CREATING CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Having owned Transformation Pet Center in Tucson for 32 years, I have many clients that have been bringing various dogs/cats for grooming for twenty years or longer.  Lately I’ve been talking with them about what has factored into their loyalty. Here are ten things that my customers tell me have made a difference for them.

1.Relationship. Relationship. Relationship.  You may think your strength is all about your grooming, but for many pet owners, the thing that brings them back is their sense of having a relationship with you or your staff.  We could call this the “Cheers Factor” (where everyone knows your name).  With many of my customers we have established a relationship where we are partnering in the pet’s care.  For some, I have been involved in many decisions beyond the simple matter of grooming style, from choosing a breed for a new puppy to deciding when it’s time to let a dear old one go. 

 2. Trust in your care.  People return to places where they feel their pets are well cared for, safe,  and reasonably happy. How do you show that you care?  I think this has more to do with what you do than what you say.  There is one thing that I do with first-time customers that is so effective that I can visually see them relax.  I step through the gate at the counter to their side and sit down in one of two chairs I have for the customers, and greet their dog and pet it while talking about the grooming plan.  I ask them if I can offer the dog a treat.  This simple action takes 2-5 minutes, and not only speaks volumes to the owner; it gives me a chance to assess the new dog and the condition.  I can anticipate problems and even turn away dogs that I don’t think I can work with.  Another important factor in my workplace, is that people can see all the way into the back.  There is no closed off “back room”.  Transparency builds trust.  I have no qualms about showing people the facility, or even letting them watch me groom.

3. Grooming Skills.  Styling ability is important, but only when it serves the client.  Other places lose customers because they take the coats too short, I lose some because I don’t take it short enough.  But when I nail it, and give them exactly what they want, and hear those words “She’s never looked this good, ever”, then I know I have them for the long haul.  And, of course, I always give the client permission to discover that the look they love does not work for the level of home maintenance they are willing to do.  I’ve worked for years in developing my knowledge and ability to groom to breed standards, and I market my service to those pet owners who want those skills.  I have customers who have been to several other groomers before finding me, especially Bichon and terrier people or folks who don’t want a “puppy cut”.  Once they get what they want, they stick like gum to your shoe.  Trust me, it pays to be a Certified Master Groomer.  It’s not so much the certificate that pays off, as it is all the work leading to certification. 

4. Showing your love of animals and demonstrating patience. Another thing my customers tell me that reflects my caring is how I am with my own dogs that are at the workplace.  The love shows through.  Likewise, your patience and tolerance with your customers is a reflection of how you are with the pets.  Let me say this again: people will make assumptions about how you treat animals from how they feel treated by you.  If you are impatient and unsympathetic with them, they will worry about how you treat their pets.  They might even make stuff up, “I think she was rough with my Bowser, “ said one customer of a previous groomer.  “Why do you think that,” I asked.  “Because she seemed angry at me when I asked her to comb out the ears.” 

 5. Reserving judgment, being non-judgmental.  People are not inclined to return to a service where they feel judged or made to feel bad, wrong or insufficient.  They don’t want to be lectured.  An explanation becomes a “lecture” when there is a judgmental tone to it.  If you stay focused on what “works” or “doesn’t work” for you, your service, or the pet, and not so much on what is right/wrong or good/bad, you can explain things without sounding judgmental.

6. Caring for the people as well as the pets.  Helping clients get dogs in and out of the car, offering them a drink of water, holding the leash while they write the check, having a place for them to sit a minute. All of these things show you care for the welfare of the people as well as their animals.  Pet grooming is a service, so help make your service valuable to them.  Ask them if an out time works for them to pick up their dog, rather than simply assign a time.  When you ask, “Does this work for you?”,  it means you care whether or not it works. 

7. It’s the little things.  For you, it may be homemade bows and bandanas.  For me, it’s putting chocolates out in a dish for the customers.  It’s fine that we have dog treats in every pocket, but some of our folks are very impressed that we have Bliss chocolates on the front counter.  Holiday decorations, a printed out pet joke, these are all things that suggest that you love your work.  People return to where there is a positive exchange of energy.  

