Grooming

At The Paw Place, we offer a unique approach to grooming:

• No waiting in a kennel all day! We groom each dog by appointment (similar to a human hair salon). If your dog is friendly with other dogs he is more than welcome to wait in the day care area until you pick him up.

• We will help “rehabilitate” your dog from a bad grooming experience. We groom many dogs that have had unfortunate experiences at their previous groomer. This could be anything from getting their nails clipped too short to a serious injury. We will work with you and your dog to help make grooming a more pleasant experience.

• We specialize in grooming senior dogs. We understand that your senior dog might not see or hear as well as he used to and that we might have to move a little slower around him. Our groomer Marian gives all the senior dogs a nice massage while they are in the tub. Click here to read Marian’s bio. You can pick your senior dog up as soon as we are done grooming him so he wont have to be here any longer than necessary.

• We specialize in grooming challenging dogs. Many dogs we groom have been “fired” from other grooming shops because they are too much to handle. If your dog is aggressive with people or other dogs, has separation anxiety, is fearful or has had to be anesthetized for grooming in the past - we won’t turn you away. We will work with you and your dog to help make grooming a more tolerable experience. To minimize the stress on your dog, we groom all dogs by appointment. Your dog will start to be groomed as soon as you drop him off and we will call you when we are finishing his groom so you can pick him up promptly.

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Requirements

We pride ourselves in making sure that every dog that comes into our shop is up to date on their vaccinations. For grooming dogs, we require:

• DHLPP Vaccine (Distemper)
• Bordetella Vaccine (Prevents against kennel cough)
• Rabies (Required for dogs over 4 months of age)
• We do not require, but STRONGLY recommend that your dog is protected against heart worm and fleas. Heart worm protection is given to your dog monthly in the form of a pill. Most heart worm medicines do not kill adult fleas as their primary job is to protect against heart worm, which is why we also recommend using a topical solution such as Frontline Plus.

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Grooming: Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I take my dog to a groomer?
A groomer can help your pet:
• Maintain a healthy coat
• Stop nails from growing into a problem
• Find sores, lumps, bumps and infections
• Tackle dry or irritated skin
• Notify you of a change in weight or temperament which could be a sign of more serious problems

Why is my dog matted? Will he need to be shaved?
We have found that the number one cause of matting is use of the wrong tool at home. We can help you find the best grooming tool to use at home based on what type of coat your dog has. If your dog has a few mats around the ears, it will not warrant shaving. However, if a good portion of his coat is matted, he will need to be shaved. This is NOT our favorite thing to do. Matts attach very closely to the skin and are painful for dogs. If you dog is matted get him in to be groomed right away!

We found a great article about matted dogs written by a woman with 17 years grooming experience. The article can be found at http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Pitfalls-of-a-Matted-Dog&id=102997

Do you use sedation?
We do not use sedation. Occasionally for dogs that are particularly stressed, fearful or aggressive we use a natural stress relief remedy called Rescue Remedy. This is purchased over the counter at health food stores. A few drops on the nose or tongue or a small spray of it inside their ear will help the dog calm down. http://www.bachremedies.com/

How are you able to groom senior dogs?
Marian, got into grooming because no one was able to take the special care and time to groom her senior dog. We groom all dogs by appointment and block off extra time to groom older dogs. We often give them a “break” in the middle of the grooming process to lie down in a kennel or go outside for some fresh air. A second person is always available to lend support to those that have a hard time standing on the grooming table. To read Marian’s bio click here.

How are you able to groom challenging dogs?
Our knowledge of dog behavior and patience allows us to groom those “challenging” dogs that no one else can seem to groom. We also block off extra time for these types of dogs as well as give them a “break” if needed. All dogs are groomed by appointment so that they do not have to wait around in a kennel. The grooming process will start promptly and we will call you when your dog is ready to be picked up which is usually within a few hours.

My dog bites when I try to comb him. Will you need to use a muzzle?
Do you stop combing him when he tries to bite? If so, you have just taught him that biting will get him out of being combed. We do not muzzle dogs when this is the case. If we are combing a dog out and the dog tries to bite purely because it does not want to be combed, we will continue to comb. However, if the biting is of an aggressive nature or because of a tender area, we will take extra precaution as well a have a second person help stabilize the dog. If the dog continues to be aggressive, a muzzle may be necessary. It is not our first course of action to muzzle a dog. Please do not bring your dog into The Paw Place wearing a muzzle. This can put the dog in the mind set that something negative is about to happen.

