Can you groom?

I know we have a couple professional groomers on here, and quite a few people who own hairy dogs.

So... do you groom? Do you groom your own dog? Pet/show/sport trim?

I have been learning to groom for the last 15 years! It's a seriously never ending thing for me. I'm constantly learning new things like... head shape and ear set dictate how I trim a spaniel's head (thanks Gabby). And it's taken me almost 15 years to trim Buzz's head/neck/ears in a way that I think looks good on him! Bailey is the dog I learned on, from show people, because her body and hair coat are the same type. Buzz and Gabby have been huge learning curves for me as I modify what I learned with Bailey!

I love to groom my own dogs, but I'd never make it as a professional groomer!

We sent Trey (sheltie) to a groomer once and since then I've done it myself (they cut his hair off!).

I'm pretty sure papillons don't count though. I barely have to do anything and my two are lucky to see a brush once a month.

I've had poodles for over 10 years, but never considered grooming my own dogs until I got Smiley. Since he's a poodle mix, I find his coat is easier to manage, so I'm learning on him. Thank goodness for YouTube videos!

I groom my own dog. Nothing fancy though I used to work for a groomer and can do pet type cuts (no fancy pants show poodle cuts but I can do a pet quality cut pretty decent)... but I don't care what he looks like. I do it because he needs it done. If he has a matt I just chop it out without a care in the world.

I groom my own dog for show and as a pet (between shows). When I got him the breeder said "Never take him to a groomer because they'll make him look like an English springer!" as if that was the worst thing ever :rofl1:

I learned from my breeder who has 30+ years of experience in the breed, but admits she's not an expert groomer. There is a professional groomer and Welshie breeder in PA who I would love to get a lesson from. His breeder groomed him for his first show, and I've done it myself after that. We saw her a few months after that first grooming at a show and she said to her friend "Look, I found an owner who can show him *and* groom!" I was proud

I'm lucky that he has an easy coat. Some Welsh have more curl and for show people want it as straight as possible. Watson's coat dries straight without blow drying, so I don't have to worry about that much. Spay/neuter coats can also be super fluffy and weird, and that's something else I don't have to deal with. I'll probably keep future dogs intact partially because of the coat thing, honestly. A good spaniel coat drops dirt and doesn't mat and is generally pretty easy to care for. I rarely brush him or do anything unless it's grooming day. I really don't worry about growing his hair out and am willing to cut out mats, or pull some hair out to get a burr. Welshies shouldn't have tons of coat anyway, so I'm not aiming for a perfect curtain of hair.

I learn every time I groom him or see other dogs at a show. I tend to leave more on the ears than some, partially because I'm afraid to take off too much, and partially because I don't like the look of a shaved ear (makes them look like a beagle). I'm getting pretty good at doing feet, but he can be an ass about feet which makes it frustrating. I still hem and haw while doing the neck/chest/shoulders, but I generally end up with a pretty good product. He doesn't have a ton of coat, so unlike some spaniels I don't have to do any trimming on his head or back, and a couple minutes of stripping takes out any undercoat or fuzzies.

I kind of like grooming my own dog, but not enough to want to groom more than a couple Welshies (and definitely not enough to do it professionally).

I'm not and never have been a professional groomer, but I worked at a grooming shop for two years where I logged a lot of observation hours and was taught many things by the groomers. I can do simple pet clips, and I do fairly good work on them. I groom my friend's cocker spaniel for her and she feeds me dinner. This involves her and her husband holding the dog down while I shave her head to toe and trim up the feet and ears. I used to also groom Benji (schnauzer mix, possibly with lhasa apso or shih tzu) sometimes when he was alive.

I wish more people would at least learn how to properly brush out their dogs. So many people just don't care about that aspect of pet ownership at all, and we get dogs boarding covered in mats and knots and its disgusting. And there are the people who own breeds with layered coats (samoyeds, keeshonds, etc) that don't realize you can't just brush the top of the coat, you have to lift the layers and brush each one! The dog will look fine on the outside, and the underside is all gross. There was one lady who pitched a fit that the groomer shaved her little dog, she couldn't understand that the dog was a solid mat, said it wasn't possible because "the kids brush the dog all the time!" and there was the dog who was so matted his owners probably should have been reported for animal cruelty. They refused to let us groom the dog because he would "look stupid". Really? And he looks good now with giant wads of gross hanging over his face? /rant

I can brush out a dog, cut out mats, trim ear feathers and trim feet. Oh, and do nails and clean out ears.

Basically, I can only do what I need to to maintain a rough-coated border collie. :rofl1:

Yep, I do everything on mine. There's some additional show stuff that I do not do since I'm not putting P in the show ring right now, but I know how to do it. Auggie's breeder has been showing for ever and ever and taught me how to do the show groom. It's way more intensive than I have any reason to do on my dirty little working dogs though... so I don't.

