Pantops Pet Salon & Spa
Charlottesville's Professional Dog Grooming

From cervical cancer vaccines to potential treatments, cancer research has been progressing at a hopeful rate lately. Our dogs are also susceptible to this condition of abnormal cell growth. It’s a more frequent occurrence in older dogs–nearly half of all dogs over 10 years old will develop cancer. Some breeds are more susceptible to certain forms of cancer than others. Boxers may develop skin tumors, German shepherds may develop spleen tumors and bone cancer is common in giant breeds. Some pesticides, herbicides and radiation can also increase the risk for cancer.

When dogs come in for grooming, we examine their skin and fur throughout the process. If we find anything unusual, we will let the owner know. When it comes to cancer, this means abnormal swelling, sores that don’t heal, lumps, etc. Some symptoms you may see at home include bleeding or discharge from any body orifice, difficulty eating, swallowing or breathing, and difficulty urinating or defecating among other more generic symptoms like weight loss.

If your dog develops cancer, a veterinary recommendation is to maintain your dog’s usual routine whenever possible. Frequent exercise (as able) keeps your dog healthy physically and in a positive state of mind. Like humans, dogs can undergo chemotherapy and if so they usually have increased protein and energy demands.

Click here for a thorough article on mast cell tumors, one of the most common cancers in dogs.

The latest fad in grooming is to use a rotary grinder. It is advertised as a safe and easy way to take down your dog’s nails. But take it from me, there is nothing easy about it and it’s not any safer either.

Most dogs are reluctant to get their nails done as it is. Many of them pull and resist quite a bit–even our most calm dogs are rarely happy about the process. There is a vein that grows into the nail which can be cut during nail cutting. It hurts and bleeds and we try our best not to clip too close when we use the nail clippers. Occasionally, especially with black nails, we do hit the vein. We keep styptic powder in the shop to apply and stop the bleeding but it’s not fun for either of us when an accident happens. It’s a fine line though. We often get told to clip the nails as short as possible especially in the case of owners worried about hardwood floors and scratches on their legs. Remember that the length we can cut is dictated by the length of the quick (the vein). Some dogs have nails that just naturally scrape right against the floor. Also keep in mind that cutting nails shorter doesn’t dull them. Freshly cut nails are extra sharp and need to be worn down with long walks on pavement.

Our shop stays away from grinders. We do our best to be quick and careful. As for being safer, grinders can hit the quick just as easily as nail clippers can. Nail grinding takes more time and ultimately more patience to get the job done. Most dogs will have nothing to do with it. With a nail clipper, we can just git ‘er done but grinding involves holding an unwilling dog in an uncomfortable position for much longer. This can be even more difficult with dogs who are scared by the noise of the grinder.

Cut through the advertising and do what works best for your dog. If you are interested and your dog is willing, we are able to file nails. But for most dogs, the more comfortable solution is nail clippers.

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Natural Plum Shampoo

We use a natural plum shampoo as our default selection to revitalize dull, lifeless coats.  Moisture-binding silk proteins penetrate every strand to restore moisture and shine and add texture and body. Fortified with conditioners, it helps repair brittle hair and adds resilience and strength. This gentle shampoo is highly concentrated and leaves a lasting, pleasant plum fragrance.

Additional Shampoos – available on request

Tearless

We use this shampoo for puppies and around the face.  With a special soap-free formula that is gentle on an animal’s sensitive eyes, our Tearless Shampoo is mild enough for frequent use, even on puppies and kittens. This shampoo battles dry skin by restoring its natural moisture.

Luxury

Hypoallergenic

Made especially for pets with persistently sensitive, dry and allergic skin, this extra-mild, tearless shampoo is so gentle that it won’t irritate while it cleans. Pure and emollient-rich, it also helps to repair dry, brittle coats.

Treatment Shampoos – $5

De-odorizing Shampoo

This proprietary, one-of-a-kind blend destroys foul odors through an exothermic reaction synthesis. The environmentally friendly formula attacks the molecular structure of offensive odors and completely removes them. Odors caused by urine, feces, vomit, decaying organic matter and skunk encounters are eliminated almost immediately upon contact.

Moisterizing Oatmeal

This hypoallergenic shampoo contains Baking Soda, a proven cleanser and deodorizer which absorbs and fights odors while washing away ground-in dirt and unwanted oil. Its exfoliating action gently removes dead skin cells while exposing softer, smoother skin. The formula also contains Colloidal Oatmeal and Aloe Vera, two soothing ingredients that help calm redness and reduce inflammation. This soap-free formula is excellent.

Soothing Melaleuca

Relieve the itching, scaling and dry skin resulting from seborrhea dermatitis, skin bacteria and fungi with this all-natural shampoo made with soothing tea tree oil. The synergistic combination of Vitamin E, Wheat Germ, Rosemary and Coconut oils, plus proteins and mild organic cleansers, provides rapid relief and deep skin penetration resulting in healthy, shiny coats.

A Welcome Tour of our Salon

Brushing out a Dog

The Bath Process

Shaving a Matted Dog

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.

Below you can see an example of a “clean face.”

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.

In the nature vs. nurture debate, I often wonder if dogs can be born with some of the same “special needs” that humans are. We all know from experience that they are born with certain personality traits; shy, over-friendly, dominant, lazy, etc. These traits taken to the extreme require more intense training to overcome or at least control. I have seen dogs that are lazy – just as soon sit around and get fat as anything else. Here in the shop we call them “sit down dogs.” During the grooming process they are constantly trying to sit down, making brushing and clipping almost impossible. And wouldn’t you know it, along with being lazy, they are fat. Some are so fat it’s no wonder they want to sit down. Which came first, a dog that had a voracious appetite that due to lack of exercise became fat or slow metabolism and laziness that led to being fat? You know, that vicious cycle. Then there’s the hyper dog that won’t sit still – and forget about leash training. He is the one that’s prone to nonstop barking as well. And at what? Nothing in particular, just for attention.

When I was growing up, I never imagined we would label a behavior on the part of dogs as “separation anxiety.” Yet I think these personality traits can usually be dealt with by spending a lot more time in training and controlling the environment than would be normally required. But what I really want to know is if dogs can be handicapped as my son Carl is – with cerebral palsy or mental retardation. The kind of “special need” that can’t be overcome regardless of the amount of time, training, or love spent.

You see, Carl operates on a 3-5 year old level, and we organize his world and ours around that. The range of mental retardation can range from faintly detectable to something far more serious and dramatic.

For the past two years, we have had a Cardinal at our window feeder that bangs his beak on the window – loud and hard. He works himself into a frenzy and actually stares in wildly and pants. Now understand, we have lots of birds of all stripes and colors use that feeder — to include many other Cardinals — and it is only this bird that behaves that way. We think he looks and behaves a bit deranged.

I wonder if we see more frequent “special needs” behavior in dogs and humans because we take care of them. They aren’t left to “survival of the fittest” as in the early stages of their evolution.