Grooming your dog at home...or Not!
 

Has anyone tried or accomplished (or not) grooming their own dog at home?
I have a miniature poodle named Oliver Fairen Joseph. His name is bigger than he
is. Our groomer is so busy, I don't think she could schedule him until his hair would take over the house. It is so wooly and his hair grows at a tremendous
rate. Today our two (blind) Golden retrievers, Luke and Phoenix are being groomed. Their appointment was made last year (just kidding) Anyway with seven dogs, something is always going on.
OK I will get to the subject in this story. Trying to groom your dog at home.
The day before yesterday I got out the clippers and headed for Oliver Fairen Joseph. It just took him a minute to figure it out, then he took off. I chased him around the house, finally getting him cornered in the Library room. He was lucky
because the door to the Library room is almost always kept closed. I saw him under the desk, trying to get a jump on me, he took off and headed for the door.
I should have closed it..darn it. Down the hall he ran, ears just flopping in the
breeze. I had to take a break at that point. I sat down with something cold to drink. As I sat there, I noticed a little head peeking around the corner. Well, well, well guess who is peeking at me. I must have looked less threatening to him sitting there with an exasperated look on my face. He came over to me and his eyes were saying " Truce". I picked him up, gave him a hug and brought out the dreaded clippers. Its not over till its over!
Truely a believer,
to be continued... Doodle bug7

I just have to chech back in to see who wins, lol. Good luck to Oliver!

yeah, I know how it is. I'll think twice next time I try and groom my dog at home.

The other day I decided to give my dog a trim. (I have a Japanese Chin that is very hairy.) I thought I'd be doing him a favor by giving him a nice summer buzz to keep him cool. (It's 105+ degrees right now in AZ.)

Never Again!!! It was such a pain & it took forever!
Next time I'll just pay the groomers.

I do have to say that he actually looks really good with short hair. I left his ears and tail long. He looks so cute and happy now. :)

Dogs......you gotta love em'!

Me and Oliver, the clippers and the Yak
 

I have never seen so much hair on one animal in all my life! A job that would take a groomer about an hour, took me 8 hours. As the clippers would get hot,
I would give it a rest and go back again later.I got smart and put Oliver Fairen Joseph on a leash and we would walk around the house together. I was not going to chase him down again. When the clippers cooled down, back to business. My back hurt, my arms were so tired and I have so much new respect for those groomers. I read somewhere that this could be a bonding time for you and your dog. WHAT? Are they crazy? The only bonding we did was giving each other the Evil eye. I had recently purchased a Stuffed Yak for Oliver Fairen Joseph at petsmart. He was so proud of it and would carry it around like he won a prize. That night I looked in on him in his little room and he was curled up in his bed asleep.Not far from him was the guts of the Yak torn to shreds. I just know he was thinking of me when he committed the deadly Assault on the Yak.
I didn't like him very much that night either.
Truely a believer, Doodle bug7