Grooming Dog Blog

So this is a couple days late. This is from...saturday. Its monday morning now. I have to try to remember what happened.

I had one dog scheduled before I came in. A Lab named Jubba

Jubba was a nice lab. Not too overexcited like some of the labs you see. I noticed he had a lot of dandruff, which is really noticeable on a  black lab, but the owners didn't wan't the moisturizing shampoo so what could I do. He whined a whole lot when I put him in the kennel. Other than that there really isn't too much to tell. His owners were quite weird however. The son was just...so...nerdy. I dunno, I am a big nerd myself and I don't like labelling people but damn. Sometimes it jumps out and screams at you.

Copper & Lincoln I had a lady come in with a couple walk in appts which isfine with me since I only had 1 dog planned. Two dogs, Lincoln the Pembroke Welsh Corgi and Copper the Akita mix. Now they called Copper a mix, but she looked so much like an Akita I don't even know if she WAS mixed. These dogs were so attached to one another. When I put one in the kennel and took to wash the other one, they would whine for eachother. It was kind of cute when you get past the loud whining noises. I love corgis. They are just hilarious and adorable to me. They are very smart dogs and have an intelligent curious look to their face. Add to that the long body and tiny legs, and I can't look at one without smiling. These dogs were shedding like crazy. I couldn't believe so much hair came out of a corgi.  Everything else went pretty much as planned.

One thing that happened was I was left alone to work fairly early. Everyone else was gone by about 3:30. I had no problems and I guess I should be happy they trust me enough to leave me alone. The washing machine is apparently leaking as well. I alerted the management and got the hell out of there.

Slooooow day. I came in a bad mood, due to my credit card company pulling shenanigans. I had no dogs scheduled so I just sat around and talked for a while. The majority of the day was spent entering customer information into the computer. Strangely I don't mind the tedious work, because it needs to be done. 

For some reason a discussion broke out when Tara asked Ruby a series of questions about her being a Jehovah's Witness. The next hour or so was spent talking about religion and the inner workings of Jehovah's Witness community.  Religion is one of my favorite topics to discuss. I myself am an atheist, but no one asked me so I didn't state it, I just through a couple softball questions Ruby's way to keep the conversation going. After the conversation winded down and people wandered away, Ruby asked me a question that made my day. "How do you know so much?" Ah that feels good.

My only dog today was an interesting one. A walk-in at around 330, Layla, a St. Bernard puppy. There were some mistakes made with asking for the rabies info and shit but no harm no foul.

Layla was about 4 months old St. Bernard puppy. She was friggin adorable. She had a really strong reflex spot where if you scratched it her leg would move a mile a minute. Giving her a bath was almost redundant, she had very light fur, a lot of it hadn't even come in yet on her belly and chest. With the shampoo in it it was so soft, it felt like rabbit fur. I didn't want to scare her with the blow dryer so I toweled her off and put you in a kennel to dry. A short time later Pam came and told me the dog "left a sticky surprise for you". Great. It wasn't that bad, at least she didn't get it all over her fur. I washed her paws and her tail and her rear end and brought her out to brush. I ended up not really brushing her too much because her owner came and, to be honest, there wasn't much to do. Puppy fur isn't too difficult to comb out.

The only other notable thing that happened was when I was trying to leave at 7:45 instead of 8, I got stopped by the supervisor and told I had to stay till 8. If there is one thing that bothers me about working in a large corporation its the blanket decisions. I understand that you want people to stay until their shift if over, but if I have been sitting down read the "Mini-Atlas of Dog Breeds" for 2 hours, I don't think it is going to hurt your business to let me leave 15 minutes early. That's 15 minutes of pay the company doesn't have to pay me. But the supervisor was a typical zombie. Talking down to the other employees and towing the company line with all her might. I didn't even start an argument, I just went back and sat there for another 15 minutes. If I had been like "Why wait till 8, no one is going to come in anyway." The reply would've been most likely "Because you have to" or "You are scheduled till 8!"

But now I am clear on the subject and I have no problem staying till 8 on the dot. Now ill just be prepared to widdle away the last 2 hours of work. Time to start downloading TV shows to put on my iPOD.

Worked 10-6 today. I came in and had one dog waiting for me in the cages, Nutmeg, a golden retriever. Carol took her in for me as a walk in, and I was fine with that. I was supposed to have a Lab in for 10 but they never showed.

Nutmeg was a nice dog and there isn't too much to tell. She was fine through the bath and the drying, and wasn't difficult to move around or anything. She just got out of the vet not too long ago and recently had stitches removed from her belly. She seemed too old to have just been neutered but you never know. Since I am still new and poor, I have been using a variety of different peoples brushes and combs, nail trimmers and various other equipment. It's pretty amazing how there is always the right tool for the job. With Nutmeg I tried to brush her out with a shedding comb, but I quickly found it wasn't doing anything. Next I brushed her all over with a slicker brush which didn't do much either, because she wasn't shedding.  So right before I gave up and just started doing her nails, I saw Maranda's big ass comb  and gave it a whirl. Lo' and behold that was what I should've been using all along. Got the small tangles out and made the hair look neat and shiny. I did the nails and ears without problem and away she went.

