014- Grooming with Leia Georgiadis
This week we're learning from Leia Georgiadis about life as an in-home pet groomer. Leia covers a wide range of topics from getting to know clients to tools of the trade. Whether you're thinking of becoming a groomer, or adding it as a service, you don't want to miss this weeks interview!
Hi! I’m Leia Georgiadis. I am 34 years old and I am born and raised in Columbus Ohio. I married my high school sweetheart and we have two adorable children together. My daughter Elliana is four and my son Maxwell just turned a year old. We have five dogs, a lab/ Pyrenees named Louie, Lola a chihuahua mix, Pedro my chihuahua, and two golden/ border littermates named Dutchess and Delilah. We also have four cats- Niko, Kiki, Ninja and Smushy. I also have a dozen chickens including a white silky rooster named Elton John! I work as a dog walker and housecall groomer for a company called Le Pooch. I have been with them since 2013, my background was previously in veterinary medicine. I am a certified veterinary assistant and have worked in the animal field for 10 years now. I grew up with animals and I love working with animals of all sizes, breeds, and species. My hope is to continue to grow our little mini farm out in the country. I love being outside, doing all things arts and crafts and I am a huge crime junkie! I’m just a busy mom that gets to love on lots of animals every day and enjoy passing the time listening to podcasts! Thank you!
Comfort OVER Vanity
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
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0:16
I'm Collin. And I'm Megan. And this is pet sitter confessional. An open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter.
Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about what you do.
4:33
Okay, well I'm Leah. I'm 34 I've been a job Walker and a household groomer for about seven years. six of those years, a groomer. I am also a certified veterinarian assistant. I live out in the country with my husband and my two small kids.
4:57
I have five dogs or cats. It doesn't chicken.
5:01
Oh my goodness.
5:05
I have a lot of animals and a bunch of fish now.
5:12
I know we're crazy.
5:15
Before being a dog walker and a groomer I was a vet assistant. And I worked as a surgical veterinary assistant as well I local that hospital. And before that I worked at daycare. And then of course I work doing other things waiting for that long time ago. But my kind of entry way into to doing what I'm doing now was through doggy daycare.
5:45
The company I work for now is called the food.
5:50
It's a small woman brand company. I actually stumbled upon the job. You're an old man who worked at the doggie daycare. I worked at She's actually now part owner of the company. So it's nice but I think I've probably besides her and the longest dog walker for them
6:12
Wow. So you've you've had quite a
6:16
history and experience with with dogs dog daycare and caring for them in a lot of different settings.
6:22
Yeah.
6:24
So what's it like being a groomer?
6:26
Um, well I love doing grooming I love learning the new techniques as far as like using my new equipment like getting new scissors or flippers or even really just trying out like new shampoos and things like that. And just getting to see how that improves the groom. And like makes them faster or better, is really satisfying. Like I also to a good blow out it's really satisfying like when you have a dog like a husky or something or, you know, dog that has that under CO and you just It's a blow it all out. It's just such a satisfying feeling.
7:06
It's not easy to clean up, but Sure.
7:09
Very, very satisfying to get all of that just gone and out of there. Wow. That's something I never would have thought of as being as satisfying. But now that you mentioned it, I can imagine that that would be
7:20
it's like, you know, like when people say that all they get satisfaction mowing grass, or, you know, like blowing the leaves off the deck or something. Yeah, it's that same kind of thing when you're blowing out a bunch of hair off a dog.
7:33
Great. So, so you've got grooming and you've got pet sitting and dog walking. How do you balance those two together?
7:42
Well, I like the balance of doing both. I typically have an average of four to five daily walk, and then I supplement that way. grooming appointments in the afternoon, so it works out that I can really do the grooming appointment after the dog walk. So I have time to come home, take care of my kids enjoy some time off. I really left working from the vet clinic, just so that I could work less and earn more, really among other reasons, but it was just, it was just a nice, nice job to me. That gives you some comfort, you know, you enjoy what you're doing. And you can deal with animals on the happy on a happy sense on a good front usually.
8:31
Right, right. Yeah. And it provides you a lot more flexibility with your life when you've got so much other things going on. That's really nice that those two fit fits so well together.
8:43
Yeah, they do. It really is a nice marriage, so to speak, of how that's worked out and that kind of evolution.
8:52
Yeah, so are those. So is that the walking and grooming? Are those a package deal or are they done separately for your clients?
9:00
Well basically we offer grooming as kind of its own separate entity. Like, I will do nail trends and things like that. So my regular dog walk clients, if they don't get them done like regular people, by their own better than their groomer, if I'm not there for them I do that kind of is basically as a courtesy. You know, I just, I spend so much time with dog that, you know, if I noticed that the nails done I do them. For the grooming clients though, like I have quite a few of my regular grooming clients that are separate. I don't dog walk for them. You know, I don't do anything else. I just come to the house then bring the dog or cat.
9:41
Okay. Oh, well, that's really cool that you go to the client's home to do that. They don't even have to bring them to you. So you're kind of a also a traveling groomer in that in that sense as well.
9:51
Yeah, I'm basically the same as like a mobile groomer, but like this, I don't have you know, like a van or something that they come into Trying to kind of eliminate that extra element. And it gives a lot of pets that can be nervous leaving, being outside of the home, a lot more comfort and relaxation, to be able to just get groomed. And then they just go back to doing whatever they were doing before. Right now they can go take a nap or go eat and they don't have to deal with the stress of leaving house.
