Saturday, May 15, 2004
Ewwwwww.... TICKS!
Today was indeed Cocker Day. We had 3 cockers, 2 Shih Tzus, and one Pekingese. The Peke was quite interesting... LOTS of hair on that critter, And Valerie gave me the pregame peptalk as I was putting this one into the tub... don't pull on the ears, and be VERY careful cleaning around the eyes, as they can ... get this ... POP OUT OF THE SOCKETS. Is this gross, or what? So I bathed carefully, and had to get some guidance when it was time to do around the eyes. Her eyes were quite tearstained, and I wanted to make sure I got them clean enough for Valerie but not worrying about dangling eyeballs. *shudder*
And then there was "Jasper Peabody" or "JP" the Cocker. His owner brought him in, saying that the poor dog gets groomed twice a year, like he deserves the Good Pet Owner Of The Year award or something. Wiseass Trainee smarts off to the owner, "Whether he needs it or not, huh?" (That was my only mistake today, aside from having to re-vacuum the floor for hair fluffs.) JP is so incredibly filthy and matted that Valerie has me clip him down before I even put him in the tub. He will take approximately 700 years to dry, if we bathe him with all the matting. So I attack him with my clippers and #7F blade. The dog is just SO dirty. I clip away at him, and clog one set of blades, and switch to my backup set. And then it happens. I've started on the second side of him, and I run over a tick. Ewwww! blood all in my clippers! I've got no fingernails, so I can't pull out the remains of the nasty bloodsucker. Valerie pulls the tick out, and as I continue clipping, I count ticks. A member of the Groom TNT mailing list said she charges a $1 per tick fee for removing them, and gives it to the person who actually does the de-ticking. Nice incentive! ANYHOW, this poor Cocker is just crawling with them. Between the clipping and the baths (no, that was NOT a typo!) and the finishing, we probably pulled 20 ticks off of this dog. Valerie just charges the dimwit owner $5 for de-ticking, though, and also tells him (doesn't ASK, TELLS) that she is going to put FrontLine on the dog. The guy says, "Well, he's not an inside dog" like that makes it OK for him to be in such deplorable condition. JP is a very good boy, especially considering that he has hardly ever been groomed, and that each time he IS groomed, it's probably an ordeal for him.
Even though JP is very well-behaved, I don't trust him. I told Valerie that I'm like an old-fashioned Southern racist: I just don't trust Cockers! They are such sweet, sweet puppies... then they grow up, get fat, and start snapping!
After I've got JP mostly shaved, I put him in the tub and began washing his face and ears. (As Valerie said, when a dog only gets a bath once or twice a year, better make it a good one!) I make a note to wash his ears with Dawn dishwashing soap TWICE. Earlier, I'd had a Cocker whose ears didn't get clean enough with one washing, so I'm going to make damsure that doesn't happen again. I don't count it as a mistake, though, because I didn't know that the Dawn sometimes doesn't get through all the Cocker Scrunge in one go. By the time I've washed his face and ears the first time, the tub has collected some water. So I put in some citrus shampoo, and begin the wash.
Before I'd got a decent start on him, the water was just runny mud, practically. Dirty, dirty dog! Completely not his fault, though; his owner just doesn't deserve to have a dog at all. I wash him as best I can, then drain the tub, clean the fur out of the recirc system, clean the tub, and start all over again. Even more ticks show up as I'm washing him! He's such a good boy, though, and stands patiently for the scrubbing I give him. Even after clipping and TWO baths, when Valerie gets him out of the drying cage, he STILL stinks. Valerie calls it PermaStink. *grin*
I've learned a bit more about blade maintenance today. Valerie disassembled two of her blades and replaced worn out parts on them. Ummm, what else did I learn today?
I learned that I have had a sitting-on-my-ass job for waaay too long. My feet HURT!
I learned that Pekes and Pugs both have eyes that can literally pop out of their sockets.
