*bringing awareness into all our inner dog circles How often should my dog be groomed? All breeds regardless of hair type, length or style require regular grooming. Bacteria will build quickly on an unbrushed coat. To maintain a clean, healthy, coat, and prevent skin concerns, all breeds should be groomed by a professional dog groomer on a regular schedule of every 4, 6, or 8 weeks, maximum. By keeping your dog clean and free of any matting you are sure to be meeting his grooming needs. Why do groomers always shave my dog? Usually, because you are not meeting the grooming requirements of your dog. All breeds require regular maintenance, all year round. Long styles = 4 week visits. Medium styles = 6-8 week visits. Short styles = 8-10 week visits. Natural or double coated = minimum of 3-4 month visits. Brushing and combing a matted dog is extremely uncomfortable and inhumane, thus groomers will simply not partake in such activities. If you are not keeping up with brushing and combing properly at home, and you are not following the above schedule, then you may not be meeting the grooming requirements of your dog. It is safer and more comfortable for the dog to be shaved, start over, get on a proper schedule and stay on it. Humanity over vanity. How often should I have the nails cut? Neglecting a dog’s nails is a serious health issue. We would like to see all dogs have their nails cut every 4 weeks. Ignoring nails that are too long will cause strain on the muscles & bones in the feet. The toes will begin to splay out over time. The toes, feet and legs will become affected, as will the shoulders, back and neck. When the nails grow, the quick grows as well. The nails cannot be cut back past the quick or the dog will experience pain, discomfort & bleeding. Well maintained feet and nails is vital to your loved one’s health. Did you cut the nails? They feel too sharp, I think they are still too long. A fresh nail cut will always result a sharp edge or tip. We can grind the nails with our nail grinder to smooth them out for you; however, as it takes time, skill, and knowledge to perform this task effectively, there is an additional charge for this. Owners should understand that a nail can only be cut as far back as the quick area. Cutting behind the quick will cause bleeding and pain, the result of which is a dog that is fearful of having the nails cut. To prevent this we recommend regular maintenance of cutting and dermal work. Failure to do so will result in nails that are too long, with long quick. Once long quick have been established, very little can be done by us to correct this condition. Do you brush teeth? No we do not. Brushing the teeth is a daily routine through your dog’s entire life, from puppy stages to senior years, accomplished by good diet. A groomer brushing a dog’s teeth every 4-6 weeks is doing little, if anything, for your dog’s health. We are of the opinion that this is a tactic at improving profit margins in grooming salons. This, in our opinion, creates a sense of false care & maintenance for dog owners. We, therefore, do not partake in this service and encourage all dog owners to investigate dental procedures performed at your veterinarian’s office. At what age can I get my puppy groomed? We typically prefer to see a puppy shortly after his or her last vaccination. If you wait until your puppy is 10 months, you’ve waited too long, regardless of the breed. If he’s 10 weeks, it’s too soon. Your puppy’s first grooming is likely it’s most important grooming of its entire life because it sets the expectation for future grooming. All owners are wise to plan that first visit carefully. We prefer puppy’s first groom to be more of an introductory grooming rather than a full hair or scissor cut. How long will my dog be at your salon? Typically, we endeavour to return your dog to you within 2-3 hours. Some days we are ahead of our goals other days we fall short. Regardless, all staff work diligently, quickly, safely and with kindness to ensure that no dog is with us for too long. An hour and a half is perfect but that is only achieved when we see your dog on a regular schedule of 6-8 weeks. Several common factors delay us in achieving our goal: ◾the behaviour of your dog; ◾did you allow your dog an opportunity to have a potty time before drop off? ◾how many times the phone rings while we are working, the details & concerns those calls bring us; ◾early/late drop offs. We are forced to stop grooming when this happens. It may only be a 3 minute delay, sometimes it’s a 10 minute delay. If 3 clients do this for the morning appointments by noon the day can run an hour or more behind. Thus why we schedule individual time slots for each client. Clean up & disinfecting dog messes creates delays. Many folks would be shocked at the number of loved ones that are dropped off & have clearly not been allowed a proper potty break; We take lunch minutes & potty seconds ourselves