10:23
Oh, that's, that's really cool. That's really great. I didn't even know I didn't even know that kind of thing existed. So that's really neat to learn about.
10:30
Yeah, there's a small little sector of us for sure. I find out.
10:34
That's cool. So a lot of people tend to think that, oh, they can just, they should do grooming on their own or that's something that can be handled. What are some reasons people should seek out a professional.
10:47
There's there's a few reasons for really having someone who's a professional drummer. The first being that like good tools are expensive. If you want to get good results, you're going to have To have good tool, for example, like if you were to go to the hardware store, and you get a cheap, cheap tool, you know, you might get lucky and it may work for what you need. But if you're going to go to like, you know, I'm going to snap on tool or one of the tools that you get it as a lifetime guarantee. And, you know, they can be maintenance or fix or replace. It's the same kind of idea with scissors and really any of the other grooming tools you get what you pay for. So, really, you know, if you go to the store and pick up a $20 tool, you know, or $5 scissors, how good of a cut Are you going to get? You know if that's one big reason because it does those kind of cost quickly. And you know, unless you have those things then you know, it may not be or you may not get those kind of results that your seen it. The groomer has the groomers pair of scissors that they trimmed your dogs with their probably a $200 pair of scissors oh my goodness, you know, let's high end but that can be for sure. very normal thing for for how much it costs and even like the Clippers, the ones that you use to turn their hair, his face, those can be very expensive. And so I mean that's part of it and you know really is how to use those tools. If they're not using them correctly. You can make them with the Clippers, you can cut them with scissors. You know, like the nails if you have bad nail clippers, or if you're not flipping the nails correctly. I mean, I've trimmed thousands of nails and I kill still occasionally can hit the way because different meals are longer. You know, it's hard to tell, but I have definitely I've seen plenty of guys that have come to me where the owners have tried to cut that out themselves or, you know, and they end up very choppy or, you know, have big spots and they're like, just just helped me. So, that's kind of when I, you know, a lot of the times for me as with a new client, that happens a lot where they are, you know, they're like, yeah, I tried to get a little bit of the math out or, you know, I tried to do their nails but you just fell, right? That's kind of like when I do that. I'm kind of that's when I come in. And, you know, most of my clients to are really, you know, they have that convenience of being able to kind of do what they want. So they don't have to take the pet to the groomer, or have them be home, to have them go out to the van or anything else. A lot of usually the first time I like to see them Talk to them and, you know, have them at least be home, but many of my regular friends leave or you know, aren't even home or at work. And so I can just come in, come out, you know, in and out and doesn't have to leave, the owner doesn't have to pick them up. And that doesn't have to stay somewhere all day and deal with other pet. That's another thing with a lot of animals there. They may not, you know, if their dog aggressive or dog reactive, or if it's a cat. And, you know, obviously a cat not wanting to leave the house and have been a room, you know, where other dogs or other cats event. So it's just that other element that I kind of eliminate. So it's a better experience overall for them. And really, the convenience factor for the owners is another reason why people will seek out this kind of service that we offer.
14:52
Yeah, no, that's really great that you know, it's it's fast. It's it's reliable, it's safe. I think that's a really big thing that you keep pointing out here is that the safety aspect of it too is this being able to have all that experience and know exactly what to do is such a huge part that I'm sure a lot of owners, as you've seen kind of get over their head pretty quick.
15:13
Yeah, we've had a lot of even dog walking clients that go to groomers, and they get kicked off. And you know, things like that, or come homeless please, or, or doggie daycare, things like that. So those things can happen really anywhere. But the nice thing about, like eliminating all of those factors for just having the house come to the house, I'm eliminating I that's why I don't bring my own towels. I have I have them provide the towels so that I'm not bringing any thing that I can't sanitize or clean ahead of time, right so that there's not the cross contamination. No, to keep everything really as safe as possible. My wife, my comments, a You
16:01
know, and that's big and again that's that's something that you know people wouldn't even think of. So that's really neat.
16:08
Yeah, I like to be one step ahead as far as how things are going for even dog walking in, obviously for grooming do yeah.
16:19
So you've mentioned it a little bit already, but could you tell us a little bit more about what kind of grooming you do?
16:26
Okay, so with the house calls I bring, which I kind of touched on a little bit already I bring everything I need. I have all the tools the product with the exception of the towels, I have the owners provide those and really a place for me to groom I typically do like a bathroom or kitchen area. Most smaller pets I usually will bathe in the same or AC and then dogs they usually are really larger than you know, 2025 pounds. They get based in the US a bathtub or a shower, walk in shower, depending on the setup, but I kind of try to groom in a smaller space as far as not super large and wide open, just because it's easier to keep them to stay with me. I don't usually leave Chappelle, most times, they're just kind of sitting with me and I can either like weird like set up in a little corner or in a bathroom. And after they get their bath, I take them out, I blow dry them, I let them get comfortable. I have some dog lay in their dog bed while I blow dry them. So it's just, you know, I really like let them move around. I tend to groom dogs and cats that don't like leave the house. They you know, are can be really highly stressed it like a groomers office or just really any of those kinds of environments that they're not in their home. As well as, like elderly parents are ones with medical conditions. I have A few clients that have congestive heart failure, I have one or two that have a blow dryer and do seizures that are things that can be triggered such as a blow dryer. So with them, I will give them a haircut first, and then give them a bath after and usually do minimal blow drying. And that tends to end on low and you know, the lowest comfortable setting. And I you know, keep it away from their face and things. And so the owners know, you know, they their head may not be dry, but I'm also going to make sure that we're not going to trigger a seizure.
