Cut & Cuddle Pet Groomers

10/11/2024

09/11/2024

Honest post! This feels very vulnerable but here goes… firstly I just want to say if this doesn’t reasonate with you then it’s absolutely fine and you can just scroll on. This isn’t to take away from the many wonderful customers I have and are ace.

A couple of things are becoming problematic.

In the past 3 weeks 19 people have been between 15 and 30 minutes late picking up dogs. This is pushing me to an absolute breaking point, I am having to delay the next customer, work late, regularly miss eating or drinking, going to the loo and all round it’s impacting my mental health. I need to have my breaks. There will of course always be the odd occasion where it’s unavoidable as life happens but as you can see it’s out of control with people thinking it is just okay. Everyone gets 15 minutes notice for collection (or longer if you’ve asked for it) I have never really enforced the late collection fee but maybe this is the way forward?

Paying invoices, it is now becoming the norm for people to decide not to pay me for several days or even over a week. Payment is due when you receive your invoice. I am not working to top up an income, this is my whole income, I spend so much time asking for payment and almost apologising for chasing for it.

This week for the first time I was unable to do my food shop as so many people haven’t paid on time and I feel embarrassed and ashamed. I should not be put in this position. I will be considering switching back to cash only in the new year.

I appreciate I provide a service to you and you can choose a hundred other groomers but I’m asking that you remember I am human and just trying my best to get by in life.

04/11/2024

Yesterday we went for Sunday lunch at the Travellers Rest in Pensford, they do a free mini roast dinner for dogs (for the first dog, small charge for additional dogs).

I can confirm it went down a treat 🐾❤️🐶

03/11/2024

🤐🤣

02/11/2024

𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦

I am getting daily requests for last minute appointments and changes to current appointments which is proving tricky as I’m almost fully booked until the end of the year so these are the appointments left for 2024, if you’d like one of the spaces then please let me know (𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮):

𝗙𝗿𝗶 𝟴𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝘃 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟬𝗮𝗺
𝗠𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗲𝗰 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟬𝗮𝗺, 𝟯𝗽𝗺 & 𝟱𝗽𝗺
𝗪𝗲𝗱 𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗰 𝗮𝘁 𝟮.𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺 & 𝟰.𝟯𝟬𝗽𝗺

Emails for 2025 bookings will be going out shortly for those who prefer to block book.

🐾❤️🐶

21/10/2024

𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦

I only have a few spaces left at the start of December so if you’d like a pre-Christmas groom then please get in touch asap.

𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙡 𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙚 🤦🏼‍♀️

02/10/2024

Have you got a Cockapoo who gets a little feisty around food, toys or space?

Are they grumpy when you try and move them off the sofa or grumbly when someone approaches and goes to touch them?

These type of behaviours are labelled by trainers as resource guarding and it is becoming a more common issue, particularly in Cockapoos.

My colleague, Clair of Talk to the Paw wants to help. Clair is an expert trainer who specialises in Cockapoos and resource guarding and I am excited that she is launching her Cockapoo Magic course to help you live a more harmonious life with your Jekyll and Hyde Cockapoo.

So, if this is you and you really need help, sign up to her waiting list for Cockapoo Magic to be the first to know when the course goes live.

Here’s the link

https://talktothepaw.io/cockapoo-magic-waitlist/cockapoo-52-waitlist-signup/

Life with your Cockapoo could look very different.

Take the first step to helping your Resource Guarding Cockapoo... Cockapoo Magic © coming in October Are you finally ready to do something about your Cockapoo's guarding behaviour? We Will Use And Protect Your Data In Our Privacy Policy

01/10/2024

A very important post about winter coats. We should be considering shorter not longer 🐾

SHOULD I HAVE MY DOG GROOMED IN WINTER?

A common misconception is that we should leave our dog’s coat longer in winter as they will feel the cold, when in actual fact, the opposite is often the case.

When a dog’s coat is left long, unless you groom it meticulously on a daily basis and dry it after walks, it will retain the cold and damp and actually make your dog colder.

A coat which is left long in the winter is likely to become matted as it will constantly be getting wet and a damp coat is difficult to maintain, unless you wash and dry the coat after every walk which is very high maintenance.

