Diamond in the Ruff Pet Spa

04/17/2025

☺️

WHAT YOU DON'T SEE AT THE DOG GROOMERS.......
You dropped your dog off at the salon and picked them up few hours later - fluffy, fresh, and happy. But what you saw was just the tip of the iceberg.

You didn’t see your groomer arrive early to open up the salon, disinfect tools, lay out fresh towels, and check the day’s appointments. You didn’t see them look over your dog from nose to tail before even lifting a brush - checking the coat condition, skin, eyes, ears, nails, and weight.

You didn’t see the careful way they clipped around a wriggly paw, or how they paused to let your dog calm down during the bath. You didn’t notice the matting hidden beneath your dog’s topcoat, or the way the groomer worked slowly to avoid hurting the skin beneath it.

You weren’t there when they spotted a red patch of irritated skin, or a small lump you hadn’t noticed. You heard them gently mention it to you at collection - not to worry you, but because they genuinely care about your dog’s wellbeing.

And after you left, you didn’t see the clean-down , the floor swept, tables cleaned, blades oiled, messages replied to, notes written up for your next visit, and laundry on again.

All of that… for a price that’s often lower than what you’d pay for your own haircut. And your hairdresser?
They don’t have to bathe you, clip your nails, or hold you still while you try to bite the brush.

The truth is ……. dog grooming is so much more than a haircut.

It’s about health, hygiene, comfort, and trust. It’s about knowing dog anatomy, coat types, skin conditions, behaviour management, handling skills, and safe sc******ng techniques. It’s a profession that takes training, practice, and patience.
Most groomers got into this work because they love dogs. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be paid fairly for the physical, emotional, and skilled work they do every single day.

If your dog leaves their groomer happy, healthy and looking good - it’s not by luck. It’s because you have got a good groomer.
So next time, take a moment to thank them. Leave a review.

Tip them if you can. And above all - don’t undervalue them.
They’re doing far more than just washing the dog. Credits& Kudos
to British Dog Groomers Association.

04/03/2025

This is a courtesy post for a customers friend who’s in a bind. I do not know this dog, but his situation is not uncommon. From a short convo with my customer, it sounds like Casey needs structure, rules, exercise, and boundaries - which is hard for many average dog owners. If anyone is looking for a companion/teammate, this little dude could be perfect. He should go to a child free couple or single person, unless they have dog knowledge and understand what a dog really needs.

He’s in limbo right now and if he can’t find a home/foster - he may have to go back to the shelter. His owners had a baby and he isn’t adjusting well - and from a training/behavior standpoint, it sounds like he was used to being the center of attention and most likely feels that he’s the head of the house and sees the new baby as competition. It’s a lot of work for many people to change their whole way of being with dogs to be able to change, especially with a new baby. So we’re trying to help find a stable home for Casey. I don’t have DM’s set up but you can text 908.233.4602 if you’re interested and I can direct you further. Feel free to share

There will be no judgement either. It’s better to find a dog a suitable home where it can thrive rather than forcing it to live in a situation where his quality of life is less than.

03/27/2025

Can you tell what one is the poodle and what one is the doodle? Why doodle when a well bred poodle can have the same look, with a more stable temperament.
(I did prep one’s coat better than the other, because one doesn’t like being dryed) answer in the comments

03/04/2025

Hello fam! I was told by a customer a number of weeks ago that their vet said that kennel cough was going around again. Up until last week, I haven’t had any dogs here with any signs of it. However, one of our regular daycares came down with a cough on one of his days at home so he’s been staying at home since then. Another of my grooming customers dogs also came down with a cough a week or so ago but he wasn’t symptomatic when he was here. And today, after being here since this morning, I heard one of my daycare dogs cough… so, apparently we probably didn’t escape it.

Basically, we’re still going to be open - but if you are a bit more nervous about your dog, I’d recommend pushing your apt out bc itd be irresponsible of me to make any kind of guarantee that a dog will or wont catch it. As I’ve told most of my customers, we are like a kindergarten class, and colds can easily go around.

What’s interesting is that some dogs have built up an immunity to it, some get over it on their own after a couple days, and some dogs need a little help with antibiotics. This is basically a cold/upper respiratory infection that typically has an incubation period of around two weeks before symptoms. We keep a constant air flow in the shop, as well as the door to outside open all the time, and we disinfect regularly. You can’t beat what you can’t see

Picture of Maddox the Papillon for smiles 🙂

** EDITED TO ADD: if your dog is showing ANY symptoms (hacking, dry cough or runny nose), I ask that you reschedule their apt or wait at least a week to bring them back for daycare

02/14/2025

If the chin fits 😴

Name: Miley
Breed: rescue ☺️
Favorite Activity: chewing on 🦴 and sleeping in weird positions

02/12/2025

It’s a full house of hooligans and Diamond in the Ruff elementary school today!