18:40
Yeah, that's, that's kind of more important in that context of don't trash cedar, right?
18:45
Yeah. And with dogs that can be easily triggered with a seizure. It's really important for everything to stay as calm as possible and to not stress them now. So those are the kinds of typical clients that I have. ones that are, you know, special needs elderly medical issues. I mean, I have some that are just young. I also do quite a few pet our puppies in me that are young. I love starting off puppies, when they're babies until they're adults. That way I can get them to kind of get used to the process. And it really kind of shaped them to be good on the table when they're adults.
19:31
Getting them exposed to those kind of behaviors. Yeah, cuz I'm sure a lot of people don't even think that they need to be training a puppy or grooming that's going to happen in a year or more. That doesn't typically don't get connected.
19:46
Yeah. And I mean, I don't do show cracks. I'm not perfect with how I get that I kind of go with the motto of them forever, man at any point the pets too stressed or if it's not continue. I stopped You know, especially with new, newer pet, you know, ones that are established and I've done them several times, you know, I have some that, you know, that would bite me for certain things and, you know, I just know their limits, then you know, and I can say to, you know, open communication with the owner thing, like, Look, this is, you know, this is as far as I'm going to go with them, or, you know, this is as far as it's comfortable going for them. And, you know, they just have to be okay with that because that's, that's as much as they know you can get and I will not jeopardize my myself or the pet. And their safety is just when you come to handling pests, whether it be you're grooming them or you're taking care of you know, really just any care for them whether it's pet sitting dog walking, it's a life and we have to have to see it as like one of the number one concern no matter what all the time
20:59
yeah No absolutely you know safety for for the the pet that you're caring for and safety for yourself as well. And you know in you being in that situation of grooming and pets that are stressed out and might, you know, as you said might bite you over certain things. So knowing the animal and communicating with the owners just you know, that's, that's something that not a lot of people think about especially people going into the pet sitting or Pet Grooming is that communication is so important with everyone around you so that you everybody knows what's going on.
21:35
Sure.
21:37
All of us sounds really hard. So what what kind of training do groomers have and Is it is it necessary that they have a specific kind?
21:48
Well, you know, I think it all depends on what kind of grooming you're doing. First. rumors that want to have dogs that are show dogs or if they want to do creative grooming, They're, you know, dying the dog or doing things like that with color. Those, you know, that's when you really need to be obviously most of those are all of those are going to be certified groomer. There's definitely, I'm sure a lot of training, you know, aspect out there as far as you can go and get certified through a perfect company, or a technical program through like a local community college. There's also room or apprentices where you can work under a groomer and kind of do an apprenticeship just like people would do with a tattoo artist or other apprentice things and then there's like, there's videos, there's demos online. I personally do not have any formal training. Just kind of what I've learned through doing the vet assistant work and veterinary technician tapes. Were bringing my own animals through trial and error. Watching educational videos I've ever attended a couple of them in our life setting as well. But really a lot of it comes with time and experience. Not even the groomers that are freshly trained out of the academy and look back on their rooms Three years later, until Wow, I was really a baby girl. You know, you just learn you learn on different animals. There's also a big group on Facebook, as far as with rumors of all sorts that share their information. And it's been really helpful for me to follow some of those because they have some of the top members in the country that are internationally known. And they're sharing in tidbits of information and things like that. And if you can sit back and really look and watch and listen to what all the greats have to say. It really you can take some of that home with you laughs really, I think a good, good way, you know, to get continuing education, obviously, there's continuing education out there. But a lot of that is being taught by other farmers. So getting in touch with other groomers learning, and really kind of keeping the idea in mind that you're always going to grow. And I look back at grooms that I did three years ago. Oh my goodness. Like some of those who are not like, or like the picture like will always look off if you're back at a picture and you're like, oh, that hair looks out of place or, you know, I missed that looks crooked or something. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. You know, you can always nitpick it at a groom and you know, even myself like sometimes when I'm finishing up a groom, I can sit there and like nitpick at the same area a million times to try to get it just right in my mind. But like, then the owner, you know, they're going to tell you, some people are very neurotic and will You know, want everything to be just so yeah, much as possible. And then others are like, I don't you could have died my dog King and made him a mohawk. I would have loved it. You know, he's clean. Yeah. So it's really kind of funny and some people don't like certain look, and things like that. So it's just as you learn. Yeah.
25:24
Yeah, I know we'll probably have a few people asking what's the name of that Facebook group for groomers?
25:31
There's a few of them. Oh my goodness, there's like for I follow one like house called rumors and that's literally what it is or on Facebook or household rumors. But there's the program or network is one that is just a generic rumor. It's just a fabulous One To Follow. I actually follow you once for hands dripping breathe. I learned how to handle strict dogs like terriers instead There's a few of those. Those terrier people are phenomenal. They know their job. But there are so many out I mean, literally, like, search bar, type it in, you know, rumors. I mean, there's groups for rumors that are rumors or bathers or they play there's only TechSmartt Grameen if you can find yourself some information out there very easily and you just have to look.
