Having The Groomer Come To You

I have had dogs for nearly my entire life – 34 years.  When I was growing up, I had a “puddle” named Heidi and a “bitchin’ fries” named Max.  These are unarguably small pooches which were easy to take to the groomers.  I would pile them into the car, drop them off in the morning, usually around 8:30am and then somewhere around 2pm I would get the call that they were ready for pick up.  The first groomer we had for Heidi, we used for most of her 12 years of life, so naturally when I got Max, we continued going to the same groomer for about the first 5 years of his 18 years, then we changed groomers.

As an adult with a fiancé, and finally adopting our first dog together, we were adopted by this beautiful fluffy, 12y.o. girl named Morby.  She was a Pom/Sheltie mix, about 2/3 larger than the dogs I had become accustomed too.  We would take her to the groomer, which was a bit more of a project due to her size but we did it religiously.  Morby didn’t mind the groomers the first few times, but then I noticed a change – not the worst – in Morby.  The last time I went to pick her up from the groomer, this little “old lady” came bounding out of the back room, leapt over the 4 foot divider, right into my unsuspecting arms.  It was time to consider an alternative which was to learn grooming myself and then just do the deed myself.


Shortly after this incident, I came into custody of a Husky named Sandy.  Sandy was almost twice Morby’s size and due to her size and condition, was rather clumsy and not easy to lift.  It was definitely my destiny to do the grooming for these girls myself.  This was no easy task.  We decided to take the leap and try mobile dog grooming.  At this point it just made sense.

I was not available for the first appointment but was very nervous about how Morby and Sandy would take to being groomed in, what I perceived to be, a small space.   After all, they were not small dogs.  The groomer – Armando of Trim Down The Hound – showed up on time at the house.  My fiancé walked Morby down first to the truck and asked if he could stay with her while she was groomed.  This is not a typical allowance since dogs tend to misbehave for others when their families are around.  But since we were virgins to the process he was allowed to stay this one time.   Turns out there was more than enough space in the truck for the groomer, the pooch and the “parent”.  We had asked Armando to trim Morby down with a #5 (that is groomer speak for a particular blade which cuts hair relatively short) , what I call the “boy cut” which is what we always asked for her because we didn’t trust the groomers to be able to trim her properly while retaining the beauty and shape of her coat.  Armando was done with her in about 1.5 hours.  I was amazed at how quickly he was able to finish her up.

Next came Sandy.  Now, as a Husky with an abundant undercoat, my experience with grooming Sandy myself was one that would take hours in drying alone because beyond her toenails, she really did not require any other clipping.  Again, my fiancé took her down to the truck, within about 2 hours, she was done.

When I got home to see my baby girls, I was sooooo impressed.  First by Sandy because she looked beautiful, her coat was soft, she was not stressed and it was all done within only 2 hours.  As for Morby….the amazement was to come.  I expected to come home and see her with her “boy” cut.  Morby’s coat was as thick and beautiful as when I left in the morning.  Armando, using shears, had clipped and trimmed her coat so expertly that she still looked like the beautiful girl that she was.  Her hind quarters were beautifully shaped, she still maintained the mane around her face and her skirt was just the right length.

Now I am a dog person, so of course this was all about dogs, but many mobile groomers will groom cats and other animals as well.  You'll need to do your research.  If you have been considering mobile dog grooming, I highly recommend you take the leap, just make sure, like with any groomer, you get references and check them out before hand.  Even though they are right outside your home, you don’t want to leave your “babies” in just anyone’s hands.