It’s the time of the year again to book CNY 2024 grooming slots for your fur baby! So here’s what we’re going to do for the upcoming peak season for grooming.
Appointment booking will be on a first come first serve basis.
Please let us know at least 48 hours before your appointment for cancellation or rescheduling.
Rescheduled appointments will be after our CNY break.
The surcharge for CNY 2024 is as follows:
15 to 28 Jan – $10 surcharge per appointment 29 Jan to 8 Feb – $15 surcharge per appointment
Every Tues & Thurs, grooming will be done at our humble abode. Two-way transport available at an additional $25. Pickup will be around 11 am and drop off around 7 pm. Timing is based on estimation and subject to traffic conditions. For pickup before 11 am, depending on your location, ERP fees will be charged.
We’ve been busy trying to settle our new schedules, including daycare and pawcation. Yes, we’ve been busy being the Fun Nanny to the fur kids since early this year and we’re still trying to manage our appointments. It’s not easy to be honest as we’ve decided to slowly transition to being Fun Nanny. We’re still doing grooming till our body says no to physical work.
We’ve been doing grooming for the past 8 years. As most pawrents have noticed we’re slowing down recently as we’ve been listening to our body. Some days we needed a break as grooming sometimes takes a toll on our bodies. We needed the recharge to be physically ready for the next couple of days of grooming appointments. As our fellow groomers always remind one another, please take a break!
As we fall into our new routine, hopefully soon, we’ll update more on our adventures on our social media as well as our website. So stay tuned for more updates! *hopefully*
2022 flew past just like that and it’s the time of the year again to give thanks to our lovely GPS Pawmily. Thank you for being there for us and being understanding as we changed and transition our business direction.
It’s a roller coaster ride indefinitely. We know that we’re unable to do grooming as a long-term career as we get older, so we decided it’s about time to introduce our new service and transition into doggy daycare. It was a difficult decision considering grooming has always been our main service since we started Grooming Pit Stop. Fret not, we’ll still be taking in grooming appointments, but scaling down a little.
As we exit 2022 with a big bang, we’ll be looking forward to a awesome 2023 with GPS Pawmily.
After our Andis 5-speed clipper retired during our CNY busy period, we started to research various brands of clippers. We do know of groomers, especially in the western countries have been raving about this brand called Heiniger. It’s relatively still new in Singapore and not many local reviews yet. So we can only base on reviews from groomers from the west.
Like Andis, it does come with a few cordless models and a corded one. With all the options available, we couldn’t decide which to get and decided to head down to the store to better understand the products.
The Purchase & Unboxing
We bought ours at Kwong Chow Kee, located in Chinatown’s Fook Hai Building. After checking the availability with the shop, we decided to head our way down during one of our off days.
When we were there, we got the lady to introduce us to Heiniger and we get to hold it to see which model is comfortable for us. The corded clipper, Saphir Cord, speed is much better than the cordless clipper, Saphir Basic.
There are 3 cordless models, Saphir Basic, Saphir Style, and Opal. Both Saphir Basic and Saphir Style is only one speed, while Opal is two speed. We ended up getting Saphir Basic as firstly, it’s within our budget. Secondly, we love its plain-looking. Thirdly, the weight is just right. There’s an option to purchase an additional cord that connects to the clipper to use a corded clipper. It is good for mobile groomers who might forget to charge the battery or experience low battery while on the go. But we didn’t purchase it as we would like to see how long the battery can last us on a single charge.
The entire set that we bought comes with: Clipper Lithium-Ion battery Heiniger #10 blade Charger Care Kit
Personal Experience
Finally got to use it after the first full charge. We were impressed at how well the pre-shave was. Despite being one speed, we would say the first pre-shave was amazingly near clean and even. We were further impressed and amazed after the final shave.
Weight-wise, it’s slightly heavier than our old Andis 5-speed. But definitely lighter than Andis 2-speed. It’s not taxing on our wrist when we use it from appointment to appointment. The only downside is there’s no indicator when the battery gets low. We were told it will get slower before it totally stops. Maybe it’s us, we couldn’t tell if it’s getting slower. We had to use our shears twice to finish the grooming session when the battery died on us. We are still learning how to notice when the battery needs to be charged.
It’s our very first cordless and we’re impressed at how we managed to shave at an angle we couldn’t do with a corded clipper. Best of all, no more tripping over the wire! Yes, sometimes we do trip over the wire and it gets annoying. Now that we’re using a cordless clipper, such a thing is of the past.
