Collars & Combs

04/08/2024

Hi everyone!

It’s been a very busy and wonderful start of 2024 so far. Thank you to you all for keeping me busy and bringing me such great dogs to groom!

I have some news! I am currently expecting my second child, and will be due the beginning of September. Grooming spaces will be limited throughout the Summer months, and I will keep everyone updated after the baby arrives as to when I will be returning to grooming as I will be taking some time off.

For now, I only have my son’s current daycare schedule through the end of May, so will not be prebooking all of everyone’s appointments until I’m off until I know my Summer schedule better. However, once I know his daycare schedule June-August, I will be getting my regular 4-9 weekers in when they are due, don’t worry! By the time your next appointment roles around, we will be able to book the next.

At this time and for this reason, I am currently unable to accept new clients.

Thank you all for your continued support as I navigate both motherhood and owning a business. It isn’t easy, but I wouldn’t trade it either!

-xo, Dallas 🤎

📸 Jennifer Campbell Photography

12/23/2023

Merry Christmas to all of my clients and your wonderful dogs this holidays season. ❤️

📸 Jennifer Campbell Photography

12/23/2023

Some of the faces that were through the door this holiday season. ❤️❄️🐾

10/07/2023

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!

I’m so thankful for all of my great clients and your wonderful dogs. 🤎

08/10/2023

Happy Thursday!

This past Sunday I severely injured the middle finger on my dominant hand, aka the hand I use for sc******ng, clippering, and bathing. Doctor’s orders - I am off work until atleast this Sunday, and we will reassess then if I need to take more time off into next week. I may need to reach out to some of you to either reschedule or cancel your appointment next week if I’m still unable to use my finger.

I apologize immensely for any inconvenience this may cause some of you, as I know it has caused myself many inconveniences! If you don’t hear from me then we are still good to go, but I will be making the decision on a daily basis and will reach out if needed.

I hope everyone’s Summer is going great, and be careful if you’re gardening and using electric hedge trimmers! 😅

♥️

08/03/2023

🐾 🖤

08/03/2023

I groomed a Toller last week who’s owners found me on Instagram last year. She lived on an island in Alaska and they are moving south of the border and stopped in on their route there.

She was such a good girl for her first ever professional groom and lost so much coat! 🦁
Incase you didn’t know, I LOVE the breed.

08/03/2023

Hi everyone! 👋

Please note I am currently booking all grooming appointments for the end of September onwards. If you forget to show up to an appointment between now and then, I unfortunately won’t be able to reschedule you until that time frame. My books are FULL! (Thank you!)

All of my clients prebook on a 4-10 week rotation, so my weeks are consistently full at this time until I can open another day of grooming. I have a big commitment coming later this Fall which will require a little bit of time off, so at this point in time I am still not able to accept any new clients because I can’t completely fill my days incase I need to shift appointments around. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but I’m hoping to open my schedule to new clients again in early 2024. ❤️

Thank you all, and I hope you’re enjoying your Summer! ☀️

05/10/2023

We’re on the road nice and early this morning to head out to another television commercial shoot with our resident dog, Carson. This one is going to be extra FUN! 😁

As always, thank you to our incredible agent and dog trainer, Melissa Millett, owner of London’s In Dogs We Trust- Professional, Positive Dog Training for lining us up with some great gigs. 🎥

04/25/2023

Before, during and after for puppy Charlie!

04/25/2023

Lots of Tollers on my table recently! 🥰

04/16/2023

Our resident dog Carson and I are off to a commercial shoot today with our agent and favourite trusted dog trainer, Melissa Millett of In Dogs We Trust- Professional, Positive Dog Training. We’re so thankful for these amazing (and super cool) opportunities. It’s another side of the pet and training industry that we’re so lucky to get to be apart of!🎥

Stay tuned, and check her out for all of your dog (or cat!) training needs!

