily matted we may clip your dog which is why it is important to brush your dog regularly at home.
Finally, the dog is given a well deserved break after a long groom, while they await pick-up from their owners.
