Launching soon!  Be one of the first to sign up!

We are so excited to be a part of this new, exciting opportunity for pet stylists around the world.  Melissa Verplank and the Paragon Team are launching the Learn2GroomCats/Learn2GroomDogs streaming video website that will be host to an ever-growing collection of grooming videos from leading industry experts.  For less than the cost of a single dvd, pet groomers can sign up for membership and have access to hundreds of training dvds covering all sorts of topics.

I will be speaking at the Chicago All-American this weekend.  All 4 of my lectures will be taped and available on the Learn2Groom site very soon!

The site will makes it debut at the All-American and is set to be up and running very soon. Right now you can sign up to be notified when it is fully functional.  It’s definitely worth checking out!

At last!  Wahl has done it yet again. They’ve made me a clipper I simply can’t live without. This time it is the Pro LT trimmer that does amazing things on cat hair to allow me the opportunity to create the most creative of designs.

Lindsay and I have been using the Pro LT demo model for some time now to achieve the detail work you’ve seen on many of our creative cats.  At our recent workshop, the students were passing around my one demo model of this most amazing trimmer, each getting a taste it’s unique performance.

I’m sure there are all sorts of wonderful technical qualities about this clipper that Wahl would love for me to share. But all I need to know is can it cut a straight line in cat hair and will it allow me to do fine detail work.  Yes!  It does all of that better than any trimmer I have yet to try.

So for those who have pre-ordered their new Pro LT trimmers, they are on their way to you this week.  And for those who want to buy some for themselves, call us and we’ll get you taken care of.  The first couple cases come with some nifty carry cases – a promo offered by Wahl.

I can’t wait to use these in my creative cat lectures at the upcoming Chicago and Dallas shows!! See you there!

In case you guys hadn’t heard, it is the YEAR OF THE CAT! Ya! That means there are millions of cats out there needing to be professionally groomed and very few groomers exist who are WILLING and ABLE to groom them. So what are you going to do about that?

Well, as luck would have it, I am teaching 2 different series on cat grooming at the Pet Pro Classic this year. One covers regular cat grooming. The how’s and why’s – everything from how to handle those feisty kitties to grooming them to purr-fection. Yes, cats DO need baths and they need them frequently. If you aren’t bathing them then you aren’t grooming them correctly. Come and hear the reasons why. I will teach you how to handle even the most aggressive of felines and give it a full groom.

I also cover breeds, colors and coat types. Would you groom a dog without knowing what breed or color it is? How about what type of coat it has? These are important factors in determining the proper way to groom a cat. Not only that, but if the client knows more than you do about the animal you are grooming, then there’s a problem. YOU are the expert! Know your stuff!

Also get the scoop on how to build your cat grooming biz. You can be the best cat groomer for miles around but if no one knows about you, then you are not realizing your full potential. I’ve been there, done that – built the 2500+ client feline-exclusive grooming salon AND helped other groomers get started doing the same! Come hear the best ways to market yourself and your amazing cat wrangling skills. Not only will you have clients coming from hours away to utilize your services, but you’ll also be piling up that dirty cat hair to sell for $113 per pound (for those Certified Feline Master Groomers)!

If that doesn’t satisfy your cravings, stick around for the Creative Cat Grooming lecture series. (more live demos!) Learn how to offer a great add-on service and increase your bottom line. AND get a jump start on your creative skills so you can enter the Creative Cat Competition at next year’s Pet Pro Classic!! (more details on that later!)

Both series are part of the Certificate of Completion program (you get a certificate for attending all 4 parts of either series).
AND the PPC has graciously provided testing times for us to offer both Practicals and Writtens. Most shows do not provide an area for performing Practicals. This is a rare opportunity for YOU! So take advantage of it! At the NCGIA we get daily phone calls and emails asking us to bring the Practicals to YOU. So here’s your chance. If you do not live on the East Coast, then Dallas is closer to you than SC is. We can accommodate another 1 or 2 examinees for Practicals. So sign up now (via calling the NCGIA or online via the website).

The NCGIA will be giving away 1 ULTIMATE CAT GROOMER ENCYCLOPEDIA through a drawing of all who attend either lecture series. ($80 retail value – but worth a whole LOT more!)

Remember all NCGIA members can get discounted registration for the PPC and can attend the ISCC members-only partayyyy! You can sign up for those through the PPC.

And then there’s the Creative Runway. You’ll just have to come and see for yourself. (this year a cat will also be walking the runway, for the first time ever…….and you can hear me sing. hehe……that’s all I’m gonna say about that!)

If all of that isn’t enough reason enough to come, I don’t know what is 

We just wrapped another successful school session whereby 5 groomers left with their CFMG certificates in hand.  We topped off the 2 week course with a 2-day creative cat workshop.  This was the first time we hosted a workshop at the school that was something different than our normal 2 week school session.  I am pleased to say it was a great success!

The students had great cats to work on and could do whatever designs they wanted.  The class started with instruction and demo time and then the next part of the class involved the students doing their own creative designs on a variety of cats.  Many of the cats had already been prepped for creative before hand.  A few needed their “foundation” fixed just a bit before getting into the fun stuff.

By the end, we had over a dozen creatively designed cats with their own unique artwork.  Most coloring was semi-permanent with a little Blo-Pen or Sprayza providing the finishing touches.  Clipper work involved a variety of trimmers, with the students able to try different ones and decide which worked best for them.

