Its soooooooooooooooooooooooooo great!!! Love it to death. Photos coming soon 
Supergroom 2008 November 17, 2008
Slow updates November 10, 2008
Wow…I’ve just realised that today is Day 67 since I’ve arrived in the US. Its amazing how time flies. I’ve learnt a lot about grooming as well as myself since coming here alone to study the art of dog cosmetology. Lol. Its been a huge commitment coming here and is such a big difference from my original course of study. I was initially very worried about whether coming here would be the right decision to make but… now that I’m more settled in, I’m really really enjoying myself.
I look forward to going to school everyday and seeing the different breeds that walk in. Some days are just super depressing though….days when dogs that are very weak/sickly come in. I had a std poodle the other day that has cancer. The poor gal has been coming to Nash since she was a puppy to be groomed and now that she is 15, has succumended to cancer. She is still bravely putting up a fight but its definitely taking its toll on her. On a positive note, she was pretty relaxed throughout the groom and was sleeping through most of it.
We do get quite a number of rescue dogs and I’ve had dogs with multiple health issues. The scariest thing for me when clippering a dog is clippering one with multiple growths all over its body. One shih tzu that I did a while back has about 40 growths all over her back. Not easy clippering over all of that without nicking her! For cases like hers, we do make owners sign an indemity form because the chances of accidently hitting one of her growths is very very high. Thank god we got through it without me nicking any of her growths. We are fortunate that we do have a lot of understanding dog owners here that realize that accidents do happen and while we always try to be as careful as possible, it can happen.
On the other hand, we do get dogs like the irish setter that came yesterday who are just drop dead gorgeous and relaxed. The pretty boy just stood like a statue during his bath and closed his eyes to relax. Boy, does he know how to enjoy the life! Too bad he came in with so many matts. It took me quite a while to remove every single one but when I, or rather we got through it, you wouldn’t be able to tell at all that he even had a matt in the first place. He was lucky that the location of his matts were all at places which could be camoflaged with his other fur. lol.
One of my favourite breed trims to do is the westie. I do like doing schnauzers too. I just find it pretty relaxing doing it. :)
Holiday season is coming up and more and more dogs are coming in. I think my instructor mentioned that we have 40+ dogs a day coming in from this week onwards. Yikes! Its going to be an exciting month here!
\Oh well, I’ll try to update again as soon as possible but with school starting at 8am and ending at 5.30 to 6pm, and still having to study for my courses, there isn’t much time left in between to blog. I’m pretty excited to be going back to sg in a couple of months though..i want to see my puppies!! They’ll be about 7 to 8 months old by the time i get back though…sigh…
Dogs In Review September 23, 2008
I was reading the September issue Dogs In Review when I came across a quote from Mr. Percy Roberts, an all-round dog judge.
” The breed standard is the blueprint.
The breeder is the builder,
The judge is the building inspector. “
How true! I looove what he said and will always remember it.
Updates September 22, 2008
I’ve not had the time to post for quite a while so thought its time to update before I forget what has happened in the past few weeks.
School has started and its been a really busy few weeks. I went for the groom expo 2008 and when i got back, was totally exhausted! It was a supposedly 8 hour drive to Hershey, PA but our drive there turned out to be 11 hrs long and our drive back 10 hours. However, it was super fun going for groom expo 2008 and I met lots of interesting people. I even got to meet Chris Christensen! The creator of the Chris Christensen grooming products! He was there selling his products and I bought a really nice pair of straight scissors, a set of stripping knives and some brushes. I predict I will be buying more scissors from his product line. Yikes!
I also went for quite a few seminars while at Groom expo. It was fantastic learning about so many great tips! The speakers were all pretty captivating and I was never bored at any of the seminars. I would love to go for more if possible and will definitely go for another groom expo in the future!
Grooming school has been interesting and we(all the students) spend every free minute religiously sterelizing or oiling our tools. I love the brand of disinfectant we use here. It is definitely the best disinfectant I have ever had a chance to use! I wonder if its sold in Singapore….will have to check. If its not available, I’ll definitely order a carton of it and ship it back. Woohoo!!
