Valentine's & Anniversary Gratitude Month!

The Schnauzer Grooming Club

Newsletter

It's been a big year for Schnauzer owners everywhere...

When I started the Schnauzer Grooming Club Facebook Group this month a year ago, I didn’t know what to expect - for the people who might be interested, or for myself. I was hopeful that I might be helpful and give some tips and confidence to some people who might be looking for it. I really did not expect, though, that so many people would even see my work, let alone be interested, get invested in, and follow it.

It truly blows me away every time I get a message or a comment telling me how much someone appreciates my videos, my courses or one-on-one instruction. Apparently decades of thinking about the “why” of grooming technique, as much or more than the “what,” has given me an uncommon perspective and new insights, especially around the fallacy that there is one “right” way to groom Schnauzers and that imperfect equals wrong. Aside from keeping our dogs and ourselves safe, there is no imperative to be mistake-free, except in our minds.

During 25 years of professional all-breed grooming, first for veterinarians and then in my own Salon, I have seen and worked with thousands of dogs, each unique, and that’s has shattered almost every expectation I had of how things “should” be in favor for how they really are.

People can be moody, have quirky personality traits and triggers and so can dogs. Dogs can have chronic physical and emotional challenges and so can people. That means the idea of “one right way” to do something is an illusion, a fantasy, and judging ourselves or our dogs against an ideal that might be impossible is obviously unfair. Ultimately, when we’re grooming our own dogs we’re all doing the best we can with what we have.

All most home-groomers lack is my tens of thousands of hours of best-practices when it comes to gaining cooperation from dogs who don’t choose to be groomed yet still need to be, safely, humanely and with empathy. I think we can all agree that grooming is something we want to do with our dogs, not to them.

Back when I started grooming my own Schnauzers (first a clippered performance dog and then a hand-stripped show dog), I think it was easier to get grooming feedback on what we were learning and putting into practice. Either at trials, or at shows, or at club activities, there were plenty of people who were around my (novice!) level of experience and still frequently people with more. I was fortunate that there was a feeling and expression of camaraderie to teaching and learning grooming. It felt safe to learn and experiment and refine. Looking back over the years, I really loved that time!

A year into the Schnauzer Grooming Club I love feeling that way again, and appreciate all of you so much, who have breathed life into it through your presence and your contributions. Please keep letting me know what you most want to learn and I will try to find ways to bring it to you. I love you all and I love this Group — thank you for the opportunity to serve you and your Schnauzers! 🤗🫶🤩

More courses are in the works, and I’d love to know what you’re most interested in learning so that what I teach can stay relevant and helpful to you.

In the meantime, to thank you for your encouragement and support over the inaugural year of the Schnauzer Grooming Club. I’m so glad to offer you my clipperwork courses, both for Schnauzer Maintenance and for Schnauzer Faces and Heads for 50% off through the end of February with code "LOVE4ALL"!

Click here to sign up!

and if you’d like a little preview, here are short trailers for both courses:

Clipper Grooming Heads and Faces Trailer:

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Clipper Maintenance Touch-Up Trailer :

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If you have any questions about the courses, I welcome you to ask me at StrawHatStandards@gmail.com.

This is my first year anniversary and Love-Month gift to you, it’s a joy to serve you!

Hand in Paw - A Valentine's Day Grooming Tutorial

I want to hold your hand, er paw.

Toenail Trimming starts way before we cut the nail. The hardest nails to cut are the ones belonging to the dog who isn’t willing or doesn’t know how to be still. It’s hard enough already to know where to cut a black nail without it being a moving target. Additionally, when dogs thrash, flail or try to yank their feet away from you they can potentially injure themselves so it’s important to restrain them in a way that prevents that.

After years and, literally, over a million toenails trimmed I have developed some methods to hold the legs and feet to keep dogs safely still while their toenails are being trimmed, as well as feet scissored and pads clippered. The key is to keep the legs folded and/or close to the dog’s body so they can’t use leverage against you.

If your dog is a real fighter, you should practice the holds by themselves, rewarding when there is even a slight break in the struggling. While you are trimming nails, if your dog starts fighting your efforts focus on restraint and wait until the struggling stops to go back to trimming. We want to separate the experience of struggling and the experience of the nail trimming as much as possible, this reduces the tendency for dogs to panic.

Once you can reliably hold the foot without your dog struggling, then you can focus on isolating each individual toe with your fingers as you cut or Dremel, for maximum accuracy.

Here are some more pictures of different ways to hold the legs/feet:

When it comes to dog owners, I’ve always loved the ones who want to learn how do as much as possible of their dogs’ maintenance care at home, and build the relationships that make that possible. That’s you!

Thank you so much for reading and sharing your Schnauzers with me!

Give your dog a hug for me,

Leslie Shriner

367 West Shirley Ave, Warrenton, VA 20187
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