Dragonfry:

 my son uses the Yard blower on his gsd..and then he puts a box fan in front of wire  crate..

  HAve to start this when they are young though,  just like blow drying , start young

   PS:  I just ordered the ANDIS  Ceramic Edge blade  #10 on sale  21.99 from revival but no clippers...too expensive right now..none on sale.

  it says the  oxide ceramic blade runs cooler than the steel ones and I have many of them but all dull.

   Next step is send my 2 speed to OSTER> along with the blades I can afford to sharpen...I found 2 #15's, on 7F, one 40 I will never use., and 2 dozen #10

  I am cage, crate, and kennel,  and blade poor.

  LOL

  THANKS>. 
 
  YR..

I purchase the bulk of my equipment from a friend that had a house fire. It took a while but i got everything serviced and running perfect. Some of the blades were badly rusted from water damage. i worked with them and got the local guy to sharpen them. Many blades were older then i was. The dryer i use personally came from there too. It's got tape on the hose and it's not pretty but it works. When i retired i sold off almost all my stuff including my electric table to my sister. Who own a grooming show in Alabama.
I bet if you ask around or look at the junk stores/thrift shops and rescuse they often sell extra kennels cheap. I have found a lot of kennels just driving to work on trash day. Having a pickup is the best thing ever! :D
If you do have a blade guy locally see if he would work a deal. Tell him i neen this many blades back and you can keep the rest to sell off. Giving you a reduced price on the remaining sharpening.
Worked for me with my blade guy. I also don't own dogs that need grooming beyond a bath, clip the nails and wipe out their ears. Done!
Fry

Fry,

You are a wealth of information. Thank you very much for explaining everything. Before I order the Best Shot - could you please tell me what it smells like? I am hypersensitive and if anything smells strong, or even remotely like lemons or lavendar I head in the other direction in a hurry lol. I've almost exclusively used MicroTek horse shampoo on my dogs - doesn't have much of a scent and helps with itchy skin. When I groom them I either use Miracle Groom or Healthy Hair Care Horse Hair Moisturizer Spray. I've found what works on horses works with dogs, and vice versa.

Also, I just want to confirm that I understand how you use it: Shampoo first, rinse, then use the conditioner, then rinse again and blow dry. Correct? Do you apply a lot of conditioner, or does a little go a long way? I've never used a conditioner on a dog before. Thanks for clarifying.

Best shot the origional formula smells lightly of mint. It's not strong and it doesn't really linger as mint. It just smells clean after your done. There are 3 diluations formulas on the bottle, if your dog just needs a regular bath use the weakest formula, if they are pretty dirty use the medium strength and if your dog got down and disgusting use it straight out of the bottle. Scrub, scrub. scrub every single inch of the dog except around the eyes. (I always use tearless on their faces to be safe.) Rinse well till you no longer feel soap when you run your hand under the belly and armpits. For shepherds i'd mix the conditioner on the weak side with warm water and slowly work it into the dogs coat all over. If there is any loose hair it will come out on gobs on your hands. The more you work then conditioner into the coat the more it breaks the static hold and oil barrier on the hair. As you rinse your dog you will see a lot of old coat just falling off them. If it's your first time i'd say rinse until you don't easilty feel the conditioner any more. But don't go crazy or your dog will start to look like a rasin. :p
Squeese out as much water as you can, and either towel dry or have the dog shake a few good times. Removing most to the water. While still damp spray with the finishing spray and work it into the coat with your fingers. Now start blow drying the dog. The finishing spray helps shed the water faster the make the hairs seperate better for faster drying. By the time the dog is dry you should have a very clean and shiney dog and a mountain of wild loose hair covering everything for about 10 yards. Hope your neighbors don't mine the new fur lawn! When i was grooming the people that couldn't stand the smell of heavily perfumed shampoos liked Best Shot. So i hope it works well for you.
Get the one on that link that says

Wash, Plenish,
Mist Combo Kit
thats the origional formula.

Best wishes.
Fry

  You are right about the horse supplies.. I use all of them from the antibacterial  . to EMT gel, to Tail N Mane, and started years ago before they put on the market for dogs...RED CELL.
 
  I had a pair of SUNBEAM horse shears I used for years til someone stole them, to shear my cocker spaniels of their coats.

  I use the horse leads for my dogs leashes and the 33 ft required one is a Horse lead. After joining this forum , I discovered how many Shepherd breeders and owners also have horses.

  I even dated a horse vet who was well known in the racing world. In fact someone pmed me yesterday about the articli on DM posted somewhere in here  in 2009 that he offered me to post on here. I had completely forgotten about that article .

  Horses and dogs have always gone together like Eric and Olivia...lol

  YR

Fry,

Thank you so much. I will order the "Wash, Plenish, Mist Original combo kit" tomorrow! My next door neighbour and I had a falling out last year and I know it really pisses her off when I leave enormous mounds of dog hair flying wildly all over my yard. She hates that aesthetic and it often blows into her front yard. I like to leave it "for the birds to use in their nests" haha. I may give the dogs their first bath with the new stuff before the beach, just to test it out... you know? :)


Yellowrose,

Horses and Shepherds go together like peas and carrots :) I figure anything that works on my hot headed, thin-skinned, chestnut Thoroughbred mare will work well on my dogs, too. Lots of folks see me grooming my dogs with curry combs and can't believe they hadn't thought of using horse tools themselves. They really work great and the animals just love them.