Pets and Grooming

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Comment by Heather Cailaoife, LMT on June 15, 2010 at 12:13pm

Great advice! Thanks ...

Comment by Monika Phillips on June 15, 2010 at 12:01pm

Hi Heather and thank you for joining my group. Little Sascha looks adorable and I congratulate you on grooming her yourself. When you say that you use the same clipper as for your boys, I'm assuming you mean the two legged children? You need to be extra careful with those as they can pull in the dog's skin just as easily as it can cut their hair. I would not recommend using that type of clipper around her face and ears. If you don't want a professional groomer to do that, then you can pick up clippers especially made for pets and they will come with a number 10 blade. For the face of a schnauzer, that's the only blade I would recommend. Typically, a schnauzer's face is shaved completely, except for the beard and eyebrows. That would also include shaving the back of the head, the back of the ears and down the snout.

As for her ears, you can either shave the little hairs inside her ears or you can pull them out. Most important is keeping them clean - see my grooming tips on how to clean the inside of the ears. I use hemostats to pull the excess hair if it's necessary or you can very very very lightly dust the hairs with cornstarch and then pluck with your fingers. Make sure that all the cornstarch is removed, first by blowing away the excess and then use a good ear cleaner on the rest. As for those that told you that pulling the hair out doesn't hurt, think about how you feel if you have ever plucked your eyebrows, then multiply that several times over, depending on how many hairs you grab and pull.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I can help further. Don't forget to look for extra hair between her pads on the foot and make sure to only use a #10 blade for under the legs and on her belly and while doing a sanitary trim around the rectum. Be sure to thoroughly clean your blades with a professional cleaner afterwards.

Comment by Heather Cailaoife, LMT on June 15, 2010 at 10:46am

Hi Monika -

This is my new mini-schnauzer puppy Sascha ... she's a bit bigger now and I have an aversion to paying someone to clean a dog. I was raised with big dogs - shepards, labs, rotties and they were working dogs, so the concept of taking a dog to the groomer is completely foreign. I am very proud of myself - I used the clippers we use on the boys' hair and did a decent job of shaving her back to "gaucho pants" clean, but I am scared to death to do her head!!

Do you have recommendations on how to shave around her ears and eyes, and whether I should be shaving along the top of her snout? She is such a great little girl and holds very still (although she does shake ... cringe), but I am so afraid I am going to nick her! Her face looks so shaggy now, though, and I had so much fun with the rest of her body, that I would like to learn!

Also - someone told me I should be pulling the hair inside her ears out - that it doesn't hurt her and it's the only way to keep them from getting infections. I have tried it a couple of times, but she really doesn't like it. I don't think it hurts her because she doesn't yelp, but she gets really agitated!

Thanks in advance for your help and for creating this group!

Comment by Monika Phillips on May 4, 2010 at 6:11am

Morning Karen - sent email to confirm and directions for location. Thank you again. See you Tuesday.

Comment by Karen Sherwood - Women's Network on May 3, 2010 at 10:16pm

How does around 10am on Tuesday the 11th work? Where are you located?

Comment by Monika Phillips on April 29, 2010 at 5:13pm

Hi Karen - I have Tuesday, the 11th and Thursday, the 13th open that week right now. When would be best for you to come for a visit? I am so looking forward to it.

Comment by Karen Sherwood - Women's Network on April 29, 2010 at 4:54pm

Yes! Let's set a time! Next weeks is going to be a bit to crazy - but when are you available the week of the 10th? I'd love to shoot a video too.

Comment by Monika Phillips on April 26, 2010 at 10:25am

Good morning Karen. I groom from my home, yes. All of my client's pets get bathed in my 2nd bathroom, not much different from what someone would do in their own home. I do have a few 'extra' tools here to make it easier. I would be delighted to schedule a time that would be convenient for you and Sandy to come over and be my guest and give her a bath/brush/teeth brushing/ear cleaning and nail trim - if necessary. I think the video idea would be very helpful. A picture is truly worth a thousand of my words typed.

Comment by Karen Sherwood - Women's Network on April 26, 2010 at 9:22am

You do "Home Grooming" is that correct? If so - I would love to schedule a time with you to come over and give Sandy a full on bath. She is the first dog I've ever owned - so I could use a few tips! Maybe we could even video tape it to share the tips with others on the network. What do you think?!

Comment by Monika Phillips on April 22, 2010 at 10:45am

Karen - Sandy is absolutely adorable. Love that brindle coloring and that face... what a gorgeous face - yes, both of you :D.

Understanding the 'fun' of horse manure from my own horse, Radar - it's a bit tough getting the smell completely gone with 'regular' pet shampoos. I have a jasmine one that would do the trick. Be happy to help. Let me know when would be convenient for you.

How old is Sandy? So adorable - that is an awesome picture. Thanks for joining the group. My wish is to make it easy for folks to do a 'lot' of the grooming themselves. In today's tough economic times, anyway we can save is good and bring in the professionals when it's necessary.

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