Sitting at the desk looking into the main store I see a man with a nice little GSD(german shepherd). I also see he is holding a cane and has a bright fluorescent orange vest on. It is a seeing eye dog, obviously. He comes into the salon and needs his dog, Millie, to get her nails clipped. He called earlier so his paperwork is all in order already. When a dog comes in for just a nail trimming, we sometimes just choose to go in front of the counter and do it right there with the owner, so the dog doesn't freak out and its not such a big deal. Of course being a seeing eye dog I wouldn't feel comfortable asking for the guy to give me her leash, so I went out with Ruby's clippers in my hand.

Millie was such a sweet dog. Obviously because she is a seeing eye dog, her temperament and training are great. Her owner just stood there and reassured her as I picked up her feet and clipped her nails. She wouldn't leave his side, and quite literally, was always touching him in some way. If I needed to moved you around to get to the other side, she would press right up against his leg with the opposite side. I helped the man to the register and watched them make their way through the parking lot, thinking of how it would be to be blind. I decided it would suck.

Throughout the course of the day Ruby repeatedly needed my help to hold the three Shih Tzus she was grooming. They were all from the same family and were very gentle dogs. I had to hold them up at the arm pits so Ruby could get to the belly and between the legs. The dogs would just look up at me with big brown eyes and a face that seemed to say "...but....why?" Even though they were shaking like a leaf and obviously not excited to be there, they all suffered through it quietly, as being older dogs they realized that it was going to happen and there is nothing they could do about it. Small dogs are funny.

Speaking of funny small dogs, Carol was grooming a Lhasa Apso who was hungry for blood. It took Carol and Shelley, two very experienced groomers, and a muzzle, to keep Honey from taking a limb with her when she left. After she had been done as much as they could bare, Carol put her on a lead and let her stay in the grooming area, as getting her out of the kennel a second time would be like battling a wolverine. Honey stayed close to the door and looked violated til her owner got there.

So by this time in the day, I realize my 10 am appt is not coming. So I take another walk in. A chocolate lab named...

Luke. Luke was a friggin handful. There was a crowd gathering at the entrance because a couple was just getting their pug finished up for nails, and someone else was trying to pick up there dog. Luke was pretty okay for a couple of minutes but then he started barking and lunging for the pug who was in his owners arms. His owner, a young guy, dragged him outside saying "What the hell is wrong with you?!" When he came back in we found out what was wrong with him, he wasn't fixed. Four year old Chocolate lab that is intact. Luke only had 2 things on his mind, kill male dogs, sex up female dogs. He had a prong collar on which I think kind of sucks, but it isn't my business to tell people how to raise their dogs. Another thing about look is you could tell he was shedding a whole shitful, you could see the lighter brown patches of hair were the dead hair was building up. When I gave him a bath, the wall was plastered with his fur, flown there by the dryer. I ran a hound glove over him a couple of times, but there was just too much to get out right then and there. Getting him into the cage was a handful as well. Another dog was getting checked in, and Luke could smell and see them from where I was putting him. Once I had pushed him into the cage and set up the dryers, it was time to play the waiting game.

Luke's owner didn't want to play the waiting game and showed up only about 30 minutes after he was checked in. Because I didn't really want to sit and wait for him to completely air dry, and I knew he was shedding profusely, I took him out to go to work. Now it is hard for me to overstate just how much fur came out of this dog. I worked for a good 30 minutes and couldve worked 30 more and still had more to go. One thing that was good was unlike Nutmeg, I knew exactly what tool I needed for Luke; The Furminator®!!! sweet zombie jesus thanks for this thing. It works so good on cases like this. I worked pretty feverishly and the fur was just rolling off Luke like it was smoke. His owner was amazed at how much was coming out, and actually went and bought a furminator himself. After some intense work and some help from Tara, Luke went home looking a lot better, but still needing to be snipped.

That's all for today. I have the next two days off, but I may be bored and want to write something anyways. Thanks for the comments and thanks for reading.

So 2 months after I initially called and expressed my desire for the job, I came home and found a message on the machine. It was Maranda asking If i wanted to come in for an interview. Of course I did, so the next day I went down and in a few days I was hired. I started on Wednesday, 11/19/08 at 9 am I think.

The first few days were riddled with computer and paperwork problems and it took me about a week to get into the computers and get my information all in order. The first day I came to work a little off skew because I had partied a little too hard the night before. Thankfully, all I was asked to do was fill out reminder cards for past customers

"Hello, Princess, you are scheduled for a blah blah blah (90% of all dogs are named princess. Science)"

I think the second day I did my first dog. A mutt named Trevor or Tyler or something. I dunno. It was uneventful aside from the fact that he was the first dog I ever groomed.

