This Week's Pics

OK, as promised, I have dog pictures! These are all dogs I have groomed in the last eight days. 

This first dog was a Wheaten that hadn't been groomed in quite a while and was very matted. I had to thin her beard out A LOT but I didn't have to shave it, which made the owner very happy. This is the traditional Wheaten head. For more about Wheatens, read here. She was a really sweet dog, very well-behaved for a Wheaten.

The same day, I got to do this precious Yorkie puppy. He was 7 months old, and a little crazy, but very sweet. He was very shiny for a Yorkie - that's probably partly because of his youth and partly he must be on a great food.

A few days later, I did this cute Shih-Chon puppy. She belongs to the sister of one of my coworkers. I think she's about 8 months old. She was really good for a puppy, and very cute!

This next Labradoodle is one of my regulars; I did her yesterday. I was so glad they followed me to the new groom shop, because she is my favorite Doodle, such a good girl. Here she is clean and dry but before the haircut.

This is her all done. I forgot to take a picture of her while she was still on the table. The lighting is different, which is why her coat changed colors, but her hair is also lighter at the root than the tip, so she looks lighter after she gets groomed anyway.

This last dog is a Spanish Water Dog, which is a rare breed where I live. This is actually the first one I've ever even seen. Luckily the appointment was scheduled a couple of days ahead of time so I had a chance to research the breed. They are supposed to be corded (cords are like well-organized, evenly spaced and shaped mats) and then shaved down once or twice a year. The owner didn't want her shaved to the typical 1/4" length because we are heading into winter, so we decided to leave 1/2" all over. So here's her before picture. Her hair isn't  exactly corded yet because she is only 6 months old, so it doesn't have the correct texture. 

I don't know why, but I thought it would be neat to take a picture partway through. You can tell the difference between her and other matted dog partial shaves I've photographed because nothing is dangling off of her. Check out a great matted dog series here. That's the difference between cords and mats, cords should actually not go quite all the way down to the skin.

And here is the final result. I trimmed that scraggly piece on her ear after the picture was taken. You can see that her head and hears were shaved the same length as her body, which is typical for her breed. Most dogs have a bigger head than body.

OK, I hope you enjoyed these pics. As always, thanks for reading!

PS - If you are interested in following my weight-loss journey, I won't be posting any of that here anymore. You can follow that journey at thewritinggroomerwlb.blogspot.com.