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Ear Hair.... To Pluck? or Not To Pluck?

11/17/2013

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Ear Hair….To Pluck or Not to Pluck?…. That is the Question….


Most groomers, myself included, were taught to pluck every last ear hair in a canines ear canal.  We were taught that by doing this we helped prevent ear infections and that it’s an expected part of the grooming procedure.


A few years ago, this thinking started to change….


Many veterinarians are now saying that plucking ear hair not only hurts, but it can cause more problems than it solves.  


The new thinking is that our canine friends ears should still be cleaned.   But instead of plucking the ear canal naked,  the ear hair should be trimmed back with scissors or clippers to allow airflow into and around the ear canal.


For this reason, Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming only removes shedding hair from the ear canal (hair that comes out easily without using a gripping powder or tweezers), cleans your pets ears, and trims the hair in and around the canal back to allow for air circulation.


If you are interested in reading more about this topic, you can click on the links below:


http://groomblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/no-more-ear-hair-plucking.html


http://www.examiner.com/article/ear-hair-plucking-what-is-best


For more information about the benefits of House Call Pet Grooming in the Sarasota County or Manatee County please call Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming 941-301-8543.





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"My Dog is Tangled / Matted, What Can You Do?"

6/18/2013

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Holly, our dog groomer and owner of Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming owns an Old English Sheepdog and a Maltese Poodle Mix.  Both of these kiddos are prone to tangling and matting, and sometimes when she is working hard making our client's dogs look pretty, her own dogs get tangled.  She understands the "I'll brush you tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, oops time to go short or time for a brushing marathon."

While we have solutions to the tangled / matted pet, please keep in mind that it always takes longer to groom a tangled pet than it does to groom a regularly brushed pet.  If your pet needs some special attention in order to look and feel their best, please allow additional time for their cut and style.

Many people believe that when a pet is matted or heavily tangled the only solution is to shave them naked and start over.  While sometimes  this is the case, we like to try a couple of other things first.

Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming offers several options for helping your tangled or matted pet feel and look better.  

The first step to helping your pet look and feel good is bathing them using our recirculating bather.  A recirculating bather is essentially a water pump that allows us to bathe your pet with a shower attachment using shampoo and water already mixed together.  The  shower attachment allows us to apply the shampoo through the tangles or mats to the skin without causing any discomfort.  The benefit of thoroughly washing the tangles is that by removing the dirt from the tangles, it causes the tangles to loosen.

Next we rinse your pet thoroughly with fresh water, removing all the shampoo and dirt from your pets coat.

After rinsing your pet we use the recirculating bather to apply a leave in conditioner.  Using the bather we are able to condition your pets coat through the tangles or mats all the way to the skin.  This final conditioning rinse further loosens the tangles on your pets coat.

De Tangling / De Matting

After bathing your pet, we are then able to tell if detangling is an option.  Most of the time detangling  a pets coat is not viable because the process can cause discomfort to the pet or can take longer than a pet would comfortably tolerate .

 Occasionally, the bath and conditioner will loosen the coat enough that it can be easily brushed out using  a detangling slicker brush and a high velocity dryer (a no heat dryer that dries your pet using fast moving air - very much like a reverse vacuum cleaner).

Trimming to a Fluffy Pet Coat

If your pet is only moderately tangled, we can usually loosen the tangles further with the high velocity dryer, which when used appropriately can literally blow the conditioned tangles far enough away from your pets skin that we can leave a traditional fluffy pet length of over 1/2 inch to 1 inch all over. The fluffy pet length is achieved by using guard combs and scissoring.  Because guard combs do not get hot, we do not have to worry about clipper burn

Wet Shaving

Sometimes even though tangles are loosened by the bathing process, they are still too close to the body to be able to achieve a Fluffy Pet Trim without causing undue discomfort to your pet. Don't worry, we can usually save some length. 

By shaving your pet while wet we can often use a longer blade length and many times can leave up to 1/2 inch of hair. 

The benefits of wet shaving are two-fold.  The first benefit is when we trim the hair while it is wet we are able to leave it longer than if we were to dry the hair first. 