📸by the talented Wendy Reyn and WincOnline

03/25/2023

Happy Saturday! 🐾

03/15/2023

I’m off to Louisville, Kentucky for the rest of the week to compete with some of our dogs at the Kentuckiana Cluster of Dog Shows.

Please note that all messages will be returned early next week.

I hope everyone is enjoying a little bit of the March Break! 🐾

03/03/2023

Sharing this for all dog owners to see!

I will ALWAYS be a huge advocate for Ruff Land Kennels for travelling with your dog in the car. They are worth the price for your priceless dog, and will never lose their value. My dogs always travel in them in the vehicle now.

Some Ontario dealers for ordering them are Dakota Creek Retrievers, Endeavour K9, or BauHound Haus Inc.

We will take this crash rating over a simulated crash in a laboratory setting ANY day!! 🥲🐶💚💜

"Hello, I wanted to reach out to you guys with this picture. My car was involved in a rollover accident, I was not in the vehicle and neither were my dogs, but the saving grace to the drivers life was my xl ruffland holding up the roof to my car. There is not a single scratch or dent on my kennel . . . I am blown away that the kennel does not even have a crack, and beyond grateful that it saved his life. The only reason my roof did not collapse onto the driver was because of the kennel."
M. Little
Inglis, FL

02/28/2023

Hi everyone! 👋

I thought I would reintroduce myself to any of our new followers. My name is Dallas and this is Collars & Combs’ 5th year in business. Thank you to all of my wonderful clients!

I got married last year to my husband Dave, and we have a beautiful, happy, 18 month old boy, Jack.

I have been working in the “dog” industry since 2011, my last year of high school. I have worked and managed a boarding kennel, a pet store, and now my grooming business. I have also been privileged to travel and work alongside some of the country’s top professional dog handlers. I attend grooming seminars, stay up to date with new learning techniques, and only use top quality products and shampoos on clients that I would also use on my own dogs.

My passion after grooming is competing with my own dogs. I own and raise Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers and am the Vice President of the Ontario Toller Club and a member of the Canadian Kennel Club. We compete in conformation, field, obedience, rally, and barn hunt primarily. My dogs have been awarded big wins and multiple titles in both Canada and the USA from judges all over the world. My dogs have also aired in multiple tv commercials, and I have worked on set with the dogs as a groomer/trainer for a big Netflix series.

I have certification through the Canadian Professional Pet Stylists association, and my grooming business is registered, insured and bonded. I have ample years experience grooming dogs of all breeds, in both pet and breed specific trims. My passion is giving dogs a makeover to make them look AND feel better. Dogs are my life and I want every dog to leave my salon looking as if they were stepping into a show ring. 🤍

-xo, Dallas 🐾

*please note that my books typically fill up much in advance and prebooking future apppintments is hugely recommended.

02/27/2023

A fun before and after on Libby this morning. It was her first professional grooming and her mom wanted her to look more Poodle like today.
Libby was a good girl! 💜

02/21/2023

✂️

12/01/2022

I promise you this is the same dog. She lives the good country dog life.
Willow! 🌼

12/01/2022

I’m heading into a very busy month over here in the salon! Please note that I am currently booked for the month of December.

I am starting to take appointment bookings for January-May of 2023 for existing clients. Prebooking appointments is highly recommended and is basically mandatory in order to get your appointment in the time frame that you would like. The majority of my clients prebook on a 4-8 week rotation.

I will be grooming 3 full days a week, and will also be doing a price increase and setting some new policies in place for the new year. There will be a post about this in the coming days, stay tuned!

Thanks for covering me in dog hair,
Dallas 🐾

10/04/2022

Hi everyone!

I know I’ve got some messages in my inbox to get to and I’ll be doing that over the coming week. My husband Dave and I got married this past weekend, so the whole past month has been a bit of a crazy blur! 😅 Please note that I’m not grooming this week but will return all inbox messages over the coming days.

-xo, Dallas

📸 Photography by Jennifer Campbell Photography

08/13/2022

Time flies, my son is one!