Keeping your dog’s coat shortish and manageable in the winter will be much easier to keep clean and dry and will be much more comfortable for your dog, allowing air to circulate through the coat and avoiding a long, matted, damp coat sitting against your dog’s skin.

Most dogs live in our homes with us which are centrally heated and warm. If it is extremely cold, you can put a coat on your dog on walks and remove it at home when they are in the warm.

01/10/2024

Happy work birthday to me 🎉

I’ve been so privileged to have this little business in my life, I can’t imagine ever doing anything else now.

I thank each and every customer for choosing me, for every appointment, every recommendation, every tip, every cuddle you allow me to have with your dogs - THANK YOU ❤️

29/09/2024

😀😀

06/09/2024

⚠️ 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑰 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 (𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚) 𝑩𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚

Yesterday, I received the following email from a researcher for the TV programme *Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly*:

"𝑀𝑦 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 (redacted) 𝐼 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑉 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 ‘𝐷𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝐵𝑒ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦) 𝐵𝑎𝑑𝑙𝑦’.

𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘 𝑖𝑛 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝐿𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑚.

𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑇𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 10𝑡ℎ 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑜𝑜𝑛. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑔𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒.

𝑊𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠.

𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛. 𝑂𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦’𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑠!"

My first thought was to delete the email. I'm not a fan of Graeme Hall. I've watched a few episodes of his show, and in my opinion, he seems to make things up as he goes along, relying on outdated training methods.

However, I was puzzled. Was the “cravat” unwell, and they needed a stand-in? I'm a nobody – why on earth would they want to film me training a dog when there are so many high-profile trainers out there? Curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to give the researcher a call.

I'm still in shock as I write this. The researcher explained that they wanted to invite me to Lytham with my Border Collie to "demonstrate" to Graeme Hall how I would train my dog not to respond to a phone ringtone.

Graeme would then take my training method and use it to teach the Border Collie of the family seeking help – all while filming it for his TV show!

WTF 😳😳😳

I decided to dig a bit deeper and reached out to the force-free dog training community to see if anyone else had experienced something this bizarre.

It turns out that many trainers had also been asked to attend filming sessions to show Graeme how to train dogs before the cameras rolled. Most reported that they refused because of his methods, but a few had shown him and his team how to train a dog, only to be dismissed without any credit for their expertise.

I then did some open-source research on "The Country’s Best Dog Trainer," as the *Daily Telegraph* calls him. He has no formal training in canine behaviour or training. He’s essentially winging it with the help of whatever trainers are willing to show up and assist him.

According to his website, he charges £875 per session 🤔😧

Now I’m not someone who normally criticises other trainers. I prefer to let my clients decide if I’m the right trainer for them based on how I work with their dogs.

However, I couldn’t let this pass without making it public knowledge.

If you're looking for a dog trainer, please avoid this programme and this man. You have no idea whose techniques he’ll be using week to week, and given that most qualified and accredited trainers want nothing to do with him, the quality of training you’ll receive is questionable at best.

Instead, do your own research and find a local trainer who aligns with your own dog training ethics. Organisations such as The IMDT or APDT - Association of Pet Dog Trainers can help guide you to qualified & accredited trainers in your area.

𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒔!

26/08/2024

I know many people look for trainers/behaviourists and I genuinely feel a little broken when I know particular trainer is being used with a dog I know. Pick wisely 🐾❤️

03/08/2024

I am closed for the weekend so that we can enjoy some birthday celebrations for Mama Bear - Happy 65th Birthday Mum 🎂🎁🥳

29/07/2024

Just wondering if it’s acceptable to work in a swimming costume this week - asking for a friend 🤣

20/07/2024

It certainly was a warm day yesterday so I made some blueberry and strawberry smoothie bites for my little friend. Definitely a nice way to keep cool ☀️🍦🐾

14/07/2024

Okay everyone… deep breaths! Positive vibes! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿⚽️

25/06/2024

Dearest Gentle Reader,

We are halfway through the year and I feel I am able to add a handful of new dogs to the Cut & Cuddle fold.

So, if you know of anyone who is looking for a regular groomer (I am not taking one off appointments) or has a puppy who might benefit from joining the Puppy Grooming Programme then please do send them my way.

Recommendations are so appreciated, and you lovely lot always send me the best customers and dogs.

Much love
Clare 🐶🐾❤️

11/11/2023

Check your emails & junk folders 🎉