Ears and Anal Glands

As Professional dog groomers we are trained with the skills to look after dogs coats and styling them to their breed standard (or to make the dog most comfortable).

Most groomers will include nail clipping, ear cleaning, ear plucking and expressing the anal glands to this service.  However, are dog groomers really qualified to perform all of these tasks?

It has been said again and again in the last few months and years that plucking ears may in fact cause a lot of irritation and introduce infections into the dogs ears, instead of preventing them and helping the ear to stay clean.  As well as this, expressing anal glands can in fact cause them to rupture if done incorrectly.

Are these jobs best left for a vet?  Do vets like passing these jobs onto groomers?  What if no one wants to look after these sensitive areas any more because they are afraid to interfere?


As a dog grooming business we will continue to look after dogs ears and bums, but only if these procedures do NOT cause any unnecessary discomfort to the dog.  Hair that plucks out of the ear easily will be removed, ears that are not infected and/or inflamed will be cleaned, and if an owner requests their dogs anal glands to be expressed...well then we will oblige...as long as the dog does not show any signs of pain or discomfort.  We are here to primarily look after your dogs coat and that we will continue to do to the best of our ability.  Should any health concerns arise during your pooches grooming session, we will advise you to seek veterinary help as soon as possible!


I'm sure this is an issue that will be vigorously discussed in times to come, but for now, this is where we stand on it

Carolyn Zenker
Muttz For Cutz

Penny's Breakfast Joy

Some education for all of us!

I don't want to go into a big lecture about dogs and children interacting, but it is very sad to hear of accidents happening that could have been prevented.  It is heartbreaking for the whole family!

So here are some helpful tips on how children should and should NOT play with dogs.  And as well as that, some helpful images to recognise fear and anxiety in dogs...some are a lot more subtle than you'd think!

You could print these off and hand them to your kids.  I'm sure they would love to learn the correct way of playing with their furry friend!

Hope this will help and please share your new found knowledge with others!

Carolyn Zenker
Muttz For Cutz

On a lighter note...here are some funny dogs

Why dog's nails can bleed after trimming

When you trim as many nails as a dog groomer does, then seeing a little blood during nail clipping is nothing to be too worried about.  It can happen quite regularly and we know how to handle the situation.

However as a dog owner, it can be quite scary when you see your beloved pooch with blood on it's paws.  Dog's have a small blood vessel called 'quick' in their nails.  If you trim the nails a little bit too short then this will start to bleed.

 This is where the nail is trimmed just in front of the quick.  This is what you would aim for when you are clipping nails.

Here the dog's nails are clipped and the quick is exposed.  This will lead to the nail starting to bleed.  In most cases the dog will hardly feel this.  There are special clotting powders that can be applied to the nail which will stop the bleeding very quickly.

So why is it that the quick can become cut during nail clipping???  Well, when you are with a dog with black nails, it is very hard to estimate exactly where the quick ends.  In dogs with clear nails, it is easy to see the quick and to know exactly where to clip.  Due to this reason, black nails are a lot harder to clip that clear nails and they are usually the ones that end up bleeding.

As well as that, the quick can be shorter and longer in certain dogs.  All we can do is estimate where to cut the nail based on experience.  Most of the time dogs with nails that have been allowed to grow for a while and are very long will in turn have a much longer quick (as in, it goes a lot further down into the nail).  Dogs that have quite short nails also tend to have a shorter quick.

So the next time you experience nail bleeding after your dog's nails have been trimmed, don't be alarmed.  If you are clipping your own dogs nails at home, invest in some clotting powder (like Trimmex) which is readily available in shops.

Why should I groom my short haired dog?

Dog Grooming is often associated with long haired dogs that require regular trimming.  But did you know that your short haired dog will also benefit from regular grooming?  Dogs such as Labradors, Boxers, Jack Russell Terriers, and any other breed with a short coat.

Once again we kept a picture diary of a Beagle that was groomed with us and you will be able to see exactly the work that goes into grooming a short haired dog.

Before the groom: The coat looks dull and is shedding

We start by using specially designed brushes to remove excess hair

 

You can see how much dead hair is removed.  This will keep your house cleaner and the dog will feel a lot better as well.  

The nails are trimmed

The ears are cleaned

A warm shampoo and condition in our hydro-therapy bath

...What's a Hydro-Therapy bath you ask:

With this bathing system we are able to add the shampoo and conditioner straight into the water that flows through the shower.  This gives an extra deep clean to the dogs coat rather than working in the shampoo and conditioner manually.  

This is another specially designed brush that can be used to remove excess dead hair.  We like to use it during the bathing process as it works the shampoo and conditioner deep into the coat.

The dogs coat is dried by hand using a high velocity dryer (no cage drying).  This is another step in removing dead hair.  The shedding hairs simply lift out of the coat and blow away.

You can see how glossy and and clean the coat is after the groom

A clean and shiny dog is what you're left with.

So what does your groomer do?

Have you ever wondered what exactly is involved in a 'Full Groom' (the Muttz For Cutz Treatment!).  Well wonder no more.  We kept a little picture diary of one of our customers grooms.  This is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that the owner requested to have clipped short all over.  This will take anything from 1-2.5 hours and it all depends on the dogs behaviour and what kind of haircut you want your dog to receive.

And this is how your groomer looks after your pooch...

Here we have the dog before the groom.

The coat is given a 'rough clip'.  This is to remove all excess hair before the bath.  This cuts down on drying time and also removes any knots and tangles

The remaining coat is given a thorough brushing

We clip the dogs nails

The hair around the pads of the feet is trimmed.  Sometimes little knots can form between the pads of the feet which can gather dirt and make walking uncomfortable

We clean the ears with our special ear solution

The dog is given a bath in our Hydro-Therapy bath

...What's a Hydro-Therapy bath you ask:

With this bathing system we are able to add the shampoo and conditioner straight into the water that flows through the shower.  This gives an extra deep clean to the dogs coat rather than working in the shampoo and conditioner manually.  

The dog is dried by hand on the grooming table.  No cage drying is used by us!

The dog's coat is clipped again.  This will pick up all the stray hairs that were not clipped during the 'rough clip'.  It gives a lovely and smooth finish to the coat.

Last but not least the finishing touches are applied.  The feet, legs, tail, belly, ears, and face are trimmed according to our clients wishes.  This can take quite a lot of time and skill as you want your dog to look tidy but very natural.

 

And there you have it, a lovely clean  and tidy doggie ready to go back home!

Obviously every groom is an individual experience.  This is just an example of one of our lovely clients.

I hope you enjoyed getting an insight into what a 'Full Groom' is all about!

Carolyn Zenker

Muttz For Cutz