For you newbies: Yep, it works alright

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

I like to groom my dogs from start to finish, I don't really do much in the way of cage drying. But this causes me to be a little slower than I'd prefer.

Edderland had brought up wrapping the freshly-bathed dogs in towels and setting them on a towel while I bathe another dog. Then I either bathe another dog or return to dry the first.

Well, it works. I hadn't tried it before because I hadn't really heard anyone pipe up too loudly about it, though I'd read about it in Notes From the Grooming Table.

I dried a yorkie with a more thin, flat coat (like Spike's) in about 2 minutes. I dried a sheltie in 10 minutes. I bathed AND dried 3 dogs in 30 minutes the other day.

Try it if you need help with your speed.

Tammy in Utah
PS: Thank you, Edderland, for bringing this method to my attention again.

[europet]

thanks for the tip!!!!!!!!!

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

Oh, another thing that helps is to not doodle-doddle around in the mornings when I arrive. I used to sort of wait around for all my 8 am dogs to show up before starting, because I hated being caught in the middle of a bath to take in another dog.

Well, I get to work, put clean fleece down in kennels for the dogs coming in, fill my shampoo bottles and when the first dog comes in, I start it right then. If an owner comes in with another dog, I put it right in a crate, or take that first dog out of the tub and put it into a kennel for a moment while I take the 2nd dog to its holding area. This has helped me tremendlously without sacrificing quality to maintain greater speed.

It's simply a time management issue.

Tammy in Utah

[pamperedpups]

Edited.

[pugnacious]

I always have at least three dogs "under the dryers". I bathe several dogs at the start of the day and then bathe one or more each hour throughtout the rest of the day. I generally work on a haircut for a few minutes, like maybe shave a set of feet and then I go over all wet dogs with the hv and hand fluff a bit. The stand dryers are aimed at any dog with straight hair even if its down the line-up aways. When one dog is close to being dry, I bathe another. Maybe this is different than what most groomers do? The thought of doing a dog straight through sounds like a waist of time to me. I am curious now about how others schedule their drying time!?

[elizo]

When I went mobile, I discovered that drying was the thing that took up the most time and that I had to learn new techiques to improve in order to get more dogs done in a day. I do most of my drying with the HV in the tub, with the dog on moisture magnet towels and a moisture magnet in my hand. I always finish each dog with a hand dryer...I have no idea why it works better than stand dryers for me, but I find I can whip out a beautiful fluff job much faster...maybe because I don't have to spend time manipulating the stand dryer around so much. I do the whole dog, then for the feet, put the hand dryer on the table, the barrel propped up on brush handle I have laid on the table, so it points up a bit (make sense?).

[amysue2638]

Now that I work alone, I've been struggling with how to handle drop offs while I'm bathing a dog. So Tammy you take them out of the tub mid-wash to check in other dogs? What about the big guys? I've found that even though I make my schedule so that I have time to bathe the first dog before the next one comes in, so many people just decide to show up early which throws me off. I really don't want to take a sopping wet, lathered dog out of the tub, nor do I want to try to wrestle a big one out and back in again just because a client decided to show up 1/2 hour early. But then again I don't necessarily want to make them wait either.

[DAPER DAWG]

Right now I don't have a choice but to do a dog from start to finish. There are two groomers and two bathers and only two tubs, two HV dryers and two stand dryers so not enough space and equipement to wash more than one dog at at time and have it sitting under the dryer while washing the next one. Three groomers and two bathers on Saturday. I am dying to try the wash a few, wrap them in towels and then back to drying the first one. Someday when I have control over my own situationI will try it.

[Grinch]

I also go start to finish for each dog, one dog in and out every hour. When people have more than one dog, I will wash one wrap it up (like tammy said) and stick on the table next to my tub with a warm stand dryer on it, wash the other dog, wrap that one up, leave it in the tub with the warm stand dryer, HV the other on (2-5 minutes total drying time tops), put that one down, get the one out of the tub dry him (same drying time) and then finish. Usually takes me 1 1/2 hours to do the two that way verses if they came seperate at an hour each.

