Koemi

Awww, poor Charlie. I would be wary of any groomer that doesn't let you hang around once you explain the situation. I've worked with groomers before that don't like owners hanging around - and for good reason, the owners would most likely not approve of the handling of their dogs. I let people come in or watch from the window, because I have nothing to hide. I'm sorry you've had a bad experience It seems a LOT of groomers around at the moment ignore owner requests and just do whatever the hell they want!

I found out about this clicky! american master groomer You can read up all about it on the linky. I would LOVE to attend a couple of the seminars (mostly the terrier & poodle ones) but I'm a bit of a nigel no friends and I can't really ask someone who isn't a groomer to go with me LOL. Is anyone from here going to attend? If I can save the dosh I'm going to do all 4 of the grooming seminars (don't really care about the business one at this point in time). The event is in April, so not an annoyingly inconvinient time for most groomers - and you'll able to claim some if not all of the cost through tax, I believe, as it is a business expense. Anyone keen? (I really want to do the workshop but I don't have a suitable dog, woe is me, hehe) And is anyone going to AusGroom '10? I'd love to go to that too...

I'm really sorry... hugs to you :D

Are these dogs quite rare in Australia? I've been asking a few breeders about them and no one has emailed me back I used to see a trio of them when I was grooming in Western Australia, but have seen one the whole time I've been living in Victoria, and that was at a pet expo with a grooming competition. Also, I was reading that they are prone to fight with other dogs - but are they alright if you socialise them as a pup? I'm very keen to get one in the next couple of years but would need to take it to work with me and I work with a lot of doggies. (Perhaps not -need- but -want- is the operative word here.) How hard is it to get one as a pet if you don't intend on showing? Are the breeders worried that they are going to be used in oodle breeding or something? (I would like to show but perhaps not starting with a Beddie LOL... unless I could find a mentor or something.)

I'm a bit shocked that you paid $60 to have a lab groomed and had her come back with hair hanging off her! If the groomer was having troubles with her, they should have let you know before they handed her back and took your money. In my humble opinion, you have every right to complain. Some dogs can have the best obedience training in the world and still be awful to groom. If it was her first groom without you, I'm not surprised if she was a bit scared ;) I agree with the conditioning her to be brushed a little, it can't hurt! But to be honest, your groomer sounds half-assed (sorry) and you should shop around. Don't automatically go for one that does mobile grooming, I've had a lot of clients that have come to me after having a mobile do a woeful job (and I'm coming from a mobile background, there are good ones out there but they are few and far between), groomers are always going to be a bit of a hit and miss, unfortunately. There are a lot of people out there calling themselves groomers that have had neither the training or the experience to be doing so (I consider myself somewhat of a newbie and I've been grooming professionally for 3 years). Next time you go to a groomer don't be afraid to ask questions! Any groomer that doesn't answer your questions in full doesn't deserve your business, and you deserve to get what you paid for. I'm sorry Mackenzie had such a horrible experience. I also can't believe they cut off her whiskers!

Good luck with everything. I wish there was something more I could say. At least he's trying to keep you cool by passing wind on you, right?

I have a JRT x and he's more than happy with a walk every so often. There was a period of time when I was in hospital in another state and he only played up when he was left alone in the house. I've been walking him after sundown for about an hour every night recently (I need the exercise >_>) and he is completely content to sit at my feet the rest of the time. A guy I don't talk to anymore owned (maybe still has them, idk) a GSD and a GSD x Rotti. His backyard was HUGE but the dogs were incredibly destructive because they never stepped outside the yard. Ever. He would occasionally let the favourite dog in when it was raining and left the cross outside on her own :D The yard was dug up to oblivion, they chewed at ANYTHING they could get their paws on and barked non-stop. Poor kidlets. I don't know why he even has dogs, he barely interacted with them.

I've clipped a number of springers in my time and I've never run into any coat troubles. It has always grown back the same. I have been told that sometimes coat quality changes when the dog has been desexed, but this has never happened in my experience. I've clipped fine coats and quite thick coats, and not run into the problem. A sheltie on the other hand - hell no! You'd have to beg me to clip a double coated dog (unless the coat was matted beyond repair).

