Hi,

Where do you guys take your babies for grooming?
I've been to a few places, but they always put them in "cages".
Where would u recommend?

Good Afternoon Rainbow,

Are you new to the site? Unfortunately the place I take Ciara to also puts her in cage. Im not sure if there are groomers that does not?

Welcome Rainbow. I hope you will have lots of fun here with us. Maybe you could PM Magda she has a friend that has a parlour and lives in your area.

Hi Magda,

Where do you take your dogs for grooming? I am in the kuilsriver area and make use of a parlour in Brackenfell. I was looking for yorkie groomers and found their details on the internet. Could you perhaps forward contact details of your parlour to me?

all the parlours i have ever been into use cages - Mostly for the safety of the dogs i would presume. imagine if a fight broke out!!!! I gave up on that option and do it myself so that i KNOW my dogs are properly cared for. But i have had experience growing up in clipping our Schnauzers and Maltese so I know how to clip.

I also find that with Taylor being young it took a while to get her used to the clippers and scissors etc and I treat and reward her for good behaviour - im sure someone in a parlour would just MAKE them sit still whether they like it or not.

I took her for her first clip to a parlour and saw a sad looking little Maltese sitting in his cage with the drier just blowing through the grill while he shivered waiting his turn - I was not impressed at all

If I may ask, did you have Taylors hair cut that its so short?

They call it a puppy cut - I have put a picture in my gallery because I can't get it to attach here

her hair is not that short now though. it's like the picture in my Avatar of her and Trigger standing together.

She was just so hot and shaggy and the grooming thing back then was getting out of hand so i clipped her. Im not going to do that with Trigger though!

Oh.....I was just wondering because I also had problems handling Ciara initially and when i took her to the parlour they shaved herbody and left her face long!!!! She looked like a flower or lion with a thin body and mane of hair on her head!! Shame. I was not impressed with them!!!

I have to admit that Taylor's cut was quite tatty. there were long bits all over and her skirt was not even but i didnt mind because i knew she must have been moving around. So that is why I spend time being patient with her and rewarding her when she behaves

the first time i did her clip i just let her get used to the vibrating clippers. And i battle with the ears sometimes because i knicked her once - the tiniest cut ever, you literally couldnt even see the cut it was so tiny but OH MY did it bleed! the vet said the ears are full of tiny capilliaries which bleed terribly. I stopped the bleeding eventually and thought it was fine but then later on she scratched it and her whole head was covered in blood. i thought she had cut her head open and screamed and rushed her to the car to take her to the vet but on closer inspection she was fine. did i ever feel bad after that she was uncertain of having them done and has taken a few clips to realise i WONT hurt her again! The ears take me the longest because i am terrified of ever doing that again!

Ag shame!!!!! Thats why I take Ciara to a parlour for clipping. Otherwise I wash and groom her at home myself. Its just if I notice the ears are a bit long or if her mouth area gets a little long!!!

How do you manage to keep the eye are clean? I clean Ciara's daily with wet cotton wool but it tears again and her hair looks dirty there?

Warm water and cotton wool works great i buy wet wipes for dogs from Dischem for R10 and i use those. I keep the hair around her eyes trimmed 100% to avoid it going in her eyes and tearing.

I have always been told that a dog that can't see properly is more likely to be aggressive because it is afraid. i like hair out of the eyes at all times and was another reason why i clipped her.

Im scared to do that on my own. How o you clip the hairs at her eyes? When she comes from the parlour its all nice and short and clean, but then it grows. She due for a trim soon. maybe this weekend I will take her.

For the tearstains, you can use vaseline after a bath and blowdry - it keeps the hair from rotting and turning brown. There are other products that clean the eye area as well and I've used one of these. In my opinion, they don't really work. They work as well as warm water would.

I cut Cash's hair short around his eyes and I keep June's long since we are growing her coat. But I must tell you, Cash doesn't have nearly as many tear stains as June! Her face always looks dirty. I haven't used Vaseline in a while - I'm going to try that again on June.

I think you can order a product from Wampum to take the stains away. I think it is called Fine Boric Acid powder or something...

By the way, I don't know any groomers that I can recommend. I groom mine on my own - I love the ritual and their pampering time. It's bonding time, so I prefer to do it myself. They get a big, nice treat afterwards and they only get this treat once a week after a bath. They know where the cupboard is!! When they are finished, they run to the cupboard and stand there waiting for their special surprise treat

I love grooming Diji. I have a homemade kit with all these wierd and wonderful products for grooming. It's exactly as you say Marilize our special bonding time that only i enjoy. Im sure Diji enjoys it when it's over... He doesn't like bathing.

