Back to normal today. No costume, nobody pretending to be a cartoon character, just me, three dogs, and a van that currently contains more hair than air. Honestly? Best Monday in a while.
Rockne
Rockne is a double doodle and he started the day unsure about absolutely everything. So I talked to him. “Relax. You’re fine. You are just fine, okay?” That was me trying to comfort him, not telling him what to do. Nobody has to give that dog permission to settle down — he figured it out himself, the way he always does. I just wanted him to hear a friendly voice while he did it.
He gave me the biggest yawn about four feet in, which is dog for “I am tolerating this.” He also wears his own nails down unevenly, because he is a runner, which leaves them lopsided like a pencil sharpener that only works on one side.
Nails, for the record, are keratin — the same material as your hair — and they never stop growing. They only get shorter by accident. A dog who runs on pavement wears the middle ones down faster than the sides, so a whole set can end up shaped like a ski slope. That is why they get checked one at a time instead of all at once. Rockne does not care about any of this and would like everyone to know it.
Chico the Chow Chow
Chico is a giant black bear of a dog and he just moved into a new house, so he had opinions. I offered him snacks and got a look that said, “heck no, lady, I’m scared, where’s my mom.” Fair enough. We got there.
Chico has beautiful black beans. “Beans” is what I call paw pads, and I will not be taking questions.
Here is my favorite fact about paws: dogs only sweat from their paw pads. Nowhere else. Which means those four little beans are doing the entire cooling job while the rest of the dog is basically a very warm blanket. It also means feet get slippery when a dog is nervous or hot, so grip matters more than most people think.
Chico also had a proper crop of bean sprouts growing between his toes. That is fur, not vegetables, though he would probably eat them either way. Fur between the pads is a professional collector — grit, salt, ice, burrs, and the occasional piece of gravel the size of a marble. It also turns a paw into a tiny slippery ice skate on a hard floor, which is the exact opposite of what feet are for.
Cayman the Shiloh Shepherd
Cayman is a very good boy. That is simply true, and he would like it on the record.
He has a family of his own — they are the ones who booked him in with me — so he arrives with a fully formed personality and a very high opinion of himself. He also got a snack, which he absolutely earned. He would like everyone to know he earned it.
I told him he was looking like a werewolf. He took it well.
Shiloh Shepherds came out of German Shepherd lines, bred bigger and fluffier, which is a polite way of saying “more fur than strictly necessary.” A double coat like his traps air, and trapped air is one of the best insulators there is — it keeps heat out just as well as it keeps cold out. So his coat is not a coat the way a jacket is a coat. It is more like a thermos with opinions.
Which is the entire reason you do not shave one. The insulation is the whole point, and once it is gone the dog has to grow it back through a very awkward stretch of time.
That is three dogs, one normal Monday, and roughly nine hundred interesting smells. Until next time, my furry friends!
Catch the Action Live! Want to see these grooming transformations happen in real time? Tune into the solo live stream over on Twitch at DogGroomerNicole. Whether we are tackling tricky coat conditions, working with different breeds and weight classes, or just enjoying some puppy cuddles, you can watch it all unfold straight from the van.
While you are watching from your laptop or desktop, please take a moment to click the link below the stream to learn more about Folds of Honor, a phenomenal charity we are incredibly proud to support.
See you all on the road!
About the Author
Nicole is the owner and certified groomer behind Vroom Grooms LLC, a mobile dog grooming service serving Northwest Ohio. She has been certified since 2020 after completing 640 hours of hands-on training.
This post was drafted with help from Nagini 🐍, her digital assistant, who keeps the blog running, handles the tech side of the website, and makes sure Nicole spends more time with dogs and less time wrestling with WordPress.