I’ve only been here for a short while and yet feel I’ve already learnt a lot! I’m really looking forward to going back to Singapore with my new skills. :) I miss Audrey, Arson and the pups!
I’ve got to know of quite a few grooming brands here that works wonders and am pondering over whether I should buy a few gallons back. However, I’m apprehensive about whether potential clients in Singapore will be open to me using these products on their dogs since they are not available in Singapore and while popular in the US, is relatively unheard of in Singapore.
I took photos of the competition arena in groom expo and i think my sister mentioned she posted it up in a local dog forum. I’ll post some here too when I have more time! Hopefully I’ll update soon! I like writing a blog as its like record keeping for me. It helps me recall things I’ve done.
Korean programmes August 29, 2008
I love watching channel 173! There is a show called ” The Famous Roll Up Their Sleves” where they send celebrities to farms/shops etc to work for a day or two and earn money for charity. Recently, I watched them use yellow soil to treat wounds. It was really interesting! It definitely made me think of the new jap product in the market for dogs and cats that Arson won at the amk cc show. I can’t remember what it’s called offhand but i’ll post a photo of it when I find it.
19 days to go August 15, 2008
before I fly off to the USA! I’m a little worried about how I will adjust to life over there but hey, I’ll be back in 2009! So far, I have made definite plans to go to 3 major dogs shows. Westminster is probably out since I’ll only be going for shows that Audrey and Arson’s breeder will be going to and they have not decided yet.
I’m heading over to Lexington and compared to Singapore, its really…..different. Its known as Horse city and there are loads of horse farms there. It should be an eye opening experience!
I’ve only mentioned this to some people but the reason why I am heading to the US is to take a course in dog grooming. I’ll also be taking the chance to get valuable handling/show/doggie tips from Audrey and Arson’s breeder. I definitely feel its a once in a lifetime opportunity and can’t wait to get there!
This will be the first time that i will be away from my family for such a long period of time. Plus, i’ll be thousands of miles away! Yikes! The school I’ve enrolled in is known to be one of the best grooming schools there are in the states and i’m looking forward to learning as much as possible! However I can’t help feeling apprehensive and wondering if I’ve made the right decision to plunge into this career choice.
I’ve been asked many times why I don’t just take a course locally but to be honest, I really want to learn show grooming and not just pet grooming. I just do not see myself being able to learn that locally. I’ve come across so many groomers just opting to shave dogs down because its the easiest solution and being rough to the dogs. It’s made me want to learn how to be able to make a dog look like how its suppose to look like and to treat them with the respect and care that they deserve. There are so many dogs that do not look like their breed because they have been shaved down to the skin! I think its pretty satisfying to be able to help transform a dog and make it look its best eh?
I’ve always wanted to work with animals and choosing to go to the US to study grooming is probably a sign that I will work with them permanently. Its definitely not a career choice my mom envisioned me going into but I’m glad for all the financial and emotional support she has provided. With both parents in the financial sector, my mum’s friends are shocked that she is allowing me to go ahead and pursue this passion of mine. They are not surprised that I want to do it…less surprised than I was when I decided that its something I should go into!
I’m feeling a little weird now that there are so few rabbits in my home. I’m definitely going to use this time to decide if I will get out of rabbits (at least for a while…) or to import even better rabbits than I’ve previously had. Its something that has been going about my brain for the past few months and I will need to decide before convention. I will still go for convention but whether I will be buying is a major question mark.
I really enjoy rearing rabbits but do not feel that there is enough interest in Singapore to allow me to go all out and bring in the breeds that I have been interested in. I like raising babies and tracking their development to adulthood. I love predicting how they will look like when they are adults. I’ve not been 100% satisfied with the rabbits I have/had and hence did want to bring in better rabbits. Now, I’ve really been questioning myself as to whether that would really be the right decision. Should I continue to strive for better rabbits or give up and stop? Its a difficult decision because I’ve kept rabbits for so long but its definitely something that I must ask myself.