26:28
Yeah, yeah, just there's a whole world out there. I'm gonna I'm gonna show some ignorance here. Hand stripping. What is that?
26:38
Sorry to drop that bomb on Yeah,
26:40
no, that's fine.
26:41
No hands stripping is basically a technique of pulling hair. And for terrier, certain breeds, their hair like profession, like if they're having their hair at a day like get your dog show or they're being competing. That kind of they will have their dog hamstring instead of clicked. When you do clicking like, you know, if he's cut down with like, dog clippers, just generic all over let's say for example in Airedale terrier and Airedale their coat eventually will be soft and kind of not as course and his wife Mary, as it will be if you hand strip it gives it a more like how it should be like, that's how their coach should be maintained. Okay? It's a ton of work. It's all done with your hand or with a stripping tool. But it is very
27:46
time.
27:48
It's one of those things where like,
27:52
if you do it wrong, then you're pulling the hair or cutting the hair, and then it's pointless. So it's definitely a lot work and you have to kind of it's a trial and error to figure out what you're doing. But I've had a couple of clients that turned into clients that were grooming clients. And one of them was an Airedale. And so, I've really gotten to learn on him as far as how that works. And it's just really interesting because you can really do hand stripping, but or even carding, which is the same thing that it just pulls the under photo not doing the same thing. But carding can be done on multiple breeds not necessarily like the terrier type hair and I carved my golden retriever a little bit in certain spots just to get this kind of buzz to smooth and little, little tricks and tools you just figure out and use and learn from the great that are people that are you know, the people that have terriers for 25 years Yeah, it's just another way to, you know, learn to be a better groomer and learn to better take care of the pet. Oh, yeah.
29:11
Well, that kind of leads. That sounds very complicated like like really like you can you can try it and then there's a there's a good way and there's a bad way and that line seems very fine with hands. So what kind of common mistakes do people make when they try and groom their their own pets?
29:28
Like I kind of said, I touched on before as far as with people cutting their dogs with scissors trying to get off the mat. I've seen dogs and it's very easy to give them flipper burn or Nicks from a flipper by either, you know, running it too long the blade gets hot, or cutting too close to the skin, clicking nails when they're doing nail trends, and it's really to know how to properly maintain them to I try to educate the clients on what tools they need. That of their pet specific hair coat or another type of breed, whatever their needs be. And as a groomer, I do the groom, but it's important for the client to really keep up on the maintenance. You know, proper brushing is important for them to learn. It's, you know, kind of their responsibility and as a responsibility as a pet owner, to kind of keep keep up in between uncertain things. And that way, the pet is going to have a better quality code, better looking co editor feeling CO and overall just, you know, it's better for their general health, you're going to catch things sooner and quicker. The more often you have your hands on your pet as well. I have them book regularly, so that I feel like really makes a difference with keeping them on a schedule and Making sure that you know I'm they're seeing me regularly keep up on Neil's as well. Having a, you know, a dog or a cat, see me once a year is going to be more likely to resolve I'm just gonna shave down. If it's a matted coat or, you know, basically we have to start fresh at that point. And that's basically either what I have is either like the clients that are booking every six to seven weeks and if they're not on my schedule, they're putting me down to get on my schedule as soon as possible because they know they're like, no, no. I like them nice and fresh and clean and their hair cut nice or it's the shaved down once a year or I have, you know, I couldn't get into the other groomers. They're not, you know, the peptic, whatever, something and it you know, we've got to start from scratch. I do try to ask Key educate them to like, as far as how matting works and how not to cut out math with scissors and what products can help work out certain, you know, tangles, what brushes and combs all that is really the important part to how to not to make those mistakes that can really have them, you know, end up having to call me any way or having to call someone else.
32:27
Yeah, they could be causing more problems for themselves down the line.
32:30
It's like when, you know, a girl, for example, tries to do her own hair. And it turns out an awful color or, you know, it totally doesn't work how you want and then you have to go to the hairstylist anyway. Yeah. And tell you the money you tried to save you end up costing yourself more, because you're having to fix your boobs. Oh, yeah.
32:51
And those are hard to dig out of sometimes.
32:53
Yeah, yeah.
32:56
So I know in the US, you told a little bit story about How some dogs and animals, you know, they get scared and they get nervous. And I think we're all know that some animals are perfectly fine and couldn't care less about being groomed. But then there are those other ones that can be kind of problematic, you know, regardless of what breed they are. Some some, some parents don't like being groomed. So are there Do you have any tips for dealing with those kind of those kind of animals?
