Dog Grooming — PawSteps

Coat types

Four of the breeds here were on the original costing list: Labradoodle, Great Dane, Akita and standard Poodle.

Coat	What it is
Smooth	Short, flat, close to the skin. Sheds constantly.
Double	Soft dense undercoat under a coarser topcoat. Blows out twice a year.
Silky	Long, fine, straight. Feathering on ears, legs and tail.
Curly / wool	Dense curls, sheds very little, mats readily.
Wire	Harsh, bristly topcoat. Traditionally hand stripped, not clipped.

Work out the coat type

Labradoodle

Standard Poodle

Great Dane

Akita

Cocker Spaniel

Shih Tzu

Border Collie

Bichon Frise

Wire Fox Terrier

Pug

Price the groom

Extension task from the original: identify grooming extras you could offer and add them to your cost.

Breed

Your hourly rate (£)

Condition of the coat

Time you have allowed (hours)

Extras you could offer

Bad practice: what you will actually see

The original showed photographs of three things. They are not rare, and you will meet all of them.

Severe matting

A coat left long enough that the mats join up into a solid layer against the skin.

What are the health implications?

What a groomer would say

Mats pull constantly at the skin, which is painful every time the animal moves. They trap moisture and urine against the skin, so you get sores, infection and fly strike. They cut off air to the skin and hide what is underneath — lumps, wounds, parasites, and in cats, whole areas of skin that have died. Circulation to ears and tail tips can be restricted. And the animal cannot groom itself, cannot regulate its temperature properly, and often cannot toilet cleanly.

Overgrown claws curling into the pad

What are the health implications?

What a groomer would say

The claw grows round and back into the pad, and then keeps growing into the flesh. It is an open, infected puncture wound that the animal walks on. Before that point, long claws change how the foot lands, which twists the toes, strains the joints and causes lasting posture and gait problems. The quick grows longer with the claw too, so you cannot fix it in one go — it takes repeated small trims over weeks.

Pelting

Where the matting has become one continuous felted layer, and the whole coat comes off in a single piece like a jacket.

What does the state of the skin underneath tell you?

What a groomer would say

It tells you how long it has been. The skin under a pelt is usually thin, red, sometimes ulcerated, and it can tear as the pelt lifts — which is why this is careful work with a clipper underneath the pelt, never scissors. It also tells you the animal has been in pain for months. A pelted animal is often a welfare case, and the conversation with the owner afterwards is part of the job.

Dyeing and creative grooming

Consider why people do this. Is it fair to the animal?

The original showed cats dyed blue, green, yellow, tiger-striped and Pikachu-patterned, and asked two questions. They are good questions, so they are asked here properly rather than answered for you.

First: why do people do it?

Tick everything you think is a real motivation. There is no correct set.

They think it looks goodTo get attention onlineCompetition and showingTo make the animal look like something elseIt is a business — people pay for itThey believe the animal enjoys the attentionThey have not thought about it at all

Add your own

Now: what actually happens to the animal?

Before you answer whether it is fair, work out what the animal experiences. Take each of these seriously.

Time restrained. A full dye is not five minutes. How long is the animal held still, and by what?
The product. What is in it, and what happens if it is absorbed through the skin?
Cats groom themselves. Whatever goes on the coat goes into the mouth. What then?
Heat and drying. Long dryer time on a stressed animal.
Permanence. The animal cannot ask for it to be taken off, and it stays for weeks.
Who benefits? Name them honestly. Is the animal on that list?

Working through those, what does the animal get out of it?

Your answer

Is it fair to the animal?

No, neverOnly sometimesYes, if done safelyI have changed my mind while doing this