Ruff Around The Edges Grooming

01/11/2025

Last week I had in the gorgeous Ada for a tidy up & deshed/brush out & I have to say, man we definitely did just that. All that hair on the floor was all excess undercoat that was brushed out.
Almost 3 hours later and Ada walked out feeling pretty & a heck of a lot lighter I bet. 😂

So satisfying 😍😍🙌🏼

20/10/2025

What better way to start the week than hanging out with my wee mate Buddy 💛💛
Peep the tongue 😛 🐶

Happy Monday from Buddy & I 💛

16/10/2025

First groom for Rocky 🖤
I got the absolute pleasure of doing Rocky’s first groom yesterday, an extra special feeling one too as I used to groom his late fur sister Lily before she passed away two years ago. 🥺

I’m so grateful to my clients who stay with me throughout their fur babies & also who have put up with my unavailableness the past year with all the medical stuff going on.

I’m a very lucky gal 🥹🫶🏽 & how cute does Rocky look after his spruce up.

15/10/2025

Richie 🧡🪽🐕 🌈

Last week Richie’s amazing mum Aimee let me know he had crossed the rainbow bridge after a very courageous fight with his health the past year, his body couldn’t keep up anymore & devastatingly it was his time to say goodbye 😭💔

Some dogs that come to me gain an extra special place in my heart & Richie is one of these dogs. He started coming to me 5 years ago, never having been groomed before, he was full of zest & life & heck load of stubbornness & determination to not get his bottom groomed 😂
Over these 5 years we grew trust, comfort, and a friendship, to the point he was excited to come in the door, he got in the bath & on the table himself. He didn’t try to bite or fight me anymore, he just genuinely loved being here.

I got to have the best groom with him for his last groom, the day before he got his leg amputated. He hadn’t seen me for a while due to me being off with Bodhi, and despite his health struggles he was so excited to be here, he was an absolute angel for his groom & just loved every minute of the attention. Didn’t even fight me for his bottom! 🥹

I am very sad that I won’t have Richie wagging his tail running in my gate & peeing on everything in sight anymore. 🥺😣

He had the most wonderful life with his mum & dad, he was spoilt, thought he was a human half the time & got all the love in the world.
Here’s to you Richie, you brave, strong, courageous handsome boy.
You’ll always be remembered I promise 🧡

30/09/2025

Hi all 👋🏼
I haven’t post much on here these days because life’s a lil chaotic & my grooming days are always full. 😅 But just a wee update for everyone.
I am indeed still grooming 3 days a week, with holidays being an exception because grooming with two children in tow is a whole nother level of hard 😂

I know I have numerous messages I haven’t answered / booked in over the past week, I will get back to everyone in the coming days as I’ve just got home from Christchurch with Bodhi after another surgery and we’re all a little unwell so I’m just juggling mum life & finding my feet for the next couple of days. 🫶🏽 It’s safe to say it’s been a bloody year! I always thought I would’ve been back grooming quick smart after having Bods but as you all know his wee body had other ideas, he is overall doing well now but still has lots of medical needs which sometimes means unfortunately work has to come second, which has been very hard for me to accept as my new normal as Ruff Around The Edges is also my very loved baby. So I really really appreciate all of you who have stuck by me through all of this, I know sometimes it is inconvenient and I hate with all my being sometimes being unreliable, but please know how much I appreciate you & truly love what I do. Hopefully in time things will be more smooth sailing & I can pick up more days a week. 🤞🏼

In terms of clientele I am relatively full with my regulars for the time being & so I do apologise if I can’t fit you in if you’re new, or if I can’t get you in for a few weeks but i will always do my best to wriggle things around when I can.

I’m definitely loving being back a few days a week & it has reminded me I really do love what I do. 💖💖

Thank you to all of you for trusting me with your fur babies & to those of you who have become friends & like apart of my family over the past 5 years.

