Spa Day at Doggie Styles

We went to the groomer's today. I like to call it Winnie's Spa Day. I try to tell her how great it is and how much they love her at the salon. She isn't quite buying it and usually tries to make me feel terribly guilty for bringing her there by quivering and looking at me with those big wet eyes.

One of the special things about having a froufy dog such as a shih-tzu is that they require regular professional grooming. You could try to learn how to do it at home, which I did when I first got Winnie. I bought the clippers and a video...but I was terrible at it. And Winnie HATED when I groomed her. So I realized that despite the cost, professional grooming was a necessity.

I tried out a few different places in the first year I had Winnie. The first place I went was in a small strip mall sort of place. I just did a walk in appointment. They were nice, the place had just opened up and seemed clean and reasonably priced. Unfortunately, the groomers there cut Winnie's sensitive skin under her back legs with the clippers. Which they didn't bother to tell me about and I only discovered once we were home. The clipping they gave her was so short she got a rash from the irritation. This ended up in a Vet visit to get a topical medication to help the redness and irritation. The "reasonable" price of that grooming experience soon ballooned into a $250 vet bill. Needless to say that place didn't get our return business.

Another place we went to was a nice and they did a pretty good job, but from what I could see they mostly dealt with large breeds. Winnie was not getting a quality puppy cut from this place and for $50 a pop, I wanted a bit more out of the grooming experience.

So, I asked around a bit and a friend recommended Doggie Styles Pet Grooming in Colchester, VT. My friend told me they were friendly and did a great job grooming his Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Koko. I think Koko is adorable and always looks wonderful, so I decided to give Doggie Styles a try.

After one trip to Doggie Styles we were hooked. Well, I was hooked, Winnie is still not sure. But to be fair, If you recall this blog post, she's a bit of a Pig Pen.

Here's the front door at Doggie Styles:

Yep, the name really is Doggie Styles.

This is the typical greeting when you enter the salon:

 

 

Oh Hai! How can I help ya?!

Here's a few snap shots of Winnie's grooming experience at Doggie Styles:

Seriously Mom, You're just gonna LET this happen?

OMD! I hate you so much right now.

To wrap up, we are big fans of Doggie Styles Pet Grooming and highly recommend it to anyone in the area. The staff and the especially the owner, Joanne (Winnie's personal groomer of course) are awesome. Professional, helpful, kind and best of all they love Winnie. Which is worth all the money in the world.

And for the BIG REVEAL. Here is Winnie before and after her big spa day!

 What to you think? Doesn't she look great? Well, she smells great too (well, not her breath but that's a completely different story...) and her coat is shiny and silky too.

Tell me what you think, please share any grooming secrets and tricks you have in the comments!