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Clip-N & Groom-N offers services to keep pets of every size looking good
By Mike Dahahey
Clip-N & Groom-N in Dixon has been clipping and grooming tiny-to-titanic fur babies since 2004.
The business’s owner, Justin Sousa, said the size range of pets he’s seen has gone from teacup breeds of several kinds that weigh less than five pounds, and could fit in the palm of a human hand, to a 165-pound bull mastiff.
He’s trimmed the nails of a 20-year-old beagle mix and has given a full haircut to a 16-year-old Cocker Spaniel.
“I have also given what is called a puppy cut, as well as full grooms, to dogs as young as two to three months old,” Sousa said.
While grooming typically takes one to three hours, Sousa said he’s had several longer sessions involving very large and terribly conditioned dogs. Some of those cases involved extensive brushing prior to bathing, drying and cutting. And some clients request their dog not be shaved or cut too short, which requires lots of extra time.
Sousa said he’s groomed several severely matted dogs which required full shave-downs where the hair would come off the dog like a lamb. He’s even saved the fur from such instances to show clients to get them to understand matting and what it can do to an animal’s skin.
His most challenging grooming sessions have involved full shave-downs of cats and grooming extremely large breeds of rebellious dogs. Then there was the time Sousa removed more than 100 ticks with tweezers from a horribly infested dog.
“That was another very long process, a memory that I will never forget. I learned a lot from that,” Sousa said.
As for his most memorable appointment visit, Sousa recalled a time when he was training with his mother, Patti Sousa-Liu, from whom he would take over Clip-N & Groom-N upon her retirement.
While working on an elderly dog, the animal went limp during bathing. Sousa thought the dog had a heart attack. Sousa held the dog for a few minutes. The dog revived, and Sousa was able to continue the grooming process.
“I will never forget that case. It taught me to become very conscious with elderly dogs, to use caution and patience,” Sousa said.
Along with lessons learned from experience, Sousa said his mother taught him everything he knows about the business. She helped him build his confidence enough to continue and grow Clip-N & Groom-N into what it is today. His mother had more than 1,500 clients, and Sousa said he’s added 300 clients of his own, most of them regulars.
Typically, dogs should get groomed every six to eight weeks, Sousa said, for the following reasons:
• Regular baths wash away dirt and help prevent skin irritations.
• Detangling keeps coats from becoming matted and causing painful pulling on the skin.
• Using correct brushes for coat type removes damaged and dead hair, allowing new growth for a healthy coat.
• Careful brushing distributes the dog’s natural oils and gets rid of dead skin.
“Dog grooming is a service-based business. It is my job to take care of animals but also take care of their owners, my clients,” Sousa said. “My job isn’t over when I think it is over. It continues until clients say they are happy with the results and feel they have their animals back the way they want them to look.”
Clip-N & Groom-N is at 220 Foster Lane in Dixon.
For more information, go to https://clipinandgroomin.com/ or call 916-796-2058.