Brushing | The Pet Trimmer

Do You Think This Breeder Sounds Reputable?

July 13th, 2010 by Your-Virtual-Groomer

I’m thinking of getting a girl Maltese for my little boy so that when we are away he has something other than toys to play with. And YES I plan on spaying her. And I found this one breeder who my family has heard of, and even delt with, so I was able to get a good amount of details about. Here is what I know about her… She has 5 males and 3 females that she breeds out of, she also has more, but they are spayed or neutered. When she studs her males, she takes $600 upfront, then when the pups are born decides if she wants one, after determining quality and will give the money back and get a pup. Is that a normal practice? Also, all of her dogs have their own house, she has this huge outdoor shed (that is almost nicer than her house) which is air conditioned, or heated, and the dogs freely go in and out to the sand/gravel/grass lot to play and use the potty. She doesn’t have a job, she’s always on top of the dogs, and her husband is the breadwinner, so she does spend a good amount of time with the dogs. When I went to meet her, she had no quams with me looking at everything, I even asked for shot records of the potetial mother and father of my girl and she was quick to produce them. All of her dogs are beautiful, they have their full coats and are well groomed. The only things I didn’t like were that she doesn’t test for genetic problems, and the vet she sees is her brother, who comes to her house to give shots and such, and that the father of my pup looks a bit smaller than standard, but has all his points. His parents, however are fine. Do you find the vet thing odd? Or is that normal when you have so many dogs to just have the vet come to your house? She also said that after 2 litters she spays her females, and offered to show me proof. She keeps records of everything including the weight of the pups from birth until 3 months, everyday. She won’t let the pups go until 4 months, and they’ll have all their shots and a lifetime health gurantee, where if anything is found to be terminal and not my fault, she will give you back half what you spent on the pup. She sells her males for $900 and females for $1200, unless they don’t have all their points, then they are $700, male or female. I left feeling really comfortable with her. And she said to stop by anytime, which also made me feel comfortable. When I asked my family more about her, they said that typically she won’t breed unless she allready has homes for the pups, and that any pup that is not standard she gets neutered or spayed before she sends them to their new home. They are all AKC. I’m really comfortable with her, just looking for more opinions, what do you think?

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Tags: Breeder, Reputable, Sounds, Think, This

Posted in Brushing 8 Comments

My Cat Is Too Skinny! I Need Him To Gain Weight. (read Inside For More) Help, Please?

July 13th, 2010 by Your-Virtual-Groomer

My cat, who is about three years old, is skinny. I feed him regularly, at regular times, but he’s soooo tiny >__< I want to go to the vet's, but it's just too much damn money. He's so precious to me though!! I want to try adding eggs into his hairball formula (he has dreadful hairball episodes… He grooms himself more than he breathes x__x), but I heard it only works well with dogs.
As far as I'm concerned, he eats two to three times a day. Or three or four… But four is definitely the max. My mom just says he's outside all day, and he runs off all of his calories. But whenever I come home from school, he's just lounging on the porch, grooming himself or sleeping!!
Should I be concerned about internal parasites?
Are eggs and the food mixed together a healthy and safe alternative than his regular hairball formula?
HELP!!

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Tags: Gain, Help, Inside, More, Need, Please, read, Skinny, Weight

Posted in Brushing 8 Comments

Doggy Daycare Do You Bring Your Dogs To One?

July 13th, 2010 by Your-Virtual-Groomer

I always thought doggy daycare would be too expensive but..saw an ad in the newspaper for 1 and checked out the website, it looks so cute, has tunnels and agility for the dogs to play on… it’s $29 for 6 or more hours. The dogs get temperment tested first and theres a webcam you can check up on them, and they have large and small sections, grooming, and holistic care. Is that a good/reasonable price? do you think they need doggy daycare? I walk my puppies 2 hours a day and on weekends i dont work so i bring them to parks and dogparks. They arent really alone often I work at home some days though and take care of my elderly mom so dont pay attention to them. I thought either doggy daycare or agility training classes(which are $150 once a week for 6wks). Theyre Jack russell/beagle and border collie/lab. thanks all.