33:26
Yeah, um, the big thing is to take your time and obviously sometimes that's not always possible. But really just kind of being able to read their body language is a huge factor and being able to know how you're going to be able to plan of attack as far as how you're going to be able to get done what needs to get done safely. There's really a few hard parts as far as grooming path. There's some typical things that they don't like and that having the blog dryer, getting their nails trend, having their feet mess with or their faces. Those are the typical, like problems or issues that come across. And so taking your time with that, using different tools, there are things out there that can really make those little tasks much easier if you use them. There's like an example. For example, there's a thing called a happy hoodie, that you can use on a dog. It's basically like a towel material. And it's sewn together and like the circle, and they wear it around their key like their ears and their neck. And it kind of is a little tight so that it gives a little bit of pressure but it can keep their ears clean, or basically keep their ears dry. Other getting a bath as well. It can muffle the sound of a blow dryer. Oh, for Katie I've used it on Judy's before and it acts as a calming like we're instead Being scrapping them by the neck. Yeah, that's it just kind of deserve a freeze You know, they're like, I'm not going anywhere. I've had that work and for some teams that does not work. Oh no, but those are like little tools like that I use the happy hoodie. I've had pets that have had calming treats you know, the owner leaves a couple of calming treats for them that can help. I also find that pets be more comfortable on the floor, they like all four feet on the floor. know a lot of dogs that may be dancey or fancy on the table, or on a grooming table like their nails or or, you know, really any other group like grooming their feet. If they're on the floor, they can sit in my lap or I can hold them in my lap and be able to safely restrain them or hold them and be able to trim the nails or trim their feet. And then they can as soon as I'm done They will, you know, I can put them back on the floor and they're done. So it's little things like that, obviously, using a muzzle is another one. That is a tool that can really act as a distraction. It's not necessarily just to keep them from biting me. It's also something that in, give them something else to focus on, so that they can, a lot of those kinds of things lead to like a paralyzed effect, which sometimes the paralyzed effect is works in the groomers favor. You know, moving their hand or pulling their hand away, isn't something you know, it's going to take you a while to hold that foot still to be able to get it done. If you can, you know, hold them in your little dog, you know, for example, you would hold them in your lap, and you can hold their foot enough so that you can hold it steady yourself. Nor normally like in a Grammy shop or something like that. They have access to everything. People, they can pull in someone, just like at a vet clinic or something they would do too. And you can pull a secondary person and to have them help coordinate or nails or things like that. I do sometimes have pets that are home if they have problems with nails or I even do some house calls that are just coming to the house for nails. The owner will hold. I have them hold them a little, you know, I teach them how to hold them, keep me safe, them safe, the dog safe, I can click the nails. The dog, you know, was just telling my mom for 20 seconds. You know? And so those are other things that I think you know due to kind of May I may not necessarily be able to have that access to for them at a groomers show on things like that. So where they can have that quick, easy area and just be in and out. Really Other than that, too, I you know, being able to just learn what can trigger as far as medically, you know, like for the seizure dogs, I know that you know, when you start to blow dry by their face or by their neck or their ears, that's when they you know, may start to get
38:17
the symptoms of like they could trick could trigger a seizure were licking their lip, having kind of like a tip or something like that, though, those are just little things like that where I can stop or you know, just to say to the owner, like we have that communication of knowing like Okay, so I'm not going to be blow drying his head more than you know, just a very little bit because I don't want to trigger a seizure or, you know, things like that, or I will do what's called a dirty clip, and I clip them before they're clean. It's not ideal because you can obviously once the code is clean and base and you've blown, blown out hair, all the extra dead air and things Like that you're going to get a smoother more, you know, even room for a pet that medically should, you know, have the least stress as possible doing that dirty clip giving the bath and then you know kind of touching up afterwards I may take a little bit longer doing that. But again, overall better for the pet you know, comfort of her vanity. Well, those are kinds of the things that you know, well, you you give and take or what will work and mobile for
39:32
sure. Yeah no, I really like that comfort over vanity mindset and mentality especially in the settings of you know, pets that that do have these medical issues and by the way, I never would have thought that the worlds of Veterinary Medicine and grooming would be so intertwined as what you're explaining here.
39:53
Really Are they really are it's very surprising.
39:56
Yeah, so I can I can see how your your years in the veteran Every clinic and has had would set you up to be a for this kind of grooming experience to you know, that's just, that's a very, very interesting connection. And it's something that I never thought of. So it's really, really cool to hear.
40:15
Yeah, it's kind of like they go, they go very hand in hand and I don't think, you know, you can really until, you know, you can see the connection for yourself. It's one of those things where I, I never kind of would have pictured that I would have ended up doing this. Yeah. It really was a very easy transition to do. Sure.
40:41
Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah, thank you. Is there one or two things that you would recommend to a pet owner regarding grooming, and what would that be?
