Any do-it-yourself dog groomers, clippers out there?

[widget]

Hi, all...I''m considering buying some clippers and trying to clip my baby myself.

Any thoughts or suggestions? What type clippers would be best for dummies?

Bogie''s a mutt, and doesn''t need a fancy cut...just a more practical "summer do". He doesn''t go out in public much, so if I botch it up terribly at first it won''t be a complete catastrophe...

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
widget

 

[jorman]

We just clipped our doggie for the first time. We got a set of shears with 5 levels, scissors and oil.
It was a lot easier than I thought. We trim his bottom short and shave his belly completly to keep him cool in the summer.

We still take him to the groomer, but they just trim around his toes, bathe him, trim his nails and clean out his ears.

 

[yellowfan]

Hi Widget:

I purchased my "pet" clippers at Pet Co which are different than the type for people. They are supposed to handle the dog hair better and such. You can go online and view the different clippers they have at www.petco.com . I hope your dog will stay still, mine hated it and did not want anything to do with it!!


Good luck,

Lori

 

[Mara]

hehe you are brave!! P hates when we even cut her nails so while her haircut is not elaborate, I''d rather pass her off to a professional for the ears, eyes, nails, hair, etc and they even do the icky anal gland cleansing which is something we do not want to try at home!! it''s only $40 total every 8 weeks so it''s not so bad.

 

[fire&ice]

When I was showing our first Standard Schnauzer, I did all the grooming. WHAT A PAIN. It doesn''t look like your precious needs grooming except in the summer - just from the pic - some sort of Shepard mix? I send mine to the "Spa". They get all the stuff done at once, which is hard to do on your own dog.

Best of luck if you try it on your own. I know a more inexperienced groomer can "burn" the dog w/ too tight of a clipper in the wrong direction of the way the hair grows.

 

[BrightSpot]

Hi widget!

I clipped my family''s poodle a couple of times & it wasn''t terribly difficult. (He was a well behaved dog, though, so the dog''s temperment would probably affect your grooming experience!) The feet were always the most difficult for me to navigate & you have to be careful that the clippers don''t heat up too much & Bogie. Hot clippers were only a problem when I used the clippers without trimming attachments, which you may not need to do with Bogie. I think the clippers I used were by Oster--very old, heavy-duty clippers.

Good luck! Do we get to see before & after pics?

 

[yellowfan]

Widget:

if the noise scares your pet maybe you can shave him/her outside on a good day. The noise will disperse and its not as bad as inside where it echos

Make sure not to burn the skin and try the longest guard first to see the cut. If you have a easy going pet you can do this yourself.

 

[widget]

Wow...thanks for all the input, everyone!

I'm probably going to chicken out on this...F&I's mention of possibly burning him sort of scared me.

Poor guy! He's getting old now, and has always HATED going to the groomers. I'd hoped to spare him the trauma, but my clipping him might be MORE traumatizing!

I did check out clippers at the local feed store (I'm in the country...no Petcos nearby) and they carried Osters, but were out of the ones with attachments.

Brightspot: here are LAST YEARS before/after pics...

 

[yellowfan]

What a cutie pie! Widget where are you from?


Oster is a good brand but you need the attachments so you won''t get too close to the skin

 

[BrightSpot]

Aww---he''s such a cutie! Thanks for the pics!

It''s possible he may be less stressed if you clip him if he doesn''t like going to the groomers. You''d definitely need the attachments, though. It doesn''t seem like he''d need to be clipped really closely/precisely.

 

[mrssalvo]

i bought $40 clippers and used to trim my dogs nails. i ended up cutting too close and nipped the quick and she yelped and I cried and her little nail started bleeding and took forever to stop. i find it better for both of us to pay the $8 at petsmart

 

[sharonzhere]

I have two cockapoos, and I was thinking of trying a Flowbee. And yes, I''d dead serious! No hair cleanup! I just don''t know if it would freak them out (the vacuum sound).

 

[Leanne]

He looks like a little Bengi!! I have 2 mini schnauzers & have tried to groom them myself at home. I even bought a Robo Cut which is an electric cutter you put on a vacuum hose. It works ok but it''s not really sharp enough for my younger dog''s fine, soft leg hair. To me it''s worth it to take them to a professional groomer because of the time, strain on my back & the mess of all that doggie hair. I''m lucky because where I''m from I can get the works for both dogs for $44!

 

[sjz]

Date: 7/7/2005 3:56:12 PM
Author: Leanne
He looks like a little Bengi!! I have 2 mini schnauzers & have tried to groom them myself at home. I even bought a Robo Cut which is an electric cutter you put on a vacuum hose. It works ok but it''s not really sharp enough for my younger dog''s fine, soft leg hair. To me it''s worth it to take them to a professional groomer because of the time, strain on my back & the mess of all that doggie hair. I''m lucky because where I''m from I can get the works for both dogs for $44!

I have a mini schnauzer, too. I used to groom her myself when she was a puppy, but now that she''s got her adult coat, I find it''s not as easy because of the double layer thing, with the course hairs on the top layer and the more fine hair underneath. I take her to the groomers every 6-8 weeks for "the works", where she gets a "schnauzer cut", nails trimmed and filed, ears plucked, beard groomed, any mats in her furnishings removed, teeth cleaned, and a deep conditioner to prevent dry skin. Winter sometimes she goes for a longer time between her "spa day" as we call it, because I let her fur grow out a bit for warmth. This last time we took her, two weeks ago, I even had her leg and belly furnishings shaved down because it''s been so bloody hot in central Illinois this summer. She looked so funny, the kids called her a "shaved rat"...lol. I''ve never had her furnishings shaved off since she''s had her adult coat.

