kiki

Oh...now I understand better I just thought maybe a bathe on top of the clip may double the price. But the way you explain it I can see it makes sense for the groomer to bathe them beforehand

Thanks Please send me a message with your contact details. If there is a cancellation, please let me know as well. As I would be happy to bring them in anytime.. Also, in the message could you please let me know the approx prices for the 2 dogs? Thanks again!

Hi there, Thanks for your reply There's no rush, although preferably in the next week or two... Where abouts are you located?

I didn't say she would be dirty, I am able to bath her beforehand. Why do you assume she is dirty?

Hi, I have 2 dogs that need grooming... 1 Japanese spitz, just want a general wash and a good brush. She has a few mats that might need cutting out, and also her ears,face washed etc... 1 Miniature Schnauzer, needs a clip and maybe a wash I would prefer someone who has some experience with clipping a schnauzer Prefer south of the river, but don't mind travelling if there's someone good Thanks!

Don't get me wrong, my dog has had some lovely clips done from a good groomer before and it's easy to tell the difference with a quality groom. But she has also had some average clips from other groomers...but I'm not very fussy as long as she looks clean and smart, I'm happy

If you just want to clean your pup up and make her look a bit smarter, I wouldn't get too carried away with all these expensive "extras". Some decent clippers and your normal hair dryer are perfectly fine. To tell you the truth, I am using $30 hair cutting scissors from the chemist and some $15 blending scissors from city famers. And I think the end result is about as nice as when I was spending $70 at the groomers!

Thanks for your help, you all have some good ideas to cut costs. I might buy a deep freezer later on so I can buy in bulk. I'm in WA - south of the river. So if anyone knows of some good places to buy well priced meat near me - do let me know!

Hi, I recently started home grooming my mini schnauzer. So I will see if I can help you. If you are wanting to clip her every month, you will be able to save plenty of money clipping her yourself. I purchased the WAHL KM2 2 speed which I am very happy with, although I find I don't use the 2nd higher speed, so I would have been best off buying the less expensive 1 speed. These are fine to use on the face/legs etc, you should only need to buy the one clippers. I use a 10 blade on my girl which makes her short and smooth. Maybe a 3 or 4 blade would be better for your pup? You should ask if you can change the 10 blade for another size if it comes included in your set. Because your pup is still nervous of the clippers, I would consider getting her clipped professionally a few more times. Otherwise, if you have the patience try turning the clipper on (without the blades attached) and run it over her body with plenty of treats and praise so she will become used to the noise and vibrations. Eventually she should become used to the clippers, and will be calm enough for you to clip yourself. Good Luck!

After reading 'give your dog a bone' I am convinced I should change my dogs diet. Currently they are eating optimum kibbles with the occasional bone and some extras such as yogurt. For my labrador and min schnauzer, this diet doesn't cost me much. I am worried about the costs involved in switching their diet. The barf patties are rather expensive. So I am considering making my own feed for them, however after buying supplements, oils and meats I can imagine that the cost would add up quickly (I'm thinking it might even be more then the patties?) I'm wanting some ideas from other owners feeding barf and how much more they are paying so I can get a better idea of the average cost involved before I switch. Thanks for your help!

Thanks for all the advice. Sorry for the confusion - my dog is not a pup but is 2 years old and has been professionally groomed about 10 times so she is used to the clippers and behaves well when being groomed. Each time I was able to watch the groomer so that has given me an idea and I also have a line to follow. I’m not expecting my first few attempts to be great, and it will take patience - but I think I would have to be very careless to slice her open !! I really want to try and groom her myself to save money – I find I spend more money on her at the groomers then I do myself at the hairdressers! I’ll let you know how it goes!

I have purchased a helpful dvd on how to home groom your mini schnauzer and I think I am now ready to try it myself! I have been looking for a good pair of clippers....however after all my research I am still so confused! I am thinking about wahl KM2 2 speed or andis... Any advice from other home groomers would be helpful!

My 5 month old lab loves to jump up at people. I have tried the ignoring thing....it hasn't seemed to help at all He is worse with visitors - nearly pushing them over! I need a better method to make the message clear to him - jumping is not acceptable. Any suggestions?

Have you thought about crate training him? You can keep him in the crate while you go out for a few hours to keep him out of trouble. If simply saying "no" is not working - try to add something unpleasant while you say "no". This way he will associate "no" as negative and he will be more likely to stop what he is doing, rather then ignoring you. Squirting them with a water gun works brillantly with my dogs. Or shaking a jar full of coins. Eventually, you won't need to use anything but the word "no" I hope this helps. Good Luck!

you should try to remove the smell ASAP. Try the odour remover. I also heard tea tree oil mixed with some lemon and water can help hide the odour. You can also try blocking this room / section off until pup is completely toliet trained.