Proud Dogs Grooming at The Purple Paw Dog Grooming Room.

20/05/2022

Its very busy this year. Please note that it's a 4 to 8 week wait to get booked in.

19/05/2021

hi all.
just to say that anyone who has recently been in touch for appointments using messenger or facebook. please send a text or phone me on 07950249629. facebook/messenger is no longer allowing easy access to this pages messages and notifications.
thankyou

12/01/2021

The latest ScotGov guidelines were pubished 11th Jan. Groomers are alllowed to remain open for for the essential welfare of pets. When you come for your appointment please remain outside the shop as much as possible, if you do come into the shop please stand behind the screen and do not lean over the gate. Please wear a face covering. Any leads and collars that i handle will be disinfected. Please be aware that if you live outwith South Ayrshire you will be breaking the law bringing your dog to me to be groomed. If you feel that it is not essential for your dog to be groomed in the next few weeks please contact me and we can rearrange for February. You can only leave your home for essential purposes and exercise. Take care.

06/01/2021

I have closed the shop this week and will review the situation on Friday 8th January when I believe better guidelines will be published by the government. Currently it looks like Dog groomers are only able to do welfare grooms such as those that are badly matted and would need a close trim to be comfortable, have a medical condition that would be exacerbated by bad coat condition, eye, face and hygiene issues. The other problem is that by law we are not able to leave our houses to bring a dog to be groomed unless it's for the health and welfare of the dog. You could receive a fine for doing so. If the guidelines say welfare only then I will rebook everyone week by week for Grooms in February. I would rather everyone stay home and stay safe than be put at risk health wise and legally by bringing a dog for grooming when we know a few more weeks will be ok. Anyone with any concerns about their dogs health that are already booked in please call for a chat and we can decide what to do. Take care everyone and I will update later on Friday or early Saturday.

04/01/2021

lockdown looms again. waiting for scotgov website to be updated and then i can decide whats best to do regarding closing or staying open. bare with me. will let everyone know as soon as possible.

18/11/2020

Hi everyone. We have now been put into level 4 covid restrictions. There is as yet no up dated guidance for groomers. Based on info from 11th November and previous lockdown measures I believe i can stay open for the welfare of the dogs. I may need to change some times of appointments to maintain good awareness. Please stay outside the shop as much as possible during handover of your pet. Wear a mask if possible. hand sanitizer is available and any collars and leads i touch will be sanitized before handback. Stay safe and if you or anyone in your household or anyone youhave been in touch with recently has symptoms or tests positive please let me know. we can srrange a new appointment for a suitable time.
many thanks
Christine

23/05/2020

Hi all. I am taking regular groom bookings for later in june and going onwards. Please phone or text to book.

21/05/2020

Hi all. Having listened to and looked at nicola sturgeons recent plan for us all to get back to work safely, it would seem that dog groomers are in phase 2. This would mean that I cannot open in full for up to 4 weeks from today. Having consulted with other groomers in scotland it would seem that we have permission to do welfare grooms. I know some of my customers will be struggling with heat and matted felted coats. Any welfare groom that I do will be a straight down to the skin clip off. . No frills. I anticipate being able to take bookings in the next few days. I have a list of people who have already contacted me. If your dog has a welfare issue please contact me to discuss. I need proof, and to document that proof, that your dog is a welfare case. I will only do existing customers until further notice.

07/05/2020

Please do not phone me, text or message me and ask me to groom your dog for an exorbitant payment. I will NOT do it. The message is clear, covid19 KILLS. I will NOT be party to spreading it to any of my customers or family. They are more valuable to me alive than any amount of money. We have 3 more weeks. Please be patient.

07/05/2020

Hi all. Lockdown continues so I am still not allowed to work. Some groomers have opened but in my mind that is quite risky. I am working at a plan to reduce risk of transmission between us as much as possible. I am still waiting on essential new reusable PPE and screens to arrive. I hope to be able to start booking people in, in order, from my current diary bookings for April and May, in the next week or so. Most of you come on a 3 to 8 week basis so should be included. I have a few customers who book on a slightly less regular basis but I will still be fitting you in. I wont be taking new customers on until I feel there is time to fit them in. I will try to write a protocol for dropping dogs off and picking up and put on here. Hopefully it will help when we get back to business. It's going to be a slow process with the guidelines that are in place for dog groomers limiting me to one dog in at a time with no overlap. Payment will be able to be by card, internet bank transfer and where needed by cash. Unfortunately prices will have to go up (they were due to go up end of march). I will do my best to keep pricing down but I need to make it work as a business or close.
Hope you your family and the pooches are all well and will see you soon.