[HoundLover]

yes washing three dogs and letting them drip dry and then going back and finishing drying them is alot easier than trying to hand dry each and every one of them. also another thing is cage drying the face...if the dog absolutely hates having the face dried then you pop it into its cage put the dryer in front and let it dry its face while your washing another dog. by the time that dogs face is dried you can either move it on to another dog that needs its face dried and hand dry the first dog or you can start off with your haircut.
i personally liked bathing and drying the dog at the same time...but if your really busy and have dogs coming in at a certain time it makes more sense to put them in towels and wrap them and let the towels absorb a bit before drying them. if you have a bather dont overwelm them lol! well then again it could be i was slow because i was feeling rushed...and i didnt have that much training experience beforehand anyways.
Hound

[rapuzzled]

That's how I do it too Tammy, BIG time saver. I have three spots to dry in the drying room, so I will will bathe three dogs, and wrap them in towels before I start force drying. Saves a heck of a lot of time!

[Arrooh]

Would help

But also housecall mostly I do one at a time. I do however wrap some up like babuskas or drape around a bigger one while I clean up the tub and put the Bathing Beauty in my carry bucket. Then usually I do the nails. By then the towels have soaked up a lot of water. I then rub and squeeze a microfibre all over the dog, and gee it's pretty darn dry before I even turned a dryer on.

[Allan]

Tammy.
Time Management is the most important aspect of any established business.
As a manager in the past 30 yrs of working(not grooming,that's fun!)
I have taught many sucessful people how to manage their time and be more productive...............Nice job!!

[pugnacious]

Neat post, Tammy! I have always figured that doing a dog straight through was one of the main reasons that mobile groomers are justified in charging higher prices -- it takes alot of extra time that way. My bathing room has space for at least 6 dogs under the dryers at a time. I do assembly line drying, go down the row with the HV and then hand fluff each one as needed.

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

Now that I work alone, I've been struggling with how to handle drop offs while I'm bathing a dog. So Tammy you take them out of the tub mid-wash to check in other dogs? What about the big guys? I've found that even though I make my schedule so that I have time to bathe the first dog before the next one comes in, so many people just decide to show up early which throws me off. I really don't want to take a sopping wet, lathered dog out of the tub, nor do I want to try to wrestle a big one out and back in again just because a client decided to show up 1/2 hour early. But then again I don't necessarily want to make them wait either.

I feel your pain, lol. Fortunately for me, I have receptionists who always help me out. For my "regulars," they are comfortable enough that I tell them, "Put fluffy in that kennel there," and chat with them as I stand next to the tub (My kennels are in the bathing room). This has worked well. With the big guys, I'll have already made space available in a run at the back of the hospital and ask the receptionists to take the dog back. What USUALLY happens, however, is I get one dog in, put him in the kennel real quick while I do a few odds and ends, and then the next dog shows up. Once the second dog shows up, I'm good to go. I schedule them like this: I get 2 dogs at 8am, 2 dogs at 10am, 2 dogs at noon, and so forth.

I may change this in the near future, but that is how it works now. Sometimes I'll have 3 in at the same time, or even 4, it depends. Sometimes there are dogs in boarding that I can get any time I want.

And, I'd much rather have a client arrive early, than arrive late. That happened the other day, and that is how I got 3 yorkies bathed and dried in 30 minutes.

If an owner happens to come in while I have a dog in the tub with shampoo, I'll do like I mentioned above, or at worst, I will put the lathered-up dog in a kennel (it works just fine for me) while I take care of the next dog. I actually like this, as I want the shampoo to soak. Then I put the dog in the tub and go about my business. Cleaning that kennel is easy too, so nothing takes much time.

Hope this helps.

Tammy in Utah