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Tags: Bring, Daycare, Doggy, dogs, Your

Posted in Brushing 11 Comments

Would You Like Pet Stores Better If…?

July 12th, 2010 by Your-Virtual-Groomer

I know that pet stores (99% of them) get their animals from puppy mills. The rest from greedy BYB… and I do not support that and never will. However i was playing with a gorgeous Mini Schnauzer with an excellent personality today and got to thinking:
If pet stores offered to take (not buy) puppies from families who (were irresponsible enough to) have accidental litters…. and sold them for a low fee would you be more inclined to buy from them? What if the “sellers” were more knowledgeable and truthful about where the pups came from and screened potential homes carefully?
I’m asking this because one pet store in my area has been trying to “turn around”… at least in the knowledge and care department. Their people are more knowledgeable and they don’t just hand the pups over to people – in fact they’ve STOPPED several people from buying dogs based on the little info they got about the home life (family with two high energy children wanted the “cute little Maltese” and the worker said “they need tons of grooming and are fairly delicate, i do not think they would do well with your kids… why not look at a sturdier breed…”)
Just speculating here, but would anyone “like” them better if they made changes? IE no more puppy mills. Maybe if they did adoption days from local shelters (like Petsmart does on weekends?)
I feel horrible about the dogs (which is why i try hard not to go in) and really loved the little schnauzer (would have scooped her up if she came from a reputable breeder.)

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Tags: Better, If..., Like, Stores, Would

Posted in Brushing 15 Comments

Do White Dogs Attract Fleas?

July 12th, 2010 by Your-Virtual-Groomer

I’ve had four dogs…one reddish, one black and neither ever had fleas even though they respectively lived well into their mid-late teens. My two white dogs seem to attract fleas. Both dogs are treated monthly, and regularly groomed. They eat high quality food including supplements.The house and property is professionally treated for fleas. The home is cleaned with a steam vapor mop at high temp. Yet, I am always dealing with fleas. I cannot get completely rid of the fleas. Any suggestions?

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Tags: Attract, dogs, fleas, White

Posted in Brushing 4 Comments

Spring Dog Grooming Tips

April 11th, 2010 by Your-Virtual-Groomer

: Image via Wikipedia

HAPPY SPRING!!

It’s that time of year when we are all coming out of our winter hibernation. Now, with the lowering of our heating systems (in the Northern Hemishere), and the days staying light longer, our pets are gearing up to shed their winter coats.

You will find a vast amount of hair left throughout your house, in your car, on your clothes…and everywhere else you would prefer not to see it. It’s time for your pet’s spring grooming.

Today, let’s consider working on a medium-thick coated breed such as a Labrador Retriever, German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, Border Collie, Golden Retriever or a similar type.

Let’s start with a thorough brushing and deshedding to remove the majority of the loose coat. My favorite tool, by far, is the Furminator. This is a hand held comb-type brush that has very closely spaced teeth and works to quickly and gently remove dead undercoat. Here is a sample of a large size (4″) Furminator.

FURminator deShedding Tool (Large; 4″ Width)

This tool will make short work of the deshedding process and prepare your dog’s coat for his bath. Start brushing out your dogs coat from the legs up. I strongly recommend that you brush gently an inche of coat at a time, starting above the knees, and working up to the dog’s back. Then work from the base of the tail along the dog’s back and sides. Be sure to use a gentle, yet firm hand as you rake out the undercoat. Be careful of the sensitive areas so as not to scratch them.

After you have worked out all the dead undercoat, use a slicker brush to pick up any further stray hair. You should now have quite a pile of dog hair on your floor. At tleast, it’s all in one place this time. Get ready for the next steps in our next post.