8.  The power of acknowledgment.  Don’t get me started.  I could write a whole column on the power of acknowledgment.  Acknowledgment is one of the most effective tools we have in relationship building.  How does it work?  You simply give it up.  You look your client in the eyes and you say, “I just want to acknowledge your commitment to maintaining a regular grooming schedule.”  Or, “I wish to acknowledge how much I appreciate your business.” Or, “I want to acknowledge that I am honored that you place your trust in me to care for your pet.”  Or, “I want to thank you for being such a great customer.” Or, “You take such good care of this dog!”  The human condition is such that we all yearn for acknowledgment, we want to be good pet owners, good customers, good employees, and good bosses.  The more acknowledgment you give away to those around you, the more loyal people become to you.  People like to do business where they feel good about themselves. P.S. Acknowledgment works wonders with employees, bosses, co-workers, friends and family. 

9.Having integrity and being honest.  One customer said, “I like this place because you do what you say and you say what you do.”  That means you establish a realistic grooming “agreement”, you do what you agreed, and if anything else happens you tell the client and explain.  You don’t agree to do something you can’t.  If an accident happens, you confess.  If you can’t do what you agreed to do, you call the people and at least leave a voicemail that you are changing the plan.  You don’t just say you are going to do one thing and then do something else.  Being crystal clear with your communications is part of your integrity. 

10. Managing odor.  Odor is one of those things that can turn people off.  Bad odors are unacceptable to many people.  Studies have shown that people get de-sensitized to constant bad odors.  While grooming staff can get accustomed to dirty dog smell, sour towels and such, the customer walking in the front door will notice.  Odor management takes constant vigilance and good cleaning protocol.  Aromatherapy can be very helpful in avoiding the stereotypical kennel odor that is often associated with grooming establishments.  We get many compliments on how good it smells in our place. 

I am sure there are many more points to be made on subject of creating customer loyalty.  Please feel free to add to this list and share what has worked for you, whether you are a pet groomer or a pet owner.  For every customer that we keep, it’s one less new client that we have to find.  These loyal customers that have been with me for years are the backbone of my business; knowing that they are there are what helps me relax on the weekend, even if it’s been a slow week. 

 

 

 

 

6.     

TIPS FOR GROOMING THE BEARDED COLLIE

I have been grooming, "Redford", the Bearded Collie for about 12 years on a very regular schedule. There have been times when there was severe matting, and times when the feet were so dirty I could not totally remove the staining. This was while maintaining an every two week schedule. Here are some of the things I have learned while on this journey with my buddy, Redford.



A regular grooming schedule is essential. For the first four years, we maintained Redford in full coat to keep open the possibility of a show presentation. I would not have been successful if Redford's owner had not kept to a biweekly grooming schedule. I view our 12 years of success with this beautiful coat as a team effort. Not all beardies require professional grooming every two weeks. This was a decision based on this coat, with an active life, and a very busy owner. They all require a regular schedule, however, and failure to make a commitment to thorough grooming can lead to unmanageable matting and the slippery slop to total clip down.

Use tools to minimize coat damage. Pictured on the table with Redford are two of my favorite tools for grooming this type of coat: the Chris Christensen 16 mm "T" Brush and a wooden handled Poodle comb with long and widely spaced teeth. I rarely use a slicker, except to remove stickers or burrs from a specific place. There have been several times over the years when we've had a coat crisis, with a lot of matting. The last time it was really clear that this was related to tool choice, especially use of slicker brushes.

Line brushing. Brushing and combing the coat from the bottom up in layers is essential to a thorough job. Failure to do this can leave places that are not combed and possible matting for next time.

Keep a record of products used. I wish I had done this. I've used a lot of different products on Redford with few problems. Highly fragrant shampoo proved to be a mistake, and heavy conditioner extended drying time without much value to the coat. Most recently I have been alternating shampoos between Show Season "Bright" and Espree "Doggone Clean".

Conditioner is critical. Some form of conditioner is vital for the management of matting. I have never combed this coat out prior to bathing, but have always cleaned and conditioned the coat first, and brushed/combed after the coat was dry. Assaulting the hair without protecting it is going to contribute to a lot of coat damage. I prefer to use light conditioner with some silicone ingredients. The Best Shot system of products worked well on this coat. For the grooming pictured above, I used a leave in conditioner product from Sally's Beauty Supply that is a knock off of Infusium 23 treatment. I was extremely impressed with the result. The coat was very combable, dried quickly, had texture and body, and felt terrific. I used one ounce through the Bathing Beauty system, but you could spray it on the coat and rinse it through.

