any dog lovers out there?

[agzg]

We live in the city, so the sidewalks do a pretty good job of keeping his nails under control. He only gets them clipped when we go to the vet or the groomer. That way I don't have to worry about quicking him. He gets brushed once a week between visits to the groomer.

[ZetaGirl22]

Originally Posted by Tippiechick

Petsmart groomers are shitty because they only get a few weeks of training. (Yes, I KNOW they say they offer months of training. But, I also know a current Petsmart groomer and some former groomers who now run other grooming businesses...)

I apprenticed under a master groomer for a year before I got any of my own clients.
But, one of our old kennel employees didn't want to do on-the-job training to learn to groom well. So, she went to Petsmart and had her own clients within weeks of leaving us. They don't care how GOOD the groomer is. They just want the commission off of their grooms. It's all volume and not personal attention to detail and temperment.

And I've heard the same thing about their trainers. Luckily the trainer at our Petsmart had BEEN a trainer since 1980 and was just doing Petsmart a few times a week for fun. She was great. Have heard some HORROR stories about training there though.

Originally Posted by alphagamzetagam

We live in the city, so the sidewalks do a pretty good job of keeping his nails under control.

We live in the sticks, most of our walks are in grassy/wooded areas. I HAVE heard that tennis courts are excellent places to take dogs to wear down the nails though. Makes sense, tennis courts are like large emery boards.

[AGDee]

Sammi's fur between her pads gets so long she can't walk on the Pergo floor. I am comfortable trimming that with salon scissors, very carefully. She lets me do it. She pretty much lets me do anything to her. I trim her nails myself. She has white nails so it's easy to see where to cut. My ex-husband's dog has black nails and he asked me if I would do hers and I said "no way". Besides, she's hyper spaz so I could see her pulling away. The local groomer will do hers for $12 so I introduced him to them. Sammi has a hard time getting into the car now because her hips are getting arthritic so I don't take her out for grooming like I used to. Things like the rake work ok when she's not blowing her coat, but when she's blowing her coat, the tufts of undercoat pop up and it's easiest to just take them out with your fingers. I can fill up a couple grocery bags a day for 3 weeks when she's blowing her winter coat. That's just life with a Mal It's worth it though!

[pbear19]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I can fill up a couple grocery bags a day for 3 weeks when she's blowing her winter coat. That's just life with a Mal It's worth it though!

My Hairy Beast is exactly the same way! We can brush her for hours every day, and could keep going. And I'm always pulling out big chunks of white undercoat that loosen up on their own at other times. But she is so cuddly and fun that it doesn't matter a bit.