Three dogs today, and three completely different coats. A Border Collie who kicked off the morning in the tub, an Aussie mix in the middle of the day, and a Bernedoodle who closed us out looking like he had already been styled. Here is how Friday went in the van.
Ollie the Border Collie
Ollie had the first appointment of the day, and he spent it in the stainless tub. He is a Border Collie, black and white, with a blaze running down the face and white on the chest and legs. Every Border Collie has that same general map of markings, and somehow every single one of them wears it differently. On Ollie it reads clean and crisp, the kind of coat that looks sharp the second it dries.
He is also a double-coated dog, and that is the part that matters for a groom. A double coat is a dense, weather-resistant outer layer sitting over a soft undercoat. That undercoat is where the trouble starts. It sheds, it traps, and when it is not brushed out regularly it packs down against the skin and begins to mat. Collies carry a lot of coat, and it holds onto everything they roll in outside.
That is the whole argument for keeping a dog like Ollie on a real schedule instead of waiting until the coat tells you it is time. A double coat that gets brushed out regularly stays loose and healthy and does the job it was built to do. A double coat that gets skipped is a mat waiting to happen, and by the time you can see the matting, it has already been pulling on the skin underneath for a while. Getting him in on a routine is the whole ballgame, and Ollie is proof of what that looks like when it is working.
Callie the Australian Shepherd Lab Mix
Callie came in the middle of the day, and she is a dog I genuinely look forward to seeing on my route. She is an Australian Shepherd and Lab mix, which means she has the smarts of one breed and the heart of the other, all wrapped up in a marbled coat that does not look real the first time you see it. The marbling runs through her in soft, irregular patches of brown, tan, and cream, and you can stare at it for a while and still find new patterns. When she is wet the colors deepen. When she is dry and freshly groomed, they pop.
Here is what I love about this girl. She is calm on the table, cooperative in the tub, and she does not fuss at the dryer. She lets me do my work and then she leans against me for a minute before she hops out. On the grooming table she is a working professional. That is not the whole story with her, of course. She has plenty of energy when she is home, and she is one of those dogs whose whole face changes when the treats come out. Once she figured out snacks were part of the deal, that tail of hers turned into a metronome. I have never once had a bad day with Callie in the van.
For a short-coated dog like her, the groom is a bath, a blow out on a lower dryer setting, a thorough brush out, and a trim on the paw pads. Short coats do not get haircuts. The coat stays at its natural length, and a good brush out is what brings the marbling out, not a clipper. And the marbling is worth bringing out. Every time I hand her back, it is the first thing her family sees.
Beau the Bernedoodle
Beau finished the day, and he is hands down one of my favorite grooms on the schedule. I have said it before and it stays true every single time he comes in: he is a doodle, and a very sweet, fluffy, cuddly one. His fur is amazing, and it is always in great shape. I love grooming him. That is not luck, and it is not the coat. That is a family who brushes at home, and it makes a real difference to what I get to do with him.
It is also the whole difference between two kinds of groom. When a doodle comes in matted, the appointment is damage control. I am working through knots, on skin that has already been pulled at, and the dog is uncomfortable before I even start. Often the answer is not a haircut at all. It is that a coat which should never have needed to come off has to come off, because brushing out that kind of matting means pulling on living skin over and over, and I will not do that to a dog.
Beau is the other version. His coat arrives soft and free of tangles, so there is nothing to rescue, and I get to actually shape it. He stood there on the table with clippings all around him while I worked, and he got his clip and left the table buried in fluff like always. Shaping, fluffing, tidying, building that polished Bernedoodle look. That final reveal, when he is all brushed out, is the part of this job that never gets old. A coat in good condition gives you room to work, and Beau gives me room to work every time.
Three dogs, three coats, and three very different grooms. That is a good day’s work.
The condition your dog arrives in is the single biggest thing that decides what kind of groom they get. Same dog, same groomer, same price, completely different appointment. If you want the routine that keeps a coat in Beau’s shape, start with how a coat mats and finding your dog’s grooming interval.
Until next time, my furry friends!
New to Vroom Grooms? Fill out the New Client Form to get started. I am booking new clients onto a waiting list right now, and I will reach out when a spot opens up. Already a current client? Text me at 419-315-4989 if you are not already booked out.
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.