Dog Grooming, More Than Just A Haircut

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People always wonder what goes on during a normal dog grooming process. Although each grooming session is different for each pet, the majority of the process is similar. At Strutt Your Mutt Grooming, we prefer for our clients to call us ahead of time to set up an appointment. A legitimate appointment time will ensure that your dog will have complete one on one time with the groomer. A grooming appointment will also ensure a more accurate pick up time. Most people prefer this method, so
that their pet is not sitting in a cage for hours at a time waiting.

Once your pet arrives for his/her appointment we will ask that you provide us with a copy of the most recent rabies vaccine. We will also have you sign a grooming waiver. This waiver states that your dog is not aggressive, and that he/she is free of all communicable diseases. It also gives us the right, that in the event of an emergency, you (the pet owner), give us permission to take your pet to the veterinarian if needed.

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Next, the pet owner will describe to us how they want their pet cut. There are many different cuts available so sometimes it is helpful to bring a picture! Once we have established what kind of groom will be given, we will make sure we have a good working phone number so that we can call you when your pet is ready for pickup. We like to usually give a 2 hour window.

We ask that owners do not stay for the grooming process. It makes the pet anxious to know mommy or daddy is there and that makes the grooming process extremely difficult. However, in very rare circumstances, an owner is allowed to stay if the dog is aggressive and only does good with the owner present.

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When starting the grooming process, I like to trim the nails as soon as they get on the table, to get that out of the way because most dogs hate it! Now, depending on the length of the coat, we will either begin the washing process or we will begin the cutting process. If your dog has very long hair, then we will do a “pre-cut”. This is a very quick cut to get rid of the majority of the hair, so that after the bathing process the drying process is quicker. Then after they are dry, we will “finish” the cutting. If your pet has short hair, then we will bathe him/her first, blow dry (with a force dryer), then start the cutting of the hair. If your pet is heavily matted, then we cut first, then bathe last. It is impossible to wash and dry mats! If your dog is extremely dirty (even with short hair), then we bathe first, then cut. It is very hard to cut dirty oily hair.

While your pet is in the tub for their bath, we squeeze the anal glands and brush their teeth. After the bath we use our force dryer to dry the hair. Some dogs do not do well with the force dryer, so we will put those pets in a cage to be caged dried. It’s a longer process, but it keeps them calmer. Lastly, we clean/pluck the ears. We always make this the last step because after plucking the hair out of the ears, the dogs tend to keep shaking their head. And it’s hard to groom a moving target!

After all is said and done, we will call you (the owner) to let you know that your pet is ready for pick up. We ask that you do not show up before we call. If you come before we call and we are not finished, then it gets the dog excited and impossible to finish. We always ask before you leave, if you are satisfied with the groom and if there is anything that we missed? We would rather you tell us then and there, than wait until you get home. We love and encourage your honest opinions!