Darcey's Groom Room

23/02/2025

Hi there, I hope you’re all keeping well and that you’ve had a great weekend. Did you enjoy the glimmer of spring we had yesterday? 🌷

Today I attended another Dog First Aid Training Course, to make sure my knowledge is refreshed and up to date. I attend them every three years to make sure nothing is forgotten and anything new is taken onboard.

I highly recommend these courses for anyone that owns a dog, not just dog professionals such as myself. The courses are extremely interesting and informative and you never know when the new skills you have learnt may be needed!

Thanks Chess from Dog First Aid South Midlands for a great day. 🐾

Please check out the link below for further information.

Many thanks and see you soon.

Ruth 🐕‍🦺✂️🐾

https://www.facebook.com/share/1A88Gc9pjq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Educating Dog Professionals & Owners in Emergency Canine Care - CPD Accredited

Find a course online:
www.dog-first-aid.com/finder

09/02/2025

Just a gentle reminder that diffusers, scented candles, air fresheners and plug ins can be extremely harmful to your dog. If you’ve recently added one of these items to your home and your dog is acting strange or licking itself excessively, remove it straight away, as it may contain toxic ingredients that are slowly poisoning your dog. 🙁

Dog Poisoned by the Diffuser.
On Saturday night, the owner arrived home late, and the dog didn’t recognize him. Given her background as a nanny, she assumed the pup might have been startled awake or even experiencing a night terror. However, on Sunday, the dog was still acting off. That’s when she remembered her new diffuser had been running and decided to turn it off. By Sunday afternoon, things seemed a bit better.

The next day, the dog sitter mentioned that the dog wouldn’t come out from under the bed—a real surprise for a usually cheerful pet. The owner hurried home early and found her dog looking confused and scared once again. Alarmed, she took him to the emergency vet.

It turned out that the tea tree oil used in the diffuser is toxic to dogs. Fortunately, tests showed that his liver was okay, but the situation was still serious. The vet administered fluids under his skin to help eliminate the toxins.

According to both the vet and poison control, these cases are becoming more common as essential oils grow in popularity. They urge everyone to double-check that the oils they’re using aren’t hazardous to their pets. ThePaws.net - All Things Dog

22/01/2025

🐾 CUTENESS ALERT 🐾

On Saturday I finally found the time to take my own dogs for a professional photo shoot. It’s been a while since I’ve had any done!

The lovely Lucie is photographer at Cotswold Pet Photography, within a beautiful little studio in Chipping Norton. I’ve been a fan of Lucie’s work for quite some time and I’m so pleased that I’ve finally had the opportunity to have my dogs photographed by her.

We were there for an hour and a half and my dogs had so much fun. Below are some snippets of her work with them, however I can’t wait to see all her work when I return in a few days.

If you’d like to find out more please take a look at her work and offers on her Instagram page.

If you book an appointment with her, don’t forget to mention you know me!

21/01/2025

I always enjoy my visits from this little lad, Teddy the Cavapoo. 💙

He’s been coming here to have his regular grooms from a young pup and is always impeccably behaved and extremely affectionate. What’s not to love!?! 🤗

19/01/2025

My darling girl turns 6 today! I have no idea where that time has gone. 🙈
❤️ Happy Birthday precious Effy ❤️

06/01/2025

As we all go running full steam into the new year, much like little Bailey pictured below. I just wanted to remind you of a couple of things… 🤗

The salon reopens tomorrow (7th Jan) following my Christmas break.

My reduced working hours start from this month. I will mainly be working a four day week, so booking well in advance is advised. I’m currently fully booked until April, however, my cancellation waiting list remains open to those who wish to be added and are happy to take something that may possibly come up at short notice over the coming weeks.

There will be a small price increase again this year from the new financial year at the beginning of April. Everyone will be advised of this small change nearer the time, as my running costs continue to rise.

I wish you all well for the coming year and hope you haven’t struggled to get back into the swing of things following the Christmas and New Year festivities!

I look forward to seeing you very soon.

Much love, Ruth 🐾🐕‍🦺✂️

31/12/2024

🥳 Happy New Year from myself and my five little scruffy windswept monsters! May it be a happy and healthy one for you all. Much Love as always. 💕🥂🍾🥳

31/12/2024

As we say goodbye to another year, I’d like to pay tribute to all the dogs of my clients, friends and family that have passed away this year. Sleep peacefully little ones, you are all missed beyond words… 💔🌈

💕Gerty - beloved Springer Spaniel of Alison and family

💕Jake - beloved Springer Spaniel of Andy and family

💕Gringo - beloved Portuguese Sheepdog of Nemone

💕Lewie - my own beloved Pug

💕Freddie - beloved Shih Tzu of Dave and Sue

💕Poppy - beloved Springer Spaniel of Sandra and family

💕Millie - beloved Westie of Bénédicte and family

💕Mac - beloved Scottie of Pauline and John

💕Buddy - beloved Sproodle of Garry and Michelle

💕Lucy - beloved Cocker Spaniel of Ann and Andrew

💕Fozzy - beloved Cockapoo of Clair and family

💕Sasha - beloved Cocker Spaniel of Stephen and family

💕Moshi - beloved Cockapoo of Abbie, Andy and family

Sweet dreams little ones… 💕

23/12/2024

⭐️🎄Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, from my darling little Darcey, myself and my family 🎄⭐️

Thank you for your loyalty and continued support this year, as well as my fabulous gifts this Christmas.

