Grooming your dog at home during COVID-19 second wave!
As you may recall, last spring I wrote a two-part series on grooming your dog during COVID-19 because dog groomers were closed. And again due to the pandemic, dog groomers are shuttered in many regions.
Given that I must get used to grooming Roxy myself for a while yet, I wanted to make the process easier for both of us. So I decided I should get a dog grooming table that is designed for home use. And honestly, I never thought that I would want a dog grooming table! Mostly because I thought it would be too expensive and take up too much space to store it. But then I found myself needing one under these unusual circumstances.
I reached out to my dog groomer at Pawla’s Grooming once again to ask her to recommend a suitable table for grooming Roxy at home. And she approved The PawHut Quality Guaranteed 36-inch Stainless Steel Dog Grooming table for Roxy’s size that I found on Amazon. My groomer advised me to make sure that the table came with the upright pole and strap. Some tables don’t, and I knew from many years of bringing Roxy to groomers that this attachment was necessary to keep my dog from moving on the table. So before purchasing, I double checked the description and confirmed the pole and strap were included with this product.
This model fit my needs for the following reasons:
- It comes in a compact size yet would accommodate Roxy’s size
- It folds up for easy storage
- It’s affordable at $117 (CDN)! To further justify this expense, I calculated the cost of the number of grooming appointments that Roxy missed this year due to COVID-19. And I concluded that this table has already paid for itself by now!
Choosing the right size table for your dog
So this model is meant for a dog Roxy’s size or smaller (Roxy weighs 7.4kg). If your dog is larger, you must first consider if you have space for a larger grooming table. And then you need to plan how you will lift him or her onto it! The dog’s size relative to the table is important, but also confirm that it has been rated to support your pet’s weight. Read the product description thoroughly to ensure a particular table meets all your requirements. And if you are unsure, try asking your dog groomer for advice on the item you want to buy.
Since the table met all my criteria, I ordered it immediately from Amazon. And I couldn’t wait for its arrival! Roxy really needed to be groomed as it was 5 weeks since her last appointment at Pawla’s Grooming. She normally goes every 4 weeks. And it showed!
So below are photos of the compact box in which the grooming table arrived.
This dog grooming table weighs about 30-40 pounds and I was able to lift it myself. But I needed my husband to help me remove it from the tightly packed box. We found the best way was to turn the box upside down and to carefully slide the table out of the opened lid. The package was too bulky for me to do this alone. For safety’s sake, you will most likely need help getting your grooming table out of the box too!
Below is a photo of what it looked like straight out of the box. In this picture, I have it laying upside down with the table top surface resting on the floor. As you can see, the legs are already assembled! I was grateful since I’m not handy with tools at all! The only thing I had to do was unfold the legs!
And in the above picture you can see the 4 other pieces included in the box.
So What is in the box?
Apart from the table, the following items are in the box:
- storage tray that attaches under the table so all the tools are easily accessed when grooming
- strap to keep the dog in place on the table
- pole to which the strap is attached
- clamp to fasten the pole to the table
This is the same setup that professional groomers use!
Adjust the strap height
You can adjust the pole’s height a bit either upwards or downwards. Just make sure it’s not too low since then the strap might have too much slack and your dog could slip out of it. Also make sure it’s not too high so your dog can remain comfortable. My groomer advised to tighten the strap only snug enough around Roxy’s head so that she can’t back out of it. And again, not too tight!
Below is a video to show you how to build the table straight out of the box!
Be sure to lock the cross bars in place to secure the legs!
As you can see in the above video, I pulled the cross bars upward to lock the legs into place after I unfolded them. This is very important because it secures the legs to support your dog’s weight!
In the following video, I show you how do this, and I also show how to release this cross bar when you are finished and are ready to fold up the dog grooming table for storage.
You can lock the cross bar either while the table is resting upside down on the floor, or after you carefully flip the table over to stand on its legs. Whatever you do, be sure to lock the cross bars before you place your dog on the table to make sure it is secure!
In this video, I demonstrate while the table is already standing upright.