Andis vs Heiniger (Personal Opinion)
After a few days of using Heiniger, we’ve realised that we missed out a lot! In our opinion, Heiniger seems to work much better for us.
We’ve been using Andis for years, ever since we started as a student and an apprentice. From Andis 2 speed to 5 speed, the cords have been giving us issues. Though we love how light Andis 5 speed was nothing can be compared to a cordless one.
In terms of weight for cordless clippers that we’ve tried, Andis cordless clipper is heavier for us. The detachable battery itself weighs a lot, especially when in use, it’s very taxing on our wrist which made it difficult to manoeuvre during grooming. Whereas the Heiniger, we’ve tried all cordless series at the store before purchase, they’re much lighter compared to Andis cordless clippers. It’s easier to manoeuvre and less stress on the wrist.
Shaving-wise, Heiniger gives a much cleaner cut on pre-shave and is much quieter. The blades don’t get hot fast compared to when we were using Andis where we had to take a break to let the blades cool down before we continue.
It’s the best buy ever in our grooming career. We didn’t regret switching over to Heiniger. Totally recommend this to fellow groomers out there who are looking to purchase a new clipper.
We’ve stopped taking in appointments around late November for CNY 2022. Most of our regulars had booked an appointment by then and our schedules were quite packed.
Our busy period started in early January after our short break in welcoming the year 2022. As usual, it started off slow with a few appointments to start the busy peak period. We didn’t take in any new customers for the month of January, by then our February slots are almost taken up as well. It was scary to us on how fast our following month’s appointments are filling up. We didn’t expect the overwhelming support given to us by our awesome pawrents.
This year’s peak period was a little different as we did continue with our weekly daycare fur kids. And thankfully we did as we’re able to schedule them in for their CNY grooming. With the daycare, it allows us to have a little breather from the traveling in between appointments. So it’s more of a pros and cons of continuing daycare during this period.
Shaver Decided to Retire
Our main shaver, not the tiny one for paw pads, decided to retire amid our busy period. It started to not work when we were grooming our last fur kid on the 17th January. Thinking maybe it’s the wiring issue, we decided to check it out after we end our last grooming session.
Once home, we decided to test it out again. To our horror, it started to smoke, then it died on us completely. Feeling anxious, we didn’t know what to do and was feeling frustrated as it happened at the wrong timing!
After calming down, we texted our fellow groomers to see who have a spare shaver to lend us till we get our replacement. We had to thank 7 Paws for helping us during this busy and difficult time. (If you prefer grooming salon instead of house-call, you may check them out)
East to West, West to East
We had to admit that we didn’t plan well for this year’s CNY appointments. We ended up having to travel from east to west and west to east. Travelling like this was time consuming to be honest. With such poor planning, we had to minimise our appointments.
Though Singapore is relatively small compared to our neighbouring countries, but travelling does takes up most of our time. Not to mention the occasional bad traffic. And with the ongoing construction work at SLE towards BKE from our place, the traffic was slow as drivers had to slowly merge from a 3 Lane traffic into 2 Lane.
With this year’s bad planning, we’ve learnt our lesson. We will be making some changes and improvements for the following year. And hopefully, the operation will go on smoothly.
End of Peak Period
We managed to survive another peak period. And we’re thankful for everyone’s support and patience during CNY. Weirdly, this year’s peak period just went by without us knowing. It feels like time does pass fast.
Despite the hectic schedule, we’ve enjoyed every session with each fur kid that we groomed. Their warm happy welcome keeps us motivated to keep going. Despite the tiredness, seeing them gives us that burst of energy to get them groomed before the festive season.
Though we’re not looking forward to the annual peak period, but we’ll definitely see everyone again. Do book early when our CNY 2023 slots are open to avoid disappointment.
After we settled our supawvisors and pawcation fur kids, we head out to pick Jeremy up for his week-long stay with us. Once arrived, he didn’t hesitate to hop into our little hatchback to begin his adventure with us. We were told he loves car rides.
During the journey back to our humble abode, Jeremy kept looking out the windows which we lowered a little for him to enjoy the wind blowing against his face or to take in the smell along the way back.
Once home, Jeremy mingled with our supawvisors and pawcation fur kids. And we got to know, he can get angry from the persistent dog(s) that kept annoying him. We had to separate him and Ruffles before a fight broke out. Thankfully we do have a playpen for such a scenario and it does come in handy in times like this.