to keep the schedule intact as much as possible. Can I drop off early? This is generally accommodated. Please note however, that an early drop off will never mean your dog will be started sooner or that you will receive him back earlier in doing so. This is a common misunderstanding. Each day is scheduled according to breed, style of haircut and of course temperament. Your day and time is essentially hand-picked specific to your needs. We ask that a courtesy call be made to ensure that we are able to easily manage a time change to your appointment. Why does it cost so much for my large breed? Isn’t it just a bath? Grooming large breeds properly and professionally is much more than just soap and water. Large breeds often require two people to safely lift, carry and to calmly remain on a grooming table. The double coated breeds require extensive combing and often times de-matting. Even a Lab or Golden can take considerable time to remove the excess hair and dander from their coats. Dog grooming is never an effortless procedure and the larger the breed, the more time and energy is put into the job. Larger breeds are simply priced according to the labour involved in completing the work required. How could my dog possibly have fleas? Any dog without proper flea prevention in place will pick up fleas. It is your choice to decide if you prefer to administer medication from the veterinarian or adapt holistic and more natural remedies. The on spot medications that are commonly purchased in pet stores typically are not a product that we recommend as a method of flea prevention. Could my dog pick up fleas from your salon? No, he will not pick up any fleas from our environment. Flea eggs, larvae & pupae survive in the soil, in animal bedding, in carpeting as well as upholstery. After eggs have fallen off of the host’s body onto such surfaces, it then takes anywhere from 2 days to 10 days for those eggs to hatch. Our floors are cement, we have no animal bedding nor do we have any upholstery. This eliminates the environmental conditions required for flea eggs to survive. Our cleaning and disinfecting routine at the salon is strict and extremely regimented to prevent the spread of any bacteria, fungus, disease or any type of potential irritant to anyone’s loved one. The salon is cleaned before the day begins, during the work day as well a complete and thorough cleaning at the end of each day. We do our best to ensure that any potential hazards are removed from our environment to protect your pet as well as our staff. What is the procedure if you do find fleas on someone’s dog? The dog is immediately given a flea bath. This process completely eliminates all live fleas on the dog’s body. The bathing system is run through a cleaning and disinfecting process, which is a two stage process, further eliminating chance of fleas escaping. The shop will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. All towels that are used on the animal are immediately put in the washing machine and are washed and dried. Our vacuum is emptied and the contents is stored in a bin outside. When the owner arrives to pick up their dog we inform them that a flea or fleas were discovered. We then encourage the owner to implement a flea preventative program with their veterinarian as soon as possible. A note is made on the customer’s profile that fleas were discovered. We charge an additional fee as this procedure is lengthy and does create acute time delays to our schedule. Do you require my dog to have a kennel cough vaccine? We believe that this is completely up to each individual owner to vaccinate or not. We are of the opinion that the kennel cough, being an air born virus, can be contracted easily in any environment. A dog with the virus can pass it along to any dog, whether they are in the neighbourhood, the park, the pet store or the vet office. Grooming salons and boarding kennels do not because the virus, an animal with a compromised immune system is where the issue is. Provided that the dog’s immune system is not compromised, we are of the opinion that there is no reason why their body should not be able to ward off the virus. Should a dog pick up the virus, we believe that owners should investigate why the immune system is perhaps not responding as it should naturally do. We do not feel that this is an issue that can be effectively policed. We encourage all dog owners to be diligent with research and continuing education regarding their dog’s health.
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AuthorHi, my name is Lori and I want to personally welcome you to Making Tracks Dog Hiking Blog. This is where I will begin blogging posts about current adventures in the outback as well as, important topics regarding our furry companion(s), as Making Tracks leaves paw prints all over the web and I hope your heart and mine. Archives
April 2024
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