07/05/2020

So lockdown continues. Please bare with it. It is so important to try and stick by the rules. No one needs to pass on infection, no one needs to be infected and hospitalized. Everyone should do their bit. I know the weather is changing and we worry about our dogs overheating with big coats on. Brush and comb to remove knots, tangles, dead hair and undercoat. A long or thick coat that is not matted and has been brushed to allow air to get through will protect your dog from the heat of the sun. A clipped short coat is less effective at bouncing sun rays away.

04/05/2020

I am working towards reopening, hopefully by end of May, or in the next few weeks depending on government advice. New protocols for dropping off and picking up the dogs will be in place. I have numerous disinfectants suitable for use around dogs on order and various reusable and washable PPE items. New blades and tools. The shop has been deep cleaned. I need to work towards reducing the risk of spreading any possible contamination. I have a new card reader for payments or we can do bank transfer or cash where necessary. Hope you are all doing well and keeping safe. I will post more info when we hear from scottish government this week.

04/05/2020

I will be wearing a mask and work goggles or visor to groom dogs when I reopen. If you can put a face covering on in the house and play with or give your dogs treats. This will help them to be less fearful when they see people with masks on in the street or park.

28/04/2020

Another groomer has asked the government if dog groomers can open. The answer is below. Basically we are seen as not essential to the running of the country so we must remain closed. No groomer should be open until the lockdown is relaxed. Its going to be at least a few more weeks. Please be patient. Keep brushing and COMBING; combing helps find fhecknots you missed with the brush. Find a knot with the comb then use fingers to hold it and brush out. Keep going.

Here it is in black and white directly from the SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT! This is in response to the email I sent them on Friday.


Thank you for your e-mail dated 25 April 2020 regarding your dog grooming business. We understand your concerns however we cannot offer specific guidance on business practice at the moment.

We have recently updated our guidance for businesses that details the practices that should be adhered to by all businesses. It can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-business-and-social-distancing-guidance The guidance offers a clear set of principles regarding the Scottish Government’s position on closure of non-essential business premises and provides a list of the non-essential premises which must close.

At present, dog groomers do not fall into the category of essential business and I’m sorry but you will have to let clients know that you remain closed. If your clients have concerns about animal welfare they should contact their vet.

All business workplaces that are not being specifically required to close should consider:
• Whether what they do is essential or material to the effort against the virus or to the wellbeing of society.
• Whether they are able to demonstrate and give confidence to their workforce that they can consistently practice safe physical distancing and comply with all other standard health and safety requirements.

The guidance lists the 13 designated Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) sectors and essential services that are fundamental to ensuring the country continues to function. It highlights that not everything and everybody within a national infrastructure sector is 'critical' and that only those premises or parts of premises that are truly critical or essential to the national and international COVID effort remain open.
In this public health crisis it is vital that all businesses act responsibly and align fully with the physical distancing measures introduced to protect the nation’s heath, well-being and economic future.

You can also find details of all business support available to you here: https://findbusinesssupport.gov.scot/coronavirus-advice

Kind regards

Joan

Joan MacPherson – Business and Physical Distancing (BuPD)| Scottish Government

The Scottish Government has launched additional support to help people look after their mental health and wellbeing during and after the Covid-19 Crisis. This can be accessed at https://www.gov.scot/news/new-mental-health-support/

CoronaVirus_Email_Signature

-----Original Message-----
From: margaret burgess
Sent: 25 April 2020 16:14
To: Central Enquiry Unit
Subject: Dog Groomers

Dear Sir/Madam,

As a non-essential business, ‘most’ dog groomers in Scotland are closed.

There are protocols in place for health and safety for being able to groom dogs if you can get them to your salon. However, the majority of dog groomers would then only be able to do one or two dogs a day and would have to get commercial insurance and pet transport insurance as people are not allowed to drive to us.

This is causing great uncertainty and unrest in the Grooming Community in Scotland.

If clients were able to drive their dogs to and from the groomers (like driving to and from the local shops), then we could all get back to work with social distancing measures in place.

I urge you to please consider this option when you look at ways to get some parts of the lockdown lifted.

Many, like myself, are self-employed, not entitled to Universal Credit and have zero income.