The most important benefit of wet shaving is the water in your pets coat keeps the clipper blades from becoming hot.  Making this a safer solution than shaving your pet before the bath.

Attractive  and safer?  What could be better?

(Besides brushing today instead of tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow....oops)

For more information about the benefits of House Call Pet Grooming in the Sarasota County or Manatee County please call Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming 941-301-8543.


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How does House Call Grooming Work?  Where will you bathe / groom?

5/1/2013

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PictureIndoor and Outdoor dog grooming flexibility. .
One of the really nice things about house call grooming is the flexibility it offers.  

I bring all the equipment I need with me, set up, style your pets to your specifications, clean up after myself, and take  all evidence that I was there with me. The only difference being that there are some lovely looking sweeties to remind you of my visit.

For bathing, I only need a sink, utility sink, bath tub, or even just a secure outdoor area and access to 5 - 10 gallons of water.  Whatever is most convenient for you. I use a recirculating bathing system which allows me to be able to bathe just about any pet just about anywhere there is a drain or outdoors.

Styling can be done in any secure area of your home, yard, or garage.  I only need roughly a 5 x 5 area within 15 feet of one electrical outlet.  I use a clipper vacuum system which eliminates a good deal of the mess associated with grooming and makes it easy to clean up any remaining hairs.

 Sunny Dawn House Call Grooming clients find in home grooming to be convenient and easy for them and their pets.  Many clients use the word fun to describe the service as well.

For more information about the benefits of House Call Pet Grooming in the Sarasota County or Manatee County please call Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming 941-301-8543.


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Shedding – What Can Be Done?

3/19/2013

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Twice a year our double coated dogs and cats shed their seasonal coats all over our home, clothes, and furniture.

My first four legged baby, Bear, was a Labrador Retriever / Chow mix and twice a year she could walk into a room, shake, and change the color of the carpet.  In my life before grooming, my solution to this excess hair was two fold.   I changed my wardrobe to all black during shedding season, hoping the hair wouldn’t show as much. Once I was good and frustrated with the extra Bear Hair rolling around my house like tumbleweeds in a dust storm, I took her to the groomer for a shave down (also called a smoothie).

When I started my grooming career, I learned about de-shedding treatments and I often wondered why no one ever suggested this to me as a pet owner.  I still don’t have an answer to that question.



What is a De-shed and How Long Will it Last?

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A professional De-shed treatment gets rid of the majority of the shedding undercoat. There may be some minor shedding afterwards, but most people find this to be a nominal amount and say it is a great improvement.  De-shed treatments may need to be repeated every 3 –4 weeks during shedding season and can last up to several months if your pets coat has finished “blowing” at the time of the service.

Professional De-shedding starts with a bath using high quality shampoo, followed by a leave in conditioning treatment that loosens shedding undercoat.

The majority of the loose coat is removed during the drying process using a high velocity dryer, a heat free air dryer similar to a vacuum cleaner except that instead of suction the dryer blows air. This removes the majority of loose coat quickly and painlessly from your pet.

After your pet is dry, the remaining loose undercoat is removed using a Furminator tool to gently brush the loose hairs from your pet’s coat.  

I also included ear cleaning, tooth brushing, nail trimming, sanitary trimming, optional gland expression, and a scissor/blending/thinning finish.


What about a Summer Smoothie/Shave Down?  

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For many owners, a shave down, or spring/summer smoothie is the solution.  I find that many Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever owners prefer this option.  

A shave down or smoothie without a de-shed treatment can result in your pet shedding shorter hair, instead of longer hair.  While still an improvement, a quality spring/summer shave down should include a de-shed treatment with the haircut.  

Combining a Sping/Summer shave down with a de-shed treatments minimizes the amount of shedding hair in your home, it also results in shorter less noticeable hair if your pet continues to “blow coat” after the service. Another benefit of combining a de-shed service with a Spring/Summer trim is that the hair can be left longer with a similar benefit.


If My Pet Gets Shaved Down, Will His or Her Coat Grow Back?

With very few veterinary and age related exceptions, your pet’s hair will grow back.  Many people are concerned about destroying their pet’s coat by shaving them down.  What they are noticing is that the hair does not seem to grow back evenly or at the same time.  Guard hairs (over coat) and undercoat grow at different rates at different times.  

