Time for a Trim

As you know, we have 2 white maltese dogs named Jasper and Bailey.  When we went to the tip of PEI we walked along the shores in the RED sand and dirt.  By the time we got back to the car, the hair on both Jasper and Bailey legs and feet we more of a rust color than white.  It was then we decided that we better see about getting them a hair cut.

Not knowing the island or where to go to get the boys groomed, we turned to the internet.  We looked up dog groomers in the Summerside area and found a few.  I wanted to take them to a salon that had a picture of a Maltese (I think it belonged to the owner) but Ron wanted to take them to the Animal Hospital … yes they had a groomer at the hospital.  Ron felt that if the hospital would hire them they must be good. 

We went to the hospital but the groomer had left.  There was another employee working there that did grooming at home.  The other girls in the office vouched for her saying that she was really good and they take their dogs to her as well.  When she came out we told her what we had and she said that she could do them.  We set up an appointment for Friday to get them bathed, a hair cut and nails done.

When we dropped off Jasper and Bailey at the groomers, we noticed that she had several photos and ribbons on the wall of her shop.  Apparently she trains and shows cocker spaniels … and is quite good at it according to all the ribbons on the wall.  We felt comfortable leaving the dogs with her until … she told us to come back in an hour and they would both be done!  I said “one hour?? That’s for a bath, hair cut and nails?”  She said “yup … it won’t take me long to do this.”

We left and got a coffee.  We came back in an hour and walked into the shop.  Both the dogs were excited to see us.  Of course Bailey was freaking out and needed to be held.  At first I didn’t know if they had been done but then I saw that their face was trimmed down and they were “a little” thinner.  Both of the boys had a tuffed of hair in the front of the head.  Their legs and feet were still quite furry … something that I really wanted cut short so the hair wouldn’t get muddy from the sand.  Then I noticed her dogs staring at us through the glass door … her dogs were groomed exactly like Jasper and Bailey!

I asked her to take off the tuffed of hair from the front (which looked like a bad Mohawk) and she did so without hesitation.  I asked her if they had been bathed and she said yes but the rusty colored hair that was still on the legs and feet would take longer to fade away.  I still wondered how she could bath both dogs as well as groom them in one hour.

When I went to put them in their baskets to go home, I took a good whiff of Jasper and he smelled like he had been locked up in a kennel.  It did not smell like they had been bathed.  Nor did they have any wet spots on their hair indicating that they had been bathed.  Also the long hair on their ears had clumps of sticky stuff in them that was there when we dropped them off … and was STILL there.  I was really disappointed. 

Upon closer inspection when we got home, we found that there were clumps of long hair on Jasper and Bailey.  I guess she wanted to go so fast that she really didn’t take much care in actually doing an even job.  I have since taken the scissors to them to even things out.  I don’t care who you are … I really do not believe that you can Shampoo, give a hair cut and trim the nails on two dogs in less than an hour!!

Just how do you judge who is a good groomer these days?  I’m sure during our trip we will have to get the boys trimmed up again, but who do I call?  Everyone says they are good, but how do you really know?  Maybe they are good but only with one breed of dog.  I think that was the case with us.  She shows cocker spaniels and the other girl in the office who takes her dog to her, also has a cocker spaniel … so maybe that is what she is good with.  I really don’t think she has had many Maltese cross her table.

Don’t get me wrong, I was disappointed in what I saw.  I was expecting them to be shaved down clean like how we had them in Chilliwack.  I showed her a photo of them right after they had been groomed the last time and she said … no problem.  Unfortunately, she only trimmed them, leaving the hair longer than what was expected.  This means that we will have to get them done again a lot sooner.  We probably won’t be in PEI when it will have to be done again, so where do I go next?  How do we pick a good groomer?  Any ideas??  Please leave a comment and let me know.



How they are groomed in Chilliwack.
Notice how close and tidy the feet are.



Before taking them to the groomer in PEI



After taking them to the groomer in PEI.
Notice the rusty hairy feet.