news

Photo contest!!

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 02:48:37 +0100

Hello Little Shop pets and parents!

We are having a photo contest to showcase some of our wonderful clients! Bring us your pictures, either in shop or via email by Saturday, September 18. Everyone who enters is eligible for our grand prize drawing at our open house on Sunday, September 26. You do not have to be present to win the drawing, however if you are in attendance and win the grand prize, there will be a bonus prize. The grand prize is a free grooming, second place is a free spa package up to $15, and third place is 25% off your next grooming. We will also offer 2 free self serve bath coupons as prizes. By entering your photo into our contest your photo becomes the property of Little Shop of Howlers to use as we see fit. We will not be returning photos entered into our contest.

Rules for entries:
You may enter as many photos as you like, however you will only be entered into the drawing once.
No humans in the pictures.
Pets must have been groomed no more than 2 weeks before photo is taken, i.e. they must be clean and well groomed.

Some examples of pictures do's and don'ts are as follows:
First we'll display the type of pictures we are looking for...

The next pictures are ones we would like to avoid...

We are so excited to see what you guys are going to bring us! Happy photo taking, and good luck!

Save the date!!

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:27:58 +0100

September 26, 2010 we will be having an open house and party to celebrate our new salon. Paws N Effect next door will also be holding some dog friendly events.

So far we are planning:
BBQ (with vegetarian options as well)
Ice cream
Grooming demonstrations
Private grooming consultations for your pets
Nail trims
Teeth brushing
Agility demos
Flyball
Lure coursing
Healthy diet seminars by local vets
Rescue group fundraising
Door prizes
Special coupons
Tours of our salon
Self Serve Pet Spa will be open
CGC testing
Rally O demos
Puppy races
Pony rides (weather permitting)
Bobbing for apples or hot dogs (also weather permitting)
And more!!

We hope to see you all there. Bring your friends and bring your pets. This is a great opportunity to have a fun day out with your dog, meet other dog lovers, and help those less than excited pets see the salon in a positive light with no stress attached. More details and a schedule of events coming soon!

What our pets do while we're away on vacation.

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:42:13 +0100

And we all thought they sat at home pining for our return...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=pkPNa4DBFHI

Enjoy!

Happy Memorial Day!

How can you help with the oil spill?

Sun, 23 May 2010 20:50:19 +0100

You already are! Your pet's fur is on it's way to Alabama to assist in soaking up the oil spill in the Gulf. Here are some videos on how the whole process works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQOD_Ir2vQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj_mna5lckg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHuWyFVo62o

Thank you for your help! Be sure to donate your nylons as well, with runs are fine. We are so happy to be a part of something to help our community along the Gulf Coast. Keep bringing us that fur, and we'll keep sending it down!!

Intergroom 2010

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:11:35 +0100

I am back from another great weekend at a grooming competition. Every time I go I am so encouraged and renewed to come back to work and make every pet look and feel their very best. Seeing old friends, winning awards, buying new tools and learning new tricks really does something to the groomer's soul.

Well, I was quite successful in this competition. It began Friday morning when I entered the ring with Jake, the Irish Terrier.

He was his usual feisty self, so much so that the judges commented on his silly antics and noted I had endless patience. While he can be fresh at times, I love the bond we have and I wonder if his being so troublesome in front of the judges doesn't give us a bit of an edge when he comes out looking so good at the end of the competition. We'll take whatever we can get! We won second place in the Hand-Stripped class. Good boy, Jake!

Friday afternoon was Rosy's turn. This was her maiden voyage into the competition ring, and I am very thankful her mother put up with all the extra hair leading up to this show so I could use her. Rosy is a Labradoodle.

She did wonderfully for her first time out. Sometimes all the excitement and people watching can be a little overwhelming to a first time competitor, both dog and human alike, but she took it like the champion I knew she would be. Our class was rather large, almost 20 entries, and we received 3rd place. Unfortunately I did not know that all dogs were given the same amount of time regardless of size, so I feel our placement was quite a success when the first place dog could not have weighed more than 4 pounds! Thank you again, Miss Rosy and mom!

Lastly, I competed on Saturday afternoon with my Standard Poodle, ZZ. He looked like the abominable snowman heading into the ring.

