The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Is your dog looking rough these days? For many breeds, a regular grooming schedule is a must. My dog Rocco is a miniature schnauzer, which is a double-coated breed that has a wiry topcoat and a soft undercoat. If he were being groomed as a show dog, his soft undercoat would be stripped by hand or with a special stripping knife, leaving his wiry topcoat in place.

A pet grooming style using clippers removes the wiry topcoat, leaving the dog with a soft fur coat that resembles hair. This hair is an incredible magnet for any sticky burr or seed or weed that it touches. And although Rocco is a very good boy, bright and trainable, I have never been able to encourage him to love having his legs or body groomed, and woe betide me if I try to brush his whiskers-- he gets snappy.

In order to keep Rocco matt and burr free I have maintained a regular grooming schedule and have always used Animal Clinic East Grooming, in Walla Walla. Groomers Judy White, Tiffany Lim and Jamie Mentzer run a very busy shop and know my dog so well that they always save "Rocco's crate" for his appointments.

Since the Stay Safe, Stay Home proclamation, all pet grooming facilities have been shuttered. Grooming at Petco was still taking place because the company, according to businessinsider.com, "has refused to close its facilities unless mandated by individual state authorities, taking a cue from other retail niches like craft stores that used differing state policies to their advantage in the quest to stay open." 

Feeling a little desperate about Rocco's shaggy coat and all the matts that were forming, along with his impaired vision due to excess fur, I managed to snag an appointment at Petco before they suddenly stopped the service.

On Monday, May 18, Governor Inslee announced new guidelines that would open up pet grooming in Washington State. The guidelines include a range or precautions that are by now becoming familiar, they include:

• Maintaining a minimum six-foot separation between employee-service providers and clients.

• Cleaning and disinfecting high-touch surfaces after each use

• Posting COVID-19 information posters from the CDC, DOH and OSHA

• Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to employees

• Obtaining social distancing, by staggering days, shifts, shift changes, breaks and meals to avoid groups

• Screening service providers for signs/symptoms of COVID-19 exposure.

Other guidelines call for client occupancy to be kept at 50 percent or less, the designation of a site-specific COVID-19 Supervisor, and to increase ventilation rates where feasible. Masks are required for both employee and customer.

With these new guidelines in place only yesterday, it remains to be seen how Animal Clinic East or other grooming locations might adapt.

Although I felt sheepish about taking Rocco to get groomed during this pandemic, I simply lacked the tools or expertise to do the many tasks that are involved; clipping long toenails, expressing anal glands, clearing ears of fur, and safely trimming his jaunty beard without getting snapped at.

I have cut my own hair during this time, and will most likely continue to do so, but at the very least, I know I don't bite. I am hopeful that the fine groomers at Animal Clinic East can find safe, healthy ways to care for our four-legged friends and I will be sure to tip generously when given the opportunity to do so.