It was time for the mole patrol to be groomed. I dreaded the 45 minute drive one way to the groomers to drop them off early in the morning and then spending 5 hours trying to find something to do in town and then going back to pick them up and driving another 45 minutes home. But they were getting awfully overgrown so I just made up my mind.... I can do that. So I asked O Wise One when he went to the farm store for feed to pick me up a set of dog clippers. He came home with a pretty shiny silver set with lots of attachments and I got on the internet and researched how to clip a Scottish Terrier.
Gypsy before
Gypsy after
Riley all fuzzy last week
Riley after
(He's pouting and won't look at the camera)
It's not bad for a first attempt and now I can groom them as often as I want right in the comfort of my front porch. I put the hair on my garden to maybe keep away the rabbits...it's worth a try. I took the Dremel tool and trimmed their nails and it worked great. I save $60 which is what it costs to get them both groomed and a tank of gas. Not to mention 6 hours of my time. I am hoping with practice I will only get better but after all I am not showing them but I do like to keep them clean. Especially since they live in my house. So on top of everything else, now I am the groomer too! Another job for me.
I really don't know why I didn't do this years ago? Anyone else do their own grooming?
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Our Springer needs trimmed so bad. But we are waiting until closer to full time warm weather!
ReplyDeleteI, too, do my own grooming. Not only does it save money, but I do a better job than the groomer, and it only costs me the price of the clippers and occasional blade sharpening. The couple times I used "professional" groomers, I found lots of stray hairs and areas that hadn't been trimmed. I don't like a fussy hairdo, just 1/4 inch long all over the entire body, so its not at all complicated. You did a great job!
ReplyDeleteI used to and it became an all day event on our Bouvier. So, I gave it up and ended up having our Vet's office do it.
ReplyDeleteHubby trims our cats' nails. That's as groomery as we get.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job! :-)
I have a Bichon Frise that I have groomed twice. Unfortunately that is probably all I will do it. First time, hubby actually did the grooming and I ended up taking her to the groomers to "fix" it. The groomer was stifling a giggle when she saw our attempt! The 2nd time was out of pure necessity (Baby was soooooo wooly that she was starting to get hot spots and chew on herself)and the fact that there wasn't $40 in the budget for a grooming. It went a little better but I didn't do her head and face because I already knew she wouldn't hold still (She's 15 and not interested in making things easy on me)so now her body is shaved (somewhat, although I did forget to do one leg)and her head is poofy. REALLY POOFY!!! Yep, gonna have to let the groomer "fix" her again....
ReplyDeleteI groomed my own when we had an indoor dog some years ago; the time and money saved was well worth the practice. Looks like you did a great job!!
ReplyDeleteI trim my cats nails, does that count? LOL
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm impressed that you can do it! I would love to try it, but I know I'd mess them up terribly. Would love to save all that money. Here it costs $75 for the two of them. I think you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteI groom my little poodle and havenese dogs all the time. I used to take them to the groomers but they hated going and like you they had to stay there almost all day when it only takes about an hour and a half to groom and bathe both of them here at home. YOu'll get better at it , the trick is to keep the blades sharp so the clippers don't pull their hair.
ReplyDeleteBlessings
When I was poor I groomed my giant schnauzer. I saved a LOT of money that way. He was an american coated schnauzer so his fur was soft. It really isn't that hard to do, escpecially if you keep up with it. Later on I had him professionaly groomed and most of the time you couldn't tell the difference in my work and theirs. Always clip after the bath or your clippers will get dull very very quickly.
ReplyDeleteI love schnauzers! I've never had a small one though. The giants I'm told are more gregarious. Trouble was the smartest dog I've ever had the pleasure of owning me.