#shichon

Full Saturday and Marshmallow art. I would die for them and also kill for them.

So...week seven was very unfortunately cut short. Today (thursday) a blizzard started so my dog for the second half of today got cancelled and school got cancelled tomorrow as well. so you’re getting my week seven update a bit early.

Day 31: Moose the shih tzu

So...I yet again was asked per owner’s request to shave a shih tzu all over with a 10 blade. I’m not a very big fan of having to do this to a dog, especially during winter. I’m not really sure why people would choose to own a shih tzu if they want something like this honestly. At the very least Moose seems to pull this look off better than other shih tzus. I will say though he’s a terrible candidate for this sort of haircut because Moose hates his legs and feet touched, and the feet had to be poodled. Also...he just really did not want to get along with me during the groom. I had to muzzle him because his behavior towards me was quite aggressive. I also needed some help because he just really didn’t vibe with me. My instructor said that Moose normally does not act like that. At first I thought that Moose maybe just didn’t like me because sometimes dogs just decide from the get go that they don’t like people. But he was actually quite sweet with me once we were done, so I think maybe he just woke up in a bad mood that day and didn’t want to be groomed. My guess is he didn’t get much sleep the night before.

Lucy the shih tzu.

So day 31 was like double shih tzu day. And yet ANOTHER Lucy. So, Lucy came in with her brother Rex (groomed by my classmate) and right after we got the two of them bathed and brushed and we were about to dry them, my classmate noticed a couple of fleas on Rex’s body. Normally the school would not accept dogs with fleas, but at that point it was too late. Since Rex and Lucy live together, we assumed Lucy probably also had them so they ended up getting a second (super long) bath with flea treatment. I never actually saw any on Lucy, but it was a safety precaution. Unfortunately this ate up quite a bit of time so we had to rush the rest of our grooms. It was a good learning experience though I guess.

Day 32: Jasper the cockapoo

I’m giving you guys the before and after on him so you can see how much was changed. You might remember Jasper from week one. Our school doesn’t really get bichons, but Jasper has similar fur so he’s the dog I learned the bichon head style on. My instructor demonstrated most of the steps to the head on him for me, and then had me do the final step of blending with thinning shears. It’s hard. Bichon heads are like, the hardest type of head to do so it was a little confusing. I think I at least remember the steps though. The rest of the body is me though. Jasper’s a pretty good puppy and behaved better than even some adult dogs I’ve groomed. (He did bite once while I did feet, but he’s a puppy so it’s easy to forgive)

Loki the rat terrier

So rat terriers are very simple grooms. All you do is bathe them, express glands, clean their ears, trim their nails, and card the coat. Loki for the most part was a real piece of cake. He’s a very difficult feet guy though so I had help with the nails since apparently not a single student so far has been able to do his unassisted. Otherwise he’s a great dog to groom! I love carding coats because dogs love it and you really feel like you are bonding when you do it. It was a real joy to see Loki chill out and basically melt into a puddle on the table.

Day 33: Josie the airedale terrier

So, this is my first wire coated dog groom and my first terrier type hair style. This groom was easier than I thought it would be. When my instructor showed me how to do the head, it was way less complicated than our textbook made it out to be. And the body didn’t get clipped at all. Instead most of this groom was carding and hand stripping. However, we used a stripping knife to help do it instead of like, truly plucking the hairs by hand. This is a very long and very tedius process though so one other classmate did this with me to save time and so we can both learn it at once. I like Josie. She’s a very good girl as far of terriers go and one of the prettiest dogs I’ve seen.

Charlie the australian shepard

I have never met a dog who enjoyed taking a bath as much as this dude. He got the big full-blown deshed treatment. He was really into it. Grinning the whole time I raked and brushed his coat out. It must’ve felt good getting rid of his excess loose fur. He had more of it than any other dog I’ve groomed. Charlie must’ve felt lighter. He’s my friend. He’s nice for the most part (except that he isn’t a paw pad guy), and I enjoyed my time with him.

Day 34: Aggie the shichon (shih tzu/bichon mix)

So Aggie is a puppy so he sort of has an excuse for his behavior. But he was not easy. He squirms a ton and he does not hesitate to try to bite. I really tried hard to avoid doing it because he’s so young and I didn’t want him to cement it as what happens during grooming, but he bit me like three times so I was told to put on a muzzle. I had issues with him fighting every little thing I do. My instructor told me my problem is that I am too nice so he thinks he can just walk all over me. So I tried to be more firm. He was still pretty disobedient but at least mellowed out towards the end. I think I’m the proudest of his ears. His were super matted but I still managed to save them and make them look good by undercutting them. I was supposed to get a second dog today but we had to cancel because of weather.

Day 35: cancelled because there is gonna be a fucking big blizzard ☹️