Dog groomers brushed off their feet
Dog groomers in Nelson are flat out causing some customers to wait more than a month before they can get their pet in for a pamper.
Tahunanui’s Dog Spa Nelson grooming assistant Zoe Hansen said it was ‘‘crazy busy’’.
She said the first available appointment they had was March 1.
Seven customers were on a ‘‘cancellation list’’ in the hope they could be fitted in.
‘‘We’re definitely through [it].
Grooming more than 20 dogs a day, Hansen said the groomers getting were doing dry clips to help cut through the numbers.
‘‘Then we just get the owners to bath them.’’
She said leaving pets ungroomed in this heat, ‘‘it’s just not fair on the dog’’.
It was ‘‘really important’’ in the hot weather that dogs got their coat off, she said.
This included getting the undercoat out or clipping, depending on the breed.
Brushing the undercoat out was necessary, ‘‘otherwise their skin can’t breathe and they end up with hot spots’’.
Hot spots cause irritation and pain.
‘‘That’s a big issue if you don’t get onto it.’’
She said pet owners also needed to be aware of other risks to dogs in the heat.
Walking their dogs on scorching pavement.
‘‘That’s a really big concern that we have. People walking their dogs, they don’t realise the concrete is really hot.’’
Dogs didn’t often let on when they were sore, she said.
SPCA manager Donna Walzl said if you couldn’t place your palm on the ground comfortably for five seconds, it was too hot for dog’s paws.
Having a loyal customer base had helped the dog spa retain customers despite the wait.
Hansen said they hadn’t turned ‘‘too many’’ away but they did have recommendations for people who wanted to get into a groomer within a couple of weeks.
One of those suggestions was K9 Grooming.
Lynly Greatley works alone from her home in Richmond.
She said she was ‘‘definitely busy, that’s for sure’’.
Her waitlist is two weeks. Some groomers in the region had cut back their hours, she said, leaving other groomers to pick up the load.
Greatley was grooming parttime but with the high demand, she recently became fulltime.
Summer was the busiest time of year for the business, she said, with an early rush starting in October.
Her method for de-furring a dog that moulted involved less brushing and more drying.
She said she washed them with a special shampoo which helped release the coat before blowing the hair out with a high-powered blow dryer.
Different breeds have different needs in grooming frequency.
She said the dogs she saw ranged from being groomed every four weeks to every few months.
‘‘It depends on the coat. Some people just love their dogs nicely groomed ... depends on your budget.’’