02/06/2025

99% of dogs with behavioral issues don’t need medication, they need rules, structure, and accountability…aka high quality, reality-based training and leadership.

But current cultural and societal trends have not only disconnected us from nature and reality personally, but countless trainers — whether indoctrinated or just opportunistic — encourage and push owners in the direction of only sharing that which is “positive” and that which feels good… even if the results created are anything but.

And so medication (along with avoidance, hyper-management, “enrichment” games, and intellectually complex [and of course “positive”] training protocols which yield no true positive outcomes) are used instead.

If you know what to look for, it’s incredibly easy to see.

Our current obsession with positive-only/force-free lifestyles and training with our dogs — approaches which don’t align with reality, so of course don’t create healthy results — demand that we find all manner of superficial substitutes for the real stuff. That’s it. That’s what’s actually going on. Just look and you’ll see it.

And just a heads up from the frontlines: my best guess is that about 85% of dogs who come into our program have tried medication or are still on it when they sign up. And about 1% of truly challenged, often genetically/cognitively compromised dogs still need medication post-training. Which means, almost none of the dogs on meds actually need them, or benefit from them. They just need proper, common sense, reality-based training. Period.

Just remember, it takes two to tango. Trainers who wish to lead you and your dog astray can only do so if you allow them. And so many do allow them because the emotional appeal is so strong. But as always, we can choose that which feels good, and is easy, or we can choose that which does good, and is hard.

The choice is yours — just know your dog will pay the price or will excel depending on how honest, how deep, and how courageous you choose to be.

02/06/2025

Delayed opening for our daycares! 🧊

02/06/2025

🚨 WE WILL BE OPENING AT 9 AM INSTEAD OF 8 AM TODAY (Thursday 2/6/25) 🚨 Be safe out there ❄️🧊

02/04/2025

Looking to get Valentine’s Day pictures? Contact Michael Rivera and get your family, pets, or whatever else you’d want, a super cute Valentine’s Day photo shoot by a phenomenal photographer 🙂

12/25/2024

🎄 MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄 and Happy Holidays to all of our wonderful, amazing, truly special Diamond in the Ruff family. To many, we are simply your dog groomer, but to us, you are all considered family and I couldn’t be more thankful to know such a wonderful group of people. We hope everyone has a healthy, happy, and safe Holiday and an incredible New Year. Thank you to everyone who gave us gifts and hugs 🌟 we will see you all in 2025!

11/07/2024

Rawhide, particularly the Xmas stocking type things, are no bueno for your dog. As cute as they are, resist the urge!

10/22/2024

A nice outline on how to create a perfect high anxiety dog :-) 😂

(Obviously joking - this is exactly what you DONT want to do)

•Pet your dog, all the time
•Talk to your dog, all the time
•Allow your dog to follow you, all the time
•Allow your dog to be on your lap or laying on your feet, all the time
•Pet, soothe, comfort your dog when it whines or barks for attention...or is simply anxious
•Allow your dog to demand affection/interactions
•Be emotionally dependent on your dog to the point that unhealthy dependency and interactions are no longer noticed
•Allow your dog to do whatever it wants, whenever it wants—aka, provide no structure, rules, or accountability
•Foster an environment of chaos, stress, and anxiety
•Refuse to train and pattern calmness
•Refuse to crate train your dog
•Refuse to correct your dog when inappropriate behavior occurs
•Refuse to train your dog how to be independent/alone by using a “Place” command, “Downstay, and/or “away” time in the crate
•Let your dog out of the crate when it whines or barks
•Avoid training or anything that makes your dog temporarily uncomfortable or unhappy—in other words, cater to your dog’s every desire/need, designing your life around your dog, rather than having your dog fit into yours
•And many, many more...

Basically, baby, soothe, allow, enable, disable, lean on, omit teaching necessary life skills, prioritize what feels good for you rather than what does good for your dog, and through this master plan of leadership-free chaos, and systematic cultivation of creating a toxic dependency between dog and human...you’ll ensure that when you leave, your dog will be a true emotional mess, because you haven’t prepared them to be calm, obedient, strong, resilient, robust, independent, and alone.