I learned that Cockers have really greasy ears and the ones that don't get groomed much need two washes with Dawn in their ears.
I learned not to drive QUITE so fast, even when I really, really want to get home. *rueful grin*
AND I learned that Valerie doesn't have a lot of patience for men who think that they're being charmingly flirtatious. :-)
That's it for now, y'all!
And then there was "Jasper Peabody" or "JP" the Cocker. His owner brought him in, saying that the poor dog gets groomed twice a year, like he deserves the Good Pet Owner Of The Year award or something. Wiseass Trainee smarts off to the owner, "Whether he needs it or not, huh?" (That was my only mistake today, aside from having to re-vacuum the floor for hair fluffs.) JP is so incredibly filthy and matted that Valerie has me clip him down before I even put him in the tub. He will take approximately 700 years to dry, if we bathe him with all the matting. So I attack him with my clippers and #7F blade. The dog is just SO dirty. I clip away at him, and clog one set of blades, and switch to my backup set. And then it happens. I've started on the second side of him, and I run over a tick. Ewwww! blood all in my clippers! I've got no fingernails, so I can't pull out the remains of the nasty bloodsucker. Valerie pulls the tick out, and as I continue clipping, I count ticks. A member of the Groom TNT mailing list said she charges a $1 per tick fee for removing them, and gives it to the person who actually does the de-ticking. Nice incentive! ANYHOW, this poor Cocker is just crawling with them. Between the clipping and the baths (no, that was NOT a typo!) and the finishing, we probably pulled 20 ticks off of this dog. Valerie just charges the dimwit owner $5 for de-ticking, though, and also tells him (doesn't ASK, TELLS) that she is going to put FrontLine on the dog. The guy says, "Well, he's not an inside dog" like that makes it OK for him to be in such deplorable condition. JP is a very good boy, especially considering that he has hardly ever been groomed, and that each time he IS groomed, it's probably an ordeal for him.
Even though JP is very well-behaved, I don't trust him. I told Valerie that I'm like an old-fashioned Southern racist: I just don't trust Cockers! They are such sweet, sweet puppies... then they grow up, get fat, and start snapping!
After I've got JP mostly shaved, I put him in the tub and began washing his face and ears. (As Valerie said, when a dog only gets a bath once or twice a year, better make it a good one!) I make a note to wash his ears with Dawn dishwashing soap TWICE. Earlier, I'd had a Cocker whose ears didn't get clean enough with one washing, so I'm going to make damsure that doesn't happen again. I don't count it as a mistake, though, because I didn't know that the Dawn sometimes doesn't get through all the Cocker Scrunge in one go. By the time I've washed his face and ears the first time, the tub has collected some water. So I put in some citrus shampoo, and begin the wash.
Before I'd got a decent start on him, the water was just runny mud, practically. Dirty, dirty dog! Completely not his fault, though; his owner just doesn't deserve to have a dog at all. I wash him as best I can, then drain the tub, clean the fur out of the recirc system, clean the tub, and start all over again. Even more ticks show up as I'm washing him! He's such a good boy, though, and stands patiently for the scrubbing I give him. Even after clipping and TWO baths, when Valerie gets him out of the drying cage, he STILL stinks. Valerie calls it PermaStink. *grin*
I've learned a bit more about blade maintenance today. Valerie disassembled two of her blades and replaced worn out parts on them. Ummm, what else did I learn today?
I learned that I have had a sitting-on-my-ass job for waaay too long. My feet HURT!
I learned that Pekes and Pugs both have eyes that can literally pop out of their sockets.
I learned that Cockers have really greasy ears and the ones that don't get groomed much need two washes with Dawn in their ears.
I learned not to drive QUITE so fast, even when I really, really want to get home. *rueful grin*
AND I learned that Valerie doesn't have a lot of patience for men who think that they're being charmingly flirtatious. :-)
That's it for now, y'all!
