poor Seth

Seth is sick. He got diarrhea one night after I gave him his dinner. I gave him a different formula of Canidae than he usually gets. Still not sure if it was that switch that made him sick. He was vomiting the next day and I took him to the vet a few doors down. I've used this vet a couple times for heartworm testing and rabies shots. He gave Seth some meds for vomiting and an intestinal antibiotic. Seth wasn't getting any better and now wasn't eating and barely drinking any water. So I took him back to the vet yesterday. The vet ran blood tests and said he thought it might be pancreatitis. Well I've had experience with that. My Mike dog had pancreatitis a year and a half ago. In Mike's case we never determined what it was that caused it. The vet sent Seth home with more of the same meds. The receptionist asked when I dropped him off if he was prone to eating stuff. I said he could be and he had de-stuffed a toy a couple weeks ago. They didn't do any x-ray. Today Seth wasn't any better and was very lethargic. I took him to another vet this morning. They are keeping him there till at least Monday. They took x-rays to rule out a blockage and put him on an iv to keep him hydrated as he was dehydrated from not eating or drinking for 4 days. The vet called me this afternoon and says he seems pretty good and he should probably be ready to go home on Monday. They also are treating it as a pancreatitis. I hate when my dogs are sick. Especially Seth as he is my bud. We don't always get along or see eye to eye on things. Mostly sheep. He definitely knows more about sheep than I do. But we still have a bond that I don't have with my other dogs.
As for the shop, we had our first repeat customer. A Border Collie looking dog named Bentley. He's a nice dog and very easy as he is a smooth coat. I forgot to take a picture of Bentley. So today is the end of our 2nd month in business. All in all I think we did ok. We didn't have very many customers, but the ones we had were very happy and all said they will be back!

better than tv?

Meg loves to watch tv. Her favorites are of course sheepherding videos, but she will watch most anything. If we leave the room she will jump on the couch and sit and watch for hours. She understands the DVD player too and if you put one on she is very interested. It may be a video with sheep in it! Today I found Meg has a new pastime. Watching me groom. I was working on a little Chi/Toy poodle x and didn't even realize for awhile that Meg had been sitting there very attentively watching me groom this dog. Not sure what she found so interesting.

The dog's name was Stitch. he was really a cute little dog. And very good. He came in a matted mess. He is only a year old and I wonder how many times he'd actually been groomed.

His owner wanted a mohawk. I gave him a very conservative one. I had no gel so I couldn't get it to stand up right. I think he looks cuter like this than spiked up.

Keeping optimistic

Well, another day another "no" dollar. I would feel really bad but I know other people are feeling the crunch as much as I am. Even shops which have been in business for years are going through a slow spell. So I can't really expect to do any better when people don't know I'm here. We're working on painting the outside of the building (when the weather will let us), and getting a new sign that will show up better. I really never knew just how much paper work is involved in owning your own business. I get letter after letter from the state, city and everyone else who wants some information on the business. It makes my head spin!

I am so looking forward to spring when hopefully the flowers will bloom, the trees will get leaves and I will get customers. Meanwhile we did finally get a start on moving a downed tree. This tree must have fallen quite some time ago and its just been laying here blocking the drive down to the lot behind my building.

My son in law borrowed a chain saw and got most of it cut up. He still needs to get the main trunk out, but at least it is down. Once this gets cleared away I can fence off the back lot and start getting it ready to use. Maybe agility classes or obedience. Something that will attract customers and make it fun. I've never done agility though so hopefully I can find a good trainer needing a space to hold classes in. I see a nice 1/2 + acre that could possibly be a good place for sheepdog training, but I doubt this city would allow livestock. Here is the tree after cutting it up.

Slow going, more work than work. But today we played

Another very slow day. I am beginning to think there is more "paper" type work than actual "grooming" work in my business. It seems I am always busy, just not doing the work I get paid for. Ahh the joys of starting a business. The dogs are happy though. With it being so cold I've been staying at the shop, so all the dogs get to stay with me inside all night. Mike has dibs on the crate by the cat kennel. Mike could spend all day staring at the cat if I let him.

Today the weather was finally warm enough to let the dogs outside to play without freezing my hands off. Reign likes playing with frisbees, but will settle for a stick or a ball. Mike doesn't fetch anything but has to have something in his mouth to keep his brain grounded. I think it is like a pacifier to him. Also he likes to bark and doesn't like to get yelled at for barking, so he finds something to put in his mouth so he doesn't have to worry about controling himself. Today he found a plastic bag which had blown in.

I have to say I have had some really great customers though. Most have taken business cards and pens to distribute to their friends who have dogs. My groom dogs have been pretty cooperative for the most part. This is Abby. She is a maltese. This is Abby before....and after

Today is a very slow day. No school again for my teenage daughter. This is the 4th day in a row there has been no school. Friday it was too cold (too cold?) Monday of course was a holiday. Tuesday we had a smidge of snow. We always check the school closings on the news at 10pm. Our schools did not have a message so we got up early, let the dogs out and drove to school. Guess what? It was closed. Not another car showed up either. I must be missing something, how do they all know but not us? So we came back to the shop and went downstairs to watch tv. I can only guess the schools are closed due to a bit of ice on the roads. Here is how much snow we actually got!

I have decided to publish a newsletter for my shop. It will be called ....It's A Dog's Lyfe..... I'm going to include news of the shop, stories about dogs, articles on health news for pets and an advice column for dogs and cats. Yeah, cheesy I know, but pet owners really like that kind of thing. I asked Seth and he said he'd love to give out advice. So Seth is my new pet advisor. Since he's getting older and we have no sheep to work he said he'd love to find something to do with his time. So here is Seth awaiting his readers questions...

Starting after the beginning

The idea for my shop started many years ago actually. That idea has taken several different forks in the road, but had to pretty much come back to the original plan. Just to begin it became necessary to start with the basics. The other stuff I want to do will have to come later after I build up a name and a clientele. So for now I am a basic groom shop and sell some pet supplies. I have gone into this business as a partner with my oldest daughter. I supplied the capital, my son-in-law supplied the creativity and talent for turning an old dilapidated building into a nice shop with tons of potential. My daughter, aside from assisting me with grooming duties and bathing dogs, keeps the books, and helps the customers. I do all the grooming and worrying and I answer all the customer's dog questions. We're off to an ok start I guess. Being in a new town, new state and knowing nobody, I think we're doing pretty good. The yellow pages ad only just came out so my only form of advertising was a pricey newspaper ad which cost me more money than I've made back so far. It ran 1 day. I also had a couple hundred flyers printed up which were distributed on car windshields at the mall. Later mall security called to chastise us for causing the litter in the parking lot which the mall employees had to pick up. I guess people just tossed them on the ground. What a waste of money. But I did get a few customers out of it. I bought pens with my shop name and address on them. I have been handing those out to everyone that will take them, along with my business cards. We've already built up over 20 customers and all have been happy and said they would be back and will tell all their dog friends. This is a bad time of year to open this type of business. The economy is down, Jan and Feb are usually slow in the groom business and with the weather we've been having I'm surprised anyone has shown up. Hopefully spring will bring in lots of new customers.