Sidebar: I am getting so fed up with the lack of information about ingredients in pet grooming products that I am revisiting some of the human products I've used in the past. Infusium 23 Leave-In Conditioning Treatment seems to have an affinity for dog hair. Simply put, it works well as either a detangler for grooming between baths or as a conditioner after the bath. The Sally's product is very similar at a much better price.

The Bathing Beauty recirculating bathing system. A huge part of my success in maintaining full coats, and my grooming in general is the Bathing Beauty pet washing system. It is a recirculating pump system that dilutes the products in the tub and rinses the solution through the coat for the most thorough application possible of shampoo or conditioner. The Bathing Beauty is thorough, kind to the hair, and allows me to bathe this beardie in about 15 minutes.

Passive drying with ambient air. I dry Redford 3/4 of the way with fans and the Sahara Dryer ducts around an exercise pen. The beardie hair is particularly well-suited for this method of drying, as the coat is light and moves with the gentle air. Passive drying not only cuts down on the table time, it is also more gentle on the hair. I finish drying with a k9II without the nozzle, so the forced air does not whip knots into the long coat.

Trimming with chunking shears allows me to shorten the hair over the eyes and trim the feet leaving a natural "ungroomed" look. Perfectly scissored bangs are a little out of place on this shaggy breed, but the owner likes to see Redford's eyes.




SALES PITCH: The Chris Christensen T Brush, Wooden Handled Poodle Comb, Bathing Beauty Hydro Pet Washing System and the Proline Chunkers can be purchased through my shopping cart. Click HERE to go there. Shop with a groomer, it's good karma. And it your purchases help to support the GroomBlog. Thanks!

SCWT PET TRIM - THE 'BENJI' LOOK

Not all owners of Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers like the breed standard profile. Take "Darcy's" owners, for example. They love their shaggy pooch, and don't want the terrier trim nor the face fall that goes with the breed. They are willing to go with monthly grooming to maintain a slightly longer, informal look. At Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, Arizona, we call this the "Benji" trim, as we started doing this face trim many years ago when the movie of that name came out.

Miss Darcy


Here's a better view of the whole dog:


This style is obtained by using a combination of snap-on combs and scissoring. The exact size of the comb attachment depends on how much I want to take off. Some times I use the clipper vac and a Wahl "A" comb, and take her down all over. On this day, I mostly scissored using chunking shears. This style of texturizing shear works great on SCWT coat. It leaves a natural, feathered edge that does not show cut marks.

Here's what the chunkers look like:


Darcy was first bathed with Espree Doggone Clean shampoo and rinsed with Show Sheen horse grooming spray diluted through the Bathing Beauty recirculating bathing system. She was dried with the Laube Magnum Force dryer. I create a little more force by using a cone attachment from a K9II dryer over the round nozzle that comes with the dryer. The bath took about 5 minutes, the drying about 20. Comb out was another 15-20 minutes. She was somewhat matted, but it brushed right out, thanks to the detangler that was rinsed through the coat and dried. Scissoring and shortening took about 20 minutes. Total time was a little over an hour. That was good time.

Here are some of the tools I used for brushing and combing:
Chris Christensen 16mm T-Brush

This brush is used for line brushing or layering, from the feet up the leg and the underside, up the sides. It brushes out minor tangling without brutalizing the hair cuticle and breaking hair, which just increases matting. You would be amazed how well this brush combs out the SCWT coat when the hair is "treated" with the silcione-based detangler.

Mars Flexy King Brush


Wooden Handle Poodle Comb

This comb is one of my favorite tools of all time. I can groom just about anything with this comb, and it is less painful to the dog than more finely spaced combs.

All of these tools are available from the Birdie shopping cart. Click HERE to go there.

Barbara Bird, is a Certified Master Groomer (CMG) with International Professional Groomers, Inc. (IPG). She has been grooming since 1971. She's too old to do the math, but is still doing great grooming at Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, AZ.
For an appointment, call 520-795-5743

PS. Caveat: I am aware that one ear is shorter than the other. I thought I had corrected that, but whoops guess not enough. I will get it next time. You do not need to bring it to my attention. If I waited for my grooming to be perfect, and to get a perfect photo, I would not have a blog. As Lisa Leady said on Groomer Has It (Episode that aired 6/6/09), "I'm not perfect". If she can admit it and still stand tall, so can I. Lisa Leady is one of my role models, and is one of the most awesome groomers in the Whole World. Go Lisa!

