# Having my golden professionally groomed - first time



## RSB1982 (Jul 13, 2015)

Oops, that pic should be rotated.


----------



## Moonbridge (Aug 26, 2014)

Hi there,

I would make sure you stress multiple times that he is not to have ANYTHING shaved, and NOT to have clippers used on his coat anywhere. Professional groomers are fantastic, groomers that understand each breed are wonderful. Sadly there are just a lot of "ok" groomers out there.

Personally if you've done bathing/brushing at home, I'm not sure why a trip to the groomers is necessary. If you have all the right tools, it isn't so hard to tidy up ears and paws. My puppy is still a bit squirmy but I just need someone to help hold for his ears and off we go. Daily grooming goes along way to keeping things neat and tidy.

My vet also offered to help trim up his ears anytime I'm in the area for no charge to keep his ears healthy underneath. Perhaps you can ask your vet next time you are in.

All the best on Tuesday!!! Make sure to take a before and after!!


----------



## RSB1982 (Jul 13, 2015)

I guess I'm just nervous to cut anything myself. I'm mostly afraid my trim job will look really amateur and I want him to look nice when we take him home for Thanksgiving . I've only used scissors on him once (around the paws). And these were not professional grooming scissors, just some that I keep in the kitchen that are reasonably sharp. I would definitely need new scissors if I were going to do it myself. And to watch a professional do it at least once would be really helpful so I had an idea of what to cut and how much. 

I will for sure request no clippers or shaving anything. If I don't get a good feel when I drop him off, I may just have them bathe him and forgo the cut.


----------



## jpinks (Sep 7, 2015)

If you have a local Golden Club they might point you to a good golden person for grooming. All dog breeds need different things done in there care even grooming . We are lucky as our local groomer showed dogs including goldens for years and she knows what not to do to one.  If your that worried just get the bath, I like a little shaggy on these dogs for looks. But for now I am enjoying my little fuzzy monster


----------



## Harleysmum (Aug 19, 2014)

Your dog's coat looks fabulous to me. Are you sure he needs to be trimmed?


----------



## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

He looks lovely, I would just take him so that he gets used to it and ask them to tidy his paws, nails, ears and a slight tail trim. Nothing more and again as someones mentioned, no shaving, no clipping ... and no shortening. Once a groomer 'trimmed' the back of the neck of my first Golden and it never grew back the same again, it curled and looked rougher than before.  The front of the neck and chest and shoulders can be thinned if needed but ensure they aren't edge cut. Right now though I don't thnk its needed, he looks great. Just tail, feet, nails and ears and a jolly good comb through and he will be fabulous.


----------



## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

I would be terrified to take that lovely dog to a pet groomer. 
'tidy up around the rear' might translate to a 'sanitary groom' which you do not want.
I would be willing to bet you could take some thinners and follow the morningsage tutorial (ask if you need link) and some straight shears and do his feet. So easy. And no danger he will lose all that darling he has going for him (even sideways!).


----------



## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Where is home for Thanksgiving? Maybe you can find someone on that end who shows that would be able to do a nice job and show you how.


----------



## RSB1982 (Jul 13, 2015)

Harleysmum said:


> Your dog's coat looks fabulous to me. Are you sure he needs to be trimmed?


I know that the fur around his paws needs to be trimmed, but thats all I'm sure about. And a nail trim certainly couldn't hurt. I had read somewhere else online about trimming up the ears so I figured that would be somewhat 'safe' for my local groomer to do. Maybe I should contact the local Golden Retriever Club and see if they have any recommendations. I live about 45 minutes northwest of Cincinnati.


----------



## RSB1982 (Jul 13, 2015)

Prism Goldens said:


> Where is home for Thanksgiving? Maybe you can find someone on that end who shows that would be able to do a nice job and show you how.


We live 45 minutes outside Cincinnati and are traveling to Morganton, NC for Thanksgiving. Its a small town in Western NC. I think I would have better luck here finding an expert on the breed (larger metro area). I didn't even think about contacting a local Golden Retriever club to get a grooming referral so maybe I'll do that and cancel my appointment. I'm glad I asked the forum!


----------



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Paws are really easy to do yourself at home. Just brush the top of the paw backwards and trim all the little fuzzies that stick up. Then brush down, check if you missed any. Re-do if necessary. Then just trim the fur between the pads on the bottom. That's it. Ears I find a bit harder, but I'm getting more comfortable with it. I just trim very small areas with thinning shears, very slowly so I don't trim too much.


----------



## RSB1982 (Jul 13, 2015)

I ended up keeping my appointment and they followed my instructions (thank goodness)! I'm sure I won the most neurotic dog owner of the day award, especially after I called them from my house just after dropping him off to clarify a few things. I told them to only trim up the feet... no cutting/clipping/shaving anything else. They did talk me into trimming up the areas around his manly bits, which I now appreciate. That area was kind of hard to keep clean. I'm not sure if I will go back, I think I'm going to try to find someone who specializes in goldens or maybe even buy some decent scissors and try to do some trimming myself. I'll post a pic later, they are on my iPhone.


----------



## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Glad they followed your instructions. I wanted to add that anyone reading this thread in the future I humbly suggest the following.

