Commentary by Christy Solo
When it comes to grooming your own dogs, you have to spend money to save money. You really have to remind yourself of this as you’re spending that money though as it feels painful in the moment.
This is on my mind because last week was “trim the dogs week.” They were all well past due for haircuts, but merging the URI from print to online has meant weeks of 14-hour workdays in January.
However three nights of 3 a.m. asthma attacks as I tried to get some sleep reminded me that, “Oh, yeah, time to bathe the dogs.” It’s not the dogs that trigger my asthma, but all the mud, leaves, twigs and whatever else comes in on their fur from our “running around the yard” time.
If I’m going to bathe the dogs anyway, it’s best to strike while the fur is clean and do the grooming too. It’s exponentially easier to trim a clean dog. Trimmers will last longer and stay sharper when used on clean fur too.
I did the schnauzer and schnoodle one day, then a few days later tackled the sheepadoodle. It’s just easier to spread the bathing/trimming out, especially in winter when there is less sun and less heat for the whole bathing/drying process.
I started to use my Andis clippers for the smaller dogs but between the weight, size and “not-cordless” combo it was proving problematic to trim tiny dogs with big clippers.
I grabbed the small, cordless Oneisall clippers instead. Usually I just use those for heads and feet – one because the charge does not last very long and two because (as you may recall) those clippers were a mere $36 versus the $100+ you pay for Andis or Wahl.
I bought the Oneisalls in 2022 and am honestly very happily surprised they still work and work great. Except for that “they only work for about 30 minutes” thing.
The ease of using the cordless clippers made me rethink my corded choices. Corded clippers are less expensive than cordless, so both my pair of Andis…cords.
But after the little dogs and before tackling Kiff I decided to bite the bullet and buy some “professional” (whatever that means in clipper-speak) cordless clippers.
I told myself the one-time purchase was the same price as having two out of three dogs groomed professionally, but it still hurt.
Here I’ll pause and say – the cost for a professional groom is 100% worth it. It is not an easy task (though at least you get your cardio in) and I’m not even aiming to make the dogs look particularly good. I don’t have the responsibility of making someone else’s “fur baby” look perfect upon payment. As a rule, professional groomers do not overcharge for their talents.
Back to clippers. Going against my affinity for Andis I did buy a set of Wahl cordless, they had slightly better reviews than similar Andis.
I was not disappointed in their performance (file under “should have spent the extra $ years ago for cordless). And the battery lasted much longer than the Oneisall battery does. Also, the Wahl came with two batteries – in warmer weather I could conceivably groom all three dogs in one day without waiting hours for a recharge.
Still – the Oneisall is amazing, especially for the price – but it is not “enough” clipper to take on a sheepadoodle. It just isn’t. Also the Oneisall trims very close and for Kiff I like to leave her coat longer than on the little dogs. The cordless Wahl has more cutting length options.
For small dogs, Oneisall brand is the way to go though!
We’ll wrap up with a “bonus” for any of you who groom your own or want to start: While researching clippers I discovered they make “paw trimmers” with teeny blades.
I ordered a set of Oneisall paw trimmers at an unbeatable price, still waiting for them to arrive, but hopefully they’ll work as well as the four-year-old clippers and I’ll be raving about them in the future.