My boss broke my 1/2" comb while I was away (this will teach me for leaving my stuff around when I'm not at work), and I was wondering where the best place is to buy more? I'm not able to order from a wholesaler that requires an ABN so I'm more looking for a place on the net that sells them, preferably in Australia. Looked on ebay and could only order them from overseas. I'd also love to know where everyone buys their blades and stuff. Thanks!

My little girl, Bambi, has had a sensitive stomach ever since we brought her home from the RSPCA. I don't feed her bones anymore as she tends to vomit an hour after she eats them and usually has diarrhea as well. My friend has started supplying me with the Eagle Pack and it has helped TREMENDOUSLY. I can't pimp it enough, my boy has dropped 2 kg just from eating this food as well, even though one of my housemates still overfeeds him when I'm not around to do it. This is a dog that used to throw up every day without fail. I love Eagle Pack. ♥

I've used them on whippets, dalmatians etc at work, and it's always worked well. I wished it worked slightly better on Tucky, since he seems to start shedding again the second I stop furminating him!

I agree with Clyde, and I can't believe I pay so much for oil when I can buy it from Woolies for $2 LOL. *cries* I think this has been said already, but a #10 blade will heat up a lot quicker than a 3 or 4.

LOL I know, it depresses me too. Firstly, she doesn't do any of the prep work, only the actual groom. Secondly, I am talking about pet grooms, basic malt clips and the like. Thirdly, she's been grooming since she was a teenager and she's in her early 30s now, so she's had a LOT of practice! She owned her own salon and grooms at home, too. She gets paid that much in the Hawthorn area, which is a fairly rich area, so keep that in mind. Obviously if she was grooming in the country her pay would take a major cut, but the people that own the salon can afford to keep her and she is very, very good at what she does. And she does groom probably 2 days a week, I'm not sure if the pay would be different if she worked 5 days a week. I'd be happy with half of what she gets ;A;

I have been grooming for 2 years. I can do all breeds (except one, le tear), and hand strip. I practice show clips whenever I can but am not very good at them as yet, since it's very hard to find owners who want a show clip. I can't groom Bedlingtons because our salon hasn't had one in while I've been there :c I get paid $18 p/h + $2 commission for every dog I groom + $50 if we meet certain cash targets each day (we sell retail and food as well as groom). When I started I was paid $12 p/h, but could barely handle my clippers. My friend who has been grooming for 10 years works at a place that are currently paying her $50 p/h but she can easily groom 3/4 dogs an hour and at $60+ a pop, they can well afford to pay her that much! The other groomer at our salon gets $15 p/h flat, but she's still in training. Perhaps ask how much they charge per groom and how much you are going to be expected to do (I would haggle for more money if they wanted me to bath/dry and do serious dematting) before offering a price. It would really depend on how long you've been grooming and how much experience you've had. Oh, and how lovely your clips are, of course! Hope this helps. x

Can't help you the grooming salon (I'm in a different state), but do you have a picture of the doggy? Were you planning on having him shaved or stripped? If you want him stripped, it is worth your time to start doing it yourself, as grooming salons don't usually do it, and the ones that do are EXPENSIVE (and it will always look a bit crappy, since they take sooo much hair away at once, when you're meant to do it gradually). I would suggest investing in something like a stripping comb, if the coat is what I'm imagining. Or at the very least a nice stiff brush and maybe something like a furminator to get rid of some of the coat that is undoubtedly going to fall like snow all over your house!

I'm a plucker! (I dunnae if that came out as dirty as it looked...) Won't touch ears that don't need it, but will definitely get rid of the hair in the oodles, poodles, bichons etc. I think I love you! Here is a conversation I had a couple of days ago (general gist): Owner: my vet said for you to block my dog's ears this time I HAVE TOLD YOU BEFORE they get infected the vet said it was your fault Me: we do block the ears... Owner: well obviously water is getting in there somehow! Me: does your dog have much contact with water besides when she is being groomed? Owner: well we do take her swimming every weekend but the vet said it was the groomer's fault! We also keep big goobies that come out of doggies, their dreadlocked coats, faces, eye gunk, gross butt dreads, ear gunk, between pads. It's a lot safer to than not, because when the owner comes back and blames us for skin infection/grass seed/infected ear etc we show them the baggie and they can't really say much (or continue to blame us anyway. Sigh).