BICHON FRISE SHORT PET TRIM

At Transformation Pet Center in Tucson, AZ, one of our specialties is the Bichon Frise.  Although we love doing the full, scissored show style, many pet owners cannot maintain their dogs with this much coat.  Here is an alternative short style we developed for our clients.  

In this view, you can see that I left a "ledge" over the eyes. This is a very important characteristic of the breed profile. On subsequent visits, however, the owners requested that I shorten even this. You also see there is no extra hair left on the neck. The neck "crest" that is usually present on a show profile gives the arched neck and "attitude" to the Bichon. It was difficult for my artistic self to let go of the neck crest, but it was easy for my customer pleasing self. The owners don't miss it at all!

Operational details: This style was accomplished using the Laube iVac clipper with a Wahl metal snap-on comb. The peach-colored one. The front was clipped straight down and under the chest and the whole underside. The body was clipped from the back of the head, down the sides, and the rear legs were done in a Schnauzer pattern, leaving more in front of the back legs, which was then scissored. The front of the front legs is taken short, and a little more left on the backs of the forelegs and scissored. The feet are scissored round and the tuck-up, or where the back leg meets the side, is scissored in by hand.

The head was done by first clipping the ears the same length as the body. Notice that I left enough hair at the base of the ears to blend into the top of the head, not cutting across the top of the ears Poodle-style. The face was scissored round in the Bichon style, but in front of the ears, instead of into the ears. Many pet groomers do all their Bichons this way, which makes me scream, but in this case, I did it myself. There is an exception to every rule! The decision of whether to blend the ears into the head or leave them out should depend somewhat on the ear set of the individual dog. If the Bichon has a high ear set, or ears that want to stick out (what I call "naughty ears"), leave them out. Otherwise you might want to blend the ears into the head more like the traditional Bichon head. This next dog, owned by the same people, turned out more blended.

By using a vacuum clipper system (iVac) and a snap-on guide comb, and clipping the body into a Schnauzer type pattern, we have created a practical short trim for the Bichon Frise that has a little more "style" than clipping the dog the same length all over. By making the ears very short, we have managed to maintain the classic Bichon expression to the face, without becoming "Poodley". Hope you like it.

Barbara Bird is a Certified Master Groomer and owner of Transformation Pet Center in Tucson, Arizona. Appointments can be made by calling 520-795-5743.

PET SCHNAUZER GROOMING IN TUCSON

The Miniature Schnauzer is one of the most popular of the small breeds.  Grooming styles can differ widely amongst pet groomers.  Here are a few pictures to illustrate how we groom at Transformation Pet Center, Tucson, Arizona.  

"Marcus"

We base our grooming of all breeds on the AKC (American Kennel Club) breed standards and the current show profile. We believe that how breeders are presenting their breed in the show ring demonstrates how they are envisioning the breed characteristics. We use these breed profiles as our fundamental reference for our pet grooming.

Marcus is a very nice boy who cleans up well. This is a tidy groom that is fairly easy to maintain. His body was clippered with a #7 blade on the Laube Speed Feed trimmer. The legs, chest and undercarriage were sculpted with the #6 snap-on comb that comes with the Speed Feed trimmer, and outlined with scissors. The sides of the face and ears were clipped with a #10 on the Speed Feed, and the top of the head with the #7. 

Marcus Front View

Here's Doc!

White Schnauzer

This pup came for his first groom at 8 months. His coat was thin and matted. We chose this "informal" look that suited him well. His body was clipped with a #5 blade.

"Sophie"

Like the dog above, this white Schnauzer has a thin body coat, and mats very easily. We used a Laube Speed Feed trimmer with the #7 blade for the body. The numerous small mats were brushed out with a Mars Flexy King brush (see below). While stunning, the white Schnauzer fur seems to mat in a NY second.

"Coco"

This chocolate Schnauzer was bred for color and diminutive size. The trimmer placed next to her helps to show how tiny she is. This is Coco at 6-7 months. She is not expected to get much larger. Coco's owner has asked us to groom her eyebrows so as to reveal the cream color inside the brows. She also likes more of a "puppy" look to the face, whiskers and furnishings.

"Sport" gets a hand strip.

Although we hand strip several other breeds, Sport is our only hand stripped Schnauzer. Hand stripping is the traditional means of grooming most of the rough coated terrier breeds. Of these, the Schnauzer coat is the most difficult, in my opinion. We do our best with Sport, and fortunately his owners love this look. His head is custom groomed, NOT to the breed standard.

