Blog Post Archive

I spent the day in Marin, the weather was glorious but, with a little chill in the air. I had a full day, including using my Master Blaster dryer. It is like a Harley, powerful and loud. All my clients were pleased but, I was a little spent. Worked my tail off today. When I know that I need to re-group and re-charge after a long day of physical and mental concentration, I will go to my laptop in my living room, click on Hearts of Space, www.hos.com and draw a hot bath. Lighting a candle and allowing the pressure of my work day to melt as I fade away with the music, is just the ticket some days.

I first heard Hearts of Space hos.com on KALW, (the oldest public radio station west of the Mississippi which is broadcast right here in San Francisco) on the radio Sunday nights between 10PM-12 midnight. I tuned in faithfully on Sunday nights as I did my end of week paper work. I become a fan. Happily now though, they have a website where you can purchase a subscription and listen to it 24/7 streamed through your computer.

If you like spacey, electronic, massage, new age, multi cultural, transporting, relaxing music, this is the website for you. Steven Hill produces the show from San Raphael, CA I believe.  Dog Grooming can be stressful, loud, frustrating and sometimes I just need that quiet, relaxing and meditative time to recharge after a rough day. I’m ready for tomorrow.

Hearts of Space was the medicine I needed, Namaste.

It’s near midnight on May 8 and I still have more paperwork to do and edits on my May Kent’s Kanines Newsletter. I have worked everyday this week including Saturday and Sunday and believe it or not, I am not exhausted. Quite the contrary. This past week has been so busy grooming all over the Bay Area, preparing for the Animals on Broadway event in Walnut Creek next weekend and coming home and taking care of my little brood and my own house chores. I have aquired 4 new clients this week all of whom I really liked and I’m hopeful that they will be life long grooming clients. I think I received a number of positive comments in the About the Blog section which still amazes me; a few were from complete strangers saying they love my website and blog!

I just wanted to take a moment to say how grateful I am that I have the job I have and that I am so blessed and privileged to have this career. Each and every day I wake up, I can honestly say that I love grooming dogs and meeting all the fabulous people that I meet through this business. It feeds my soul!

Joyful Josie the cheerful and always adorable Corgi went to heaven. She was 16 years old and I had been grooming her for the last 4+ years. She was a referral from “Tivvy” the Norwich Terrier. When I first met Josie she had just undergone open chest surgery to remove a foxtail that had traveled into her heart cavity, if you can believe that! Foxtails are evil!
Her chest was completely shaved but, the fur on her back was a gorgeous deep orange/red and the moment I saw her I knew she would be once again a beautiful girl. It took many months for her chest area ( it had been shaved to the skin for the surgery) to grow in but, it did and then I consulted with her owner about how to style her. Josie lived in the East Bay and it can get especially hot during the summer so, I gave her a puppy cut. I would trim her tummy area very short, you couldn’t see it at all so that, when she lied on the marble bathroom floor, her most favorite spot, she would be perfectly cool and content.

Two years passed and as I was preparing for my website I asked her owner if she would consider allowing me to feature Josie as a Kent’s Kanines Model, she willing agreed. Josie is featured in Gallery 8.

I am featuring two photos of her on this Blog post as a tribute to her. She was a joy to groom, always obedient, patient, polite and each and every time would sneak in a little kiss for me. I will miss her greatly!

Well, Emma’s back in San Francisco. That is “Emma” featured in my dog travelogue “Emma in Paris – A Dog Travelogue”. She had been in Paris and just returned and hadn’t been stripped in awhile so, she was quite furry and in need of some TLC. As you can see from the travelogue, she is absolutely darling and is a very good girl on the table. She has been groomed/hand stripped since has been a puppy and accepts the process beautifully. I am always happy to see Emma and I think she is happy to see me too. After her grooming, she prances and twirls; I think she feels happy to be clean and pretty again!

I am including another little video of the view from Emma’s house. It is taken from the Russian Hill perspective looking east towards the Bay Bridge, Coit Tower and the Transamerica Building. The weather was pristine, the colors vibrant and crisp with a sailboat cruising along the bay. As the video is ending, the Parrots of Telegraph Hill came flying by right on cue. I had no idea that would happen, truly!! It was perfect.