A full groom on the dogs is a bath, blow-out, trim feet, wrists, and hocks, clean up muzzles, clean up ears, and on everybody but P I clean up their pants so poop doesn't get stuck quite as easily. Payton stays extra floofy because even though he's not going in the show ring, I feel like he needs to look a certain way because people are watching him. He even gets a good grooming before we go to agility as a result. =P


Auggie has been to a groomer one time, when he was just over a year old I think. My policy now is nobody touches my dogs with scissors but me (or Auggie's breeder.) My mom suggested taking them somewhere just for a bath and I refused because I don't want to risk anybody getting it in their head to take scissors to them. No, no, and no.

Oh and I CAN show groom, Summer's breeder has shown me, although her show groom is much less intensive than some. But generally I just chop the feet short now to make me have to groom less.

Generally once every 2-3 weeks they get bathed and every 4-6 weeks we brush them, chop out tangles if there are any (Mia's ears are really the only places I have to watch for), trim feet/hocks, do nails, trim up the britches a little bit and BOOM. Done. They usually air dry. They don't have an undercoat so there's no blowing coat ever with them either.

I did try to blow them out last time then flatten their hair but it just didn't last. They had pretty bouncy hair for the first few days afterwards. If I were a good owner, I'd wash Mia's ear fringe out more often cause hers gets a bit stringy.

I could have written this post.

Let's see. I am good at attempting to tame the cowlicks. A for effort lol. Although now her hair is getting longer and she's getting these insane pants cowlicks and I am done bothering. Wesley just gets an all over shave, I think he looks best that way. Soooo in other words no, I can't groom.

Lol no. I take a clipper and whack away at Happy but it's just to clean her up, I have no clue what I'm doing.

I used to be able to show groom Bedlington Terriers?

And that's about it For a time I had a Bedlington mentor who I would go to shows with to help groom the dogs for the ring. But that was all I did, so I have no idea how to groom anything else. And I honestly can't remember half of what we did with the Bedlingtons. I loved it, but it was a LOT of work!

I bathe my dogs, and do their nails (w/ Megan's help for Froman), but I don't do anything else with them. I think if I had a coated breed that was tolerant to grooming (like the Bedlingtons I worked on, they were so...moldable!), I would love the grooming process. If I ever take the plunge, it will be in the form of an OES, or maybe someday a Bedlington)

That's seriously impressive.

I saw some pics of standard poodles groomed as bedlingtons - you could get a poodle and do that!

Could I groom a show dog? Heck no. LOL

My own personal pets? Yep.

I clean ears, trim nails, do anal glands as needed, trim up feet and other extremities, and shave. I've groomed a Yorkie and a Collie mix....Both look okay when I'm done with them!

I groom all of mine. I'm mostly self taught, with a few YouTube videos here and there.

Over the years I've perfected what I call a Sports Trim on the Schnauzers. No fancy skirt, hair is left just a little bit longer than shaved on their front legs, same for the back but only past the hock, and then I edge up their beards so they look nice and sharp. I love it, the dogs like that they don't have longer hair to get stuff snagged in that I then have to brush/cut out.

Lincoln gets basically the same cut, but without the long hair on the legs. Sometimes I will shave his face, or give him a mohawk, last time I trimmed his face to look like a Schnauzer lol.

Charlie is the easiest and just needs a good brush out. I do everyone's ears by myself, I do Charlie's nails and sometimes Lincoln's, but the other ones I will take to work and have someone there help me do them. I hate black nails!!!

I honestly wish I could. It's something I've considered, and I know people tell me it's SO easy once you get the hang of it, etc, and I know I'd save so much money. But to me, it's the same as when I go to the hairdresser... I'm sure I COULD do it, but it's just never the same as when they do it. I love a particular look/cut on him and my groomer does it perfect so I'll continue to pay $65 every 8-10 weeks.

I do little things occasionally - like sometimes if I let it go too long, I'll trim the hair that's around his eyes (so it's not poking him), or trim the hair around his ears. Or butt. But more often than not, I just leave it to the groomer. I don't do nails, I hardly brush him, he's very low maintenance with the cut he has.

The only 'grooming' I do is bathe him (in the summer every 7-10 days) and in the winter, usually only once a month. Oh and I do brush his teeth at least every other night.

I will have you know I do 100% of my own grooming on both my dogs...which accounts for keeping their nails trimmed and occasionally throwing some shampoo on them. Hip hip hurray for wash and wear dogs!

The vets always comment that I must clean their ears regularly...I have never once done anything with their ears.

I am good about keeping their teeth brushed as well. Most nights we do it.

I saw a photo of a black Mini groomed as a Bedlington. So Adorable! I could not handle growing face hair that long, though. I don't like furry Poodle faces


I can groom Chows (line brush, blow out, etc)

I can do pet clips on Poodles. When Brooks grows out, now that he has his adult coat in, I'll probably practice on him some other trims. I can also band a topknot.

I can do pet clips on Yorkies, but I'd never be able to do a show groom with all of the wrapping.

I am a professional groomer. I groom all sorts of dogs and even shave cats.

I can show groom a few breeds and even hand strip which is becoming a lost art.