This can be dependent on the seasons or the pets own hair growing / shedding cycles.  For this reason, it may take many, many months for a pet’s coat to grow back in like it was prior to the shave down.  

If this is a concern, I recommend a de-shed service, instead of a smoothie.



For more information about the benefits of House Call Pet Grooming in the Sarasota County or Manatee County please call Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming 941-301-8543.
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Wanted #10 Hair Clipper Blade (Sarasota) - Craigslist Post

3/17/2013

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#10 Hair Clipper Blade 

Please Help!!! My Shih Tzu needs Trim.. 
I am searching for a #10 Blade for a pair of Electric Hair Clippers...

Thank you!!
My e-mail reply to the Craigslist poster - good information for anyone grooming their own pet at home:
Hi,

I saw your ad on craigslist and thought I could help,

 Petco at University Parkway sells the #10 clipper blade. I think most PetSupermarkets carry them as well. At both stores they carry the Andis blade, which is also used by professionals and is a good quality clipper blade.

 From the look of your picture you have the A-5 blade size clipper.  

The same length 1/16th of an inch is also available at Sally's Beauty Supply.  Human hair blades cutting lengths are numbered differently at Sally's you would want a #0 blade.

Make sure you take your clippers with you, so you can ensure you are purchasing the correct size.  The Sally's girls are not well versed on grooming equipment vs. beauty equipment. Just get them to let you see if it fits before you buy and keep in mind if you go to Sally's you want the #0.

You can get your existing blade re-sharpened. Call any grooming shop, ask who they use for sharpening and get the sharpeners phone number.

I am a groomer and ship my blades out to Jeff at Northern Tails Grooming for sharpening.  He also has a great website with information on clippers, clipper blades, and maintenance of both.  As a home groomer you will probably find this information very  helpful. http://www.northerntails.com/bladeclipperarticles.html

One last option is you can always order you new blade online.  I like Groomers Choice for two reasons.  The first is their staff is very knowledgeable and helpful especially for folks that need assistance with purchasing decisions  The second is that they have a warehouse in Tampa, so if you like to do business in person (I do) it makes it easy and personal. Their website address is; http://www.groomerschoice.com/  and their phone number is 1-888-364-6242.

Before I started grooming professionally, I was in the same situation as yourself.  I had a dull 10 blade that wouldn't cut and had no idea how or where to get another one or how or where to get the one I had sharpened.  I hope this helps.

If you need any advice or suggestions, please feel free to give me a call.  My phone number is 941-301-8543 and my name is Holly.  Wishing you the best of luck.

Sincerely,

Holly
Owner/Groomer
Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming
941-301-8543
www.sunnydawnpetgrooming.com
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Let's Talk About Fleas

2/26/2013

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Florida is flea friendly and we have them 365 days a year - 366 on a leap year.

When my family moved to Florida 25 years ago. Frontline had not been invented yet and we were pretty much on our own.  We quickly learned that flea collars don’t work.  Back then, nothing worked for long.  The solution was more flea management than eradication.  We bathed our dog once a week, bombed the house with flea bombs once a month, and put so much borax in the carpet that it was still there when we replaced it way too many years later.

When Frontline came out in 1993, it felt like a miracle.  Finally, our pets went from hosts to some of the itchiest parasites around, to walking, barking, flea killing fur covered companions.  

Fast forward to 2013.... Fleas seem to be developing a resistance to Frontline and other topical flea preventatives.

Comfortis and it’s cousin Triflexis, that has heartworm preventative in it as well, have come out as oral (chew-able pill) alternatives and seem to work extremely well.  I use Triflexis on my own dogs and have had amazing results.  Purchasing six months of preventative at a time can feel cost prohibitive, but the monthly cost break down, in my opinion, makes the product very affordable.

What about Flea Baths and Why don’t you charge extra for them?

Flea baths only get rid of the fleas on your pet at the time of the bath.  A flea bath does not protect your pet from fleas in your home, your yard, or anywhere else your pet may go.

