Customer Reviews

The Mutt Styling Guide

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a professional pet stylist, and when I saw this book advertised in one of the Groomer magazines, I immediately went to Amazon to purchase it. I was excited to see that someone had actually written a book addressing the issues of grooming "mixed" breeds, a.k.a. Mutts.

Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed. This book provides no real information. The author uses drawings of dogs she has groomed in the past. These drawings are only a 'side' view, and no drawing of the all important head is included. I am giving this book 2 stars instead of 1 only because the author, at least, attempted to write a book about mutts.

The author simply suggests that you, as a groomer, determine what pure breeds the mutt resembles, and then groom accordingly. I can tell you that in my shop, I see many mutts that are impossible to determine their lineage. I was hoping this book detailed the different requirements of grooming a mutt, such as providing details of creating a "Teddy Bear" head on a Shih Tzu, or how to set up a "mane" when doing a strip on an Alaskan Husky.

The book is short on details, and actually gave me NO new information or tips that are not readily available in any one of dozens of pure bred grooming books. I cannot recommend this book to professional groomers as there is no detail and the drawings are sadly lacking. I certainly would not recommend this book to the grooming "do-it-yourselfer" as there is no information concerning the basics of grooming such as proper bathing and brushing, etc.

Don't experience the buyers remorse I am experiencing. I absolutely do NOT RECOMMEND buying this book.

I purchased this book under the impression that it was going to be a standard grooming guide. I am so happy that it wasn't. It is different than any other grooming book out there.

Due to my busy schedule as a professional groomer, I do not have the time to dredge through bathing and brushing instructions over and over again, so I was delighted to see that these instructions had been omitted. I learned all the basics over eight years ago!

I feel that this book is more about helping a groomer and dog owner see different possibilities of how to turn a homely mutt into a mixed breed champ.

As a dog groomer before I spend my hard earned money I always do my research. The wonderful articles about The Mutt Styling Guide in January 2006 edition of Dog World, Akron Beacon Journal, The West Side Leader, and it's most recent nomination for Dog Writers of America made me feel that spending my money on this book would be a safe bet. It was!
I am very happy with my purchase and give The Mutt Styling Guide five stars.

I rate this "one of a kind" grooming book a 5 star. As a professional dog groomer for over ten years I was a little reluctant to buy this book. I am so glad that I did. It is very different from most grooming books mainly because it is not boring. It's creative and unique. The variety of mixed breeds and the number of different makeovers created for the same dog not only enables me to visualize but my clients to visualize new possibilities for their companions.

I would say this is a great book for someone with no experience or is just out of grooming school. However, for someone like me who has been grooming for 7 years it was not helpful. I feel that most experienced groomers already use the techniques approached in this book. I was really looking forward to more photos instead of the drawings. I do applaud the effort that Ms. Thompson put into writing it. If you are a beginner, buy this book but If you are confidant in your grooming skills, save your money.

This book was almost but not quite what I expected. I thought there would be a little more information on the grooming and styling of basic 'mutts' rather than a concentration of styles on a small group of dogs. However, it is highly informative, gives precise and clear guides to achieving varying styles and is well worth it's four star rating.

Pretty Good Book. Very informative, black and white print. Can get a little technical at times. You need to know dog grooming jargon. Overall though, a great book.