I was actually going to write a thread about tear stains so thanks for mentioning it. I just trimmed the long pieces of hair that get clumpy. It was really bothering Diji. I am going to try the vaseline though.

The doggy wipes at our Dischem our like R70. That's not fair. I have two huge weaknesses and they are buying diji things and going to Dischem! I love Dischem. One store with a cure for everything. haha.

As much as I love grooming Diji I don't know if I'd ever trim his whole body myself. The only time I tried cutting hair it was my own and I was 5... Just imagine. There is this place in Pretoria called Le York. They are a parlour that specialize in grooming Yorkies. How old should Diji be to get the most out of going to the parlour do you think? It sounds like a silly question but his hair isn't even that long yet.

This is Le Yorks website if anyone is interested:

http://www.yorkieclub.co.za/

Tinx, they actually need such little trimming when you are growing their coats. I took Cash to the groomer a lot and he has always had short hair - he is just too active for long hair. I am trying to grow it again now. Anyway, I decided to keep June long.

So now they don't require any trimming other than the ears, sanitary, the feet and legs, Cash's eyes and their tummies. I shave the tummies shorter to keep them from matting and to keep them cool in summer. And then it is just the skirt to snip straight.

If you are going for a puppy cut, you can watch some videos on YouTube to learn how to cut him yourself. Or you can try the difficult way - trial and error! That's how I learnt and what I've actually learnt is that the less you cut off, the better. Just small strategic places to keep them looking neat.

I think I've seen that site before - I was so jealous that there isn't a parlour like that here! Not a lot of groomers here are familiar with the standard yorkie cut - you end up with a schnauzer cut!!

Haha. You see Marilize you get the plesasure of living in Cape Town I get to have Le York Yorkie parlour around the corner
From my house.

Thanks Marilise. I will try the vaseline too. I know what you mean, Ciara's face always looks dirty. How do you trim the hair by the eyes?? I put her hair up in a pom-pom, but there are always the shorter peices that causes her eyes to tear. When ahe comes rom the parlour her hair is nice and short and that tear stains are gone. Maybe I should ask them how they do it!!!!

I only use the one parlour in Brackenfell. Its convenient and Ciara knows them already. I only take her once in three months or so. Just to trim her and make her all neat again. I am mush too scared to cut her hair on my own.

Ciara does not like bathing either and always rolls around on the floor when she is done. Then I have to put the pm-pom on again and detangle her. i wonder if the shampoo is making her itch? I tried some baby powder on her once too, but Im scared it might irritate her skin so I sont use it anymore?

I think the rolling has to do with them trying to get back their natural scent. I don't know really, but I mine do it too. I've stopped Cash from doing it - he is very obedient, but June goes crazy because she has to wear an elastic.

To cut the hair in Cash's face, I just trim around his eyes and under his chin. He doesn't get tearstains at all and I don't know if it is because I trim the hair or what. I've always used Vaseline on his face. I don't cut June's hair at all and she has terrible tearstains.

I don't know how to explain to cut the facial hair - I just look at his face and cut away whatever seems to bother him or which I don't like. Usually on the inner corners of his eyes, some hair grows out from the mussle and over the eyes. This gets in front of his eyes and I always cut this away. Because if I don't, you can't see his eyes. To identify the hair I'm talking about, just take the piece of hair that has the majority of the tearstain.

Taylor rubs against my bed after a bath and has rubbed and nice mark along the base that i scrub all the time! i like the vaseline idea. Taylor gets stains but Triggers eyes hardly weep at all.

I have been cutting her hair around her eyes ever since she was 6 weeks old so she is used to it and will NOT move a muscle while i do it. she almost freezes dead still! and i also just shave the hair around the bum and on her tummy and scissor the rest of her to neaten her up. tomorrow is my big grrom day...shame i feel so sorry for her with her heat now and being dirty but the evenings are way to ocold for a bath

Thanks for all the advice. I will try it this weekend and see if Ciara will sit still. Thats another thing :bounce: I never did it before so I dont know how she will react!!!

I will also try the vaseline. Also her mouth gets quite dirty (obviously??), but is there away to keep it clean??