Another Question on Grooming
 

I have noticed over the last several days questions on grooming for out little furbabies. I have also seen the debate on another thread about petsmart and petco groomers. Well I had a few questions... Not like that is unexpected... :D :eek:

1. How old should my baby be if I am going to take her in and be groomed? She has had her first two sets of vacinations including the Kennel Cough one.

2. What needs to be done to her? I would like to eventully work for a nice show coat, but do I keep it longer now, or do I trim it until the fur begins to change then grow it?

3. Can they clip only the areas I want cliped like the rear end, and paws? Sorry not to be gross but sometimes the poop sticks :eek: and it is a pain in the @#$ to get out.

I have looked through the books I have and have found nothing on the topic so I would appriecate the help very, very much :) .
Maybe one of these days I will finally have all my answers and wont bother you all with silly questions anymore.

Oh , I forgot one last question ;) ... Is it normal for their hair to look greesy? I have washed her and a few days later is still looks kinda crudy. Do they growe out of this, and is there anything I can do to help it look better? I do brush her daily and it doesnt seem to help.

Thanks agian :animal-sm

Petsmart (and probably Petco) requires proof of rabies vaccination before they will groom your dog. They will trim her however you want. Since I'm letting Gus' fur grow out I trim him myself. It is pretty easy if you have a dog that cooperates. It just takes a little practice. If you keep the fur around her rectum short you will have less (or no) problems with poop sticking.
There were some posts recently about the greasy fur problem that may help. Go to search and put in shampoo.
Don't worry about asking a lot of questions. People are happy to help each other here. That is what makes this a great forum. :)

Max has been to the groomer 3x now, the 1st two he just got a trim (potty areas shaved & face & ears trimmed, and anywhere else that was getting unruly); the 3rd time (just this week) he got his first real haircut, which removed the rest of his wirey puppy hair & left him silky (and so much lighter in color). Max is 5 months old, goes to the groomer once a month for the total package & I brush him daily & bathe him weekly, too.

His 1st trip to be groomed was at 3 months, he'd just had his 2nd puppy vax (which included kennel cough), so he was fine to go at that time. I have him groomed at a doggy daycare, so he gets some serious socialization while he's there. :) He loves it!

I think a good groomer is going to listen to what you want, in terms of keeping a puppy cut until you're ready to grow out a show coat. That's really up to you...I don't think we'll be growing Max's hair out too much.

As for the greasy hair...not really sure. I know Max isn't fond of the bath yet, so by the time we're ready to rinse, he's ready to be done, so I have to be careful to make sure I get all the shampoo & conditioner rinsed out well.

Q1 - Yes, she should have all her shots before you take her to get groomed (until then you can do the higienic shave at home...)

Q2 - I would say start growing the coat long now..you will need to make the hygienic shave, also trim the ears and paws.


Q3 - The hair around that area should be short, that should be done with the trim (it is what i call the hygienic shave :D)


There are different kinds of coat...but the puppy coat tends to be finer than their final coat, so this can be why it looks greasy...just make sure you are rinsing all shampoo and conditioner out of the coat (or maybe even skip the conditioner...)

I hope this helps..

I purchased a small personal hair trimmer at Wal-mart for just under 10.00. It works well on the ears, feet and private areas.
I have also heard you are supposed to pull the hair out of the ears. Does anyone have any information about this???

After cleaning use the ear powder to give you a better grip..you can pluck the hair out using your fingers (be really careful if using a tweezer..if the pup moves you can hurt them...) Also, you should pluck only the hair that grows in the ear canal...

thanks... that just sounds so painful

My yorkies hair around her eyes is getting a little long. It looks like it get's in her eyes sometimes..i would like to cut it but i am scared of hurting her. I need to get all of vacinations taken care of b/f i go to the groomer though..poor kelsey! :(

roultjm, they don't have much feeling in the ears. I use a tweesers, because it is faster. My fingers, seem to slip or something, and don't always get the hair plucked. But don't worry, they don't seem to feel it!
Mydogkelsey! Don't cut the hair around her eyes! I know this will bother the heck out of you, but let them grow, and they will be a lot better! Then they will lay down and won't be sticking her in the eye!
Pat

How long does it normally take to grow the hair out? Are they like us humans that it takes years???

I agree about not cutting the hair around your baby's eyes - when we got Sweetie she was 6 months old and they had given her a schnauzer cut :eek: ! Only in the past few months (she's 3 1/2 yrs) has it been long enough to pull up in a barrette. I use the ones that are coated metal and very small (not babies but toddlers) and they are all one piece and snap closed. DON'T CUT 'EM!!!

We do all of Sweetie's trimming - my husband does her ears and I do the rest - she doesn't enjoy it but she tolerates it. It's not that hard to do if you have any inclination to try.

Good Luck!

Cyndi (Sweetie's Mom) ;)

i'm getting ready to take nala to the groomers and at first i was just going to have the basic trim but now i wondering if maybe i should give her a puppy cut then start letting her hair grow out since she's not quite 6mths and has puppy hair? do yall think it woud be best to get a puppy cut then start growing her hair out? i don't want her to have a show coat just a little long unless she seems like she is going to be a hot natured dog which it's kinda looking like that. any suggestions??