Home Dog Grooming welcomes me into so many fabulous homes and I am lucky to see these amazing views of this beautiful city on a daily basis.

One of my dearest and most beloved clients was Nina Ireland. This week it was announced that she donated 48 million dollars to the UCSF Medical Center Pulmonary Department headed by her physician Dr. Golden.

I groomed her magnificent German Shepherd, Star, her formal name was “Etoile”. She was absolutely the most beautiful dog and totally devoted to Nina. I was privileged entry to her spectacular mansion every month for 13 years. As the years went by, a friendship developed. As often happens with my clients over time, the professional world integrates into the private and personal one. After grooming, we would often have tea in her amazing and glorious kitchen sitting at the island drinking freshly brewed coffee and talk about dogs and art and all the happenings in San Francisco. Star would bark and bark and bark (she had a huge bark) for her “Frosty Paws”, that was her treat after I groomed her and Nina and I would laugh each and every time!

I would bath Star in a small bathroom with a custom made Japanese bathtub that was shorter in length but, deeper in height. Perfect for bathing a large dog. I would then dry Star in Nina’s enormous laundry room that she outfitted just for Star. Everything was for Star!!

I do miss Nina and Star. Both of them were one of kind and I won’t meet another woman like Nina again. That was a once in a lifetime gift!

Yesterday was a great day! One of my clients owns Boulevard Restaurant, a terrific, delicious and true landmark in San Francisco invited me to lunch after I groomed Peanut. What a treat in the middle of the work day to have lunch at such a lovely and beautiful place. I ate at the chef’s counter, laughed with Tim, conversed with the other patrons and overall had such fun. The hamburger was the best I have ever had in the city. The french fries are Pommes Frites served in little polished copper pots with crisp white doilies. I dipped each one in the individual ramekin of ketchup and thought how lucky and blessed I am to be a Home Dog Groomer that allows me to know such great people in San Francisco and have the priviledge to groom their dogs. See the little video below.

The most recent edition of “Our Animals” magazine, the magazine published by The San Francisco SPCA
features the debut of a Kent’s Kanines client Brunhilda. Little “Hildy” is the sweetest, happiest and most charming Affenpinscher. This is her first time on a national magazine cover and her mother could not be more proud!! I, too, as her groomer am beaming! She is 2 years old and is hand stripped. She is small, weighing in only at 5lbs and is so good and obedient on my grooming table. As you can see, she loves to fetch little balls and will do this for hours and hours. She energy is boundless. Congratulations!!

Please remember to support your local ASPCA!

Yesterday was a long hard day. I started in Belvedere then drove to San Raphael and finished in Seacliff. My last dog, I have been grooming since he was four months old. He is now 16 and getting feeble and tired. During the grooming, I took him out for two quick pees and a little stroll to stretch his legs. He is an Australian Shepherd that now I groom quite short. When he was younger he had the most beautiful coat and just loved to run with his owner in Napa where they own a vineyard
www.husicvineyard.com. Grooming an elderly dog is sometimes very challenging. Not only do they tire more quickly but, sometimes they get anxious, their legs can shake due to arthritis and sometimes they pant due to fatigue and I must balance working quickly so the grooming finishes sooner and simultaneously not rushing and further stress the dog. It requires focus, focus.

I started at 8:30AM and was done by 5:45PM and as I exited the house I was greeted by a lovely, serene sunset. After spending the day with dog grooming dryers and focusing very hard to complete my day’s work on time, seeing such a pretty and calming sunset was a perfect ending to a long work day.

One of the great things about home grooming is that I come to my client’s location. 9 times out of 10 it is usually the home but, sometimes it’s an alternate location like a TV studio or a person’s office. When Joan Rivers had her TV show in NYC, I traveled to the West Side at CBS studios to groom her beloved Spike.

Today, just as I had completed my second to last appointment for the day and was actually in my car driving to Nikki’s house, I got a call from her asking if I could come to her office in South of Market to groom Gracie. Amazingly, I was in Potrero Hill just minutes from her office so I said GREAT, let’s do it. She works for one of the premier start-ups in SOMA complete with day long buffet and a shower for their employees! I set up my grooming equipment in the shower room which worked perfectly!
Gracie is a six month Maltese puppy that is beyond cute. She is behaving better each and every time I groom her and is really learning how to relax and trust the process. I am very proud of her.

