Haven't updated in a while, huh? (a non-grooming post)

I feel like such a schmuck for not updating this sooner. But honestly, I have had so much going on that I couldn't keep up with the site.

Firstly, I found a Grooming job that was closer to home - as you know, I was working in Aventura, and I live in Fort Lauderdale. It's about a twenty-mile commute in VERY heavy rush-hour traffic. So I found a job less than a mile away. No joke.

Unfortunately, about six months later, Florida was hit very heavy by the economic crisis and I had to be let go. I was an independant contractor, so I didn't go for unemployment. But then something happened. Before I could find another job, I found out I was pregnant. Since my husband makes good enough money that we could get by with him being the only one working, I stayed home, getting bigger.

Of course, I wasn't alone. There was Toby, my Maine Coon. Bagheera, my old friend. And our newest addition: DC, the little Tuxedo. While I was working near my home, my husband found a tiny black-and-white kitten, about three weeks old, in the street. Momma was nowhere to be found, and since our street is dark and can get quite a bit of traffic, he brought him in. Boy, we had no idea what we were in store for. Needless to say, DC stands for "Damn Cat". Then, you all should know my dog, Georgie, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Well. It was a very long nine months, but on June 10th, Andrew William Johnson was born, despite the fact that he was supposed to be Charlotte June. I'm not kidding - the ultrasound tech had told us it was a girl, and this was when I was 8 months. So... SURPRISE! Needless to say, we were thrilled, since we had wanted a boy. I'm actually writing this as he sleeps, so I can't keep this up - he'll be waking soon.

Anyhow, all this time, I've still been writing, just not here. You see, I'm a writer at heart and since one of my hobbies is collecting manga (Japanese comics, for those that don't know), I've become a fanfiction writer. That basically means writing stories based on a fandom. It could be for anything - Grey's Anatomy, Survivor, Spongebob Squarepants... If you're a fan, you can write a story for it. So, I write fanfiction. I'm also writing a biography for myself, and I'm working on a sci-fi novel.

So, now that I'm still at home, writing, I thought, "Maybe I should get back to the diaries." But, if I'm not grooming, then what to write about? Here's my suggestion:

I'll be writing tips on grooming. Whether it's breed-specific how-to, or general knowledge, I'll post. Also, if anyone has a question, I'll adress it. So don't be shy! Ask away! I'll start in a few days, once I've decided on a good topic. And I'll probably post every few days.

So, I hope to see both your comments and questions! Until then...

PitaBread

Well, well...

I am, to say the least, abashed. I really didn't want to open this site up and then abandon it, but it almost seems as if that's what I've done. However...

I found my stupid memory card. I can't believe I found it on my nightstand. It was just sitting there, UNDER a little piece of cloth I keep there. *sigh*

Now, here's the scoop:

I haven't worked at Sky Lake for some time now. It's a long story, but it just wasn't working out. Now, I've been working at an actual grooming salon since February. It's a funny story how I got the job there, but I'll save that for another time. In the mean time, I have a few pics from Sky Lake of dogs I did before I left... I hope you enjoy them. ^_^ I don't remember their names, sorry. -Pita

Hi all!

I haven't forgot about you all - I'm not abandoning this.

Actually... I um...

Er, well...

I can't find my memory card.

I brought it home about two weeks ago, hoping to upload. But Blogger was being a butthole, so I let it go. The next day, it was gone! I had put it on my desk... right there on the corner! (of course, you can't see. But trust me! It was there!) I REALLY, REALLY hope that it didn't get knocked down and Georgie ate it. Then again, I always watch when he... well, you know. Or, Gheeri may have swatted it and then batted it under somewhere. But I haven't had the time to tear my house apart looking for it.

So that's why I haven't posted. I know... It's lame. But it's the truth. As soon as I find it, I'll have my pics up again. Sorry about this!

-Pita

Have I mentioned I hate Saturdays? XD

So, I'm not posting any pics from Saturday. I just didn't think you would see the changes.

I wound up having only three dogs. Two were old clients - Max, an English Springer Spaniel who was getting a bath and trim, and Rufus, a Shih Tzu that is very good on the table, which is a rare thing as far as Shih Tzu's go. He was getting a bath and trim as well. So no big deals there.

My problem for the day came in the form of Lola, a Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier. Well, it really wasn't Lola that was the problem (although she wasn't a great dog, she wasn't horible either), it was her owner. I was called at home on Thursday (my day off) to be told that Lola's mom wanted to speak with me. She told me that the previous groomer had always made an exception for her and dematted her dog. Given the fact that everyone had told me that the previous groomer shaved every dog, I was inclined to believe her.