You can be sure we’ll do another creative cat workshop before the year is through! Be sure to check our Events calendar for that date as well as some of the other workshops we have planned, including a CFMG Refresher Course, a cat show exhibitor workshop, and a CFA Cattery Certification class for inclusion in the Dirty Hair Project.

Here are photos of some of the finished cats. Click on a thumbnail to see the full photo.

We were so busy getting the school up and running and doing our first two classes, that it wasn’t until now that we could manage to host an open house.

Spring time in downtown Greenville is a real treat (if you are not allergic to pollen!).

We love our old school building and its awesome location.  The amazing stuff you learn during the two week course is just icing on the cake!

We are hosting our first creative cat groom workshop on July 23-24, 2010 here at the school. It is open to all CFMGs or anyone who has completed the two week school course.

More info can be found on the site via the Events Calendar.  Click on the workshop on the July dates and a pop-up window will tell you all you need to know.  Any questions?  Call the school or shoot us an email.

We are going to have some fun!

Here are some photos of my two girls as they were at Atlanta Pet Fair last month.

Marshmellow and C2 working the booth at APF. March 2010

the mice come out to play.

I caught you, Olivia and Lindsay!  Hard at work – yeah, right!

Olivia and Lindsay hard at work at the NCGIA booth

just don’t.

you know how cats can be.

Danelle & Lindsay

Thursday, February 18, 2010         Late evening- Moscow time

We have twin beds in our room.  Oh well, we were so tired at the time it really didn’t matter. I would have been thrilled to have any flat surface and a somewhat soft pillow.  We slept for about 2 hours.  Sweet sleep.  Not nearly enough, but sweet nonetheless.

When I awoke it was getting late (Russia time) so had to get showered, dressed and find out where the Crocus Center was before everyone was gone. I had lots to do: finish powerpoint presentation, burn CD of powerpoint, find a woman named “Natalia” whom I had never met but had been emailing for several months, find the Wahl distributor and collect the needed clippers for tomorrow’s presentation, figure out where the lecture would take place, meet the translator, and find out what I could about the demo cat I would be using.

The lady at the front desk told me the Crocus Center was the big building next door.  No biggie.  It was snowing, and I had only slight heels on but it was not far.  I bundled up in my big furry coat, donned a beret, pulled on gloves, and passed through the double-door entrance and its amazingly warm heater that blasts each patron coming in off the street.  It is really cold here.  That doesn’t even really describe it. It’s the kind of cold that sucks the life right out of you and makes you wonder if your bones might crack.

But it was only next door.

In Russia, “next door” must mean something different than it does in the USA.  Because the show was really at the far, far end of the entire enormous complex that started next door but stretched for what seemed like miles beyond.  This meant that I had to enter each “Hall” that made up the Crocus Center and attempt to find someone who speaks English enough to tell me where Zoo Russia might be.  I discovered that many of the older people do not speak English and don’t even know what you are saying when you ask “English????”  Anyone who spoke some English was under the age of 25, I’d say.  A sign of the times, I suppose.  And geez I am arrogant enough to expect them all to speak MY language when I am in THEIR country.  I should have picked up that Rosetta Stone program I saw at at a kiosk at JFK.

A particular young man said he spoke a little English, which he did.  But when i asked him where Zoo Russia was, he went into this long, broken whirl of words about the zoo in Russia being very far away and it was probably closed and I couldn’t walk there anyway.  Imagine me trying to explain to him that it’s not a “zoo” but rather “an exhibition trade show for veterinarians and pet grooming professionals.”  This was beyond his “little English” I quickly discovered.  I was on my own.

I passed by Hall 3 going in the opposite direction of about 386 old ladies who were lined up to enter the hall and holding tickets in their hands.  I wondered what it was that drew all of the 70 year old women of Russia out of their cozy little homes and out into the snow and cold. I was only guessing but I assumed it was not Zoo Russia.  If so, I was in for a real treat when it came time to teach aggressive cat handling tricks to this particular group of ladies.

I ventured on.  I slipped on the icy sidewalk. No one came to my rescue. Not a living soul despite the fact that many were passing right by me when it happened.  No matter, really. I was embarrassed and would rather be left alone in my humiliation in such circumstances.  I was okay it turned out.  And I was pleased to know that my knee surgery from 5 months ago turned my torn up knee into a sturdy part that could handle such disasters.  I chalked the event up to a fact-gathering experience:  Russians will not help you when you are down and your knee works.

Alas, Hall 1.  It really did  exist.  Now if I could just get the non-English speaking dude at the front gate to let me in despite the fact that I did not have a badge or a ticket of any sort.  ”I am a speaker,”  I told him.  Either he understood that eventually or he was just tired of trying to figure out the game of charades I was playing.  How do you show “speaker” with your hands so that someone else gets it?  I need to know this for next time.

As luck would have it, Natalia was at the first place I stopped to ask if anyone knew a “Natalia.”  I do realize that it is a popular name and is probably akin to asking if anyone knows a “Mary” or “Lisa.”  So this leaves me wondering if the “Natalia” that I met up with today is really the one I originally needed to find.  Either way, this one can get me a badge and seemed to know who I was and where I needed to be.

I think I am an ordinary person.  Just one of the joes running around on this planet, working hard, taking care of my family, and living life.  But apparently I am famous over here.  The first 3 people I met said something like “You’re the famous cat groomer we have heard of.”  Who woulda thunk it?  I will be honest and admit I like hearing that I am famous all the way to the snowy, frigid regions that make up the edges of the world.  Very cool.  I hope they still think this tomorrow after I groom a cat on the big stage.