| Article from the Atlantic City Press Pampering pooch extends beyond regular shampoos |
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By MICHAEL PRITCHARD For Dora Devine of Ventnor, it's pretty simple. She wants her Scottish terrier Megan to look her best. That means regular shampoos, brushings and trims. She just doesn't want to have to actually do it herself. "I just don't think I'd have the patience to do it and I"d be afraid she wouldn't look right," Devine said. "She needs to have a lot of trimming on the face. She has eyebrows and a beard and I'm not sure I could handle it." So every six or seven weeks, Devine takes her dog in for a treatment at The Pet Salon in Margate. For a dog like Megan, it's a grooming Shangri-La. "It's very convenient to take her to them," Devine said. "If you go to the same people they get to know the dog and what you like. For instance, most groomers shave a terrier's tail. I think it looks like a rat tail and I like them to keep it bushy. They know that." Some dog groomers have made a science of combining the things you like with the things your pet needs. Your pets need to be washed regularly, brushed |
and maintained, but that doesn't mean you can't add a little pouf as well. Baubles and bows Most groomers will add a few bows or a decorative bandanna to the pet. The Pet Salon also has perfumes and is about to start carrying a line of T-shirts and costumes for the pets. "These shirts are cut to fit the dog," explained salon owner Chuck Simons. "They're not just regular T-shirts." Other little touches, such as painting a dog's nails -- usually done to poodles -- are out of fashion and unhealthy for the dog anyway, he said. The result can be a dog worthy of a portrait, which The Pet Salon just happens to offer. The shop can take a digital picture of the dog and even transfer it to a coffee mug or a computer mouse pad. Simons said he has already photographed 700 dogs, though he just added the equipment a few months ago. Devine's terrier was one of them. "People want something they can See Pets, Page B2 |
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Page B2 Pets remember the dog by," he said. "People were always telling me they wished they had a professional picture of their dog. All they have is snapshots." This kind of pampering, however, isn't cheap. The full treatment for some breeds can run close to $50. For most people, taking care of a pet's grooming is as simple -- and as cheap -- as plopping them in a bath tub, shaving their hair and clipping their nails. Well, maybe it's not that simple. Carol Quinn, of Egg Harbor Township, has two golden retrievers, Woofus and Barnabas, she regularly takes for grooming. "With two, I end up taking one or the other every month and I am far from rich," Quinn said. "In a way I guess it's sheer laziness. I mean when you try to give a dog a bath in your tub, your bathroom just ends up looking like there's been an explosion". "Once I was cutting their nails and one started bleeding," she said. "Dogs can bleed to death if you cut too far. I just decided I was going to take them to people who knew what they were doing." A good groomer will also take care of the more unpleasant side of pet grooming, like cleaning the animals ears or discharging a dog's anal glands. Many groomers also handle cats, long-hair breeds in particular. Most pets can get by with only two or three visits a year. "We occasionally get people who |
want the nail painting or a special cut," said Diane Yeager, owner of Linwood Animal Grooming. "But that has to be done more often and runs into more money. Most people just want to get what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and spend the least amount of money they can." Simons agreed, but points out that some pet owners are willing to spend a little more to keep the pet the way they like it. "I had one family that had a Shih Tzu and they just loved to keep it in a long coat," he said. "They would bring the dog in every few weeks. Once they were up in New York and they brought the dog to another groomer. He just basically shaved the dog bald. We call it a rat cut. It helps to know the groomer." Simons is also certified by the state Department of Environmental Protection to apply pesticides to control fleas and ticks. His wife Beth is certified as a master groomer by the National Dog Grooming Association of America. Many of their clients receive advice you might otherwise expect from a veterinarian. Quinn credited the couple with helping her cure a skin rash on one of her pets. Her two dogs are healthier and happier she said. "If I was doing it, I would just drag them into the tub and wash them," she said. "I would never do all the extras like cleaning their ears and that. I guess I've turned into the type of person I always made fun of -- You know, at the dog groomer every week. But they have been a great help." |
