(Allie)Gator Grooming

Yesterday evening was our first attempt at grooming Allie ourselves.  We had tried small touch-ups in the past, such as trimming her eyebrows and clipping her nails.

For the record, nail clipping went about as terribly as it could have gone (imagine our kitchen and bathroom looking like a murder scene after the quick of Allie's nail was cut and she ran around like crazy).  Needless to say, that experience involved a trip to the vet - but luckily they took care of us right away at no charge (apparently this is something that happens a lot).

We now pay PetSmart $9 to clip Allie's nails for us.  It's worth it - trust us.

Back to grooming.  We already had a few of the grooming tools we needed, but we purchased a few more on Amazon so we would have everything.  Buying all of the supplies was about the same cost as one full-service visit to the groomer so it was well worth it.

We bought a coat rake (which seems to work better than the Furminator we had been using), scissors, a dual-sided brush, a metal comb, and a grooming arm.  The grooming arm temporarily attaches to any table, which is much more cost-effective and space-saving than buying an actual grooming table with arm.  J attached the grooming arm to the picnic table on our back deck - voila!

Before

I did the trimming while J stripped undercoat with the rake and helped hold Allie's face still while I was working around her eyes.  Cutting the hair around her eyes is nerve-racking.  But no trips to the vet this time!

Allie was actually much more calm and well-behaved than either of us were expecting.  I don't want to jinx us for next time, but I don't think she minded it much.

After

I like having the freedom to do small touch-ups as needed instead of waiting for a full grooming and feeling like we need to have everything trimmed during one visit to get our money's worth.

Plus Allie smells so good and her fur is so soft - the perfect reasons to give her extra cuddles!