We decided that Lola would be dematted and would get a bath and trim.

When I came in to work, I took one look at Lola and wanted to cry. This dog - as far as fur goes - looked hopeless. She was matted on every part of her body; even her privates were matted to her legs. I called the owner and asked if I could shave her. My response was this: My husband will kill me if I bring her home shaved! Please, PLEASE just demat her!

I'm a bit of a sucker. She already knew it was expensive, so I couldn't scare her away with a price tag. I tried the pity route - your dog is going to be in so much pain! - but it didn't work. She didn't seem concerned that Lola was going to be hurt in the process. I gave in.

Now, keep in mind that I only gave in for two reasons: 1-If I don't do it, who KNOWS where she'll go, and who will do what to poor, sweet Lola. 2-These mats were not against the skin. They were half an inch or so away from the skin. Had they been attached to her, I wouldn't have done it. So I went to work.

So, one effect of dematting is time. I had to devote all my time to dematting Lola. Another effect is the dogs' pain. Poor Lola was screaming half the time because some of the mats are in sensitive areas, like her muzzle and stomach. Now, don't get me wrong - I would rather hurt myself than hurt my dog, which is why another effect of dematting is MY discomfort. You can only do so much before your hand starts to cramp up and hurt. Also, my left index finger hurts because I use it as a guard from the dematters' blade as I hold the fur away from the skin. So my hands are quite sore tonight.

Lola is quite smart. She knows how to stop me from doing whatever I'm doing and uses it to her advantage. During one of the times she was trying to stop me from dematting a front leg, I placed a hand on the loop around her neck. I brushed against what I thought was a mat.

It turned out to be a lump.

The first thing I do when I notice a medical problem is check the dogs' chart to see if the problem has already been noticed/recorded. If so, I leave it. If not, I bring it to the attention to one of the doctors. In this case, there was no record of Lola having a lump on the underside of her neck. So I let Dr. Stoyanovich know. She had the girls up front ask Lola's mom if we could run tests on it.

She refused.

Lola wound up having fleas and ticks as well, and she was given a pill for the fleas and a collar for the ticks. But something as important as what could be a tumor? Nothing.

What logic is it that tells you to spend so much on NOT having your dog shaved, but not on checking something out that could be cancer?

I was livid. I sulked around, and everyone agreed with me, but as they say, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." In other words, regardless that I found the lump and advised her, it doesn't mean she's going to have the lump checked out.

In the end, it took me 3 hours total (an hour and a half, a 2 hour break, and then another hour and a half) to demat little Lola. It took me 4 hours total to groom her. The other two dogs took me only 20 minutes each to do, not including the bath. Only on Saturdays...

Aah... Thursday.

*****EDITED***** Apparently, one of the clients didn't appreciate her dog having its' photo taken (are you kidding me? It's a DOG.), and threatened me with legal action if I didn't take down his photos, so they're not there anymore. Sorry. -Rita



Thursday is my favorite day. Know why? Because I have Friday off. Then I work Saturday, and have Sunday off. But it was also a good day because one of my favorite dogs came in today. But I'll tell you about him later. ;o)











So, first I handled Baby, a little female Shih Tzu whose right eye is missing. I think you can only tell in the 'after' pic, and even then, it looks like she's winking, lol. She's sweet,

and has a 'brother' that is a Chihuahua. Regardless, once again, this is another client that just prefers her dog with short hair, so that there isn't much hair in the house (although I suspect the Chihuahua sheds more). After shaving her, she got a special bath in a Tee Tree Oil shampoo (she has bad skin), and finished up. In the after photo, you can clearly see that she's missing an eye, but she's perfectly happy without it.












After Baby, I started working on one of my favorite dogs. Tony Montana (that's right). He's a Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier. I've always wondered why they call them that, when there is no other version of a Wheaton, only a Doft-Coated version. ^^ Anywho, Tony Montana is VERY well behaved, and very smart. He's not very large, but large enough that I lower the table to get him up there.

Tony's mom, Mrs. Rishkes, is one of THOSE people. I was 'warned' about her before Tony came in the first time, and dreaded her and the dog. But in reality, after meeting both, Mrs. Rishkes was only concerned for her dog. Apparently she had never been happy with any groomer that had touched him. She complained that people never listened to her and always cut him the way they wanted. So I assured her I was trained well, she told me what she wanted, and left Tony in my hands. What you need to know is that there is a certain way the Wheaton Terrier is supposed to be cut - it is unique to their breed (for pets, I mean. The show dogs are natural) and not everyone has been trained for them since they're kind of rare.

