Monday, March 23, 2009

Happy dogs


Well, Lily is happy to be home from the vet and I think learned a little lesson because she won't go near the garden! I stayed home from work today to keep an eye on her and because I had to get up at 4:30 this morning to pick her up. Since I had some time today I took Harper in to the groomer and she likes being able to see again. Having dogs that have to go to the groomer is a new experience for me and a big learning curve as well. I don't know how long I can go before having to take them back in again and waited too long again because this time her back hair was too matted and they had to cut it short. I will get this figured out eventually.

1 comment:

CynthiaDogMom said...

Marilyn, a professional groomer will guide you in understanding how long your dog can go between haircuts. I've worked at two grooming shops, and the owner of each shop pre-scheduled grooms for the haircut breeds at the beginning of the year, for the whole year, so that the dogs would get the grooming they needed when they needed it and not be blocked out by later-made appointments. Your groomer (if s/he is the same as you used previously) will have a record of when the dog came in this time: the "too long" interval. Most groomed breeds need haircuts every 6 weeks, give or take (this is where the personal understanding of *your* dog by *your* groomer is essential). Sometimes, just to get a read on the coat condition between haircuts, the shop owner scheduled bath/brush-out appointments as well. Example: a particular breed is recommended for haircuts every 6 weeks, but the groomer is well acquainted with a specific dog of this breed. This (hypothetical) specific dog can go 8 weeks between haircuts *IF* it is bathed and brushed out after 4 weeks. This is a call the prof. groomer will be able to make. BTW, I've dematted dogs--and cats--via both clippering and brushing/combing. It's very slow going and tries the animal's patience...