With a love of dogs that goes back to her childhood, Gina Most has dedicated her life to keeping local dogs coiffed to perfection. As she prepares to enlarge her business by opening a new grooming center, Gina stopped for a visit and to educate us on the services she provides at Gina's Grooming Center with these words;
Before I had a pet of my own when I was a child, I'd get on my bicycle and go around the neighborhood visiting everyone else's dogs. They always seemed to have a sixth sense that told them when people liked them and they knew that a love of animals was part of my nature. After attending college, I worked at the local Humane Society for six years where I learned a lot just working with their animals. Many of the dogs we would be preparing for adoption would have matted hair and I would get out the scissors and try to make them more appealing as pets. After awhile, one of the girls mentioned that I was getting pretty good at grooming the dogs so I enrolled in a grooming school where I received one hundred eighty hours of grooming experience with all breeds of dogs. In 1980, the President of the Board of Directors of the Humane Society agreed to let me start grooming at their facility after hours to get started while I worked full time at the Humane Society. In 1983, I bought and furnished my own little building for grooming, and, as my clientele grew, I began grooming full time.
I'm certified to groom all breeds, but these days, I just mainly do the small breeds. Most customers like the traditional styled cut for their particular breed, but, when it's hot in the summertime, I have a lot requests for short haircuts for the dogs' comfort.
My grooming service includes trimming the nails, cleaning the ears, removing excess hair in the ear canal, clipping the body to conform to breed standards, a bath, blow-dry, and then I always do a nice finishing trim which leaves the hair nice, clean, and fluffy.
There are many different types of shampoos for different dogs including those that are specially formulated for dogs that have sensitive skin or allergies. Many dogs have seasonal skin allergies and I keep the medicated shampoos around for them in addition to general grooming shampoos for dogs who don't have allergies or sensitive skin. Some customers will bring in their own shampoo from their vet if their dog has a particular problem that the vet feels needs a specific shampoo.
In general, most breeds can go anywhere from six to eight weeks between groomings, although I have some customers who prefer to come every four to five weeks. When I have someone who wants to keep their dog in a long-coat, like a Shih-tzu or an Lahsa Apso, and they don't have the time to brush the dog between groomings, I'll suggest a more frequent grooming to prevent the hair from getting matted and damaged. Many shorter haired breeds like Beagles and Labs can be bathed at home, although, usually people have a problem getting their dog into the bath tub and keeping them there, so, they'll have me handle the bathing, too.
The removing of excessive hair in the ears is important because some dogs, especially when they have small ear canals that are real tiny and tight, tend to retain moisture in their ear canals that can promote bacterial growth which leads to infections. Some breeds, like Cocker Spaniels with floppy ears, tend to have more ear problems than other dogs since there's not air flow to keep the ears dry, but, occasionally, you'll even see dogs like Schnauzers with cropped ears have ear problems, too. If the dog's ears look healthy, I'll just use an ear powder that contains a drying agent. If the ear is looking red, irritated, or swollen, or, if there's a bad smell coming out of the ear, I have an ear-cleansing solution that I apply and massage into the ear canal before swabbing it out with a cotton ball or Q-tips.
Many of my customers will drop their dogs off in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day. For my retired customers who like to pick up their dogs as soon as they're done, I'll call them when I've finished grooming their dog so their dog doesn't have to stay here all day. Sometimes, my customers will just pop in to have their pet's nails trimmed, and, I can usually do that in just a matter of minutes.
I have a wonderful clientele, some of whom have been bringing their dogs here for years and I believe that one of the reasons they keep coming back is they can see how much I love their dogs. I've made a lot of dear friends through the dog grooming business, and it's this wonderful combination of dogs and their owners that's really been a positive experience for me.
The Humane Society gave me a lot of the knowledge I have today and they always welcome volunteers to walk the dogs, help with their exercise, clean, and provide the extra hands to keep their operation running. There are a lot of ways that volunteers can contribute and it's a wonderful experience for everybody.
For the loving care and grooming expertise your pet deserves, Call Gina's Grooming Center today and don't forget to tell Gina that The Advocate sent you!
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