Grooming at home?

[MES in Chicago]

I have a Shi Tzu and a Pug. Grooming the pug is a no brainer...he gets a bath every other month, clip nails as needed and he is good to go.

The Shi Tzu is a different story. We keep his hair short and so he needs to be groomed every other month. I have no idea how to clip his hair or anything.

When the boys get up...lazy bums :p, I will post a before picture. We are taking them to get groomed so I will post a picture of that too.

All suggestions and help is appreciated!!!

[silvergrey]

Love your avatar!

I'm not quite sure what your question is, but I posted in this thread (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=21889) about shaving my cats at home. It takes a little getting used to, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. The trimmer set I bought has different-length guards, so you can pick how long you want to leave the hair. HTH.

[MES in Chicago]

silvergrey - Thanks!!! I am nervous about trimming around his face...any suggestions on that? I am going to check out that set next time we are at PetSmart.

Melissa

[Kanga]

I am nervous about trimming around his face...any suggestions on that?

That's not easy - even for the groomers. If your dog is mild mannered and will just let you go about you business, then you shouldn't have any problems, but most dogs don't like anything near their face. In that case, it's easiest if you can put a leash on him and have somebody hold the other end or tie it to something stable, then hold his snout with one hand while you brush/comg it smooth with the other hand, then snip away.

[MES in Chicago]

Luckily Oreo the Shi Tzu is very easy going so I think if DH held him and I cut it would be ok. Thanks!

I thought grooming was today but it is tomorrow. I will post pictures then!

[silvergrey]

I don't groom my cats' faces (they'd probably kill me!), so I don't have any advice for that. The kit I bought comes with scissors, which seems like it would work better. The clippers would probably be difficult to maneuver around the face. Looking foward to pics. :)

[kari]

I don't have to groom my dogs, per se, but I just wanted to give a shout out to the booster bath! It's been a godsend - now if I could just get water to it and be able to bath my boys outside! I don't have a picture to post but you can find them in pet catalogs.

[greenbunny]

www.petedge.com has great professional grade grooming products.

Be very careful grooming cats with scissors. Their skin is extremely thin, and according to several vet techs I've spoken with on pet boards, a lot of skin injuries they see are due to owners slipping with scissors. Grooming clippers are much safer.

[silvergrey]

Be very careful grooming cats with scissors. Their skin is extremely thin, and according to several vet techs I've spoken with on pet boards, a lot of skin injuries they see are due to owners slipping with scissors. Grooming shears are much safer.

I'm evidently not up to date on grooming terms, b/c I have no idea what the difference btwn grooming shears and scissors is. :o But I should clarify that the kit I bought from Petsmart says it comes with shears.

[greenbunny]

:o Oops! That's because I meant to say clippers, not shears. No wonder I had you confused! I meant to use scissors and shears interchangably. A clippers, which has a hidden blade, is safer. Something like this:

http://www.petedge.com/images/us//local/products/family_detail/ad63971.jpg

Sorry for the mistype! I'm going to go back and fix it for future readers.