Dog Grooming Michelle S. Phillips How many people in here own a dog? No one likes a dirty smelly dog am I right? However I’m sure most people have all also had that messy experience of trying to bath a dog at home. Or can at least picture a wet dog running from a tub dripping water everywhere around the house. I've had it happen to me first hand, so I learned the professional process of dog grooming.

Zelda’s Pet Grooming 360 South Grand Avenue Pullman, WA I did my project at Zelda’s Pet Grooming on Grand in Pullman. I started doing my project February 7th and would go on random dates from then until April for three hours after school. As you can see there’s the outside of Zelda’s and in the corner is the owner who was also my mentor for this project. Zelda’s Pet Grooming

Laurie Carson. She is the most experienced groomer at Zelda’s and has been grooming for eight years now. Laurie Carson

Background Why I chose it? Hardly could manage bathing No knowledge Animal career I chose to learn dog grooming as my project, because like I said earlier I can hardly manage bathing my own dog at home, so I wanted to understand how professionals do it properly, with so many dogs in one day. And I had no prior knowledge about it, so it would be a whole new experience. Also I was just very interested, because at the time I had hoped to have a career involving animals one day, but didn’t know specifically doing what. so I thought dog grooming could be a possible option.

Goal Many components- Bathing, nails, facial area Shih Tzu Since there are so many components in grooming, I chose to focus on bathing, nail care, and the facial area. Although I focused on those areas, I still observed and learned the whole process from pulling ear fur to grooming the dog’s backside. By the end of project, my goal was to complete and know all areas of bathing, nails, and trimming the facial area. As you can see I was to complete my goal grooming a Shih Tzu. All breeds and different sizes of dogs are frequently in to be groomed. However Shih Tzus are the most commonly in, so there was almost always one available for me to work with.

The first Step Bathing The first step was bathing. It doesn’t sound like bathing would be a difficult step to learn, but there was definitely more to it than I had expected. Before even getting the dog to the washing station one has to thoroughly brush the dog’s fur. A wet coat of fur sticks to the skin, so you want all the loose hairs off the dog prior to becoming wet. Once the dog has been brushed I put it in type of enlarged sink that is the bathing station. As you can see in the pictures of me bathing a dog. I personally thought it would be simple from there, but each dog has a certain type of shampoo you must use. For example, if the dog was white, I had to mix regular dog shampoo with a whitening type. In some cases certain dogs had prescribed shampoos in cases for dry skin and things of that matter.

Bathing- Part 2 Drying- Towel High Velocity After I had wet the dog, shampooed with the proper product, and rinsed it, the next step was to dry the fur. Right after the dog has been rinsed, I towel dried the dog. When towel drying, one wants to avoid roughly moving the towel, because it would create tangles in the fur. Because of this we use a towel only to get excess water off. The next step is to high velocity dry. That is when a dog is leashed to the grooming table, and air is used to simply blow off the water Kind of like a really focused human hair dryer.

Nails My final step was to learn proper nail care for dogs. Most people cut their dog’s nails to avoid getting scratched, and protect wood floors. however if dog’s nails are left untrimmed it can actually cause health problems for the dog. The nails will curl under and actually start growing into the foot pads. This makes it hard for them to walk and usually gives them sores which can be infected. Because of this you should have your dog’s nails trimmed one to every 2 months. In this picture the dog is having plastic caps glued onto the nails to protect scratches.

How to: Nails A dog's nail consists of a hard outer shell and a soft cuticle in the center consisting of nerve and blood vessel. The cuticle is typically referred to as the "quick" of the nail. If the quick is cut, the nail will bleed and the dog will feel pain.So to be safe I had to cut is 2-3 millimeters from the nail quick. Nails were more difficult than I would have thought, because dogs fear it the first time after The quick is accidently cut.

Trimming the Facial area Since Shih Tzus are a pure breed dog, they have a specific trim pattern to follow. I had to trim down the nose then use scissors to trim under their eyes and around their face following a round face pattern.

Before After

Before After

Struggles/ Learning Stretch •Confidence/My comfort Zone •Uncooperative •Dog Bites There were definitely some struggles throughout my project. The biggest one for me was confidence without a doubt. If one doesn’t present themselve to be confident and in control, the dog can sense it. This results in making the dog very nervous, which then leads to uncooperative behavior. Uncooperative behavior usually means dogs trying to bite you.Which unfortunately happened to me once. The project was without a doubt a learning experience. I didn’t know the first thing about grooming dogs, and couldn’t manage giving my own dog a bath. It was an extreme amount of pressure, because I was working on somebody’s dog who is paying good money for professional results.

Pros helped me to be more confident in actions Career Realization Pros- the obvious one beingI got to be around cute dogs! It was a positive learning experience, helping me to be more confident in my actions. Like I talked about a moment ago with the dogs knowing if you aren't. It also helped me realize I don’t want to go into the field of grooming. Although I would be able to work around animals, I don’t think I could be around that environment day to day, as a career. It is constantly loud with barks, blow dryers, and the sound of buzzing razors. . Lastly, my help bathing dogs was much appreciated, and it was a nice feeling to volunteer. I was helping, while at the same time experiencing personal growth. It definitely made me a better citizen, and student.

Thank You