I'm taking Oz tomorrow for his first time at a groomers. It's part of our vet's office and he's only getting a bath and blow dry, so hopefully it'll be okay. When he had to stay at the vet's last week, they actually let him spend the afternoon hanging out in the back offices with them. They're all very kind to him, so my thought was that the groomer would be too, since she's part of their team. *fingers crossed*

The only part I worry about is the high velocity blow dryer. He's socialized to everything else, but who knows how he'll react to that. If it stresses him out, then we'll just have to live with shedding in the future, I guess.

Idgie's mom use to be a groomer and some of the stories she's told me, do make me wary. Seems like a job that takes a whole lot of patience and a whole lot of dog knowledge. She usually got all the difficult dogs, because the others couldn't handle'em without blowing their stack. She seemed to have a knack of calming them down and making them feel comfortable. Got on their wavelength, so to speak.

If she was grooming say a Shih tzu or Lhasa, then she'd always ask them permission before doing anything. If it was say a Sheltie or Collie, then she always formally introduced herself before starting and always apologized for anything undignified she had to do, like expressing anal glands. If it was a Terrier, then she'd simulate crowd noise cheering for'em, whenever they'd let her finish something, like trim their beard.

I wish I could have her do the grooming, unfortunately she lives too far away.

Par...