Thank you to you all for being so understanding this past year with my schedule and hour changes, I appreciate it more than you know. It isn’t overly easy balancing being a new mom and a business owner! I’ll be getting back to all messages by Monday. Enjoy your weekend! ❤️

📷Jennifer Campbell Photography

04/13/2022

A little bit of a photo dump. Lots of seniors in this bunch! ❤️🐾

04/11/2022

Ontario Animal Actors has us headed to another big commercial shoot today with my sister’s “fat cat” Nugget (it’s a fat cat role). 🎥 Stay tuned to see him on the big screen! His second commercial in two weeks. Thanks to our agents Melissa Millett and Kirk Jarrett, you’re the best!

Melissa Millett is the owner of In Dogs We Trust- Professional, Positive Dog Training in London, we recommend them for all of your dog training needs! 🌟

03/24/2022

Some friendly faces from yesterday!

Today is an exciting day away as I take my sister’s cat to his commercial shoot in Toronto for a very big company. Stay tuned! 🎥

03/16/2022

Hi friends!

I apologize for not being more active on this account the past couple of months. For anyone new here following, I had a baby boy (Jack) last August. After a very short “mat leave”, I returned to work in November when dad was able to stay home and watch Jack. This time of year through the Summer months however is Dad’s extra busy season for work, so I am more on mom duty these days than grooming duty.

We had 13 beautiful puppies born just before Christmas, so that kept us extra busy and on our toes until just a couple of weeks ago. I am also a registered breeder with the Canadian Kennel Club of genetically health tested Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. (www.redaerotollers.com) We put a lot of time and work into our dogs so that always takes some time out of my schedule as well. They’ve all gone to their new homes now so my life is slowly turning back to my “normal busy”.

Until this September when Jack starts daycare, my schedule is pretty much completely full with no extra wiggle room. I’m sorry for that. I’ve tried to book most of my 4-6 week rotational clients through the Summer months and have a couple left to contact. It’s really hard to safely groom and have all attention on grooming clients with a very busy baby in tow. Once Jack is in daycare this Fall, I’ll be able to offer more regular availability again for you all. Once I know his daycare schedule I’ll be able to start prebooking appointments.

I just wanted to give you all an update and thank you all for your patience and for accommodating my availability over this past crazy year. I appreciate you all more than you know! 🤍

Here are some cute pictures of our puppies for you to enjoy!

With love and thanks,
Dallas

02/05/2022

Another set of puppy pictures just because it’s the weekend. 😍

01/28/2022

Happy Friday! ☀️

01/21/2022

Some smiley faces. 🐾

01/03/2022

I hope all of my clients had a nice Christmas and New Years! 🤍

As I spend the day replying to messages and getting myself organized, here are some notes for 2022 in the groom salon:

•I will not be able to take on any new clients this year. I apologize for who this might affect, but with drastically reducing my working hours until baby is in daycare in the Fall, I just simply do not have the extra time available.

•There is a price increase for most medium and large breed tidy ups and complete grooms. If you are wondering if you are affected, just ask me. Otherwise I will let you know when your dog is here for their next apppintment. It’s nothing drastic, but I haven’t raised my prices since opening 3.5 years ago.

•I am going to have extremely limited appointments available June-September. I will likely only be working 1 day a week during these months, so I’m considering it to be the end of my mat leave. My partner works sun up until sun down and travels during these months, so I’m on baby duty all day every day and am going to enjoy it while I can. I am not booking for these months until I have a better idea of what day during the week will work best. Please reach out to other groomers during this time so your dog still gets the care that they need. If you need a groomer recommendation, feel free to ask me.

It’s another year of organized chaos over here, but until baby Jack starts daycare this Fall it’s the best I can do. I would love to be able to groom every dog who’s owner reaches out to me, but unfortunately it’s just not doable with a baby on my side. In 2023 I will be back to working my usual busy schedule, but until then I’m going to enjoy some more slow time with my family before these days fly by. Thank you to all of you for understanding, and to my clients who prebook!