Lots of love,
Kayla xx

07/07/2025

I thought it was about time I did an update post on here,
We’re over half way into 2025, not sure how the heck that times flown by!
Bodhi had his surgery mid January, and we definitely had our fair share of bumps in the road! It’s been a rough year so far that’s for sure, But he is growing & has been tube free for a month now 🙌🏼 we have the potential of a few more things that may need done down the track, but for now things in terms of him are probably the most ‘normal’ they’ve been since he entered the world, so we will take that as a massive win!

In terms of grooming, I’m back doing a couple of days a week with existing clients, and at this stage I can’t do any more than that just due to my small humans that require lots of my time, but I hope that in time to come I can build back up to at least 4 days a week. With that, I am not taking on new clients at the moment, but that will not be a forever thing.

It is AMAZING to be back doing what I love even if it’s only a small amount, and I enjoy it more than ever now after having time away. 🥹😍

Here’s a few photos of us & some pooches I’ve been lucky enough to have in when I’ve remembered to take photos, and boy I’ve missed you all!

Lots of love,
Xx

22/02/2025

LITTLE OLLIE’S BIG FIGHT ~ DOG RAFFLE

Over $200 worth of products $5 a ticket!
All proceeds will go towards Ollie’s parents Toni & Phill.

Prizes include: 1 x harness or lead, 1 x collar
(Winner can choose style and size of these)
1 x Beefy bites treats, 1 x Silberhorn Petcalm supplements, 1 x Smith & Burton 500ml Nourishing Shampoo, 1 x Smith & Burton 500ml Nourishing Conditioner, 1 x Smith & Burton Detanger Spray.
All high quality salon products donated by Ruff Around The Edges Grooming.

A bit of backstory:
Oliver was a happy, thriving 11-week-old when, without warning, 5 weeks ago his world and his parent’s world was turned upside down. He suddenly became unwell & deteriorated rapidly. After urgent tests, doctors discovered his heart was severely enlarged and failing. Oliver's tiny body began to shut down, placing immense strain on his heart & putting his life in critical danger. With no time to spare, the family were urgently flown to PICU Starship hospital in Auckland, where doctors fought to stabilise him. Ollie barely made the flight & shortly after arrival had to be intubated due to the severe damage to his heart. Despite the odds, Ollie has shown incredible strength. He has since been extubated but remains on CPAP to help him breathe and put less pressure on his heart. His heart however remains extremely fragile, requiring constant medication & care. He has been diagnosed with severe dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that may require a heart transplant when he is bigger.
Oliver's parents, Toni & Phill, have had to drop everything to be by his side at Starship, while their 2 year old son Mason, remains in Southland with family. This heartbreaking separation and the uncertainty ahead makes this every parent's worst nightmare.This will be a long road, potentially years, with medical uncertainties, an extent stay away from home, & the financial strain of being away from work & family support. I am reaching out to our community to help ease the financial burden so Toni & Phill can focus on being there for Ollie. They have a give a little page if you would like to keep up to date with Ollie’s journey over at https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/little-olivers-big-fight

Comment how many tickets you would like & I’ll private message you with an account number, for payment. Numbers will be written on a spreadsheet & a winner will be drawn on 2nd March 2025.

Any shares would be greatly appreciated. 🩵🩵

Thank you so much for all the support,
Kayla xx

Oliver’s heart started failing without any warning, resulting in him & his parents being away on a difficult & unknown journey at starship.

23/12/2024

Just a wee check in from me & update & to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas 🎄❤️💚

I was really hoping to be back on deck by now or at least by the new year doing a few days a week but things really aren’t flash with our wee man Bodhi. He has got very severe reflux alongside other issues, which our oldest Lachie had too, except Bodhi is even worse which I didn’t think was possible!

We had a trip to Dunedin last week where he got a test done called a barium swallow which came back with severe gastro oesophageal reflux, a hiatus hernia (which means his stomach is moving up & down into his diaphragm) as well as significant delayed gastric emptying. These results even surprised his paediatrian at how severe they were. 😭
To sum up life for us at the moment, consists of an uncomfortable screaming baby the majority of the time, he can’t feed properly without choking and spluttering with a lot of his feeds, he can’t sleep because the reflux just constantly wakes him up, he chokes and stops breathing and it is all just honestly heartbreaking.