My dog is extremely fearful of new environments, but she really needs to be groomed. What should I do?
We suggest bringing your dog in for a visit before she comes in for grooming. Bring one of her favorite toys and/or favorite treats with you so we can interact with her in a positive way. We will also take her into the grooming room so that she can explore and smell the new environment. Please call us to set up an appointment.

My golden retriever gets so hot in the summer. Should I get her shaved?
A common misconception is that shaving a dog will make them cooler. Shaving your Golden will expose her bare skin to the sun (ouch, sunburn!) as well as drastically change the texture of her coat. If you have been using a wire slicker brush or soft bristle brush on your Golden, you’ve been using the wrong tool. The best tool you can use is a metal rake comb, which will pull all of the dead undercoat out. A plain metal comb will aid in combing behind his ears, belly and tail. There will be less hair for you to deal with and your dog will feel much cooler.

At her grooming appointment, we will work her over with shampoo and water loosening
all of the dead hair. Following this will be a thorough drying with a high velocity dryer. Our dryer will literally blast the dead hair out of your dog’s coat and unlike human dryers, ours never gets hot.

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Mouse over the "Before" images below to see the "After" results!

TO SEE MORE GROOMING PHOTOS CLICK HERE

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"The Pitfalls of a Matted Dog"

Many dogs do not like being brushed and for this reason their owners do not brush them. Sometimes trying to find the time for brushing in our busy schedules can be difficult. If you have a dog that gets knotted and you do not brush them or give them a hair cut on a regular basis this is what can happen.

FACT: When you have a dog with matts in his fur, the matts will not come out without brushing or clipping.

•  Each time you bathe your dog with knots in his fur, when he dries, the knots become tighter. It is similar to loosely knotting a piece of leather, getting it wet, then letting it dry. The knot becomes tighter and close to impossible to get out. At this point a dog hair cut is in order.
•  After a period of time the knots become so tight that the hair is actually ripped from the skin a few hairs at a time.
•  When a dog becomes matted all over and you bathe him, the soap is very difficult to rinse out. If soap is accidentally left behind it can irritate his skin. Scratching these areas can cause further irritation along with cuts and scrapes from his nails
•  If he has a wound from scratching all sorts of things can then happen.
•  The area can get infected or flies can lay eggs in the wound.
•  When a dog is matted to the skin it is difficult if not impossible to see the skin and any problems that may be occurring.
•  Severe matts between the toes and on the pads of the feet can cause lameness. Just imagine if you had a rock in your shoe that you could not remove.
•  Matts under the armpits and between the back legs can hinder the range of motion your dog has with his legs.
•   Around his mouth and lips, matts can create a wonderful breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria and yeast.
• Severe matts on his ears can create excess weight, especially when wet, and can contribute to chronic ear infections.

The best advice: A dog hair cut. Groom your dog on a regular basis, whether you take him to a shop and have him groomed, or you groom him at home.

For those of you who have dogs that do not like to be brushed, try giving them a clipper haircut every 4-6 weeks. Usually this amount of time can prevent too many knots from forming. If however you find your dog getting knotted in a shorter period of time, shorten the time between grooming.

Katherine Durr has been a professional dog groomer for over 17 years and is the author of "How to Groom your Mutt".

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Pitfalls-of-a-Matted-Dog&id=102997

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Has Your Dog Been Skunked?

When Molly got sprayed right in the face by a skunk at 3am we washed her eyes out at home and then raced to the shop and tried EVERYTHING to get the smell out. After several baths, she still smelled…and so did we and the car, the house, and The Paw Place! We have yet to find a recipe or product that gets the smell out 100%. The best advice we have is to give your dog several baths (see below recipe) until the smell is tolerable and to just give it time.

Molly learned her lesson about skunks and now if she smells a skunk outside her ears go back and she runs to the door! If your dog isn’t “skunk smart” (i.e., a lab whose been sprayed 5 times in one summer) then you might want to consider clipping a bell to your dogs collar when you let him out at night to warn the critters of his presence. Here’s what I used on Molly:

For the face/mouth:

Use a tearless puppy shampoo to wash your dogs face. Rinse the eyes well with water or by squirting a plain saline eyewash directly from the bottle. Rinse your dogs mouth out well with plain water squirted from a garden house or turkey baster. If your dog is still squinting or rubbing her eyes after you’ve rinsed them well, call your vet right away!

For the body

Mix 1 quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, ¼ cup of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of dish soap in a bucket. It will foam up. Soak your dog in this mixture for 5 minutes. Lather, rinse and then use regular dog shampoo.

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Rest in Peace, Jakers