Are You a Hair Hoarder?

By Dawn Omboy

I have a confession to make. I am a hair hoarder. There, I said it. If you look around my salon, you can find fluffy little ears that the client swore they had brushed. You know the kind, all pretty and silky on the top and completely felted underneath. There are swatches from various breeds and tails from dogs that were only too happy to give them up as opposed to having them brushed out. Let's not forget the pelts I have taken off matted dogs.

They are clean, of course. When I have a matted dog come in for a shave down, and they have a coat that I think could be useful for testing color products, I save it. The dog is bathed, and the clean, matted coat is carefully shaved off, labeled, and saved.

I also love it when I have dogs with those pretty little drop coats whose owners decide it is time for a shorter do. I spend extra time bathing and drying these coats so I can keep them. The drop coats are sectioned off and banded so that I can cut them off one at a time, saving that beautiful hair to be used at a later time.

Many times people will ask me where to start when playing with color. This is a perfect place to start! Label hair with the breeds, body part, and even the age of dog, as all of those can be factors in the outcome of how the hair will take certain dyes. This will give you plenty of hair to play with without making mistakes on clients, dogs. If you want to prepare a dog for an event or even a competition, save that hair and test your colors first to ensure success on your project. Become a hair hoarder; you never know when it will come in handy!

Queen of Color Dawn Omboy, NCMG, www.klippers.com