I was very excited about this class, as I had won first place the last two years. ZZ was wonderful as usual, and I felt so good throughout the class. I can literally feel myself improving as I compete with him. I am able to take past critiques that I have received and correct them while I'm in the ring as opposed to before I would not see certain things until I had finished the dog. We placed third in a class of almost 40 dogs, and while it's not first, I am happy that we were in the placements.

That sums up my weekend at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. I can't wait for my next show!

Coming soon: DIY Dog Spa

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:07:32 +0100

Our tubs are in place and awaiting the plumber to hook them up, then we will be kicking off the new edition to Little Shop of Howlers: the DIY dog spa! Please check back soon for updated pictures, hours of operation and pricing information. We are so excited about this new aspect of our salon.

Our new digs!

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:58:32 +0100

Tuesday, March 16 was our first day in our brand new salon! It was absolutely wonderful! We are still finishing with some small decorative details, and the self serve section will be up and running in a few weeks. Please feel free to come visit us any time, we love guests!

134th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:43:24 +0100

I was asked several months ago to groom a Portuguese Water Dog, Ch. Ebb Tide's Upcountry Titan, aka Sage, for this most prestigious show. Of course I agreed, and so began our journey to "the Garden" (Madison Square Garden that is!). Monday, February 15th, we prepared Sage for our trip down to the city.

Sage snoozing in my lap on the drive down.

The hotel was filled with gorgeous dogs, and we were made to feel like celebrities. Tuesday morning we awoke early excited for our big day. We headed over to the show and did our last finishing touches on Sage.

Sage showed well amongst a large class of dogs. Though he did not place, we were very proud of our handsome boy. Several breeders and handlers noted how well groomed he was, so I was quite pleased. I look forward to heading to Westminster again in upcoming years, hopefully as a groomer/competitor, but if not, then definitely as a spectator.

The magic and buzz around the arena during Best In Show was indescribable.

Little Shop Update

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:39:18 +0100

We are excited to announce that Little Shop will be moving in the upcoming weeks to a new salon. We will be at the same address, but several doors down from our current location. Construction and painting has taken up much of our time and energy which is why we have not blogged in several weeks. However, we are hoping to be in the new space come March. Don't worry, we will let you know if we have moved. Please enjoy some pictures of our progress.

1: Materials dropped off.

Construction begins.

This will be the grooming room looking through the wall into the reception area.

This view is from the reception area looking through the wall into the grooming salon and beyond that the bathing room.

Sheetrock is up.

This will be the DIY Dog Spa section with a viewing window into the salon bathing area.

Walls are primed and some of the trim is up.

Now we are waiting on our tubs to arrive and the finish coat to be put on the walls before we begin to move in. It is very exciting and hope you will come and visit us for our grand opening this spring. Thank you for checking in on our progress. We look forward to better serving you and your pet in the very near future.

Return from NEPGP competition

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:40:38 +0100

I competed on Friday with Jackson, a Golden Retriever.
We did not place, but considering it was my first time grooming a Golden for competition, I was quite pleased. The judges commented that it was a beautiful job. I look forward to many more successful competitions with this handsome man.

On Saturday morning, Rusty, an adorable mixed breed, and I took the ring. Again, we did not place, but were awarded the Taxi Memorial Award. This award is given to the groomer who has captured the best expression on their mixed breed dog. I have to say this award was in the bag as soon as I walked in, how could ANYONE resist Mr. Rusty's face?!? He has a magnetic presence about him. As I was walking him around the show grounds, every single person had to stop and smile or say how cute he was and how much he resembled a stuffed animal. This little dog stole my heart and I hope we can compete together again someday.

Saturday afternoon it was Jake's turn. He is an Irish Terrier, full of life as most terriers are. Since I am now in the highest division, competing against groomers who are current members of Groom Team USA, I have to look at my rookie year as a year of learning and improving my grooming. I am doing better than I've done before, but am up against serious groomers. Therefore, I did not place with Jake, but he is improving as well in leaps and bounds.

Lastly, Sunday I competed with my Standard Poodle, ZZ. Again, we are paying our dues and climbing up the ranks.

Overall it was a success and a wonderful opportunity to grow. I look forward to having a brief competition respite until March of next year, but will be excited to get back in the ring and start moving towards being a real competitor. Check our competition section in the Gallery for more pictures of these 4 handsome boys.