Grooming my own dogs…. Spoiler: groomers deserve 1000x what they are paid

[jjamieson523]

@motherhen Sure!
So my current favorite YouTuber that I follow for a lot of grooming tutorials and how to’s is https://youtube.com/@LeadingEdgeDogShowAcademy. There is something about the videos she has and how she breaks it down that makes it really easy for me to follow. She was where I learned about using a spray when you’re doing maintenance brushing to cut down on static.

I have used Mane and Tail detangler, The Stuff, and Ice on Ice. All bought from Amazon tho you could figure out the source website if you’d like.

I dream of getting some higher quality clippers with blade sets one day

 

[motherhen]

@jjamieson523 Thank you SO SO SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[minnesota1]

@motherhen Well done. You should be proud.

 

[motherhen]

@minnesota1 Thank you! I am. It feels good to make sure they are comfortable and look good. They were so frolicky after their groom, I know getting the hair off must feel good. (It went from 50s where I live straight to mid 80s over a couple days - so it got really hot for them)

 

[phoenix27]

@motherhen It's nice to finally have a doodle owner understand how hard we work. I had to work on a doodle who kept trying to bite me and the owner snapped on me for taking too long to complete the groom. I wanted to cry. I just feel so unappreciated sometimes.

 

[motherhen]

@phoenix27 I am so sorry you were treated so horrible. Sounds like doodle learned from owner how to act inappropriately with their mouth.
You deserve more respect and I’m sending you mine!

I truly love doodles -especially ones that have been ethically bred and trained, but they have high grooming needs and I wish that was imparted on doodle owners to be. (The breeder we adopted our girls from is very clear with her families - but dang, it isn’t very often that the grooming needs are reviewed so clearly from the get go. Our Bernedoodle, the breeder removed from her first family family, due to abuse and we adopted her from the breeder, so she was a mess when she got her back, and had to be completely shaved down.)

 

[%E2%98%A6marius%E2%98%A6]

@motherhen Doodles are not ethically bred ever.

 

[motherhen]

@%E2%98%A6marius%E2%98%A6 What is ethical breeding? Of any breed or dog? Only the best health specimens, temperament, behavior, and no trauma to the pups. Genetics, training, and only using stable animals without health issues as breeding stock, only breeding a couple litters per female and waiting until the dog is 2 before first breeding.

Never caging the dogs that are being bred - keeping them in stable family homes.

That’s what I’m talking about.

 

[%E2%98%A6marius%E2%98%A6]

@motherhen Breeding mutts isn't ethical breeding. There's a reason we have breeds and breed standards which plays heavily into dog's long term health and well being.

 

[clare100]

@motherhen Also…groomers lung,destroyed backs and joints..bites,scratches,bad scars that ppl suspiciously stare at lol.
It’s a great time
I appreciate your post so much. You did a great job grooming them

 

[motherhen]

@clare100 Oh I forgot about bites!!! And scratches!!! I’m glad I don’t face that in my grooming.
And yea - I’ll stick to my guns, groomers deserve way more respect and financial compensation!!

Ok- I have to ask - what’s groomers lung?!?

 

[clare100]

@motherhen link
I figured it was easier to just send a link explaining groomers lung lol
I probably have it after 23yrs.
I almost died from a dog bite in January 2020. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. I had to keep myself alive with horse poultice to manage the infection while I waited 3 weeks for my dr to come back from vacation because the five visits to the ER were useless. The doctors just sent me home to die because they apparently couldn’t see the severity of it even though it was glaringly obvious.
Dog bites are like Russian roulette.

 

[motherhen]

@clare100 HOLY SHIT. That is insane. Where did the dog bite you and why did the ER not help you?!?!?

 

[clare100]

@motherhen My upper arm. Once the infection got bad-which happened quickly-the pain was indescribable and unlike any other pain I have ever felt. I was out of my mind from it.
I don’t know why they didn’t help. I’m in Canada and our health care system is a joke. Especially where I live. They kept telling me I was fine. My initial trip to the er which was right after it happened..they wiped my arm with betadine and sealed it with steri strips and gave me basic antibiotics. The worst thing you can do is seal a bite.
The second trip, they gave me another prescription for antibiotics and sent me on my way. I kept going to the same hospital because it’s close to myself and I had to bring myself there. The same dr kept saying it was fine when it was clearly significantly worse. My arm was twice the size,flaming red and there was yellowing all around the puncture wound which is not from bruising and is definitely a very bad sign.
When I finally saw my own doctor he lost his damn mind and was yelling at me for not going to the hospital. I said I did go. 5 times he was outraged. His office doesn’t have insurance for surgery and what he did would be considered surgery but he said I have to do this right now!!!
He numbed my arm and cut me open and debrided my entire upper arm right there in his office. Everything had adhered together along with the infection. It was so bad.
I eventually had to go to physio because with everything adhering together even the slightest movement felt like a knife slashing thru my arm. I got ultrasound therapy to break down the infection and scar tissue. Which I didn’t finish because covid lockdown started lol. So it’s still not right.
I truly thought I would die in my sleep and my 11yr old son would find me dead in my bed. I was begging for help and no one would help me. I went to a walk in clinic at one point because I knew the dr was good but he couldn’t even look at it because it was also not covered by his insurance but I asked him to send me for ultrasound and X-ray to make sure I didn’t have an abscess and he did

 

[hodgemorin]

@motherhen I use the blow dryer to get the hair off my face, it works really well. And I wear a mask while working to minimize the hair on my face and the hair I breathe in. I also can't stand hair on my face...

There's also this really fun disease called groomers lung, where groomers get tiny hairs embedded in their lungs. It causes inflammation and respiratory issues, including pneumonia! And what's really cool about it is that there's no cure.

 

[thankfulforchrist]

@motherhen Honestly I do about 6 dogs a day on average and never get hair splinters. I do exfoliate my skin a lot and have a pretty good consistent skincare routine and always attributed it to that but idk if that actually plays a part lol