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Post by mollyandsnow on Jul 31, 2013 16:04:33 GMT
Hello Everyone. I have just joined the Forum and I am hoping someone out there is going to be able to help me. I have two Westies - Molly is 4yrs and Snow is 3 1/2 yrs. The cost of professionally grooming has gone sky high and so I am trying to groom them myself!! with some difficulty. Any advice would be gratefully received.
MollyAndSnow
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Post by BorderTerrier on Jul 31, 2013 17:46:14 GMT
Hi and welcome to the forum  I just laughed out loud because when I read the word 'Snow' in your post as the name of one of your dogs, an advert at the top of the page came up showing snowy hills and snow falling!  I must be simple minded. Have you invested in a grooming course? If you could tell us what else you have done to try and help your problem yourself that would be helpful so we don't mention anything you've already done. |
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Post by charlottte on Jul 31, 2013 19:17:54 GMT
Hi and welcome to the forum! I'm training to be a groomer and work in a salon 4 days a week. Not to put you off but it's difficult to groom westies! If you don't mind me asking, what area of the country are you in and how much do you pay per dog? I'm in the north east (Durham) and we charge £26 for a westie. Also, is there any animal colleges that are near you? If so do they run grooming courses? They usually offer free grooms as students groom them for experience. Might not be as good as from an experienced groomer but it'll be cheaper I'd look at a City and Guilds course. The level 1 is just bath/dry/trimming eyes and feet. The level 2 would start on clipper work. |
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Post by tonib on Jul 31, 2013 21:30:39 GMT
Welcome to the forum, hope you can enjoy it here.
As a cat owner I can't give any real advice other than what has already been said about possibly seeing if any training courses need models or attending the courses yourself.
Good luck
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Post by mollyandsnow on Aug 2, 2013 19:35:02 GMT
Hi Charlotte and All - Thank you for your replies. We live in Dorset and our local Grooming parlors charge anything between £30 and £37 per animal, so you can see with two dogs, every 8 weeks or so, it is far too expensive with vets bills etc as well. I have tried electric clippers but get very mixed results. Sometimes it cuts the hair and sometimes not. I have resorted to hand cutting, but there again, having mixed results. I wonder if it just keep persevering until I "get it"!!!! You have seen that "specSavers" ad. when the sheep shearer gets the dog and the sheep mixed up? That's the result I sometimes get!! I think the trick is to "thin" the hair out before you try and cut? What do you think Charlotte?
MollyAndSnow.
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toby1
Settling in well!
Posts: 59 
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Post by toby1 on Aug 3, 2013 4:14:08 GMT
We thought the same regarding our Shih tzu, so i bought some clippers and just had a go lol. not quite as good as the groomer did but i dont mind, we're not clipping him for the show ring.
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Post by charlottte on Aug 3, 2013 6:03:07 GMT
Wow that is steep! I knew it was expensive near London (a customer of ours apparently paid up to £70 for her dog's groom, we charge £30!). Some of our customers with two dogs also get her dogs done at different times. So one month they'll get one done, the next month they'll get the other done. One always looks neater than the other but they find it easier to spread the cost. What sort of clippers do you use? Dog clippers and blades are different to hairdressing clippers and blades. In hairdressing the lower the blade number, the shorter the cut. In grooming the lower the number, the longer the cut (just to make it confusing lol!). The average for a westie is a 5 or 7 blade. A good blade should cut the hair as long as it isn't matted When clipping a coat it is important that it is clean and bone dry or else it will usually be uneven (and may damage the blades). I'm not sure if you wash/dry your two before hand? When clipping the coat, only ever clip the way the coat lies. If you clip against the growth. Your blade will be double the shortness (so a 5 would be a 10 - which is short). I'm not sure if you clip them all off or want to leave them with longer legs and skirt with a westie head (that's where it gets more complicated lol). There are various grooming books available that go through it all. Notes From the Grooming Table, Theory of Five, Grooming Manual for the Dog and Cat to name a few. I think Orpheous on here did a distance course as well and clips her Spriger off regularly. I can't remember who she said she did it through though. Grooming courses can be expensive but it could be worth having a look into them as it would show you all the correct clipping lines and techniques used to restrain and groom your dog. Plus it will save you loads in the future. I groom my Poodle and if I got him done by someone else is be looking between £30-£40 every 6 weeks so I'm saving A LOT. A lot of it is just practise, but having someone to show you how to do it is invaluable. I know it took me a while to grasp westie grooming! Good luck and I'm happy to help more if I can Another member named TillyTubbie is also a groomer so she may be along soon |
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Post by orpheous87 on Aug 3, 2013 16:17:19 GMT
I did do a course charlottte It was through ICS. I actually did it without getting any practical experience , which is probably not ideal! The course does say that you should get some experience by asking at a local grooming place if you can volunteer or something but I found it difficult to do that since I work full time. Last time I took Pepper to an actual groomer, I stayed and watched how she did it so I know (roughly) the best way to clip her myself. I have actually just clipped Pepper today. It's the 3rd time I've done her and I think that I've done a better job this time - apart from forgetting that the hair on her chest grows in different directions so she's a tiny bit bald there! It'll soon grow back. Another plus point of the course that I did is that I got a grooming kit - bag, clippers, curved scissors, thinning scissors, brush, comb, nail clipper and some shampoo so I didn't have to fork out separately for any clippers. I am, however, going to have to get some more blades as the set only came with one blade which is an 8.5 Wahl competition series blade. |
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Post by charlottte on Aug 3, 2013 18:43:23 GMT
I thought you had! Not bad getting all the kit though! I had to buy all mine separate (not cheap!) And the photos look like you've done a good job of Pepper  I made that mistake with a customers dog at work. I didn't know his chest grew the different way. However it had tats all over the chest so the hair had to come of anyway  |
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Post by orpheous87 on Aug 3, 2013 22:05:02 GMT
No, I'm glad I didn't have to go out and buy everything after doing it because I probably wouldn't have been able to afford to!
At least no real harm was done then. Poor dog. I hit one tat under Pepper's front leg, so I took that out with the matt splitter rather than try and dig the clippers under it there. Her belly is a bit short too, but I know it'll start growing back fairly soon.
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tillytubbie
Established member
YOURDOG Member Since: Sunday, 16 March 2008
Posts: 152
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Post by tillytubbie on Aug 8, 2013 22:22:52 GMT
Hi mollyandsnow Firstly I would say you would definitely benefit from purchasing some pet clippers which allow you to change the blade. You can't do a good job if you don't have the right tools! Westies are fairly straight forward to clip. Start with the back and work your way down to the skirt/elbow/top of thigh area. You then blend the skirt in with scissors. Watch a lot of videos on Youtube - they will give you a basic idea! Most pet Westies are clipped on a #5 blade Here are some videos that show you what to do. Practice makes perfect!! |
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tillytubbie
Established member
YOURDOG Member Since: Sunday, 16 March 2008
Posts: 152
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Post by tillytubbie on Aug 8, 2013 22:25:15 GMT
Oh and also remember .... you can't get a good groom if the dog isn't prepped properly first. Meaning they should have a good bath, be completely dry and be brushed out so that they are totally free of matts, tangles or knots. Good Luck!
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I made that mistake with a customers dog at work. I didn't know his chest grew the different way. However it had tats all over the chest so the hair had to come of anyway 