40:53
For most dogs and cats, they needed just a few crucial tools like you know, something to have in our First of all, one thing I would say would be a greyhound calm which that's a type of calm it's just a basic calm it has like a shorter and or like an end that has like the needles closer together and then the others are a little more spread out. But that tends to work with just about every pay air at least for you know being able to tell if there's tangles or coat under cold but other than Greyhound calm, a good brush and a good pair of nail trimmers are obviously having a groomer come to the house they're having their nails trimmed but it's a good idea to have for every dog owner really to have a good pair at home. Having ones that are sharp that are going to cut the nail versus pinch or brush. Those are what can that's what makes the doc hurt me now Can y'all be in pain when they have get their nails done and you know they're not being trimmed properly. I do like Miller's forge for nail trimmers. Those are amazing trimmers, I've had them for years. I've always used them in the vet clinics, they hold up really well. And they're cheap and affordable, which is always nice. Amazon is the place for those nowadays. Yeah, that's my big lifesaver. But other than that, the biggest thing an owner should do as far as grammar, you know, grooming for their pets or really, any pet whether they, their jockeys, no grooming besides Neil trends, is working on husbandry training, which is basically what they need are going to the vet which has to do training for anyone that doesn't know what that is, is basically having your pet be comfortable handled by somebody else. Whether it be Having a being able to be held or restraint or like a blood draw, or having someone touching hold their feet, holding their muzzle, you know, their nose, looking at their teeth, their face, their ears, anything like that, and being able to be comfortable with that I can't groom a dog or a cat that I can't touch their feet or they're not able to touch them with a brush, or comb out their hair or use scissors on them. You know, there's, it's you just can't I you know, for an example I, I have done a job, a couple of jobs, or were, you know, they let me groom them, you know, give them the bath. And then as soon as I heard your hair but or touching my fingers, it's not happening. And so, you know, and that's a horrible for me to have had to walk away with that. Like I hate having to turn someone down but if I feel like that they're not if I can't you know if I can't touch him with a brush They want me to brush them, don't worry if I can't get them in the back if they want to, you know, I may just, you know, this kind of service may not work for them, or they may need to go to the vet and have medication or sedation, you know, depending on what, what, what the issue is. And like I said to that, like I love to work with puppies that are young and haven't been groomed before the acclimation process is just so awesome to see. I've done several dogs now that you know, I've been with them a couple years and some that are still you know, maybe a year old but the acclimation process of you know, getting a fresh new little puppy, you know, 10 1112 weeks old, and grooming them the first time even the first you know, first few times it may be just a bath and their nail or bath and then learning how the blow dryer works or, you know, getting you know, trying to learn how getting their feet are their face, and so It's nice to see like, a couple years in, when you've done that with a dog and now all the sudden, you know, you go to them and they lay in their dog that the whole time and things like that. So those are like, that's when it's really rewarding and you know, I can get it a groom diamond in that short amount of time. You know, they're, they're great. They're what I would call unicorn. Just sit there and let you do whatever and they're just like, I love this. This is cool. And then when we're done, they're like, Okay, well, bye.
45:33
Yeah, just, you know, all those all the hard work that went into that, you know, to get to get to that point and just how rewarding the, in the how long that process is.
45:45
It's really training that. Yeah, it's the groomers do and you know, like I said to it, it starts at home owners, you know what you invest in a dog or a cat, you get back, you know, when you put in a lot of training and Lot of, you know, most of these folks that are looking for services for their pet, they clearly, whether it be pet sitting dog walking through me, they're investing a good amount on their pet because they want their pet to be happy, healthy, balanced, whatever. Yeah. So it goes hand in hand, you know, when you take them to the vet regularly, you have a dog walker calm or they, whatever it may be. It's the investment in your pet and, you know, yes, that those people can be great tools, but it also takes the owners to really investing their time and effort and learning. And those those owners that invest that and do put in the work, just like their groomers. Those are the pets come back from the groomer and it says they're wonderful. I love them. They can come live with me.
46:55
Are you like, my gosh, you're my baby. Yeah, yeah.
47:00
No, that must be really, really sweet and knowing that it's, you know, you as a in the someone in the pet care, industry and community is really a part of just that huge network that is all part of caring for the same animal of you know, you're seeing the pet at one time than the vet seeing it another time and the dog walker seeing it another time and all this this big circle of people who are going in and caring for that animal, but most importantly, as you pointed out, if the owners not on board and if the owners not putting in that work, you know, all of those other people that makes it hard on them whenever the owners not, you know, stepping up.
47:41
Exactly right.
47:44
Well, I can't believe we've made it through this entire conversation without asking a pet groomer, what some of your favorite tools are. So what are some of your favorite tools and products?
47:56
Well, I mentioned before I've dropped that name Miller's Forge. Those are my Nail trimmers that are my go to little tip or suggestion for small dogs or cat I loved the tiny pet lovers that are like used for like animals that and they have a tilted head. There's their head is like a slanted hair. Those ones are the best. Those were great for a little dogs and cats because it can get into those do claws and get underneath the nail really well I love those or they don't usually last as long because I don't get those the Millers forge but I use those ones are like tiny dog and cat are great. But Miller's forge are the they're called the orange handles or the red handled ones. Those are for I like those because they trim off little bits at a time. But the orange one the big orange handle ones are great for vape dogs and like I said they'll last forever. brushes. I do have the crush Christians in line. They're a little bit pricey, but they're worth it and I know like there's one you know some brushes that are like 50 $60 and there's brushes their $20 but I really love all of their brushes and they definitely work. You know, it's like one of like I said earlier, you get what you have a good tools, you get good results, you get faster results, you get better results. Um, and their shampoo line is a favorite of mine too. I really like their shame. The Clippers as far as like cutting their hair. I like the wall. Rivers, I used to have the archives. But basically they're the cordless livers. They're the kind of lower and run of the mill kind of middle range, but they weren't great with a metal clip on You can do different lengths and they're rechargeable. Which I can also use the new virus with like a plugin as well. So that's kind of nice but I like having a clipper that's not loud and heavy and cordless and being able to charge it as like a real bonus. Yeah, I've used those clippers actually since the beginning. And of course it goes back into that medicine. That's when I worked in, in surgeries. My favorite clippers, two clips a surgical clip, like to clipper surgery was the cordless ARCA the wall oros but I've upgraded to the difference now because they've got like a lithium rechargeable battery which is nice not having to replace batteries. Yeah, but those are those clippers are are well worth their money. They're worth their weight in gold. Just don't drop them too high.
