On Saturday October 30th, Nutmeg hosted a grooming seminar with Alexandra Vinopal, PWD Breeder and Professional Groomer. We had 6 working teams who brought their own tables, grooming supplies and freshly bathed and dried dogs. We also had 6 observers, many of whom were either videoing or taking notes.
Alex started with how to prep pre-grooming and then discussed each part of the dog and how to groom and what clipper blades, combs, etc to use on that part of the dog. She demonstrated on a dog and then each team went back to work on that part on his/her dog and Alex went around to assist. Lots of discussion on both clipper and scissoring techniques, how to hold a dog while doing nails, feet, clipping, etc.
Here are a few quotes from some of the participants.
"As a former teacher I know how difficult it is to provide class content that is extremely helpful both to novices and the very experienced, and speaking for the novice end of the spectrum I learned a huge amount. Judging from my observation of Alex coaching much more experienced groomers I am sure that many of them learned extremely useful stuff as well.”
“She did a wonderful job and even though I've been grooming for years I picked up a couple tips and tricks I didn't know. "
"Great seminar!! Alex is so patient with us humans. Totally stress-free atmosphere. Alex gave us great tips to help make it easier for the amateur and extra guidance for those who will be showing their dog."
"Today was just awesome! So wonderful to see familiar faces I hadn’t seen in 2 plus years but to also meet new people. Thank you Melinda for spearheading this event and to Nutmeg for hosting."
"Grooming is a daunting task for most of us amateurs. Alex ‘s seminar was carefully crafted to cover all bases. Her demos and explanations were concise and informative. She is professional yet her calm demeanor gives one the confidence needed to succeed. As a teacher, I fully appreciated her time management today. She covered an incredible amount of material and she found time to answer everyone’s questions."