Sometimes between her day at the groomers, I trim her up if parts get a little shaggy looking. She can be a little jumpy about the electric shears, so I turn them on, and hold the back of it against her thigh area of the hind leg first for a moment, just to let her get used to the "buzz" feeling before I actually start trimming. She does pretty well once I''ve done that. I just hate doing her ears...they make me nervous! I have trimmed them with both electric shear and regular scissors, and I''m always afraid I''m going to cut her! A trick for the leg hair and belly furnishings...use thinning shears like they use at the hair salon. It works really well, and I use them when I trim her up at home. They work well for the beard, too.

Today Animal Planet was in our town with their Expo thingy. My brother was in town, and we took his kids and my kids to see it. A lot of people brought their dogs (we didn''t because we thought it was too hot...over 90 degrees today) But there were so many different dog breeds there! One family had three mini''s with them. All had their furnishings and legs shaved down just like my Daisy! I had to laugh, because my kids and my neighbors all thought I was a nut for shaving hers off...and there were three more just like her today! I guess I''m not the only one who thinks it''s too hot for schnauzers to wear their fur coats this summer...lol! I guess I should take her picture and post it, because she does look rather odd for a schnauzer right now.

 

[fire&ice]

Widget, what did you decide to do? Sorry for the mix up - I thought the grooming was for the dog in your avatar - which doesn''t need much.

One thing that I have experienced - some groomers are just bad at it. I took my old gal to the same groomer for years. Well, she moved somewhere else & the "new" groomer gave my gal a bad report card (Yes, it was really a report card). I wanted to speak to the groomer as to why - matts? sores? She just said that the dog wasn''t used to grooming. I said "the dog is 10 years old and has been groomed every other month in her life and she''s never had issues before" The snippy little girl had the nerve to say - well, maybe the other groomer didn''t mention it. I replied that after over 50 groomings I would think I would have been given a head''s up. Well, I found her old groomer at another dog place. She said my gal never had a problem -in fact she ENJOYED the attention. She said it sounded like a groomer issue. Long story short - maybe find someone who is better with doggie behaviour.

 

[Mara]

F&I....Portia is picky about who grooms her...she loves the guy who owns the local place up the street and she is fine with him but when this other gal grooms her, she is much more unsettled and is sooo happy to see me when I come get her....Mark is the owner and he was out the last 2 months with some sort of surgery but is finally back and said he'd do P next time..thank god because this other gal also does too blunt of a cut in some areas instead of feathering the cuts in...so it looks like a big karate chop of hair is gone in some areas...

We don't try to do any grooming at home anymore...we are horrible at cutting her nails in times when they grow too fast in between groomings..the other day of course we tried it since she was scratching us with her talons, she of course was freaking out and whining before I even touched he with the clippers, and I cut her quick so then it was blood and pain...poor thing. I made her a little bandage for the foot with a rubber band and she hobbled around with that for the rest of the night. Next day, everything was fine! Mark says she is great when he has her. Go figure!

 

[sjz]

I think the reason pets will be fine for a certain groomer, and not for their owner or another groomer is because they get into a routine and have certain expectations from certain people. Both my dog and my cat will calmly let the both the groomer and the vet do things with them that they are not comfortable allowing us to do. Like clipping their nails, giving them shots, cleaning their teeth. We have three different vets at our clinic, and they are all wonderful. But my cat prefers a certain one, my dog prefers another. The third one is new, and both pets are a little standoffish with her so far. It''s more about what they are used to, I think, as opposed to whether the groomer or the vet or whoever is better. Although, there was a girl who groomed Daisy once that not only did a poor job on her schauzer cut (left mats, took too much off her beard, and didn''t do her eyebrows right). Daisy seemed more agitated when I picked her up that day, too. I don''t know if she was new, or a trainee or what, but she isn''t there anymore.

I did groom and trim Daisy a lot when she was a puppy, so she is used to me doing things to her, but for some reason neither one of us ever got comfortable with cleaning her teeth. I hated to make her go 6 or 8 weeks between cleanings, and I asked the vet if there was something I could do to keep her teeth clean between times without having to brush them so much. He suggested ice cubes! Now, every day she chews ice cubes (so does the cat!) The vet says they have some of the cleanest healthiest teeth he''s seen. I''m so thankful for that. My sister''s Bichon has a problem with chronic tooth decay and has even lost a couple of teeth because of it. She brushes his teeth all the time, too.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Here''s a picture of my baby Chloe (Yorkshire Terrier) after she got back from the groomers. She won''t let us come near her with scissors but the groomers say she is just a doll for them. That''s too bad for us as her haircuts cost $50 each time and she should be done every 6-8 weeks! She of course hates to go and they work with me so that if I drop her off at 8:00 a.m. they generally call by ll:00 a.m. to say she is ready and I go get her at lunch - I work close to home. While I hate paying the money, the best trade off I guess is that she is a dog that sheds very little - I hate dog hair all over the house. When it comes right down to it, nothing is too good for Chloe. She is the most indulged dog ever - good thing I got her after my kids were nearly grown. I made them tow the line - she runs the whole house! They never stop pointing that out either although they love her as much as we do!