50:55
Doc take them or electrical tape.
50:59
I am problem with it burgers but the archives were notorious people would complain you drop one doc and one good time and then they've got tape around them. Oh goodness. Um but like I said to like with the Greyhound calm I feel like you there's no specific brand for those but those are those are go to I feel like everyone just about everyone should have a greyhound calm for their dogs or cats they just they're so easy to use and they get good results for the most part and it's a good you know when you're pulling a come through your dog's hair, just like anyone has long hair is a human. You know when you call me in your hair, you want no tangles, no snags and those are really good to be able to get through to kind of really have a good idea of whether or not there's tangles or math in there. Yeah, I do like a good pair of curved scissors. Those are my favorite pairs. Scissors the ones that I use are a little little shorties that work great. I'm left handed as well so then obviously as a painter things find me for that yeah left handed tools are not common and they're more expensive.
52:15
Oh no.
52:16
I actually learned on right handed scissors first because I can cut with both hands normally but I do tend to like my left handed ones better. And the short shorty pairs and courage bears tend to me my go tues I like I did there earlier too. I love the crush Christians in line or shampoo, show season. And like huge, not like my company I work for.
52:47
Yeah, this one has an s my cut the company or just not.
52:51
And those ones are the pricier kind of shampoos that I like that I barely ever splurge on and you don't use a lot of Those A little goes a long way. Yeah, but those shampoos are like for the dollar, they're worth it. But you know the more affordable ones I really like tropical mean, which you can get those that really like a pet source Esprit. I love dogs. Those are they smell good. They get dogs clean, which that's what I like. I like a good lather good clean. And the show season. quick dry spray for any dog is to get blow dry. It smells great. And it gets them I feel like it isn't to blow dry quicker, you know they get drier faster. And it smells better than like the vinegar water mix that people use which you probably never heard of that but
53:45
ya know,
53:46
it's when you give a bath a lot of people after the you know the shampoo condition. Before they blow dry they'll do like a mixture. An even mixture of vinegar and water and lightly Right over the cold you know kind of rub it in and then it's supposed to help blow dry the coat quicker or help with drip drying it quicker and it does not smell like vinegar afterwards which it does not unless you put way too much Yeah, but it's pretty hard to put a lot but really this show season like quick dry spray that's that's that's like my go to I use that on pretty much every dog I grew wow have to blow dry. That's kind of one of my favorite products for sure.
54:31
I love listening to you just nerd out on all that stuff that is so cool in.
54:40
In a world that is it. You know it's kind of pulling back the curtain a little bit because I never that's not something that that I deal with or I think you know a lot of people even think about is, is that you know your groomer is going to take into end is going to be considered each step of the process and There's going to have preferences about what tools they use because they get better results.
55:07
So that's really cool.
55:09
Yeah, it's interesting, you know, even with like hairdressers, like, a lot of their tool, like their scissors and things can cost quite a bit of money. And occasionally, then they'll get something that they'll say, Oh my gosh, my, you know, Amazon specials that were $17 or the best of the best for this thing or whatever. So, you know, once in a while you can get it, you know, a diamond in the rough, but a lot of that is is you get what you pay for.
55:37
And that's, you know, to have like, Oh, it's just a comb, but, you know, but there's a lot of, you know, that could be a very expensive comb or because, yeah, you know, as you said, you you get what you pay for.
55:47
Yeah, I mean, some of the groomers use like 50. Those great Hong Kong's, yeah, it can go from anywhere from $7 like $65 for a call
55:57
home. Yeah. But you know, if it's gonna work, you know, you got to use the tools that are going to get the job done. So Exactly, yeah. So after seven years and the pet care business and six in grooming, I'm sure you've had your fair share of stories of best or worst clients over the years. So, you know, feel free to share a story or two about that.
56:26
That's happened. Okay. Yeah, I'm sure I could write a book on all that. Yeah, be long.
