Do you have your dogs groomed?

[wolf_Q]

Since I now work at Petco as a groomer (actually a bath and brusher for now) I was just wondering how many of you take your dogs to the groomers. :)

[C.C.'s Mom]

There is only a Poodle groomer in this town, and besides: all I need to do is wash and brush. I do it about once every 2 weeks, depending on how dirty Cookie is or if we go somewhere.
I brush her twice a day.

Dunja goes to the groomer twice a year because her coat matts easily.

Nice job, Wolf Q! Must be so much fun making the dogs look pretty again!

[ChrisH]

I groom Bob myself, every day, or at least five times a week, because of his long hair. I would very much like to take him to a professional and have him groomed properly, (especially to get a haircut!! Lol) but I just can`t afford it. Although I don`t know if he would act up or not, its taken me an awful long time to get him to accept my grooming, and it is still hard work, someone else doing it? Don`t know, he could be fine. Only one way to find out I guess. So Id better start saving my pennies! lol.:)

[RockyRoad]

Lady and Sally get groomed by me. I can't brush Floppsy, though, he'll flip out and be scared of me. He really could use it, though. His fur is...I can't describe it but it's really weird now. That's just because he's shedding, though. I'm sure it will go away.

[Pam]

Bella, our poodle, goes to the groomer every 6 weeks. We have had 4 other poodles in the past and we always groomed them ourselves. Our first two poodles were toys and one day, after grooming them for two years, we decided to take them to a groomer. We got a call shortly after dropping them off that they were snapping at her. It seems they were only used to us. :(

Actually I really enjoy the closeness that comes from grooming a dog myself and the finished product is something to be proud of. ;) When we got Bella a year and a half ago we intended to do all of the grooming ourselves. After the first few months we thought it might be best if she also got used to someone else besides us, thinking back to the experience with our toys. I am happy to report she is a *good girl* for Linda and she does such a beautiful job that we just continue to take her back every six weeks. Grooming a poodle is a very big task but it must be done every 4-6 weeks. Anyone thinking about having one of these sweeties (I know I am biased ;) ) really needs to keep that in mind as it is an expense, but a very necessary one.

[Dixieland Dancer]

I groom Dixie and Dusty myself. They see the brush come out and they are in heaven. They are not too fond of the toe nail clippers but have learned to endure the agony! :rolleyes:

[Cincy'sMom]

my dogs don't really need to be groomed. We brush them and bathe them when they need it, but Sadie has dalmation like hair that wipes clean, even when she gets muddy and Cincy's, although more lab-like, is not demanding either. We also trim their nails, and although it isn't thir favorite things, they don't mind too much

[anna_66]

I take mine to the groomers every 6 weeks, but I brush them & clip their toenails regularly. They like going and are very good for the girls there, but not so good if I try to bathe them:rolleyes: So I pay the $30/dog (but $50 for Huney). It's worth it to me!
Amy, how much do they charge there?

[Rachel]

Hannah goes to the groomer every six weeks. Tucker goes every twelve weeks but I give him one bath in between myself so essentially he gets bathed every six weeks as well. I must keep up with combing Tucker on a regular basis. I can get away with once a week but then it is quite a time consuming process, at least an hour if not more. Combing out Hannah every other week would be sufficient but she is not really very cooperative so it frequently does not get done even on that schedule.

Congrats on your new job Amy. I hope you enjoy it.

[Kfamr]

Simba doesn't need to be groomed.;)

[Aspen and Misty]

Teddy is brushed every day. His hair is to long not to. He gets abath usually every 2 weeks because we have some problems with his long hair. Chewy gets brushed every 2 or 3 days because he still hates the brush :rolleyes: . Chewy probly will not go to the groomers as he ahs short hair liek a LAb but it doesn't fall out so much :D .

Ash

[Kfamr]

Batheing on the other hand, Simba normally gets a bath twice a week.

[Aspen and Misty]

On the subject of bathing. Is it bad to bath a dog to often? And if so how much is to often? I would liek to give Chewy a bath more often as he always smells like cat litter but I don't cause I heard it is bad for a dog.

Ash

[wolf_Q]

Thanks for replying everyone!! :) Anna, I remember that it is $33 for a siberian husky, but I'll have to look up how much it is for a chow.

I groom my dogs myself too, that's what I used as my "experience" lol. My dad has always clipped Reggie/Smokey's nails and he never did it too often......so they look pretty cruddy. I clip Nebo's often, and I've done Reggie's a couple of times lately too.

Working at the grooming salon is pretty fun. You always come home smelling like wet dog. And you have never seen anything look at you with utter HATRED in their eyes until you have bathed a cat. LOL. We've had 2 goldens in there already, and both were very well behaved! (one kept lifting her paw in greeting lol) But my, so much FUR! Wow, it's like a sea of gold after brushing them out! I'm constantly sweeping and mopping the floors, and you can never quite get rid of all the hair. It's a good thing I am not allergic!