Find a picture of a Golden cut you expect on the internet and print it out to show the groomer. Say I want exactly this and the less you take off the better.

I have never taken my dogs to a groomer but bought the tools over time and learned. Sure I messed up a few times in the beginning, everyone does and sometimes I still do. Hair grows back but at least I never had one of those so many stories of coming back to find my Goldens hair shaved off.


----------



## RSB1982 (Jul 13, 2015)

I think the picture is a great idea. I may do that next time. This place was just fine, and I may take him back. I just find myself worrying the whole time he is there. They didn't write any of my instructions down which bothered me (I gave the receptionist, owner and actual groomer the same instructions). He did look really spiffy and smelled so good when I picked him up though - I would love to find someone I can actually trust to clean him up really well every few months.


----------



## Christen113 (Dec 3, 2014)

If you can find a local dog handler (check with someone at your local golden club), they do a great job and they're often cheaper than the pet groomers. Morningsage does have some great tutorials and with a little practice, it's pretty easy to keep them looking nice  A good pair of straight and thinning shears should get the job done for you.


----------



## anamcouto (Aug 15, 2015)

*I'm the most neurotic Velcro mom*



RSB1982 said:


> I ended up keeping my appointment and they followed my instructions (thank goodness)! I'm sure I won the most neurotic dog owner of the day award, especially after I called them from my house just after dropping him off to clarify a few things. I told them to only trim up the feet... no cutting/clipping/shaving anything else. They did talk me into trimming up the areas around his manly bits, which I now appreciate. That area was kind of hard to keep clean. I'm not sure if I will go back, I think I'm going to try to find someone who specializes in goldens or maybe even buy some decent scissors and try to do some trimming myself. I'll post a pic later, they are on my iPhone.


Trust me, I'm more neurotic than you! 
Took Ella for the first time to a groomer but only to get some help with clipping the nails and trimming the paws fur after giving up on 2h every other weekend trying to do it myself since the little monster hates having her paws touched.
They received her very well, got my instructions and waited me to leave, which obviously didn't happen. When they took her in I stayed at the window spying every move, so they ended up asking me if I wanted to enter the grooming area, where usually owners are not allowed and I ended up helping then to hold Ella still. It took the girl 10minutes tops to clip the nails, shave the bottom of the paws and even exchange some kiss with my puppy. I'll definitely go back this weekend but I'm also going in again. There's no way I'm leaving my princess alone there!!!

Ok she could benefit of me letting her, you know, grow and be independent but I don't trust anyone with a scissor, furminator or shaver near my princess/monster


----------



## george58 (May 25, 2015)

RSB1982 said:


> I think the picture is a great idea. I may do that next time. This place was just fine, and I may take him back. I just find myself worrying the whole time he is there. They didn't write any of my instructions down which bothered me (I gave the receptionist, owner and actual groomer the same instructions). He did look really spiffy and smelled so good when I picked him up though - I would love to find someone I can actually trust to clean him up really well every few months.


Hey Robin!
I also second everyone's suggestion to find a good breeder or handler in your area. I was in the same boat as you with George, and decided to find a new groomer after ours thought George was a lab. I emailed a breeder close to me and found out that she actually owns a kennel for boarding/grooming/training as well (coincidentally, it used to be owned by George and Indy's grandpa, Kobe's, breeder). She suggested that I bring George in every 6 weeks to get trimmed up, but said that she would give me some grooming lessons so I didn't have to come in that often (I'm a college kid so if I can do it myself and save some money, I will haha). Maybe you could email your local club and ask if anybody would be willing to give you some lessons. I know I will be much more comfortable with scissors when I know what I am actually doing!

I hope Indy is doing great! He looks so big in that picture. How much does he weigh? George is probably at 53lbs now, but it seems like he's hit a plateau in his growth.


----------



## RSB1982 (Jul 13, 2015)

mbliss1293 said:


> Hey Robin!
> I also second everyone's suggestion to find a good breeder or handler in your area. I was in the same boat as you with George, and decided to find a new groomer after ours thought George was a lab. I emailed a breeder close to me and found out that she actually owns a kennel for boarding/grooming/training as well (coincidentally, it used to be owned by George and Indy's grandpa, Kobe's, breeder). She suggested that I bring George in every 6 weeks to get trimmed up, but said that she would give me some grooming lessons so I didn't have to come in that often (I'm a college kid so if I can do it myself and save some money, I will haha). Maybe you could email your local club and ask if anybody would be willing to give you some lessons. I know I will be much more comfortable with scissors when I know what I am actually doing!
> 
> I hope Indy is doing great! He looks so big in that picture. How much does he weigh? George is probably at 53lbs now, but it seems like he's hit a plateau in his growth.



Hey, good to hear from you! I think I will contact the Cincinnati Golden Retriever Club for recommendations next time. If I can find someone to give me lessons that will be wonderful! Every 6 weeks sounds about right. I saw some pics of you and George on the Kelston Golden's Facebook page  He is so handsome! Indy is doing so well, I am really pleased with him. He has the best personality, a big goofball. And so smart! I had him weighed at the vet last week and he was 58 pounds!! He's going to be a BIG boy! I'll try to post some pics below.


----------



## MyMaggieGirl (Nov 12, 2008)

Indy is a handsome boy!


----------

