Jaw Jaw ,
I hope you do delete this topic I think this has gone far enough the insultes to Chatty . She was only making a statement and this had turned into a boxing match a war of words and I for one am tired of reading this . Chatty has been on longer than most of us . I think Chatty was among the first . Enough is enough .

That is my opinion

Thank you to all who visited my site and enjoyed reading The Last Groom, Lets all agree that chatty was just concerned and does not need the whole world of groomers here to defend ourselves. We know we are caring professionals, we have stated our shop policies so lets enjoy the new friends. I am enjoying this site, it is a nice place.

Awwww, Barkus I just read "The Last Groom" oh wow, I could have written that, but it would have been about a dog named Muffy (also a shih tzu) She was a sweet little soul who loved her baths, and I'd run the sprayer on her extra long because it felt so good to her old muscles. That's why one day when she had a sezure in the tub it scared me so badly, she wasn't stressing at all, she as enjoying her bath and it happend. I picked her up and held her tight while rocking her back and forth in my chair and talking to her. I called her mom and asked if I should continue to groom her and she said "It happens all the time now, this is her last Christmas and everyone is coming home so I want it to be a happy one, make her look pretty one last time." I cried off and on the rest of the day, and I still think of her sweet little face.

All, I apologize if you think I was insulting, I wasn't intending to insult at all, just educate. In fact I didn't think the discussion was heated at all, but maybe that's just me. On the internet where you see words and not a face to face conversation, things can be taken out of context very easily. This is a nice board, and thanks for letting us express ourselves. We dog groomers are a passionate group.

My last post was just to try and show the good points of mobile grooming and that not every mobile groomer is bad. The started post was pretty general including the mobile groomer part since it didn't give any specifications just: watch out for those mobile groomers. Later she expanded on it. I think if we are going to help people with these pet issues we need to be specific so we don't get confused and misinform people by mistake. I do think all of us want the best for everyone's pet, including our own. I think we groomers all took the first post to be a generalized post about groomers. We were giving our side because it did look that way. I hope, JawJaw, that Chatty didn't mean it that way. Maybe her intention was just the cage drying but, like you said, it didn't come across that way. And Chatty, about the school license thing: I am not sure if just any school would be good. It is kind of like getting trained. Some trainers may not be the best. If this ever did get to where we all need a license I would hope that it would be similar to other industries. What I mean is I hope every state would have a school or an issuer and that it be approved by whatever it should be approved to. I know I have heard that some schools are a joke (like the one here). I don't know how anyone else feels on that. Personally I wouldn't mind getting licensed, I just don't want to have to drive far away from my family for a lengthy time to do it.

Maybe we can turn this around to really help people with their animals and questions. My fists are not up for any of this post.

Your right, not all schools are good. I remember a post where someone stated that they quit school when the first thing that the instructor taught them was how to hit the dog without the owner seeing it <gasp!!>

I thank everyone for your responses, and I also welcome all the new people to Boomer Women Speak. I hope you will become as addicted to this site as we all have, and please stick around. There are so many topics here to choose from.

The old saying that something good comes out of everything could very well apply here. Scissorart, great suggestion...To turn this around to REALLY help people with their animals and questions. Now your talking!

I want to mention that your sites have tons of pictures of about every breed you can think of so if you ladies want to see some pretty babes after grooming, do visit their websites. What fun!

By the same token, for all the new people on board, you may want to take some time and visit the webpages of different women here. There is a wealth of talent on these boards...And now we have even more!

JJ

I use to work at Petsmart........where did Chatty Lady get the impression that they don't cage dry? They do! Their bathing room and drying room is seperate from the grooming area as is mine. I groom in front of a window like they do. So what! They work on high volume, they aren't necessarily known for high quality results. I own a shop, was trained by accredited groomers and I have never cage dryed. My shop doesn't even own cage dryer equipment. We hand force dry all our dogs and no dog is left unattended. I think it's ridiculous to chastize all groomers that they are incompetent or untrained. That is simply not the case. There are bad doctors, dentists, lawyers, and yes groomers. But for the most part people who get into grooming dogs do it for the love of getting the personal satisfaction of making a scruffy dog look beautiful. The money can be good but it can also be not worth it either. Many of us could tell you how many hours we put in grooming a Giant Schnauzer or a Standard Poodle to get only $75 for the job. Since groomers only receive a % of that fee it becomes a job that's not worth doing. The shop has to make some money to pay the expenses of the shop and supplies. Not all groomers cage dry, frankly I don't see the need to cage dry at all so I don't. And many of us don't either so please refrain from lumping all of us into one negative category as we work hard at what we do, not everybody can do what we do and it takes years to develop the professional skills that make us just that, professionals. And if the public wasn't so demanding in the first place about getting their dog done in an unreasonable amount of time you'd see a lot less accidents occur in the shops. It's when a groomer is pressured to make a deadline and the dog won't cooperate that accidents happen. The customers I love the most are the ones that try to groom at home and realize the process is a lot harder than they thought and suddenly the fee and the time frame given to complete the groom isn't so bad after all.

Debbie,
Thank you for yet another point of view, and for joining BWS. Welcome. We have asked that the tone of this discussion be one to help all in the education of the care and grooming of pets. The post directly above you will explain in better detail.

I think her tone was just fine, and very educational. Thanks Debbie

It was educational CanineDesign and we welcome this type of discussion, absolutely! However, at the same time, specifically calling out Chatty is opening up the floor for the exchange of more heated discussions and I think everyone would benefit more if we moved forward ... not backwards. Don't you?

JJ