I took Wookie to get groomed for the first time today. It was a little nerve-wracking to leave her with a stranger, but she came highly recommended by our vet, plus she works in the back room of the vet’s office, so she was close to home and to medical care should she have needed it for any reason. The groomer works by appointment only, so she was only there while being groomed and not sitting in a cage before or after which is nice.
Here’s a before photo of my little hot mess.
Here’s after her spa treatment.
The good – She looks so cute! The groomer gave her a bath, removed some mats from her back legs (she had to shave a few spots), removed the hair from inside her ears, trimmed the fur around her paws, shaved her around her private areas, clipped her nails, rounded off the nails with a dremel, cleaned around her eyes, trimmed the fur around her eyes, and brushed her out.
The bad – All total it cost $60.95. The base shampoo is $35, but it was $5 extra for the de-matting, another $5 extra for rounding her nails, plus I purchased a brush for $8, and then I gave the groomer a 15% tip. Ouch! I plan to keep up with her brushing moving forward to drive that price down as I don’t want to be spending too much every 6 weeks. Even though her fur has grown uneven we agreed to leave it alone because the groomer said that fluffy puppy fur is going to disappear in a couple of months anyway and if she trimmed it that would just accelerate the process.
The ugly – Wookie nipped the groomer at least twice when she was brushing her face. I’m not sure if she broke skin or not, but the groomer said she really hates the comb! I know all about that because she goes nutty at home when I bring out the comb, so I need to be better about desensitizing her to it.
Overall I think it was a good first step for her, although the little stinker peed on the carpet twice since getting home. I think them shaving her private area made it feel uncomfortable. She only seems to forget her potty pad training after something big like a vet visit. The last time was when she got her rabies shot.