Since I launched my website in 2009, I have met some really great people who have become my clients. This past weekend I traveled to Yosemite to hand strip a Norwich Terrier of a woman who found kentskanines.com on the net. The original plan was for my client to come down to San Raphael for Sherman to be groomed at a friends house but, unfortunately she slipped on Sherman’s little dog toy and broke her shoulder. YIKES! When she called me to say that she would not be able to drive down, I offered to go up to her house 3.5 hours away. She was thrilled. I loaded my IPhone with “The Art of Racing in the Rain”, which was an absolutely fantastic book about the amazing relationships between humans and dogs, gathered my dogs Nellie, Niblet and Flirt (they were invited too) and off I went in my beloved Volvo.

Sherman had never been professionally groomed so I was a little concerned that he would be a little fussy at four years old but, he behaved like a prince and was so tolerant and accepting of not only being on a grooming table but, allowing me to hand strip and sculpt him for hours. He was quite a furry guy and needed a lot of “pruning” and meticulous plucking to create an even saddle, full face and overall balanced appearance. He was really so good especially around his eyes and muzzle. I removed the bulk of his hair on Saturday allowed him to rest and relax overnight and then on Sunday did the fine tuning. He transformed into a lovely, handsome and adorable Norwich Terrier.

I have included a little video of the process as well as capturing the natural beauty of the area and stunning sunset!

I started my day with a dog that I have known since she was one years old. She is now 17. She had been living in Carmel for the last 7 years when my clients moved there and Carmel is really too far for me to go on a regular basis. Happily, just a few months ago I received a call from Daisy’s owner that they were back in San Francisco. It was so great to see Daisy again and of course her mom. I believe she remembers me and behaves like a princess on table. Life is a circle and I am so honored that I can groom her once again.I will take a picture next time, so you can all see how lovely and pretty still is at 17.

After finishing Daisy, I drove to Palo Alto and hand stripped two Norwich Terriers and rescue Norwich/Cairn from a puppy mill in Missouri. I will add another blog post about this little rescue who was just so sweet next week. I need to get additional info about her before I write anything.

Like many people at the end of the day while preparing dinner I watch the news etc. I turned to PBS Nova science and the show was entitled ” The science of living forever”. The first segment was not about the human body but, about a car with over 1,000,000 miles. It perked my attention, (considering that I drive and drive and drive and my car has over 300,000 miles), so I looked up at the TV screen and saw a Volvo. I have a 1986 Volvo sedan that I care for like a baby. It has been the only car I have ever owned. No kidding. I can’t tell you how pleased I was to hear that the car with the most miles is a Volvo. It was the perfect end of a good day.

When I woke up this morning I knew I had a very long day ahead of me. I would be working all day in Marin. Tiburon then Larkspur then back to Tiburon. Normally, I would have groomed the Tiburon clients back to back but, the Larkspur client only had the 12 noon slot available so I had to split up the day. A lot of driving. As I am preparing to leave for work I run the route through my head. Yes, I know you’re probably thinking use GPS but, my 1986 classic Volvo does not feature such a device. So, off to work I went. As I was driving through the Tenderloin on Leavenworth between O’Farrell and Geary  at 8:30AM, there was a woman sitting on the sidewalk completely a mess with her face resting on the cold gate. It took my breath away. I was so taken a back that I circled around the block, put my car in park with my hazard lights on and called the police. I actually thought she might be dead. The Tenderloin can be quite a heart breaking place.

Now I was off schedule and knew making up the time would be challenging and putting pressure on me for the rest of the day. Yes, I picked up my pace but, with no ill effects to my grooming clents and actually had a little time to take two short videos. One is of Fred, the Scottie trotting in his yard after his grooming. His coat is glossy, shiny black. He is quite a handsome dog. The second video is a view of San Francisco from Tiburon at dusk. It was a lovely way to end this day of home dog grooming especially after starting the day witnessing such sadness. The landscape of the Bay Area is truly magnificent and if you are feeling melancholy, all you have to do is look out to the horizon and see the earth in all its’ splendor.