The thing is, Mrs. Rishkes doesn't like Tony to be cut like he should be. Instead, I basically do a puppy cut, and do a 'teddy bear' face. There wasn't much of a difference when I was done. I cut Tony only a month ago, and for dogs with hair like his I recommend only getting cut every 8 weeks. A "bath & trim" can be done in between to keep them smelling good and knot-free. So it was unecessary, yet she was impatient to have him cut again. So he basically looks the same, except neater.

*sigh* Oh well. See you guys Saturday!





If anyone wants to know: Tony M. - I used an Oster 1/2" comb over a #40 blade for his body/legs, used the 40 to clean around his eyes, and scissored his head, face, legs and feet. Baby - I used an Andis #7f ceramic blade on her body, a #5f on her head/face.

A slow day...

Today was a slow day. I only had two dogs, Cha Cha, an old Long Haired Chihuahua, and Buddy, a Shih Tzu mix. There really wasn't much to do with Cha Cha, so I'm only showing Buddy off.

Buddy is perhaps a Shih Tzu/Terrier cross. He has a 'brother' named Noodles, who I've done before as well - but Noodles lookes like a gigantic Wirehaired Dachshund. But that's another story...

Mrs. Gaer likes to keep both her dogs short, to minimize upkeep and shedding. Some might say that Buddy is cuter when he's fuzzy, but it's not my place to say. So, at Mrs. Gaer's request, I shaved Buddy. Now normally, with a cute face like his, I would give him what's called a "round" face, or "teddy bear" face. But again, she likes him like this. I cut his face as she instructed me to. The only hair she wanted him to have was "his ears, a little beard, and his tail - it's his best feature." LOL Whatever. Personally, I like when someone trusts me and says, "just do whatever you think. You know better than me how to make him cute!" And yes, I've had a few customers like that. They're always my favorite. :)

Anyways, this is what Buddy looks like now. If you're interested, I used Oster blades, #10 on his body, #7F on his head and to trim down his face.

Natasha and Nikki

This is Natasha. I told you a little about her in my last post - she was boarding with us while her parents were on Christmas vacation. She had been with us for about a week now, and she was so ready to go home. She knows she gets a bath right before she gets picked up, so she was full of energy. Natasha is a little old, so she's arthritic. I leave her on the floor because the stress of putting her on the table is unnecessary when I can just sit on the floor with her. All that fur on the table is hers; I had to take the hair off the brush 3 times, so there are 3 piles. She's a Golden Retriever, so it's natural that she sheds a lot. You can't really see it, but there's also some hair on the floor where I shaved the hair from in between her pads and trimmed her butt and feet. Anywho, just thought you would like to see one of the dogs...

And this is Nikki. She actually belongs to the head Vet Tech at Sky Lake. So she's a really frequent customer. Nikki is a Bichon Frise, and one of the first things Losa (Nikki's owner) said to me was, "Can you do a Bichon?" I laughed and told her yes. Apparently, the last groomer wasn't very 'technically trained'. That means she wasn't trained to do the technical cuts: Bichon, Scotties, Poodles, Cockers, Schnauzer, Westies, and so on. So the first time I did Nikki, Losa kept coming in and taking pictures as I bathed, brushed, and cut her. When I was done, she couldn't stop telling me what a great job I did. Personally, I thought her first time, she looked like crap, but that's because her mom had taken a chunk out of her bangs, and it needed time to grow out, lol. But it's grown out now, and this was her second time getting a haircut from me. As you can see, Nikki (and this is how all Bichon SHOULD look) has tightly curled hair on her body and head (the tail is straight for the most part). And if you don't brush them, they look messy. Losa keeps Nikki short for two reasons: 1, it's easier upkeep - you don't have to really worry about mats and whatnot. 2, this is Miami. A lot of owners keep their dogs short because the second you walk outside, you wanna come right back in... Anywho, I didn't take much off, just enough to make her neat-looking. And she's a good dog for the most part. I also have a close-up of her face, because Bichon have a specialized face - it's supposed to be round, like a ball. Of course, because she's a pet, it's not perfect, but I think she looks OK. I don't put bows on Nikki (her mom keeps a bandana on her), but one day I'll show you guys some of the dogs I put bows on. If anyone wants to know, I gave her a puppy cut using an Andis 5/8" blade. For now, that was my Monday. I hope you enjoyed!