Yours faithfully
Margaret Burgess (CAPG)

Sent from my iPhone

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This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
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Guidance for businesses in Scotland on social distancing, including the closure of all retailers that sell non-essential goods and other non-essential premises due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

14/04/2020

10/04/2020

Hope you are all doing well. Also please keep brushing and combing your dogs. Be careful if you decide to buy clippers and scissors to use at home. Vets are currently only treating emergencies so if you accidentally cut your dog or scrape the skin they might not be able to help.

It looks like groomers in general should not be opening for at least a few weeks more. We have guidelines from DEFRA, PIF and KC. We would have to use PPE, pick your dog up maintaining 2m social distancing, disinfect your dog by wiping it down, take it to our salons hence we would require vehicle insurance for business use and transport of live animals, we could groom your dog in the salon but would need to wear full PPE to be safe, we then bring your dog back to you, again maintaining 2m social distancing rule. Following this we have to clean and disinfect our vehicle and salon. The whole of the salon. This process is highly difficult and could still lead to the transferal of virus between people. For the sake of a few more weeks or a month it's really not worth it to groom a dog. To carry out this process would take about 6 hours per dog. The cost would be between £180 and £200.

I know it's hard to see our dogs suffering a heavier coat than normal, or with eye bogies. Do your best to brush and comb, wipe eyes and rinse mud and clean bottoms.

Take care, I will be in touch when it is safe to reopen.
Christine

10/04/2020

How’s everyone coping?

I know that the vast majority of my four legged clients are more than ready for a groom by now and with us groomers being closed, you’re tempted to ‘trim them yourself’ right? Well, my advice is please DON’T! ❌

For the safety of your dog, please refrain from buying cheap clippers and scissors.

After speaking with colleagues across the industry we have been advised not to give advice on trimming your dogs at home.
There are several reasons why we have decided to follow this guidance.

🐶 In the event of a mishap and injury to the dog or owner we could be held liable.
🐶 Vets are only open right now for emergencies and may not be able to help your dog if there is an accident.
🐶 Our equipment is very expensive and designed with safety in mind and is possibly not available at hand to most owners.
🐶 We spend thousands of pounds and years of our lives training to handle dogs of all behaviours, personalities, abilities, coat types and temperaments. This is not something we can transfer to a client over the phone or via messenger/text.
🐶 A negative grooming experience can ruin a dogs ability to be handled by their groomer for a long time. We put a lifetime of skills into making your dog feel comfortable.

I am happy to advise on brushing, bathing, eye and ear cleaning. All i ask is that as much as possible you try to keep the matts and tangles from their coat until we can reopen.

Thanks for your understanding.

Claire

02/04/2020

People need to realise that case numbers are going to keep going up for the next 10 days in spite of the lockdown, because of spread that has already happened a couple of weeks ago. We need to guard against people starting to think the lockdown is not working while this happens. It takes at least a week for lockdown to start reducing the rate of rise. Can we copy & paste please and Stay At Home!!! .

26/03/2020

A bit of useful info

26/03/2020

A wee bit advice

25/03/2020

Think we will have some work to do when we all get rebooked in.. keep brushing and combing. Work the friction areas, round collars, under leg and belly. If you can get your dog off the floor to groom... it's much easier.

22/03/2020

To all my customers.
After careful thought I have decided to close for 4 weeks from Tuesday 24th March. I am currently working through all customers that are booked during this period. I will give them priority bookings from 1st of May. I will form a waiting list of other people needing an appointment.

For those coming to the shop in the next two days I am only doing basic face, eye and hygiene trims.
There will be no baths or use of dryers.
Please wait outside the shop door. I will open the door.
Please allow me to hook a lead over your dogs head
Please then remove your dogs collar or harness.
Maintaining social distancing to do this is nigh on impossible.
Please arrive on time and collect your dog at the time I ask for.
I will try to clean all equipment and surfaces thoroughly in between customers, including the gate.

Although guidelines say that groomers are safe to work if strict guidelines are followed I feel that they are very difficult to implement and don't take all aspects of health and safety into consideration. I will be monitoring the situation daily and discussing with other groomers the practicalities of continuing and returning to work and the needs of customers. Stay home and stay safe. Look after family and friends that need to isolate.

16/03/2020

To all my customers. At present I am still open for business as usual.. at least until the Government says we all have to isolate. If you are worried about bringing your dog to be groomed please phone me in advance. We can discuss your requirements. I only do about 5 dogs a day. With proper hygiene at the door we should all be able to stay safe. Payment can be by transfers or paypal if you do not want to handle cash. Please phone or text me to let me know if you are not coming for your appointment. Stay safe.

17/02/2016

Proud Dogs Grooming at The Purple Paw Dog Grooming Room.'s cover photo