I feel extremely lucky to know you all and your beautiful dogs. Thank you for entrusting them into my care. ❤️

That’s me all done now for 2024. The salon will be open again from Tuesday 7th January.

Sending you all much love this festive season and hoping you all have a happy and healthy 2025. 🤗

Ruth 🐾🐕‍🦺✂️

17/12/2024

I love receiving photos of my little fur ball friends when they get home from being groomed. Here’s Ted looking all fluffy and festive. 💕🎄🎅🏻

12/12/2024

Beautiful Pancho all home and chilled from his groom and looking fly for Christmas!
🎄💕🐾🎅🏻

12/12/2024

A little reminder for the festive season…

01/12/2024

Looking forward to seeing you all this festive season! 🎄

31/10/2024

🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃

Sorry for the recent lack of communication. I’ve been busy trying to catch up from the week I had to take off with my bad back. Thankfully I’m feeling much better and am slowly getting back on top of things.

Due to being unwell, work related things had to take a back seat for a while, so I’ll soon be back to getting through my block booking list. I haven’t forgotten you.

See you soon, Ruth 🐾🐕‍🦺✂️

(**Photo taken from Google as I don’t have time to take photos between clients at the moment.**)

11/10/2024

Huge apologies to those of you I’ve had to cancel appointments for this week. I really have been very unwell with a back issue and have been back and forth to hospital many times this week. Things have improved a little and I hope to be back in the salon on Monday. I’ll try my best to accommodate those of you I had to cancel, over the coming weeks.

Thanks for your understanding with the short notice changes I had to make. It’s really not nice being in this much consistent pain! 😩

Photo is of my little scruffy lad Wookie, who’s been the only thing to really make me smile this week by being by my side constantly when recuperating at home. 💕

20/09/2024

Wow, I can’t quite believe I’m saying this when it’s not even October yet, however, I’m now completely fully booked for the rest of 2024! It’s insane! ❤️

For this reason my books are now closed for this year but my cancellation waiting list remains open as normal.

I still continue to work through my block bookings for 2025. I’ve made good progress this week, but still have a long list to get through, which I’ll endeavour to make headway with this weekend.

A huge thank you for your continued custom and support. You’re all awesome.

Much Love, Ruth

12/09/2024

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone that took time out of their day to message me last week with their support and kindness. It was truly unexpected and so very much appreciated. So thank you all, you know who you are… 💕

Dates for 2025 block bookings have been flooding in. I’ve made a good start on sorting some of them but it’s a time consuming process, so it’s going to take me a good while to get through my list, so please bear with me, I haven’t forgotten you!

Thanks again, Ruth 🐕‍🦺🐾✂️

01/09/2024

I’m really sorry, but I need to have a rant, which is something I hate to do! 🙁

I have policies to protect my business and my monthly income from time wasters. I have fees to cover people who choose to cancel appointments at very short notice and EVERYONE is told about this when making a booking. I have a long waiting list of people wanting to come onto my books and would be grateful for an appointment. These people need notice to make plans to come at short notice as much as I do, that’s why I request at least 48 hours notice of changes or cancellations.

I also have a policy not to take back regular clients once they’ve been elsewhere. When a dog has been visiting for years, they build a bond with me that can sometimes be affected by going somewhere else. Groomer hopping is not recommended for this reason. We build strong bonds with the dogs we see.

I always bend over backwards to help people change around appointments when a good amount of notice is given to me. I do it often, despite it being a difficult task due to my full diary.

I know many of you appreciate the help I give and I appreciate you in return. However, I have recently received a barrage of rudeness from certain people which is totally uncalled for. I am simply trying my best to run an extremely busy little business. Experiencing behaviour like this not only makes me want to quit what I’m doing, it makes me lose a lot of faith in the human race, as this behaviour is sadly becoming a more frequent occurrence. It’s stressful and upsetting.

For this reason, from 2025, I’m cutting down my working week to four days. I’m hoping spending a bit more time for myself will help increase my happiness levels which are presently feeling depleted.

My 2025 diary is now open for block bookings, please send me the dates you would like via text or messenger and I’ll get back to you with my availability. Just giving you the heads up, due to there being fewer appointments available from the new year.

Thanks for listening. x