What an awful accident, I am so very sorry *hugs* I wish there was something more I could say... please take care of yourself, and please don't blame your mother in law.

*hugs* for you in this difficult time. RIP.

I agree- unless the dog has a problem and can't digest or chew bones etc. ... teeth used correctly are self-cleaning The 'scissoring'/chewing motion used in getting meat off the bone (NOT crunching thru bones) cleans the molars beautifully + Second what you said about the digestion problem. We have a lot of dogs coming through at work that can't eat bones for medical reasons. Would this product be suitable for diabetics? I've recommended teeth-cleaning kongs until now...

Dogs are doing okay on the Coles food. I'm very interested in trying the other brands mentioned in this thread, thanks for the link GayleK!

I'm glad you found what was wrong with Jack, it's a nightmare not knowing what is wrong with your dog! Hugs to you and him both.

Oh, and in regards to the pooping inside, honestly it doesn't phase me that much, I'd rather her get used to being here and feeling safe, but I live with 3 other people. One is my ex (bought me Tucker, my first dog) and doesn't mind either, one will occasionally be like "ew, poo!" but doesn't care as long as I clean it up when I get home (none of them have limbs apparently, since they always leave it for me ) but the third gets REALLY angry about it, and I'm worried she yells at Bam when I'm not around... I mean, she wouldn't do it if she knew that it freaked the poor dog out, but I'm sure her first reaction would be to go "NO!!" at her as soon as she saw the mess, despite whether she caught her in the act or not.

Yeah, she is from the hoarding case! She is quite affectionate, but seems a little off. This is something I've noticed more and more since bringing her home, so you're probably right. She's nowhere near as bad as the dog you have mentioned (poor baby ), and is friendly enough, but it's almost as though there's a little barrier there that is stopping her from being the dog that she should be. She has a lot of attention seeking behaviour (eating her lead when I try and walk her, eating my clothes when I'm at work *cry*) and gets a bit weirded out when I try and hug her or anything. I would feel really bad if I stopped walking her, she doesn't play with toys or really chew bones or... anything... so walking seems to be her only outlet of fun. When Tucker tries to play with her, she snaps at him Won't she go insane with boredom? I also can't take her to work because she cries the whole time, even though she can see me (I'm 99% sure this is due to our crating system and it reminds her of the pound far too much) and she also cries in the car. It's as if she doesn't know how to act like a dog. Tucker is a lot like that too, he has interest in barely anything except me, food, walks.

I got her from the RSPCA at the end of November... she's a crossbreed. We're not sure what she has in her, they said Pom x, but they say that about any small fluffy dog. In her past life, she lived in a house with a very large number of other dogs. They couldn't tell me much apart from that. edited to add: we don't even know how old she is

To my disgust, I've discovered Bambi was most likely abused in her last home. When I grabbed a rolled up newspaper the other day (to throw into the recycling) I heard her yelp and BOLT out of the room, hide under my housemate's bed and could not coax her out for half an hour. When she finally came out, she shyed away from me for the rest of the day This makes sense, as she is impossible to toilet train. Everytime you even look at her when she starts peeing, she stops and runs away. You can't tell her "no" because she freaks, you can't start praising her because it hypes her up and she forgets what she's doing. Has anyone had to deal with anything like this? If I walk her and she sees a stranger in the street, she will freeze I think I need to take her to a behaviouralist, but the ones on here with sigs in Victoria all live pretty far away from me. I'm in Lower Templestowe. Can anyone recommend someone, if this is indeed a problem that I can't handle myself (which I think it is)? My poor baby girl... She's already been through so much... Any advice would be fantastic. Thank you so much.