Giving your pets the full salon treatment isn’t just for show. It’s worth the investment—and the wait for an appointment—to keep them warm and healthy this winter.
by Dianne Rinehart // photography by Anya Shor
My dog, Daisy, is a rambunctious husky/German shepherd mix. There is not a frou-frou, I-want-to-be-groomed bone in her body.
Indeed, her idea of a good grooming is to jump in a red-clay puddle on the side of Blue Mountain and sink into it up to her neck, then race around the hills and roll in any animal doo-doo she can find.
I cannot overstate the “ew” factor. I even once found fur and skin caught in her collar from her enthusiastic foray into some dead, um, thing.
But on this day, she is going to—dare I say it aloud to my down-and-dirty dog?—a spa!
I would like to say she is mortified, but she is excited.
A bath and a blow-dry with her best buddy, WALL-E, a cairn terrier, is in the offing at 4 Paws, a grooming service owned and operated by Kim Wychers (which you can find on Facebook).
Wychers is a former dental hygienist and a horseback rider, so she had a lot of experience dealing with fear before she decided to change careers and convert her home garage in Collingwood’s Lockhart neighbourhood into a bright and cheery, Tiffany Blue-coloured dog spa.
It took a lot of planning—and courage—for the mother of two to change careers.
But after 20 years as a dental hygienist, Wychers says she was ready for something new.
“So, I thought about my second love, dogs!” says Wychers, who owns a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever named Chance.
“I went full-on and decided we’re doing it,” says Wychers of her family, who all got involved in the project.
Her dad built the bathtub for the dogs to the exact height that worked for her tall build. And he and her husband, a ski coach, helped her paint. Her mum handed out pamphlets to promote the business.
She wasn’t even officially open when she got her first client. (“Ruby just needed a bath,” she explains.)
Now Wychers is booked months in advance, and though she doesn’t know where she will get the time, she plans to add a doggie dental service in the spring.
In short, everything is purring along.
Not that the job isn’t without its challenges. While dental hygienists may worry about being bitten accidentally by people, groomers are worried a pet may turn on them, out of fear or aggression, and attack.
“Some are just straight up aggressive,” she says of dogs. “I’ve been attacked for no reason at all.”
She is constantly looking for a telltale sign if a dog is scared, like “an untrusting eye.”
“You have to know how to handle a dog and read a dog.”
Indeed, she took an online course on how to groom dogs, and training in dog handling from Melanie MacLachlan at Canine Companions for Life in the Blue Mountains.
If a pet is particularly nervous, she may spend more time getting to know its personality and calming it. That may mean she doesn’t have time to do a whole grooming on the first go-around.
She needs the animals to be calm, because she doesn’t use nooses to hold them on the table, nor does she cage them when they are drying.
But today, she has nothing but kisses—right on their schnozzes—for my dog Daisy and WALL-E, who is her mum’s dog.
Then it’s straight to business.
First, she checks the pets’ teeth and ears. Later, as she’s blow drying them, she feels their bodies for ticks and burrs and any lumps that may indicate health issues.
Then she brings out the electric trimmer, turns it on, and gently rubs the cord over the dog’s body, so the animal will not be afraid when she, next, expertly wields it between the delicate paw pads to shave away excess fur.
“The fur between the pads gets extremely matted and collects dirt and bacteria, which can cause fungal issues and yeast infections,” she says.
But should you really be cutting a dog’s fur as winter approaches?
It’s a misunderstanding that a long coat is warmer in the winter, she explains.
Matted fur doesn’t allow for air flow, she says. “And the tighter the matting, the more it pulls on the skin and reduces circulation. It can also cause skin irritations.”
Daisy’s hair (huskies don’t have fur) doesn’t mat. But Wychers takes a comb to go after the undercoat of dead hair beneath her glossy coat, which would block the layer of air that helps keep Daisy warm.
Now it’s time for a bath.
Though Daisy weighs 55 pounds, Wychers lifts her, seemingly without any effort, into the tub, the only place she nooses her canine clients. She doesn’t want them jumping out.
She kneads Best Shot Lemon-Aid shampoo (because it is tear-free and safe for dogs to lick) deep into Daisy’s coat to get down to her skin.
Then it’s WALL-E’s turn.
He starts out as a matted, messy mop and ends up shimmering in the light by the time Wychers is done.
If it all sounds good for your dog, you are right. But just try getting an appointment.
Groomers are as tough to find and book as family doctors.
And grooming is not cheap.
A “perfect groom” at 4 Paws—including checks on ears, nail clipping, a bath, brush, trim and style—can cost $50 to $100 depending on the size of the dog.
Yes, bigger dogs cost more because they take longer to groom. And, yes, the prices may be more than you may pay to get your own hair done.
Why?
Wychers laughs: “Because you don’t pee on your groomer, you don’t try to bite your hairdresser.”
One can only hope!
