Lessons learned when attempting to groom my miniature dachshund at home
I’m so comfortable, I’ll let you do anything…even trim my butt fluff
Meet Birdie, my beautiful long-haired black-and-cream miniature dachshund. She is my first long-haired pup and I didn’t yet understand the grooming businesses, but I was destined to find out. During the first 8 months of her life, we simply let her hair grow. I could tell she wasn’t going to require regular grooming, but eventually, her paws turned “grinchy” and her bum hair started to get compromised when going potty.
Upon researching grooming options, I quickly discovered how expensive grooming can add up. I can certainly appreciate the time, care, and skill it takes to get a dog who needs regular grooming to look their best (and I would probably be okay with that expense) but her needs were seemingly simple and basic…
Could I do this myself? You’ll soon find out.
Upon returning from Spring Break in the Bahamas (amazing!) Birdie must have picked up something from doggy daycare and started having massive bouts of diarrhea. She had been groomed 2 times in her life so far, but this was an emergency and we didn’t have time to get her an appointment. So I grabbed my scissors, put her on the counter, and went to town!
Birdie is such a docile pup, there is no way Bogey or my previous pups would have let me do this. She laid on her back, let me rub her belly, and cut her bum without even twitching. I used the kitchen sheers because I figured they would be sharper than my kid’s craft ones. It did seem to work and way easier than expected – so I kept going and going.
How did I do?
I would give myself an honest B+ for this effort. It definitely wasn’t as clean as a professional groom, but it certainly got the job done during the crisis. It also saved a few bucks and gave me the confidence that if I needed to do a quick clean-up in-between grooming sessions, I could at least get away with it. I will still be taking her to the groomers to get a proper cut a few times a year, but this did save me in a pinch and I doubt too many people are looking closely enough at her butt fluff to notice the difference.