56:33
But I would say like one that sticks out with being my first regular grooming client, who I had from the very beginning, he had bad hips and was notorious for being nervous groomers or even at the vet. He didn't do well. He would always have to be muzzled and just really try to buy into Just did not like the process at all. When I came to him, I muzzled him for part of the brushing especially like when I was brushing out, Matt. But otherwise, he did pretty good for me. I mean, even from the first first time grooming him, he did much better than what he did for the other people, you know, for his other instances. I don't know if it was just being at home, in his kitchen on the floor, you know, and me not pointing the bus, you know, the blow dryer in his face. And I mean, he would get into the tub for me, I would ask him, No, Tucker getting the top and he jumped in the tub. And is like he was a great dog. You know, but obviously his hips were starting to get bad and so obviously didn't want to jump the top anymore. Sure, but he would try to and you know, he just didn't like being brushed and it hurt to have Matt You know, so a lot of his math if if they couldn't get them calmed out very quickly or easily, I would shake them out and just blend it in the best I could, but you know, kind of just have to work with what his works were and what really just worked for him. I took him on as a client and really, you know, that was kind of like the start of all of it and it was like he had another job with him too. And she did fabulous and I would just only Muslim for those certain parts and then really was like the last few rooms after for me and for years. I didn't have to I didn't Muslim at all for the last couple of rooms, and he was getting sick and he was I you know, his last room that his mom book with me, she was like this. know he's he's not got much left in him and I mean By the end of the groom I was in tears. You know, I said my goodbyes to him like he, we just had that really weird connection on that last groom that it was just like anybody like I, you know, I told you from day one, I wasn't going to hurt you. Yeah, it will be okay. And it's just like me and look how far we've come. So that was really, it was really rewarding. And that was really he was the poster boy for like, what kind of grooming I was doing. And really the kind of basis for all of the grooming, I mean, obviously not every dog is going to be like him where they want to not like certain parts of the game. I mean, I have some dogs that are phenomenal. And like I said, a unicorn as far as grooming. But really, his his owners were sweet too and just wonderful souls and that that obviously factors in immensely to have Not only do we get some great animals that we can work with over the years over a long term period, you get to form bonds with the humans as well. And, you know, when when they lose their pet, like when, when he passed, I mean, I knew how much it broke them and how just devastated they were, and you really feel for them. I mean, I send all the pets that passed away, that are my clients, I send them flowers, just something like that and write them a nice card, or Christmas or, you know, print out a picture of them and give it to them for Christmas in their car or something like that. Just to kind of let them know, you know, I care about their pet and I appreciate their business and I think they're great people. So that's kind of the big thing. As far as like my one, no story that I would share with this Tucker.
1:01:00
really
1:01:02
the basis of how things got started and kind of set the bar for how things were going.
1:01:11
And I know I've said
1:01:13
numerous times I have great set of regulars.
1:01:17
While I love to continue building the grooming, I try to balance myself as much as possible so that I can spend time with my family, my animals
1:01:29
and really just kind of enjoy life a little bit. And it's just finding that balance.
1:01:36
It's kind of a unique role that I'm in being
1:01:41
a dog walker. Yeah. Which I love. Because I love both like
1:01:46
I had people ask me to give up the other and that's
1:01:52
in the future. Right now. I love the aspects of both and have married Very well and
1:02:02
I really like that as far as how that
1:02:06
evolved and how that works.
1:02:09
And I like learning techniques and
1:02:13
how to better my drumming and even taking like this before and after photos like seeing that big transformation sometimes it's hard to see you know when you're physically doing it or even for the owner but if I can show that before picture where you can like barely see their eyes or you know, they look you know, frazzled or whatever, or full of math or they just don't, you know, look clean, whatever, whatever it may be. Yeah, after photo, usually you can see their eyes their eyes are bright, they're happy they're you know, panting or smiling looking. You know, sometimes they're just like looking at me like Lady let me go I'm done being groomed. I love those kind of before and after. can really, you can see the visual of like, Oh my gosh, what a trend. formation that they went through and that makes like all that hard work. very satisfying, very rewarding.
1:03:07
Yeah, not just that that physical transformation too, but as you've mentioned, is kind of the change in their eyes, the change in the attitude, the whole, the whole being change because of the the care and the love that you're giving them during those times of when they're in a safe, trusting and supportive environment, you know, how much you guys can accomplish together? And, really, the results are not just a physical thing. It's it's an entire, it's an inside the handout.
1:03:37
Yeah, I mean, you see, a lot of times like stories of rescue animals that, you know, they get their found on the streets and they're dirty and they're covered in masks and you can see their eyes or their face and, you know, once they get groomed, like panting and happy they can see and, ya know, I hear from owners all the time, they say oh, you can tell they feel so much better after they can It room, after they get a bath, they're running around and happy. Or you know, afterwards a lot of dogs will go take a nap. They're tired, takes a lot out of them. But it's nice that they can have that comfort in their house, you know, or, or even like while I'm doing the grooming, they can go take a nap while giving a try. You know, it's just nice that they can really enjoy the process as much as possible.
1:04:27
Obviously, not every recap
1:04:32
can enjoy it as much as possible, or at least be least uncomfortable. Yeah. And still get clean and get accomplished what they need to have done. Sure.
1:04:45
Yeah. Well, Leah, thank you so much for coming on and taking time out of your busy schedule. Everything. I have learned a ton and I have so much to review and go back How can listeners reach out to you and follow along with your work.
1:05:05
They can follow me on Instagram right now. We have an Instagram for the grooming. Look or, yes, grooming Columbus which LA or LEPOOCH grooming GROMING Columbus which is the OLUMBN Instagram, and then I have a personal account which is loving boss love and then underscore and underscore AWS that's my person. You see lots of kids but you'll see lots of probably chickens and dogs and cats to
1:05:52
everything. No, that's really that's really great. So
1:05:56
yeah my pitch, low pitches the company who I work for and They can follow for dog walking pet sitting stuff on there too, but for the grooming specifically we're
1:06:07
fine me.
1:06:08
Okay. Okay. Well, we again, thank you so much and we really appreciate it.
1:06:14
Thank you very much. I appreciate you letting me like nerd out on all my grooming and
1:06:21
course of course Yeah, you're welcome.
Keywords: grooming, dog, pet, groomer, owners, groom, people, tools, clients, nails, price, nice, animals, hair, scissors, blow dry, hand cut, terrier, pet sitting, pet, sitter, learn
