Productivity in the pet bathing and drying department seems to be a challenge for many pet professionals. With the holiday season about to descend on us, I thought this would be a great time to review my time tested "game." I loved to play this game whether it was with 8 dogs or 80 dogs a day! I’ve done it both ways and every number in-between over the years. At our height we did 30-40 pets per half day session. That’s a lot of toe nail trimming in one day, no matter how you look at it!!

It's not a mystery but it is like cooking a meal. Large extravagant meals with multiple dishes being served, are more complicated in the timing and the choices than a simple weeknight family dinner. With a few dogs, it's pretty simple – the choices are limited. Add more dogs and the variables increase – move to a full blown shop pushing through 50+ dogs and you have something like a full force restaurant that is managed by an experienced head chef.  OK, so how do you manage your bathing and drying roster so all the pets are done to the highest degree of quality and proficiency, just like getting multiple dishes to the table all done to perfection and hot?

 ~ 3 Basic Guidelines ~
#1. Review all the dogs on your roster for that day or session. This game works best when you have multiple pets arriving at one time so you can stagger them according to coat type, size and degree of difficulty.

 #2. Do your largest and furriest dog first. Something that can be bathed, then lightly high velocity dried to lift and separate the coat. By spending a few minutes with the high velocity dryer on each pet, it allows a clear view of any special needs that animal may have while enhancing airflow to the coat once it is placed in an inactive drying situation. Bath and set up the coat on all the bath and brush pets first, starting with the largest and most time consuming dogs, working down the line of difficulty to the least difficult of the bath and brush pets. Once all the bath and brush pets are bathed, then proceed into dogs that need active drying to yield the best results.  

 #3. Your goal on all trim dogs is not only to get the pet clean, but to have the coat tangle free and as straight as possible for the finished trim. After all the B&B pets are bathed, start washing your trim dogs. Start with the pet that has the heaviest and straightest coat – something that can sit for a few minutes while you bathe your other haircut pets without risking the coat drying before you get to an active drying method. Let the pet sit in a warm place wrapped in a towel. Proceed washing the next pet based on size, coat density and curl factor – the naturally straighter coats go to the tub before curly ones – curly coats such as Bichons or Poodles go to the tub last. Once all the trim pets are bathed, start drying. The first pet up on the drying table should be the one that has the curliest, but lightest coat since that coat type will dry the quickest. If the coat dries before an active form of drying can take place while the coat is still damp, it will be impossible to remove the curl unless you re-wet the pet. Once the curliest coats have been fluffed dried so they are absolutely straight, move to the next kinkiest or wavy coat type – also weigh in the coat density factor. A lighter or shorter coat will need to go before heavier or longer coats. A typical example would be you have two dogs of equal size and similar haircuts like a 1.5 on the body and a fuller leg style. One dog is a Lhasa and the other is a Maltese/Shih Tzu mix. Normally the Maltese cross would have a lighter density of coat than the Lhasa, thus the Maltese mix get dried before the Lhasa. Continue this process moving from the curliest coats down the line.  The key is to get to a coat before it is dry so the heat of the dryer can straighten the fur out. Remember, the goal is always to have a straight, fluffy, mat free coat to finish. Curls and kinks in the fur make it impossible to execute a trim that is smooth and sleek. If a coat gets too dry, it must be re-wetted and the drying process started over. Make sure to work the bath and brush pets into this mix too.

There are many variations to how this game gets played to be the most effective. It's what makes a day interesting to a professional pet stylist. The better you get at this game, the faster you will be able to get through multiple pets without sacrificing quality. Think about what we do in the terms of food. An average person should be able to get 2-3 dishes on the table at the same time. A first-class home cook should be able to handle a meal with 4-5 dishes and at least 6 people. High level, seasoned home entertainers can handle an elaborate holiday meal for 20 with ease. A professional chef will master an entire shift serving over a 100 meals and all their side dishes with it all arriving to the table hot and beautifully prepared.

How far can you push yourself - before you get lost in the order of bathing pets? You test yourself and see how you do. It's a fun game that can be challenging yet really invigorating. The more dogs, the more fun, and rewarding when it goes smoothly!

Happy Trimming!

Melissa