Check out Sport's ears!

There are two reasons we do not clip Sport's ears clean and perfect as we usually like. The aesthetic reason is that we want to soften the look of his ears. Okay, bluntly put, we don't want him to look like a donkey. Sport has a LOT of ears! The safety reason is that Sport is not a good sport about having his ears clipped. He jerks around and endangers himself. There is a time and place for compromise, and when a dog is totally distressed about something like having his ears shaved, we compromise. For Sport, the result works. Always, our work is individualized to suit each animal and can be modified to the client's request.

For Schnauzer mats and tangles we recommend the Mars Flexy King brush.

The Flexy King is uniquely constructed of longer pins on a smaller, flexible pad. It is very well-suited for picking apart mats in the Miniature Schnauzer coat. Lightly spritz with a detangling spray, such as EZ Glide by E-Z groom, and gently work apart the tangles in small sections. Pick, don't press with the brush, and finish with a comb. The Flexy King can be purchased from the author's shopping cart. Click HERE to go there.

Transformation Pet Center is located in mid-town Tucson, Arizona. Grooming is by Certified Master Groomer, Barbara Bird with assistance from Dave (The Slave) Fernandez. We can be reached by phone at 520-795-5743 or email: petpals@dakotacom.net.

HAPPY HAIR HERBAL OIL SPA TREATMENT FOR PETS

The Scented Groomer is pleased to announce an addition to our line of aromatherapy products for pets and their people.

HAPPY HAIR HERBAL OIL has been formulated as a simple and natural nourishing and replenishing treatment for hair that can be used as a spa treatment.  Not only is it great for hair and skin, it has calming and balancing aromatherapy benefits.

HAPPY HAIR HERBAL OIL can be used on dry or damp hair.  For maximum treatment, warm oil by placing the bottle in hot water, apply moderately to dry hair and wrap in a towel.  (We use the adorable doggie robes from Pet Edge.) Hot or not, a good result is obtained by simply rubbing oil on palms of hands and running through the hair.  Do not overuse, and use sparingly on fine soft hair.  Leaving on longer will achieve a greater effect.  It can also be used after shampoo on toweled hair before conditioning, or as a substitute for conditioner.  

OUR INGREDIENTS: 

HAPPY HAIR HERBAL OIL is handcrafted in small batches by The Scented Groomer, the aromatherapy persona of BBird.  We begin with organic Extra Virgin OLIVE OIL from Spain, the same oil as preferred by top chefs.  Olive oil has been used for centuries to improve and enhance skin and hair.  In addition to infusing moisture directly into the hair cuticle, Olive oil will improve the strength and elasticity of hair.  Organic Lavender flowers and Lemongrass are infused into the oil for their balancing and nourishing properties.  For additional value to the hair and skin, and for aromatherapy benefit, we add essential oils of Palmarosa and Ylang Ylang. Ylang Ylang (Canaga odorata) was the key ingredient to a very popular hair treatment of the Victorian age called Macassar Oil.  This natural conditioner is reputed to also stimulate hair growth.  Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii) has great moisturizing properties for hair and has a tradition in skin care products for its ability to promote cellular regeneration. Both Palmarosa and Ylang Ylang  are used to balance sebum production.  The aromatherapeutic benefits are calming, balancing, anti-depressant.  The product is preserved with Vitamin E oil (as Tocopherol Acetate).  That's all!  We kept it simple, natural, and organic.  

BONUS BENEFIT: Treat your hands to a sugar scrub!  This simple treatment will have your hands as happy as your hair.  Place about 1 tablespoon sugar (one packet) in the palm of your hand and cover with Happy Hair Herbal Oil.  Mix together in your palms and rub all over your hands.  Pay special attention to your cuticles and any calloused areas.  Take your time, then rinse with warm water and pat dry.  The oiliness will disappear in a minute, leaving your hands nourished and soft. Happy hands!  Used before bathing dogs, groomers will find a quick sugar scrub will protect your skin from the onslaught of cleansing surfactants.  Used after work or before bed, the herbal oil will moisturize and replenish your hands.  We use it in the shower on the throat and neck area, elbows, and any rough spots. 

AVAILABILITY: Happy Hair Herbal Oil Treatment is available only through Show Season Animal Products and BBird.biz.  Look in the aromatherapy "aisle".  

