Pantops Pet Salon & Spa
Charlottesville's Professional Dog Grooming

If you would like to ease the anxiety your pet may feel during a visit, bring in a towel that has been in their bed for a few nights for them to lie on while here. The familiar smells will comfort them so their stay is a more relaxing experience. Highly recommended for smaller breeds—like Shih Tzus, Yorkies, and Poodles. Be aware though, that some dogs are chewers or pee-ers (especially when nervous) and we are not responsible for how well your dog takes care of the fabric!

The name Goldendoodle says it all. It is a hybrid dog–a first generation cross of the Golden Retriever and Standard Poodle. According to dog behaviorist Stanley Coran, Poodles are ranked 2nd and Goldens 4th in intelligence. The purpose of the cross was to take these two highly intelligent dogs and breed them for the best characteristics of each. The coat of the Standard Poodle is known to be hypoallergenic and non-shedding….combine that with the endearing personality of the Golden and you can get a pretty nice dog. This is the ideal.

Keep in mind that not every dog is representative of the breed(s!) standard. There are Goldens that are far too large in size, hyper in behavior and difficult to train. Due to their great popularity, some breeding is done just for the money with less attention devoted to maintaining good character and shape in puppies. Once again, back yard breeders damage breed genetics. In addition, there are no 100% guarantees as to how the Poodle-Golden genes will line up. You may get more of that long-legged Poodle shape and have a rather odd-looking dog…or you may get the Golden half of the shedding!

The Goldendoodles we have seen are very friendly, intelligent and calm. That double coat of the Golden is quite thick and requires weekly brushing–we definitely see this undercoat with the Goldendoodle. Don’t believe a breeder who tells you that since there’s Poodle in the mix, that a Goldendoodle doesn’t have any undercoat!

Below is a picture of Rascal Sanders during his brushout–note the hair on the table. No scissors were involved in that, it all came out of the brush. To the right is a picture of Rascal after his full groom including the bath and some trimming around the paws.

We encourage professional brushing and coat thinning at least every four weeks with a full body clip at 8 week intervals. If left natural, the coat typically grows to a length between 3-5 inches (but this may vary as those Poodle genes can have the hair growing out quite far). You can maintain this length with a good bi-weekly brushing, checked with a comb to the skin. If you choose to shorten the coat to an inch or so, home brushing won’t have to be so frequent.

For the Goldendoodle haircut, we have done everything from 1/2 an inch up to 2 inches all over. Keep in mind that anything over 1 inch in length must be hand-scissored and costs more due to the time and skill required. We usually scissor the tails but keep them full. We scissor the faces full with a long beard but of course we can shorten or lengthen any area as you please. Ask about our Benji cut–it is a nice look.

To the right is Jazzy Sanders in a 2.5″ scissor cut. Looks great but be aware that it’s difficult to maintain. That’s a lot of brushing you need to do at home and if your dog comes in with matts–forget about it.

For years now there has been an ongoing controversy involving the Pit Bull breed. Our local SPCA and some Pit Bull owners claim that the breed is misunderstood so they are working to change the public’s negative perception of these dogs. Well, if it were only so simple. Perhaps in this case, “where there is smoke, there is fire.” The Pit Bull’s reputation has a basis in reality so if you are looking to own one, take extra care with your research so you know exactly what you are in for and whether you can handle it.

We know that most of our dog breeds were developed to suit their working relationships with man from herding and retrieving to rescuing. The Pit Bull, however, was bred to be a fighter. The breed originated in England in the 1800s with the Black and Tan Terrier. This breed was used to entertain humans by killing rats in a pit–not my idea of a good time, but there you have it. Evidently, this wasn’t enough excitement for the audience so they crossed the terrier with the Bulldog to create what we know today as the Staffordshire terrier or Pit Bull. Instead of fighting rats, these dogs were set against each other in the pit, hence their name. When you look into getting a Pit Bull, understand that they were originally bred to fight one another to the death for human entertainment. In the pit, only the strongest survived and subsequently were bred to pass on the traits which had ensured that they killed their opponents.

Read our “Nature vs. Nurture” article in the Library section of our website and you’ll see that both play an important role in your dog’s character. Training and socialization, although essential, aren’t going to give a Pit Bull the manners of a Golden Retriever. Pit lovers that want their dogs accepted by society must work to clean up the breeding in addition to being responsible owners. Just as we can breed dogs to increase their sense of smell for hunting, we can also breed them to adjust their character. There were originally strains of aggression in the Great Dane, but breeders have selectively matched the most docile members of the breed to eventually produce a more gentle dog. Aggressive tendencies can be bred out of the Pit Bull but potential owners should be aware that this is a process–after years of selectively breeding Pits to fight, it’s going to take some time to change them.

