Friday, June 04, 2004
Insert Clever Title Here - New, Improved - With PICTURES!
Today was a fairly quiet day at the shop. Sydney the Newfie was there, but Valerie had already got her bathed by the time I got in. Valerie also bathed the Mini Schnauzer puppy as well as another dog who was very very shy. So I had it pretty easy today.
The Mini Schnauzer was 3 months old, said the owner, but it looked pretty darn big. The pup was just adorable, and Valerie said he'll turn into a very goodlooking dog when he gets older. He gave her a bit of a fight on the table, though. Seems that he did not want Valerie to hold his ears to trim his neck. Valerie, however, had another idea altogether. For some reason, she was not happy about having a 10-pound puppy tell her what she was not going to do. So she held onto the pup's neck and let it scream its head off, and it did.
It sounded like Valerie was ripping his ears off. He kept struggling and Valerie kept
holding, then he realized he was NOT going to win and submitted to her. He was a perfect angel the rest of his time on the table.
Someone who walked in on that scene not understanding dogs would have thought that Valerie was being mean to him, and that he was going to be terrified of the grooming process from that moment forward. I don't think that's going to happen at all. Valerie simply told that pup who was in charge, and took the stress of decision-making off of that little dog. He was very relaxed after the battle was over, and almost fell asleep in the loops. One of the things that really impresses me about Valerie is that she has a terrific knowledge of when a dog is just pushing and will NOT win, and when the dog is freaking out for real. Valerie won't risk hurting a dog just to prove she's stronger, but also will not let a dog make her decisions for her just because it's pushy. People who give in when their dogs object to something are actually creating more stress for them. Dogs are generally very happy when they have people who are in charge. Most dogs are very content to be told what to do by a leader they have confidence in. When the dog does not have confidence in its owner's leadership ability, then is when the problems happen. Dog knows it isn't capable of making all of the proper decisions, but also feels that it can't depend on its owner to make them.
Enough dog psychology!
I've got before-and-after pictures of the Mini Schnauzer.
Schnauzer Pup Before
Schnauzer Pup Face
Schnauzer Pup After. Doesn't look so puppyish any more. :-(
Another Angle of the Schnauzer.
Here's the lovely Sydney. She really IS dark grey instead of black. Sorry for the chain in front of Valerie's face!
I dried and brushed Sydney out today. I learned a little bit about drying technique. The HV dryer needs to be held closer to short hair than it does for longer hair. It needs to blow the hair out in a neat circle, and when it's at the right distance, you can actually see the mats and small knots being removed from the hair. It's quite amazing - the knots actually flee the center of the airstream, and when they reach the end of the hair, they are gone! Grooming sprays with silicone help this process by making the hair slippery so the knots can escape easier. The HV dryer blasts the spray into the tangles and POOF! All but the worst of the knots disappear.
I got a little bit of practice on Valerie's grooming client software. I checked out a client, took his money, and closed his ticket... only belatedly realizing that I had checked out a Shih-Tzu, all right.... but one who was scheduled to come in on Saturday!!! Idiot Trainee strikes again.
BUT!! We got a wretchedly dirty though not terribly tangled Cockapoo in, and I bathed the HELL out of that dog. Scrubbed ears and face twice, used Dirty Dog shampoo and just washed that dog like nobody's business. A wise woman had told her Idiot Trainee, recently enough for said Idiot to remember, that if a dog only gets one bath a year, make it count. So while I.T. was making it count, Sensei was giving her attitude about being able to clip down an entire dog in the time it took to bathe the next one! Sometimes you just can't win. *smile*
The Mini Schnauzer was 3 months old, said the owner, but it looked pretty darn big. The pup was just adorable, and Valerie said he'll turn into a very goodlooking dog when he gets older. He gave her a bit of a fight on the table, though. Seems that he did not want Valerie to hold his ears to trim his neck. Valerie, however, had another idea altogether. For some reason, she was not happy about having a 10-pound puppy tell her what she was not going to do. So she held onto the pup's neck and let it scream its head off, and it did.
It sounded like Valerie was ripping his ears off. He kept struggling and Valerie kept
holding, then he realized he was NOT going to win and submitted to her. He was a perfect angel the rest of his time on the table.
Someone who walked in on that scene not understanding dogs would have thought that Valerie was being mean to him, and that he was going to be terrified of the grooming process from that moment forward. I don't think that's going to happen at all. Valerie simply told that pup who was in charge, and took the stress of decision-making off of that little dog. He was very relaxed after the battle was over, and almost fell asleep in the loops. One of the things that really impresses me about Valerie is that she has a terrific knowledge of when a dog is just pushing and will NOT win, and when the dog is freaking out for real. Valerie won't risk hurting a dog just to prove she's stronger, but also will not let a dog make her decisions for her just because it's pushy. People who give in when their dogs object to something are actually creating more stress for them. Dogs are generally very happy when they have people who are in charge. Most dogs are very content to be told what to do by a leader they have confidence in. When the dog does not have confidence in its owner's leadership ability, then is when the problems happen. Dog knows it isn't capable of making all of the proper decisions, but also feels that it can't depend on its owner to make them.
Enough dog psychology!
I've got before-and-after pictures of the Mini Schnauzer.
Schnauzer Pup Before
Schnauzer Pup Face
Schnauzer Pup After. Doesn't look so puppyish any more. :-(
Another Angle of the Schnauzer.
Here's the lovely Sydney. She really IS dark grey instead of black. Sorry for the chain in front of Valerie's face!
I dried and brushed Sydney out today. I learned a little bit about drying technique. The HV dryer needs to be held closer to short hair than it does for longer hair. It needs to blow the hair out in a neat circle, and when it's at the right distance, you can actually see the mats and small knots being removed from the hair. It's quite amazing - the knots actually flee the center of the airstream, and when they reach the end of the hair, they are gone! Grooming sprays with silicone help this process by making the hair slippery so the knots can escape easier. The HV dryer blasts the spray into the tangles and POOF! All but the worst of the knots disappear.
I got a little bit of practice on Valerie's grooming client software. I checked out a client, took his money, and closed his ticket... only belatedly realizing that I had checked out a Shih-Tzu, all right.... but one who was scheduled to come in on Saturday!!! Idiot Trainee strikes again.
BUT!! We got a wretchedly dirty though not terribly tangled Cockapoo in, and I bathed the HELL out of that dog. Scrubbed ears and face twice, used Dirty Dog shampoo and just washed that dog like nobody's business. A wise woman had told her Idiot Trainee, recently enough for said Idiot to remember, that if a dog only gets one bath a year, make it count. So while I.T. was making it count, Sensei was giving her attitude about being able to clip down an entire dog in the time it took to bathe the next one! Sometimes you just can't win. *smile*
