The Grooming Process

I get asked a lot about what is included when you book a full groom and what are the steps involved that take so long to complete. I thought that the best way to explain is to show people the steps that are taken to get your pooch from shaggy to finished :)

Firstly we do a rough cut with the clippers to remove the shaggy hair, which allows the shampoo and conditioner to actual focus on the good coat underneath and not be wasted on the hair being removed. You can see through this process we just get the majority of the dirty hair out of the way and it allows any small matts, dirt etc to be washed out and hopefully removed. At this point we also use our small clippers to do a sanitary clip around the underside of the belly, under the arms, around the bottom and delicate areas and also under the pads of the feet to remove the overgrown hair.

Following this we go through the full bath including Shampoo (Dependant on breed and requirements) condition and towel dry. During this process the coat gets a full scrub with the curry brush and hands to make sure we get the coat fully washed and remove any of the dirt. This process is then followed by the blow dryer, making sure that it is as dry as possible to allow the clippers to do there next job.

The final stages of the groom once the coat is dry is the final cut. Even though when you first finish sometimes it looks like you have gotten everywhere, once the coat has been washed and blow-dried there is ALWAYS straggly hairs and missed spots. Along with this you will also notice that there is still a lot of hair that remains and needs to be cut to get the correct finish. In the picture below you will see the coat on the right being straight from the rough cut and the left side has had the final clip run over it. Once this is fully uniform across the body we then move to the scissoring which is when we tidy around the face, ears, feet and just generally check that everywhere is looking good. We finish this off with a nail clip, some cologne and of course the most important a little treat at the end for doing such a good job and putting up with me working all around.

I hope this gives you a little bit of and understanding of the process that i undertake. I prefer to allow more time and this way i can make sure that the job is finished off nicely and if the dog needs a small break during the groom i am able to do this. It is important as it should be as enjoyable as possible not a scary process. If you ever have any questions about this process feel free to ask.