While breeders work to change the Pit, there will be some differing genetic lines. This is common for working dogs including the Labrador Retriever. You have one line of dogs that have been bred for their game retrieving instincts while others are bred as companion dogs or show dogs who would make lousy hunters. With the Pit Bull, you still have the lines that go back to their fighting roots. Although dog fighting is outlawed, there are plenty of backyard breeders who still fight dogs (hello, Michael Vick) and of course people who just want to be seen with a “bad ass dog.” But there are other breeders who are working to civilize the breed by breeding out that violence.

It’s not quite time to throw caution to the wind. The most recent available statistics we could find show that violence from Pit Bulls is still at the top of the charts. In 2000, the Center for Disease Control published the following study; between 1979 and 1998, one third of all fatal dog attacks were caused by Pit Bull types. The highest (118) were by Pit Bulls, the second highest (67) by Rottweillers. The Pits we see at the Pet Salon have been friendly but often stubborn and sometimes untrained and aggressive toward other dogs. My son Michael, who owns the Pet Salon, stopped boarding them because they were destructive to the kennels and impervious to pain–they would chew on the chain link until their mouths bled.

Be aware that owning a Pit will limit your choices if you need to move. Based on the dog’s violent history, many apartments will not allow Pits in order to protect the safety of other tenants. The following countries have created laws restricting or outlawing Pit Bull ownership: Ontario, Winnipeg and Manitoba Canada, Australia, France, Norway, Singapore, United Kingdom, Denmark, New Zealand, Serbia and Italy. In the United States, 16 cities have active laws governing Pit Bull ownership. 7 cities are currently studying proposals. Insurance companies like Allstate are reluctant to insure homeowners who have Pit Bulls which isn’t a surprise when the Insurance Information Institute reports that dog bites accounted for one-quarter of all claims on homeowner’s insurance.

When looking to get a Pit, be aware of their history and their current character. Every dog breed involves some research before you make a final decision but even more caution should be taken when a breed has a track record of violence. Be sure to see the parents and know which stock your dog is coming from–you want to look for a long line of conscientious breeding. You should be prepared to offer a good home and some serious training. Also keep in mind that caution needs to be exercised when the Pit is around other breeds. Pits adopted from the SPCA should be on a trial basis and only if you are willing and able to spend the time necessary to train and socialize them.

What is it about our profession that there was a need to make a reality show of it? The television channel Animal Planet has been running a program called “Groomer Has It” which I could not stand after only a couple of episodes.

There are plenty of professional grooming competitions conducted by certified groomers which test the skills used in this profession. But that’s not what this show is about. “Groomer Has It” takes a skillful and difficult profession and puts it on display for entertainment purposes. Don’t watch it and think you can learn much about dog grooming! What you could learn is overshadowed by the Paris Hilton mentality of treating your dog like a doll.

The problem I see most often in the dog profession is that folks are just too devoted to dogs and don’t have a life outside that. I see this reflected in the behavior of the groomers shown in this program. The groomers in “Groomer Has It” wouldn’t work for me–they’re too weird. They are pretty eccentric which makes for good TV but not necessarily good grooming. This profession requires people skills–you need to relate to your customers just as much as you relate to the dogs. You must also be able to focus on the needs of the dog–not just what you want from the dog. You should be knowledgeable about training, breeds, and behavior.

While I think dogs are unique in the animal kingdom, I don’t like this trend of making them substitutes for human relationships. I don’t think it’s healthy to make a dog take the place of a mother or wife or children for that matter and it’s not fair to the dog. Humanized dogs are socialized with human psychology which can have an effect of spoiling them so much that they become a nusance. Here I agree with Ceasar Milan (”The Dog Whisperer”) and feel it’s unfair to humanize our dogs. A normal dog of any breed that is on it’s best behavior can’t be beat and that’s fine, but playing “dolls” with them is going too far.

Making pretty cookies and little raincoats is no substitute for a good brushout. I feel my job is to provide you professional grooming and by that I mean a thorough bath, brushing and haircut. That’s what you’re paying for. While I insist this is done in a friendly atmosphere, I’m not happy when one of my groomers spends more time petting the dogs than brushing–unless you want me to raise prices to include this service! Reminds me of the time when I still owned “The Pet Motel” that is currently run by my son. I had hired a young man to clean the kennel. He loved dogs and thought the job would be a lot of “fun.” I caught him petting a dog in the run but there was still a pile of poop on the floor–and he wasn’t in there with a scoop. I quickly let him know that our top priority was to insure that dog had a clean environment first and foremost. Can he and should he pet the dog? Of course, but not in lieu of clean water, proper diet, and sanitary quarters. A love of dogs does not necessarily equate to being a good groomer or kennel assistant, but a groomer and kennel assistant surely should love dogs.