Fresh Off the Table

What You Are Actually Looking At

Every tile here links to the service that produced it, so if a coat looks like what you want for your dog, you can go straight to that page and read what it involves. The doodles and poodles are mostly full grooms. The fluffy double coated dogs are de-shedding work, where the goal is a light, separated coat rather than a shorter one. The long silky coats that still look long are outline trims.

A photograph is also the single most useful thing you can bring to a booking. It settles in five seconds what a paragraph of description usually cannot, and it is why Alexis asks for one whenever you have a specific cut in mind.

Why Some Coats Photograph Differently

Two dogs of the same breed can leave looking quite different, and it is rarely about skill. Coat condition on the day sets the ceiling: a well brushed coat takes a clean line, while a coat that has packed tight limits what is possible until it grows out again. That is the honest reason a matted coat sometimes comes back shorter than the owner pictured.

Length between appointments matters too. The dogs whose photographs owners like most are usually the ones on a regular rhythm, because a coat that never gets away from you can be shaped rather than rescued.

About the Bows and Bandanas

The finishing touches are part of the fun rather than the point. Bandanas and bows come off in a day, but a coat that has been washed to the skin, dried properly and brushed out completely is comfortable for weeks. If you want something more deliberate than a bow, creative color uses pet safe products on a coat that has already been groomed.

The Before Pictures Nobody Posts

Grooming galleries everywhere show the after. The useful information is usually in what came before it: a coat that had packed tight over a wet winter, a dog whose nails had gone long enough to change how they stood, a puppy who had never been brushed. Those are ordinary starting points, not failures, and they are most of the appointments in a working week.

If your dog is closer to a before than an after right now, that is exactly when to book rather than a reason to wait. Coats do not improve on their own, and the options are always wider earlier.

Seasonal Looks

Bandanas and bows track the calendar here, so the gallery picks up holidays as they come around. Those are the appointments worth booking a little ahead, since a specific date is the one thing grooming cannot be flexible about. Mention the occasion when you book and Alexis will time the visit so your dog looks their best on the day rather than two weeks before it.

Follow Along Between Visits

New work goes up on Instagram far more often than this page changes, so that is the place to watch if you like seeing what came through the van this week. It is also the easiest way to get a feel for how a particular coat type tends to finish before you commit to a cut for your own dog.

Coats You Will See a Lot of Around Here

The dogs on this route skew toward a few coat types, and they turn up again and again in these photographs. Doodles and poodles dominate, because a continuously growing coat is what brings owners back on a rhythm. Yorkies, Maltese and other long silky coats show up next: they need less cutting than owners expect and far more brushing. Terriers, shepherds and mixes fill out the rest.

Double coated dogs are the ones people are most often surprised by, because the goal for a Husky, an Australian Shepherd or a Pomeranian is a fuller looking coat rather than a shorter one. Alexis is Pomeranian certified, and the Pom photographs are the clearest illustration of the principle: the coat is bathed, dried and brushed out completely, and every bit of the length stays.

Reading a Groom Photo Properly

A few things are worth looking for when you browse, because they tell you more than the bow does. Look at the feet: cleanly cleared paw pads and a tidy foot are the part that takes patience and the part that matters through foxtail season. Look at the face, where the line around the eyes decides whether a dog looks bright or shaggy. Look at the ears and the tail, since feathering is where a longer coat either reads as deliberate or as overdue.

What you cannot see in any photograph is what the coat feels like underneath, and that is the actual work. A coat brushed right down to the skin sits differently and stays comfortable for weeks. A coat tidied only on top photographs fine on the day and mats within two weeks.

Photos, Consent and Your Dog

Every dog pictured here belongs to a real local client. If you would rather your dog was never photographed, say so when you book and that is the end of it. If you are happy to be featured, mention that too, since the freshly groomed crew turns up regularly on Instagram.

Want Your Dog Here?

Alexis grooms across Healdsburg, Windsor, Geyserville and Santa Rosa, Tuesday through Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM. Tell her the breed, the rough size and how the coat is doing when you request an appointment, and send a photo of a cut you like if you have one in mind.