The only thing we can do for him is surgery but due to the time of year we have to wait until the end of January. With the degree of severity there may be still problems we have to deal with after surgery but it will significantly change his life and improve things. 🤞🏼

I’m very much a do it myself kind of girl and not much stops me, I usually work through everything, with Covid, a broken finger, vomiting bug, chest infection, pre eclampsia, the whole shibang, if I’ve had it I can guarantee I worked through it. But this is just something I can not work through, because it’s not myself it’s my wee boy I need to put him first & there’s absolutely no way he would cope out there while I was grooming, he requires all of my attention constantly and it just would not be do able at the moment. 😞

While I will do absolutely anything for my children, it doesn’t mean I don’t want to be grooming, I miss it so much. If anything, this has all taught me that I’m definitely in the right profession! I groomed my own dogs the other day and for the first time in a very long time I felt like myself again, in my happy place. 🫶🏽 I miss you guys and your furry friends like you wouldn’t believe. 💔

I will be back! Hopefully once Bodhi has had surgery things should be finally starting to get a little bit more normal and manageable and I can start doing even just a few dogs a week. 🤞🏼

I just want to say a huge thank you to all of you, my clients ~ a lot of you who have become good friends & big parts of my life 🩷😭 you have all been so understanding, kind & caring and I am just so grateful for each and every one of you.

This is not how I had planned for things to go, but it seems things never go to plan for me so we just have to roll with it! A massive shout out too, to the other groomers here Kellie & Megan who have taken on you guys to make sure your doggos still get groomed, especially at this time of year, I’m so grateful & I know they have been in good hands which makes me feel better.

I’m going to sign off now until my next update for you all probably in January,
I hope you all have the most wonderful Christmas, New Year & holidays with your family and loved ones. ❤️☀️🎄

Thank you so much for all the support this year, you guys have really gone above & beyond for me and I am so thankful for my Ruff Around The Edges family. I truly can not wait to be back on deck grooming doing what I love, but first I need to get my wee boy healthy. If you stick with me after all of this, honestly thank you 🙏🏼 This is so much more than a job to me, it is what I love.

Here’s to 2025, this year has been a bloody rollercoaster! 🎢 Give your doggos a big cuddle from me, and look after yourselves over the break. 🩷

Thank you for each & every one of you,
Love always,
Kayla & my wee
family xx 🫶🏽

06/11/2024

A wee update on our life & where things are at work wise for Ruff Around The Edges;

Today we have had one whole month of our wee Bods 🩵

History is repeating itself a bit here with this wee man who is unfortunately following in the footsteps of his big brother & has started showing signs of some nasty reflux which seems to be ramping up by the day & he also having trouble with feeding off me because he’s exhausted & not awake enough to have a full feed, then he’s spewing up what he has got, meaning he’s not putting on weight and it’s just a vicious wee cycle.

We knew this was going to be a high possibility but hoped so badly we would get lucky and manage to avoid it, especially after the journey we’ve had so far with the pregnancy and birth, but it is what it is & we will get there!

With this not being our first rodeo, we know the drill, we are onto it early, and know it’s not forever. But it still doesn’t make it any easier. The days and nights are so bloody long when you’re in the thick of it. Dan and I are taking turns at holding Bodhi & sleeping when one isn’t holding, as he just doesn’t want to lay on his back, it’s tough. We saw the paediatrician today and the hospital has given us a hospital grade pulse ox to monitor Bods breathing & HR due to him spewing out his nose and gasping when he’s laying down.

The paediatrician said there’s a high chance things will get worse as he gets bigger/older, as they did with Lachie, and if that is the case he will be onto the surgeon asap which I was really shocked to hear & made me a bit upset hearing that surgery may be a thing for Bodhi too, but he explained to me there is no point in mucking around with it this time, knowing what we do now after the journey with Lachie.
And with Bodhi being so young, he shouldn’t develop a feeding aversion and need tube fed and he won’t remember anything.

