You go online, find a quality trimmer some accessories to go with it, and you get to work! I guess you can figure it out by now, Molly‘s groomer decided to retire and move out of the area. This happened near Christmas and by now Molly was in dire need of a haircut! We decided we didn’t want to stress her out with a new groomer or take her to Petsmart or something like that. So we decided to do it ourselves, or at least attempt to do it ourselves. Hahaha. Poor Molly
Here are the few things that I purchased; a professional style trimmer (Whal Arco - because Molly‘s worth it!), a scissors and nail clipper set, and a holster type thing that is still on its way. The holster/harness will help keep her in place and standing while I give her her hair cut. For this first experimental cut, we did without that item.
Here’s a before picture of Molly standing and waiting for her haircut. I don’t think she really knew what was coming. Lol.
I also took a photograph of Molly near one of our blooming Phalaenopsis orchids about a week ago. WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT! I always have trouble getting her to look at the camera when attempting a glamor shot like this. Her hair was a bit longer by now, but not that much longer. She looks a little ragged and she really did need a good trimming.
I was pleasantly surprised with how well the trimmers worked. It was definitely worth the money buying professional trimmers. Even the scissors which were not that expensive, worked really well. Molly was a champ through the whole thing. I was expecting her to be a little more agitated and expected her to move all over the place, but I was pleasantly surprised at her calm relaxed nature. The groomer always said she was pleasant to work with, and that was evident today.
Occasionally she would try to sit down or move a little bit further away from me than I wanted her to be, but overall she stood very still and let me trim everywhere. She didn’t mind getting trimmed around the eyes or around the butt and girl parts. The trimmer is really quiet and maybe that’s why she didn’t mind it too much.
Below, you can see the path of fur as she moved a few inches, at a time, away from me. And that's only the half of it! I still had the underside, ears and tail to do at this point. That can all be swept up in a jiffy!
It took about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes to trim her all up. A 7 pound dog shouldn’t take that long but you’d be amazed at how much time it takes to do it right. Or maybe you have experience and already know how time consuming and fun this is. My wife helped me hold her still when I went to clip her face and her underside. Those are the hardest spots to get clipped.
Here’s a Molly by the pile of hair that’s just about as big as her. At this point I think she was thinking what the heck did you do to me! She looks so sad, but really she is not. She was so energetic the next day when she realized that she was a pound lighter! hehe
We stopped there for now. After all we didn’t want a traumatize too much all in one day. I’ll clip her nails another day down the road. It’s not the best work, but I am an amateur and it was my first time trimming her up completely. I’ve trimmed around her eyes and paws in the past but nothing like this. I definitely never performed a complete haircut on a dog, or any animal.
I may have found my calling. I think I may just quit my day job and start grooming pets! (obviously kidding)
After she was done and she was told she could go lay down, she did just that. She found her soft bed and laid there for a while.
After a few minutes she got out and shook off and ran up onto the couch to escape the vacuum cleaner! Or maybe she ran up there to hide to escape me and my trusty clippers! We call that area her pillow throne.
I want to say that maybe my friend out in Vietnam, 
Here are a couple of before and after's. I really didn’t get a great before picture, so the after may not look all that much different. But you saw all the hair on the floor! So I’ll there’s the proof. Lol
I feel pretty confident in my abilities now and I just need to fine tune my skills. That’s gonna take a little time and luckily I have a dog that doesn’t mind my inexperience.
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