ETERNAL GRATITUDE: Many thanks to our email group,  Groompics-tnt@yahoogroups.com, for indulging me and embellishing my spa day pictures as I developed the marketing image for this product. Several of our members talented in Photoshop "played" with my pictures.  The selected picture was improved by Jenifer Watt of Watt-A-Dog Grooming Salon.  In addition to being a master with Photoshop, Jenifer is the UK distributor for Show Seasons Animal Products.  Contact her for information regarding availability of Happy Hair in the UK. Click here to go there.

 

Terrier Transformation in Tucson

At Transformation Pet Center in Tucson, AZ, we love doing pet makeover grooming that lives up to our name. Here is the story of Belle, a Wire Haired Terrier.

Belle's family had recently moved to Tucson, and she had not been groomed since before the move. She was overgrown, dirty, and whew, did she ever smell bad! Did I say matted? That, too.



Here's a side shot that really shows the extent of the matting on the legs.


The owner admitted to a little home grooming on the head. Love these ears!



I was nearly salivating with the anticipation of "fixing" this dog's hair style and cleaning her up. Okay, I need a life, I admit it. Meanwhile, some lucky pet owners get to benefit from my pouring all my talent into grooming their "babies." These people found me by searching the Internet. I loved that part.

The first thing I did was to rake out the fuzzy body coat with a deshedding blade. Technically, this is called "carding the jacket". The purpose is to promote new growth of hard hair with good color. Carding is a technique used in hand stripping of terriers that I have incorporated into my pet grooming. It helps to maintain a healthier coat.

A key to carding is to gently stretch the skin as you are raking with the grain of coat growth. It looks like this:


This is how much hair I removed in this step:


Next came the bath. Make that two baths. The first bath of EZ Structure shampoo did not get rid of all of the odor. i determined that the coat was rather oily and was holding on to the odor. This dog smelled so bad I questioned my own cleanliness. For a second bath, I chose EZ Groom dEZolve, a degreaser that did the trick. Then I Used Show Season Results Rinse as a finishing rinse. Here she is after bath, dry and brushing out.



You can see traces of the previous grooming. The groomer placed the pattern too high on the shoulder and left something of a "skirt". We don't really want that.

Here is Belle with a new pattern, using a #5 blade:


After scissoring, she looked like this:



A happy Belle says, "My owners are delighted to have me looking like a Wire Fox Terrier again, thanks to Transformation Pet Center. I'm glad we moved to Tucson, so we could find Barbara and Dave."


Thanks for the endorsement, Belle, they can call us at 520-795-5743! You can also click HERE to go directly to the Transformation website and learn more about our grooming service.

ADDENDUM: Critique of previous grooming. It turns out that Belle's former groomer is a friend on one of our groomers' email groups. She would like a little more information about the previous grooming and what needed correcting. It is extremely difficult to critique a grooming that has grown out about eight weeks. From what I could tell, it was not a bad grooming. It looked to me as though the groomer had based her clipper work on one of our grooming books that has lines drawn to show the clipper line. I say that because weeks later I see what appears to be a line across the lower part of the body and shoulder. To my eye, this line is a bit too far up. If you look at the Wire Fox in the show ring, or any of the long legged terriers, there is no fringe underneath the dog, and certainly none on the sides. The lines in the grooming books, however, often appear to suggest that the clipping stops at a line along the side of the dog from the shoulder to the flank. Groomers often refer to the hair underneath that line as t!he "skirt". NEWSFLASH: There is NO SKIRT on the long legged terriers. There is just a little bit of length left underneath the body to accentuate the slope that naturally exists from the flank to the lower chest, but this does not extend up the sides. The clipper work on the shoulder extends just about to the elbow so as to show the shoulder muscle. I think of the terrier as wearing a T-shirt, they are "tough guys", working class dudes, with muscles showing.

It was even more difficult to critique the former grooming of the head, as the owner had done some "emergency" home grooming. But from what I could see, it looked as though the groomer had not taken the hair at the outside corner of the eyes flush to the head. My guess was that it had been left a little long there. Again, this applies to all terrier heads. The WFT head is particularly sharp and narrow, and when we leave it too full on the top at the eyes, the entire head becomes a bit bushy, instead of being a tight "brick" shape. (looking at it straight on).

Because of the interest in this article (and the actual expression of a groomer's desire to learn), I will get some additional pictures of detailing of the Wire Fox Terrier groom in the near future.