So it’s just one day and one week at a time here now. Hopefully a bit of medication sorts him out and we don’t have to go down the surgery route. But if we do, we will get there. 🤞🏼🫶🏽

Sorry I haven’t reached back out to a lot of you guys, my minds been all over the show, and I really don’t have a lot of time on my hands. But know every message is read and appreciated especially in those long hours during the night. 😅

With all of this it means that going back to work right now just isn’t doable, I was hoping to be back on deck after 4-6 weeks with one dog a day but that seems impossible right now. 🫠
I’m hoping by the new year things will be way better & I can get back to doing what I love and seeing all you guys and my furry friends!
I know the whether is getting warmer and your pooches will need groomed, hopefully by now they’ve got in somewhere else in the meantime🤞🏼

I promise I will be back as soon as I can, so let’s aim for the new year, I’m keeping my fingers crossed! 🤞🏼 I do apologise for the going off work early unexpectedly to have this wee man, and then this thrown in the mix. It seems I really just don’t do pregnancy or babies very easily!

But this isn’t forever, and we will get there. Reminding myself this on the daily. 💪🏼 ✨

I miss you all very much,
Much love,
Kayla 🩷🩷

10/10/2024

A wee update for you all on things written by Dan:

After a whirlwind of a journey Kayla, Lachie & I would like to share that our gorgeous strong wee man arrived earthside on Wednesday 6 weeks early at 4lb 8oz ~ Bodhi Andrew Macfadgen

Things haven’t been straight forward with Kayla being in & out of hospital for the last 5 weeks, she ended up getting severe pre eclampsia last week and was admitted to hospital to try and keep the baby in for as long as possible, things just wouldn’t stabilise so the doctors made the decision that the safest thing to do would be to have him early, Kayla was induced on Monday and was in labour all of Tuesday with some strong contractions, it was decided to break her waters Wednesday morning and when doing so the umbilical cord pr*****ed causing an emergency and Kayla being rushed into a c-section which she had to be under general anaesthesia for due to it not being planned, and I wasn’t allowed in due to it being such a serious emergency. After 1 minute of being under Bodhi was delivered and was crying when he came out, he is safely here in the NICU getting some support where he will be for a few weeks at least until he gets a bit bigger. Kayla is doing as well but is sore & has a lot to process as it’s been a very long and scary journey for the both of us. We are in amazing hands down here & the care we have received is out of this world. Without these wonderful ladies looking after us things would have been very different. But the main thing is that they are both still here and healthy.

This for the grooming side of things means Ruff Around The Edges will be out of action for a while until everyone is home and healthy. This was never the plan but nothing has really gone to plan at all. 😅 There are some amazing groomers in the Gore area who will be able to help out until things are back to normal.
Apologises from our end in advance, as soon as things are back on track we will let everyone know & will post updates as time goes on. 🩵

09/09/2024

APPOINTMENT TAKEN ✨

Due to a cancellation I have a one off appointment available for this Wednesday @ 12:15pm for a small-small/medium dog. 🐕

Can be anything from a bath, blowdry & brush, to deshed or a full groom. 🌟 This is likely one of the last spots I’ll have before this bub comes along 🫣

Message me to book 🫶🏽

15/08/2024

Ive been a bit slack at posting regularly because well, life! 🥴

But this special girl Eileen most definitely deserves a mention, she has been coming to me for 2.5 years now since she was a puppy, she lives on a farm & absolutely loves getting muddy, she is a big princess & is so loved by her mama! And I am so incredibly proud of her for the progress she has made!

Up until a year ago her mum was having to come and help calm her down so that I could get her feet done, she required a muzzle for most of the groom, crocodile rolled, chewed through the harnesses and did everything she could to not be groomed 😅 Although she has always loved coming in & loved me, she certainly did not love the grooming process!

Fast forward to now with her most recent groom, after lots of work together, lots of patience and positive reassurance, we managed our first groom together with no muzzle or too much resistance! This is such a huge achievement for Miss Eileen & I’m so so proud of her. 🫶🏽🫶🏽