My third day I had one heck of a time. I had 4 dogs I think. Taking a cattle dog mix out of the bath, it jumped out of my arms. I tried to catch it but only succeeded in unbalancing it. The dog ate shit right into the floor but seemed unaffected. I looked up at the two other girls in the back, expecting to see horrified expressions on their faces. They were just talking to each other, having apparently missed the whole scene over the sound of the dryers and washing machine. Fine with me, I'd like to keep my dog mutilating off the record thanks.

That same day I had a huge fat black lab. He must have weighed 140 easy. He was kind of a pain in the ass but what makes him special is the dubious distinction of being the first dog I ever Quicked. For those of you who aren't aware, dogs and cats have a vein in their nails called a quick. If you cut the quick, it bleeds like a fucking stuck pig forever unless you put styptic powder on it. So I'm going to town on fatty's nails, being careful but not overly cautious.

*Snip*
*AROOOOOOOOOOWWWWW*.

Someone: "Did you cut him?"
Me: "Nah, I think I just pulled his leg too far."

Then I went to pick up his foot again and saw the blood.

Me: "Oh yea, I guess I did get him..."

So styptic powder and everything was fine. Most of the time the dogs don't even make a noise if you quick them. It just so happenes this dog yelped loudly right into my ear. It kind of spooked me and even today I take it very slow, and maybe I don't take enough off the nail when I clip them.( Read more... )

After the hectic 3rd day I was getting kind of jittery and a little overwhelmed. I blame my ADHD medicine, I was taking too high of a dose. But I did some inner monologue stuff and calmed myself down. The day's rolled by and I saw some interesting dogs. I was shocked at how many different types of dogs they got. Newfoundlands, Keeshounds, Beagles, German Shepherds, Great Pyranese, Vizsla, Bulldogs. Not to mention the obvious Yorkies, Shih Tzus, Bichon Frises, and poodle mixes.

So that brings me to today and we are up to date.

The reason I am creating a livejournal is because I feel like I want somewhere to put my thoughts after a day of work. I don't even care if people actually read it or anything. Also it is a creative outlet for me.

Anyways, here is the story. I am a 23 year old guy living in central Massachusetts. I live at home with my parents, I am single, and I work at a nationwide chain store as a "grooming assistant".

As far as the job goes, I am the only guy working in the grooming area. There are eight women working there as well. The drama and passive aggressiveness is so thick you could choke on it. Because I am intentionally quiet and unassuming, the "girls" as I will now refer to them, just keep talking like they would if I wasn't there. I grew up with two sisters so I am not really shocked at anything they are saying....yet. My plan to keep out of any kind of drama is to be nice and courteous to everyone and not to gossip. So far so good.

Here is the drama, the old manager was demoted because she didn't want to work nights or weekends. A new manager came in who is half her age and is now her boss. All the employees with 1 exception seriously dislike the old manager. Add to that situation any normal amount of womanly shenanigans and I sometimes make it a point to be busy with something in the back room.

Here is a list of who I work with, names have been changed to protect the innocent:

Maranda: The new manager. 22 years old. She is nice and capable at her job I think. Has been grooming for 6 years. Transferred to this store after Carol was demoted.

Carol: Old manager. Middle aged. Most of the girls dislike her, and I can see how she can seem a bit spiky in her attitude, but I don't sweat the small stuff and she seems to be polite to me most of the time.

Shelly: Long time groomer. Shelley is middle aged and has been around for a long time at the store. Everyone gets along with her as far as I can tell. She is the one person who is Carol's defender.

Keri: Grooming Assistant. An assistant like me, Keri cannot cut hair yet. She is nice and loves dogs to a ridiculous degree. I don't know if it is a coincidence but she always seems to have large, difficult to groom dogs. Newfoundlands, Great Pyranese, and GSD to name a few I have seen so far.

Tara: Groomer. Tara is definitely the one person I would say is the wacky one of the girls. Class clown I guess. I get along with her fine though sometimes I can get a little agitated at how loud she gets.

Candace: Groomer. Again, if we were labeling people like this was Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Candace would be the "out there" one of the girls. She is nice but spacey sometimes. Strange fashion sense, why wear crocs when you are giving a dog a bath?

Pamela: Groomer. Pamela has been around a while. I think she is the 3rd most experienced groomer next to Carol and Shelly.

Rose: Groomer: 18 years old and the youngest person in the salon. Just started cutting hair recently. Only been employed for about 5 months I think. She is nice just like everyone else but I think she is a little high strung.


Okay, there is an introduction to the blog. Most of the blog I will talk about the dogs. If anything notable happens otherwise I will surely mention it.