By Dawn Omboy
On this particular grooming day I had a returning client with a Sheltie and she also brought in her new Morkie pup. It was a 4 month old white puppy that certainly was in need of grooming. I had just seen the groom done by Irina Smirnova and immediately thought this puppy with her coat type could pull it off perfectly. I was excited and showed the young woman the picture and asked her if she was willing. She agreed to the creative groom on her little dog, this was going to be an extra fun day for me!
I started this groom by removing the excess hair from the muzzle with chunkers (Fig 1). As the pup was getting used to being handled by me, I then moved to the ears with my quiet running Bravura removing long hair from inside and outside of the ears (Fig 2). Next I clipped the hair on all four legs fairly short, which was a good thing since she was matted (Fig 3).
With this done, I chose a black dye that could be used straight from the bottle. With a toothbrush, I applied the dye to both sides of the ears (Fig 4) then carefully to the muzzle where I had shortened the hair (Fig 5), being careful not to get it too close to the eyes.
Next, still using the toothbrush, I applied the dye to all four legs (Fig 6) and then to keep the color from being transferred, I wrapped the legs with foil (Fig 7).
This pup turned out so adorably cute. But was very happy and bouncy, so it was hard to get a good picture of the finished groom (Fig 8).
Her owner was thrilled when she picked her up and said how excited her child was going to be when she got home. But, the mother of this lady was less than thrilled about the creativity. The next morning she came in with her adult daughter and asked to talk to me about the groom. She was mad and told me the dog did not look like a panda and wanted to show me a picture of what a panda is supposed to look like. A panda was never discussed with the daughter.
My point in telling you all this? Before you do a creative groom on a client’s dog, get a signed work order outlining the groom to be performed. That way you can prove what was decided on with the person dropping off the dog, should another family member not care for what was done. I loved it, but unfortunately the dog does not live with me.
Making the World more Colorful, one dog at a time…
Queen of Color