The videos and descriptions depict the way I work, or how I would suggest the home groomer approach the tasks. It is not necessarily the BEST way, the RIGHT way, or the ONLY way.
The subject in the pictures and videos is "Frosty", a darling senior Bichon whom I groom every four weeks. He was chosen because his is usually very cooperative on the grooming table and his "Dad" was willing to film the process. When we actually got going, Frosty did what many pets do at the grooming salon when the owner is present: he was more interested in trying to get to his Dad than in working with me. What might appear as distress over the grooming is really more the dog's being distracted by the owner's presence. As we continued to work, he settled down.
It was my original intention to edit this video for a C.D., but I have been technically challenged in so doing, and have decided instead to upload the video clips to YouTube and use them here. In exchange for tolerating my imperfect, unedited video work, you get it for free. So don't complain, OK? It is what it is!
IS FLUFF DRYING REALLY NECESSARY?
In a word, YES! Here's the deal: If you don't straighten out and fluff the Bichon coat before trimming, your trimming will be uneven and the coat will be more likely to tangle and form mats. Proper fluff drying is absolutely a key element to a nice result and to prepping the coat for scissoring or using a snap-on comb.
STEP ONE: TOWEL DRY
After bathing, gently remove the excess water by patting with towels. Avoid vigorous rubbing, as that can cause tangling or cause damaging friction to the hair. It's best not to let the pet at home run around and rub on furniture and carpeting, although some air drying is not harmful.
STEP TWO: USING THE HIGH VELOCITY DRYER - Sweep Off Water
We are using the Laube Magnum Dryer.We think it is an excellent choice for home grooming small dogs. Big surprise! We also sell it in the Birdie Shopping Cart, click here to go there.
This small-but-mighty dryer uses a two-nozzle system, with a flat nozzle for sweeping the water from the coat and a round nozzle for fluffing. Here we demonstrate the initial drying with the flat nozzle. Using sweeping strokes, we are moving from top to bottom, front to back.
Continue sweeping until you feel no more spraying of the water. The dog will be about 1/2 dry. Frosty continues to be distracted by his owner. This is a great example of why many pet groomers are reluctant to have owners observe the grooming. It's not so much that the owner's presence changes how the groomer acts, but it changes how the dog acts.
STEP THREE: FLUFFING AND STRAIGHTENING
On the Laube Magnum dryer, we switch to the round nozzle and place it close to the skin, moving much more slowly. We want to make a sort of "starburst" pattern with the hair. This shows that the hair is being straightened by the force of the air. The Laube Magnum dryer has a variable speed switch that enables us to regulate the amount of force applied. On the body and legs of most adult dogs, I use maximum force for maximum straightening of the coat.
STEP FOUR: BRUSHING
When the dog is just about dry, further straightening can be achieved by brushing and stretching the coat with a slicker brush. We use a small slicker brush that can easily be switched from downward to upward strokes to get maximum fluffing of the coat. This brush can be purchased from www.bbird.biz (click here)
After brushing, continue fluff drying until the body and legs are totally dry. Totally, as in completely. Cheating will just compromise your result.
STEP FIVE: THE TAIL
The tail is dried by either turning down the air speed or pulling the nozzle back to allow the air to fan through the tail. This avoids creating what I call "whip mats" in the longer tail hair. Tangles that are whipped into hair by the force of high velocity dryers are almost impossible to undo.
STEP SIX: THE HEAD AND EARS
When drying faces, we turn the power down to a more comfortable level, and carefully cover the ear openings and eyes to avoid blowing into them. We hold each ear, aim the air downward on the outside and outward from the inside of the ear leather.
The top of the head is encouraged to stand up by blowing it from the back forward, and from the front backward.
Notice how we carefully protect the eyes from the blast of the dryer.
STEP SEVEN: COMB & LIFT THE COAT
After the coat is thoroughly dry, no cheating, we comb through and lift the coat, setting it up for the trimming. Notice the difference between combing down and combing to lift in the video. Some groomers call this lifting action "stacking" the coat. I personally choose to comb out mats and tangles at this time, after the bath and working on the clean, dry coat. In this case, Frosty's "mom" had combed him very well before the grooming, so there was practically none left for me to do.
Here's Frosty after bath, fluff dry, and combing:
What a cutie! We love Frosty. And many thanks to his owners for helping us make the pictures and video clips possible.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE GROOMBLOG
Is the GroomBlog helpful to you? We love sharing this information with you, because we remember how hungry for information we were when learning to groom. In fact, maybe that's why I weigh too much today! I'm still hungry for info about grooming. :-) You can support continued writing and sharing by tipping the GroomBlogger, or shopping at the Birdie Shopping Cart. All of the tools and equipment featured in this article are available at www.bbird.biz
Tip the GroomBlogger at Paypal: