Search Results for: blog so you want to be a groomer

Grooming: Drying Your Pet

My dog Moose is in need of a bath. He’s the kind of dog who needs a bath every few months to keep dander down and coat grease-free. He’s generally good in the bath; I’m not worried about the bath itself. What I’m worried about is the aftermath: drying off. While the temperatures outside are above freezing at the moment, it’s still cold enough that I don’t want to take him out to potty when he’s wet. And it tends to take him a few hours to air-dry. The way I see it, I’ve got two options: Bathe him at … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: My Personal Best

I did something today that I’d never done before at the cats-only boarding facility. It was a feat of Olympian proportions: I bathed four cats. Not all at the same time, mind you — that would be a recipe for disaster for sure. We’re approaching full capacity at the boarding facility this weekend; as I type this, we have forty-eight guests. (Between Christmas and New Year’s, we hit sixty-five guests.) So it’s not surprising that we have many guests who have signed up for extras — special treats or grooming services. Generally, we try to schedule a bath for at … Continue reading →

Running a Pet Care Business: Chatting with Marlene Richardson, Former Pet Care Professional

Marlene Richardson with her pooch Zeus. Photo provided by Ms. Richardson and used with her permission. Meet Marlene “Marly” Richardson, a neighbor of mine. We met because we both walk our dogs. One day we got to talking about our pets (she has four others in addition to Zeus: Tipsy, a free-roaming house rabbit; Pip the guinea pig; and two doves, Cisco and Cecilia) and our love for animals. Somehow my being a Pets Blogger came up and she mentioned how she’d been a pet sitter. I thought, “How interesting. That’d make a neat blog.” So I asked if she’d … Continue reading →

Pick a Business Type – Then Explore Your Options

When I was thinking about working from home, I really struggled with finding a business that worked for me. In fact, I had a few false starts along the way. Much like when I was in college, everything sounded good to me. One day I could envision myself working as a virtual assistant, the next day as a dog groomer, a few days later I’d consider selling my jewelry online, a week later, I’d think about taking classes to learn how to become a web designer. I knew I wanted to do something different than my former profession, but I … Continue reading →

Developing Cat Allergies in Adulthood

Here’s an even better reason to expose your children to pets at an early age: adults never exposed to them have a higher chance of developing allergies if they get pets. A team from the University Hospital of Verona (in Italy) studied more than 6,000 adults twice in nine years. It found that people who had never lived with cats before, and then adopted them in adulthood, doubled their chances of becoming allergic to the cat. The chances were even higher if the adults had other allergies or asthma. The process of becoming allergic to something when previously you weren’t … Continue reading →

Summer Grooming Tips

Today I saw this picture of a fake cat made out of the fur of the real cat it sat beside. The picture really drove it home, as if the hardwood floors I have all over my house hadn’t already: summer is here, and that means so is grooming season. I hate grooming. It’s always just such a trial in my house. But I’m cheap so I hate paying for it more, and because none of my animals do much more try to walk away a little and guilt me a lot for brushing them, I don’t have a great … Continue reading →

Legal Woes for Maryland Pit Bull Owners

A big headline here in Maryland lately has been an anti-pit-bull decision made by the state’s court of appeals. The case classified pit bulls and other “bully” dogs (meaning any dog with bull lineage) as “dangerous dogs.” This means that they are not included in the “one bite” exemption owners get before they are held liable for their dog’s action. That liability can also extend to anyone with control on the premises, including landlords, veterinarians, kennels/daycares, groomers, etc. The decision prompted widespread protest. Pit owners are worried that they’ll either be evicted, lose their homeowner’s insurance, or be forced to … Continue reading →

First Things First

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Today I learned a very important lesson- the order in which you do chores is very important. For instance, never clean the house before you bathe the dog. I have a little shih tzu, she is just as cute as she can be but she is also a mess. Because she has hair instead of fur it grows, and grows and grows, requiring frequent trips to the groomers. I decided to help out my budget and groom the dog myself. I spent Sunday cleaning the house, I even swept out the garage, I was pretty proud of the way the … Continue reading →

Spending on Pets Skyrockets

Despite our recession (though apparently it’s recovering), some industries are on the rise. One of them, according to BBC News, is the pet industries. That’s right, in a time when pet food banks are growing at Animal Control facilities across the country and some people are still losing/struggling to stay in their homes, Americans are spending more on their pets than ever before. As you might guess, 65% of the overall amount spent is on food and veterinary costs. More people are also buying pet insurance. Maybe this just indicates that more people are looking to own more pets. This … Continue reading →

Toe Horns

The toe horn is not some wacky new instrument… I definitely would NOT want to play one. I saw my first toe horn at the cats-only boarding facility where I work part time. A coworker and I were doing a toenail trim for a guest (it’s often easier with two people!) when we noticed a strange growth on one of the cat’s toe pads. It looked sort of like the toenail had grown into the pad, or like a toenail was growing out of the pad itself. It definitely looked weird, and we left it alone. My coworker asked one … Continue reading →