Ask the Groomer

Have questions about your dog's haircut? Coat? Skin?

Go to "Click here to email the groomer" and Maria will have an answer for you!

In the meantime here are some tips to keep in mind:

Make sure he or she is getting high quality, balanced nutrition. Small batch dog food manufacturers produce a much better product than companies owned by corporate giants. Examples of high quality, small batch foods are Innova, Eagle Pack, Merrick, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, and Flint River Ranch.
Brush and/or comb your pup at least twice a week ( even the breeds with short coats).
Do not bathe a matted dog - the snarls will tighten up and become impossible to brush out. Take her or him to a professional for dematting.
Clean your dog's eyes daily ( twice a day to avoid stains if he or she has a light coat). Just a damp tissue to remove overnight eye discharge will do it!
Keep your dog on a schedule for professional grooming. If you wait longer than the guidelines below, the process becomes longer and more difficult and your pup will hate visiting the groomer.
every 6 weeks for long coats
every 8 weeks for short coats
Click Here to Email the Groomer

The younger your puppy goes to a groomer for the 1st time, the more likely he or she is to adapt easily to the process. Start at 12 to 16 weeks old, depending on the breed. Small breeds like Yorkies may be too small at 12 weeks.
The first grooming session for a puppy is usually a bath, nail clipping, cleaning the ears, edging the feet ( only if necessary), trimming the sanitary area,and a light trim around the eyes.

Dogs 9 years old and older should be groomed regularly for their comfort. As dogs get older, they are less willing and able to keep key areas clean, and often develop skin rashes from old urine, fecal matter, or embedded natural debris like burrs. It's very important to keep your senior dog on a regular grooming schedule to avoid stressful problems, like matts,tangles, and extra long nails. Matted dogs are really quite uncomfortable because the matts tighten over time and pull at their skin, which is quite painful. Even if your matted dog seems to be okay, he/she is NOT! He/she is just resigned to the pain!
That said, older dogs sometimes have physical limitations which a groomer must respect. A common problem is inability to stand for the time required to groom. The ideal way to groom your physically limited dog is to request EXPRESS SERVICE. This means we do an "in/out", a start to finish grooming without interruption to limit the stress on the dog. It's a bit more expensive, but it's much easier on an older guy or gal.

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