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Sounds like you are enoying your new job so far!

Andrew and I groom Drake ourselves. It was very difficult to find a groomer that would groom a wolf hybrid. When we took Drake, he was a bad boy and scared the groomer half to death. He had her screaming before we even left. Andrew had to run into the back and bring him out! We were told:"We can not groom your dog. Please take him home and never come back!"

Drake gets a bath once a month and a thorough rinse everytime he goes swimming. He gets his ears cleaned every week (he hates it!). He gets his teeth brushed everynight and gets a summer haircut twice between May and August with a few trims in between. Here's Drake in his summer haircut!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid23/p870d1ca65fc6f0ab61f0d603659262cf/fda38ef5.jpg

Ash, I was told by my vet as well as other sources I have looked at that too much bathing can dry out a dogs coat and not be too goo for him. Once every month or 6 weeks is ideal.

[lv4dogs]

I get my shep. mix & husky mix. groomed sometimes. But only in the late fall, winter & early sring if needed. I take them to a local school called boces students can practice on them. All they get done is bath, dry, ears and nails. It takes so long to get them dry myself and it helps the students and it is only $5.50 per dog!!!!

[ramanth]

Mine gets a wash, wax, and rinse... oh wait...... that's my car. ;)

Kia gets bathed now and then and brushed out. She hates being brushed so I tend to only brush her after she's had a bath.

[Cookiebaker]

In the past couple of weeks we have been trying to put more emphasis on grooming. It seems to be working that we set time aside on Saturday evening to groom--nails, teeth, ears, etc.

Does anybody have any tips on teeth brushing?? It seems like by the time I get to his teeth, he has licked all the toothpaste off! And he doesn't seem to realize that that is my FINGER under there and he CAN'T bite it! The trainer told us not to use a toothbrush until he's used to the finger thinger.

Also, on ears, I can't seem to find ear cleaner stuff around here. Well I did find a 4 oz. bottle that was $16, but that didn't seem right. Anybody know of an on-line store? Since we don't have that stuff, we have just been using a Qtip to cleaner the very OUTER of the ear (not way inside).

Also, I just bought a Shed'nBlade brush. Wow that thing works great!! The brush I had been using seemed to only do the top coat, and didn't really get hair out. This thing leaves him soo shiny & handsome!!!

[robinh]

Peach (Chesapeake) gets bathed when necessary. She's so old it's really hard for her to stand that long and she doesn't stay outside for very long so she doesn't get quite as nasty. She does get brushed often to keep her shedding level down (if there is such a thing).

Carly (Mixed breed) has to be sedated when we bath her (very infrequently) because the people we rescued her from used to throw her in the pool and she's still TERRIFIED of water. Carly is not fond of the brush. We can get some of the shedding fur off and then she runs around the yard before we're done.

Max (Dachshund) has allergies (flea saliva & dust mites) so he get bathed every month (or sooner if needed). He also has to have his Frontline applied regularly. He also gets allergy shots and he still chews his feet. Poor little guy! Max loves to be brushed, even though he doesn't really need it. I bought a baby brush for him. He loves the light rubbing of his skin.

Molly (Yorkie) gets a bath the same time Max does. She has found every spot in the yard that she can used to get dirty. I also have her clipped every 6-8 weeks. She hates the brush, but I do brush her as often as I can get her to stay still. I'm currently trying a new type of brush and she doesn't seem to object to it quite as badly - so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[stacwase]

I brush Jake (Sheltie) 3-4 times a week, and brush his teeth about that often too. I take him to the groomer for his baths because he runs around like a mad dog when he's wet, and gets my walls dirty!

[manda99]

Smokey gets a bath once a week (unless he gets into mud, then it could be twice a week - or at least several rinse offs).
His nails stay pretty worn down cuz they do a lot of running on cement. But I usually have the vet cut them since the one time I tried I got the quick (Smokey didn't even flinch and he was a BABY! )
He hates having his ears cleaned so I've been thinking about taking him in for that at least ... But the ears seem to get pretty clean when I bathe him.
He hates it when I put like a cotton ball or Q tip in there to clean; he'd rather I just stick my pinkie finger in there and dig around. :rolleyes:

[Albea]

I used to groom my Goldens myself but now, because of my bad knee, I can't do it any longer. I brush Carina twice a day and clean her ears once a week.
Today I took her to a new groomer that also has a doggie day care center. It was Paradise! They had four labbies,one black, one yellow and two black ones; a husky, a pug, a great mutt with some Bryard in his lineage, and a 7 month old Golden puppy that was already as big as Carina, around 70lbs. They all tried to give me their tennis balls to play with them.
Amy:
I had to laughf when you described the sea of golden hair around you. That's how my house looks most of the time.;) Well, there's always the trusted vacum cleaner...