In my experience the best flea shampoo is *groomer secret* - regular Dawn and water pre-mixed.  I use this on pets that we know have a flea infestation. The shampoo mix is applied directly to the pet and lathered prior to any water touching the pet.  Using this technique the fleas are unable to use a protective oil bubble around themselves for protection, and the fleas drown almost instantly and rinse right out and down the drain.  I then use either a moisturizing shampoo or conditioner to finish the bath.

Most Florida Pets, even if they are on the best flea preventatives, pick up a flea or two by simply being outside.  It sometimes takes a bit for a fresh flea to succumb to whatever preventative their owner is using.  For this reason, I bathe all pets using the flea killing technique described above (pre-mix the shampoo and lather, prior to applying water to the pet) using my regular professional high quality shampoos.  If there are any extra “guests” on the pet, by lathering first, this will usually get rid of the few that may have been picked up outside..

Because  I bathe pets using the same technique whether they have fleas or not and the best shampoo for a flea infestation is found in most peoples kitchens, I don’t charge extra for this service.


For more information about the benefits of House Call Pet Grooming in the Sarasota County or Manatee County please call Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming 941-301-8543.

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Reasons for Pet Grooming

2/15/2013

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If you were to ask me why I groom my pets, I would tell you so they look good and smell good.  I would also tell you that I don't want to sleep with dirty dogs.

As a groomer, I notice quickly when one of my guys starts to look a bit raggedy.  Sometimes, though, just like the cobblers kids needing new shoes, I've let them slide a bit.

For many owners the reasons are the same as mine or they could be for the health and hygiene of our beloved pets.  

Wikipedia has a concise and I think thorough list of reasons for grooming your pet:

Reasons for grooming

Grooming is an important part of dog care. Depending on the breed, age, and health of the dog, grooming may be a daily activity. Many breeds require significantly less grooming than this, but regular grooming helps to ensure the dog is healthy and comfortable. It is important to note that while many dogs shed, others (such as thePoodle), do not shed (see Moult) as profusely, and require grooming by a professional every 6–8 weeks maximum.

The main reasons for daily grooming include:

  • decreased chance of various health problems, such as thrush, scratches, and other skin problems
  • general cleanliness of the dog
  • monitoring of the dog's health by checking for cuts, heat, swelling, lameness, or changes in temperament, all of which could be indicative of illness
  • forging of a closer bond between dog and owner
  • reducing infestation load of external parasites on skin


For more information about the benefits of House Call Pet Grooming in the Sarasota County or Manatee County please call Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming 941-301-8543.



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Why House Call (In Home) Grooming?

2/15/2013

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Holly's has worked with several area grooming salons. In each salon she says the pets were treated exceptionally well and seemed to enjoy their visit..  

Frequently Holly saw that leaving pets at the groomers worried concerned pet owners.  She was already offering in home house call service to close friends and family and thought that other pet owners might want another option too.  

In January 2013, Holly opened Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming so that area pet owners could also enjoy the benefits of in home house call grooming.  

House call pet grooming is when a professional groomer bathes and styles your pet in the comfort of your home. Owners are welcome to participate as much or as little as they wish.  Pet owners can take comfort in knowing that their pet is getting the groomers full attention from bath to bows. There are no closed doors, no cages, no mysterious back of the grooming salon or enclosed mobile grooming van, no waiting, and no stress.

Holly says that the best benefit to grooming pets in their own home is  how comfortable and relaxed they are in their own environment.


How does house call pet grooming work?

Holly, our groomer, will arrive promptly at your home for your pet’s appointment.  She will bring all the tools and supplies she needs with her. She will set up, bathe, hand dry, brush, and groom your pet to your specifications. Holly then cleans up, packs up, and heads on to her next appointment.  

What do we need from pet owners?

We need a sink, utility sink, bath tub, or out door area with a hose to wash your pet and one electrical outlet.

For more information about the benefits of House Call Pet Grooming in the Sarasota County or Manatee County please call Sunny Dawn House Call Pet Grooming 941-301-8543.









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    Holly Hill

    Holly is an In Home Mobile House Call Pet Groomer, Dog Groomer, Cat Groomer and Canine Colorist serving Sarasota County and Manatee County, Florida.

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