The Spiffy Spaniel

06/03/2024

Puppy grooming and table training, Taboo.

06/03/2024

Before and after of the lovely M***a. Her coat is kept naturally, with the undercoat raked out every few months. She is spayed. You can have nice coat on a spayed dog!

17/08/2023

It’s exciting to be a baby’s first groomer! Meet Tilly, a 5 month old Engie.

17/08/2023

Here is a before/after of Tess, whose coat I will be rehabbing. As you can see, she has the unfortunate generic cocker cut. Stay tuned!

07/05/2022

Todays glamour makeover is Jupiter! Thank you Veronica Pereira, for bringing an UNMATTED although long boy for grooming!

16/03/2022

Thank you Kris Zedler, for bringing 15 week old Cassie for her first groom! Cassie is the second generation of Zedler dogs to come to the Spiffy Spaniel! We are honored to continue the tradition!

14/02/2022

Yesterday's makeover was Oshie, loved by the Jocelyn Berger Krifcher family!

24/08/2021

Thank you to the Klein family for bringing Pi in for a deshedding and a bath!

23/08/2021

Its always nice when someone entrusts you with their puppy's first haircut! Thank you Marchese family, for choosing The Spiffy Spaniel, even though you are a Spanish Water Dog family!

10/06/2021

This cutie patootie came today for puppy introduction! Since he belongs to friends Shawn and Lucie Brownson, he had some puppy play time with my young lad, Sport! Rowen was excellent on the table and having his nails done. He was quite the clown in the tub; biting at the water and rolling around when being soaped! In these pictures, he is talking to us! Thank you for choosing the Spiffy Spaniel!

14/03/2021

While we can't put hair back on, we certainly know how to take it off of a Spanish Water Dog!

14/03/2021

Our good friend Clancy Howley came in for a spring spruce up!

14/03/2021

Thank you to the Singer Setters for choosing the Spiffy Spaniel!

14/03/2021

The Spiffy Spaniel welcomes all types of dogs and strives for breed appropriate trims!

14/03/2021

Its been a busy couple of weeks here at the Spiffy Spaniel. Thank you to Veronica Pereira for bringing 10 year old Jupiter in! Veronica acquired Jupiter at age 12. She has so much ECS knowledge! Interestingly, she used to be a client of Donna Cleverdon's down at Cleverdog before world travels! I learned a ton working at Cleverdog! Small world, indeed!

14/02/2021

21 month old Paisley's transformation!

14/02/2021

5 month old Sport's first trim!

05/09/2020

Thank you to the Davison family for bringing Coco to The Spiffy Spaniel! My friends may remember the Coco Puffs, who came to my house when my friend Beth had her leg broken in knee replacement surgery. This is their mom. The Davisons took Coco to a groomer near them, who told the family that, since she looked like an American cocker, she was getting an American Cocker haircut. Not only was that improper, but the cut was uneven and obviously just a shave down with one of those "skirts". It took 4 hours to get her into a proper trim, but now we can maintain her breed look!

22/06/2020

Herbie is beginning to look like a big dog! Thank you Mosby family!

26/05/2020

Look at the little cutie that I got to do today! Herbie is a love bug!

23/02/2020

Thank you Clancy, for coming to The Spiffy Spaniel! Clancy had some surgery recently. We took care of the "bracelet", but his poodle foot will need to grow in. What a handsome lad!

05/02/2020

Today was so fun in many ways! I did my first show groom on a Bouvier! I see things I would be braver doing, and there is some hair missing in places due to breakage, but it was a satisfying groom! Thank you Nancy Swenson for coming to The Spiffy Spaniel!

29/01/2020

I gave cording a go on Latte. Turns out her hair is too soft. So, off it comes! Time to start over!

21/01/2020

Puff was "Spiffed" up today for his trip to NYC this weekend. Come to the Javitz Center Saturday or Sunday to meet all of the AKC recognized breeds!

25/12/2019

Merry Christmas to you from all of us at The Spiffy Spaniel!

10/11/2019

I would like everyone to know this!

Want to be able to make friends with new dogs when you meet them? You can signal that you’re friendly by using canine body language!

We often hear that you’re supposed to offer a dog the back of your hand to sniff, but the body language of this move is actually quite threatening. When we lean forward to offer our hand, we’re facing the dog square on, looming over them, making eye contact and invading their space. All of those signals combine into an intimidating message, and as a result many dogs will become uncomfortable when greeted in this fashion. Confident dogs will usually respond with a couple of signals like turning their head away, yawning, or licking their nose, which means they’d like the human to ease up a bit. Shy or anxious dogs will back away, cower, or even growl, snap or bite.

The best way to greet a dog is to either stand side on to them and invite them over by patting your leg or calling to them, or crouch down on the ground and let them come to you. This method ensures that it’s the dog’s choice to come and say hello – they’re moving up to you, rather than you moving up to them.

If the dog chooses not to approach, it means that they don’t want to say hello. It’s important that you respect that choice, and leave them be. If you’re going to be spending some time with the dog, be patient and hang back – the best way to win the trust of a shy dog is to avoid putting pressure on them to interact. Move slowly, blink your eyes a lot to avoid staring, and don’t speak loudly. If they approach to sniff you, don’t pet them right away. Let them sniff, then when they’re finished move away from them and try inviting them closer again.

Best of luck making some new doggie friends Dog Geeks! We’d love to hear how being conscious of your body language has helped you greet dogs, or if you’ve ever won the trust of a shy dog by being patient and avoiding pressuring them.

- Maddie Ross CPDT-KA

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For more graphics and videos on training and behaviour, check out our library: https://www.beacondogtraining.com.au/thatdoggeek

04/11/2019

These are a few of the finished grooms that I have completed this summer!

31/10/2019

Today I worked on my own boys!