Puppy's First Groom

Typically, I like to do a minimal amount of trimming to lessen stress on the puppy and myself. For a drop-coated breed (such as a shih tzu), I would trim between the pads of the paws, clipping longer hair between the toes. Toenails are clipped usually before the bath. The sanitary area is clipped with a #10 blade with the lay of the hair under the tail around the rectum and on the belly, just to the second nipple (for a female), and just over the tip of the penis on a male puppy. The clippers may be used to clip more cleanly around the penis if needed. Sometimes scissors can do a quicker, less stressful job of cleaning this area. After a gentle bathing process, the puppy is hand-dried and fluff combed. To finish the first groom, I use blunt-tipped curved shears (5") to round off the feet and neaten the appearance of the leg. On the face, I usually trim the hair from the inside corners of the eyes with blunt-tipped shears or if the puppy is calm, I may use a #10 blade on my clippers to sweep out just the corners of the eyes. For a puppy with a longer snout/muzzle, I do not shave down the bridge of the nose. The hair at the corners of the eyes is tamed using a few snips with thinning shears. I then comb forward all of the bangs and trim the visor so that the hair will not fall in the eyes of the puppy. If a topknot (bow) is requested, the visor is not trimmed. Excess hair that doesn't fit in the topknot will be left out, and when the hair has grown enough, it will be placed in the topknot bow/barret.

For drop-coated breeds, I prefer to do a 'face, feet, & tail' groom as described above as it generally is less stressful to both puppy and groomer. Also, doing an all-over scissor trim on a shih tzu puppy can have mixed results - and there is no guarantee even the best groomer can finish a haircut on a puppy who doesn't wish to be groomed!

Here is the 'first haircut' for PIPSQUEAK, my 13wk old shih tzu puppy. I have completed the bath and comb-out and did not take pictures of this process. What follows is pictures of the 'haircutting'. I hope you all enjoy!

Pipsqueak - The Newest Addition!

Ahh, the freckled belly of a puppy... It nearly rivals puppy breath as my favourite thing about these little guys.

Pipsqueak is the newest addition to the household... Squibbles isn't too impressed, but they are beginning to get along a little better. This picture was taken around eight weeks of age.

In the coming days (may take a week?), I will try to post detailed grooming details of how I prefer to groom puppies for their first couple of grooming experiences.

Right now, I am grooming mostly Shih Tzu, especially my own two boys, Squibbles & Pipsqueak. I will attempt to give grooming instructions soon.

If there are any requests for what someone would like to see demonstrated/explained, please leave a comment on this site.

Thanks for reading, and happy grooming!

My favourite Golden ever - Max!

Here's a picture e-mailed to me back when I moved to Canada. I was never more sad than the last day I groomed Max. Though all of my clients and their pets are special, Max and his owner, Mark, were extra special. I gave Max his first in-salon bath when he was 3 months old. I will never forget him, and will always treasure this picture that totally personifies this sweet golden....

First Post!

Here I am making a first post!

I hope to keep this blog updated with pictures of grooming, specifically "before and after" pictures of the pets I groom.

This will be to monitor my 'progress' and be available for other groomers as well as pet owners to look on!


Jen