Grooming Roxy during COVID lockdown #2
Just as in my earlier blog, I split the tasks over separate days. Because even if this table speeds up my grooming time, I am not a professional groomer, so I am going to be slower than Pawla! I didn’t want Roxy to be standing still for that long in one session.
So here’s what happened….
Day #1: I blow dried Roxy on the grooming table
The first thing I did was give Roxy a bath as I described in my earlier blog and this time I blow dried her with the Owns 2-in-1 pet blowdryer on the grooming table. And you may recall that I only purchased this blowdryer after I completed Roxy’s first grooming journey. I hoped by adding the blow dryer and now the table that my grooming life would be easier.
As you can see in the above photo, Roxy looks professionally blow dried! And I found it so much easier and faster to blow dry her on a dog grooming table with the strap to keep her standing in one spot! This took only 20 minutes with the appropriate blow drier and the table versus an hour in the past since she would squirm and move around. So in respect to blow drying her, the table definitely helped me work more efficiently!
Plus, I was impressed that the table top surface has really good rubbery traction to prevent Roxy from losing her footing and sliding while on the table. And she must have also felt safe on it!
Day #2 Grooming Roxy’s body
So now it was time to groom her fur since it was getting too long.
On day #2, I used the clippers that I told you about in my prior blog and I clipped Roxy’s face, body, and legs.
And although it took me over 2 hours to complete day two’s tasks, it was much easier to groom her on this table since she didn’t move around! I could be more precise in my workmanship than without this set up.
Plus it was definitely easier for me because I was more comfortable standing while grooming her. And I was able to see and reach all areas of her body and judge my cuts more easily rather than sitting on the floor and trying to access different sections!
Most of the dog hair stayed on the table!
So it was nice to see that after grooming Roxy, most of her fur remained on the table, and the only fur that ended up on the floor were bits that fell when I accidentally tossed some there while grooming her. And as a bonus, the fur stuck to the table top because of the rubbery surface.
The table surface makes it easy to clean up fur!
And I was very impressed that it was so easy to gather the fur to the centre of the table for cleanup! I simply used my hands to scoop the fur into the centre of the table and then transfer it into a garbage bin! No need to sweep up tons of fur off the floor as I had to last time!
Day #3 Grooming Roxy’s head, ears, tail and ankle pom-poms
On day#3, I used the shears that I mentioned in my earlier blog to trim Roxy’s head, ears, tail, and ankle pom-poms. I also used the same nail grinder to trim her nails as I did then. And, as you can guess, all of these tasks were a lot easier to do on a grooming table for the same reasons noted above!
But even though she looks almost professionally groomed from the side view, it’s obvious when looking at her from the front that I trimmed the top knot on her head a bit too short relative to the length of her ears. Oops! I hope Roxy will forgive me!
And it’s also obvious that both Roxy and I will be so happy when our groomer is allowed to reopen so she can be at her professionally styled best again! But until then, this grooming table has most certainly improved the experience for both of us! It allowed me to work more efficiently — this time it took me only 3 days to finish grooming her versus 4 days last year. And this also meant that Roxy had less time enduring the process too!
So as I get more practice while COVID restrictions are in place, I hope to improve my grooming skills so Roxy looks great while we wait!
Folding up your dog grooming table
Once I was finished grooming Roxy, I was ready to fold up the table to store it. And you can see how easy it was to do this in the video below.
In summary….
In summary, I love this model that I bought to groom Roxy because it’s really well made with strong sturdy material! The table did not shake or move even if Roxy shifted her weight or if I accidentally banged into the edge as I moved around the table as needed.
Plus as I mentioned, the rubbery table-top material provides good traction so that the dog won’t slip and can feel more secure. And that surface keeps the dog’s fur from flying onto the floor.
So now that you have followed me on this journey, and learned how useful this dog grooming table has been in grooming Roxy, you might want to get your own dog grooming table! Before you order yours, just revisit this blog post to remember what to look for!
Who would have thought that we would still be living through COVID-19 almost a year later! So at least with this grooming table, I now have all the equipment needed to groom Roxy when I must. Here’s hoping that our professional dog groomers open again really soon! I’m sure Roxy agrees!
Yours in better dog care, Judy.
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