Christmas Gathering – 27 December
As we had a Christmas gathering planned with our friend, we seek Jeremy’s pawrents for permission to bring him along. Thankfully, they gave the green light and so we took him along. Together with our supawvisors, we head out for a Christmas party.
Our friend stayed in landed property with a garden big enough for them to run or explore. Jeremy enjoyed himself while he explore this new place. At first, he wasn’t happy with our friend’s Lhasa apso for smelling his butt. But after a while of understanding and leaving one another alone, peace was restored.
We had BBQ for dinner and Jeremy was always loitering around us hoping to have some food. Though we were told he can eat anything except kangaroo, but we refrained from giving him anything as the meats were all marinated which wasn’t suitable to feed the fur kids. And so he just had to take in the aroma of our dinner instead.
The next day, Jeremy and our supawvisors looked so exhausted that none of them were willing to wake up for breakfast. It’s like they partied hard the day before and had some hungover the next day.
Rainy Days
It’s monsoon season and it’s been raining for days. Sometimes it was just passing rain clouds, sometimes it could rain the entire day. It was a little difficult to bring the fur kids out for walks or excursions. And it was much more when Jeremy is outdoor trained. He needs his potty breaks. But we were told he would use the pee pads if the circumstances aren’t to his favor for outdoor potty breaks.
We do bring him out for a quick potty break before the next rain comes. Albeit short outdoor moment, it was the best we could give in such bad weather. However, we did a short walk at the park connector on a good day which Jeremy and our supawvisors enjoyed. We didn’t walk far as we’re afraid of a change of weather without any warning. Walking near home makes it easier to rush home if the weather were to turn bad.
Grooming Day
Jeremy’s pawrents requested a grooming session during his pawcation with us. And we scheduled it nearer to the date before his stay with us ends. We offered to do a video about his grooming session as they were keen to know if he behaved well.
We were told he had never been out for professional grooming before and they were a little worried he might be difficult to handle. They adopted him and had traveled to a few countries before coming to Singapore. Was told the grooming fees overseas were crazily expensive and thus they’ve always groomed him themselves at home. So it’s an honor for us to give him nice professional grooming and we’re glad that the pawrents love it.
Attached is the video on this entry, so do watch it if you’re keen.
Home Sweet Home
It was time for Jeremy to head home. We enjoyed our time spent with him and definitely will miss him. He enjoyed his car ride home and was pretty excited to head home upon seeing his pawrent. Hope we get to see him again and share another adventure together.
On a rainy night, we head out to pick Junior up for his pawcation while his pawrents are off for theirs. It started as a drizzle when we exit the car park. But as we drove further at TPE, the rain got heavier and visibility was a blur. We decided to take the left-most lane on the expressway and drove with care.
Upon reaching Junior’s place, he greeted us happily and can’t wait to start his pawcation with us. As he had some skin issues previously, he had his diet changed and we were taking down mental notes of his new feeding instructions. But of course, his mum sent us a text on the feeding instructions in case we forgot or miss out on something.
Thankfully the rain got smaller on our journey back. Once we arrived, walking back from the car park, Junior had his toilet break. Once home, had his feet wiped and he’s off to look for our Toby.
The first night for him wasn’t a pleasant one. He kept asking us to let him out of our room and refused to head back in. We weren’t sure why but we let him as long as he’s comfortable.
Pawcation Days
Junior is a very food motivated boy. When it comes to food, he’s very excited and can’t contain his excitement. We had to heat up his food and let it cool, but he doesn’t want to wait and wanted to dive in right away to chomp down his meal. It took us a while to calm him down during mealtime despite him sitting there impatiently and drooling.
It took us a while to understand why he doesn’t want to sleep with us in the room. When we bring in our extra dog bed into our room, did we notice him climbing up and starting to curl up to sleep. So he had been trying to tell us that an extra bed was missing, we didn’t get the hint. Sorry Junior, but we weren’t late to bring in one for you.
Didn’t get to bring him out for walks as the weather was a little cranky lately. It’s either a rainy day or passing rain clouds. Quite annoying actually. So we spent time with all the fur kids at home by taking turns to give them the attention they needed.
Grooming Day, Home Sweet Home
It’s grooming before heading home. Junior’s pawrents requested for a full groom session. They wanted his fur shorter in order to check on his skin condition. After shaving off his fur, we noticed he is still having some rashes and so we took a picture and update his pawrents.
While he was having his grooming session, he was a little fidgety as he wanted to get off the grooming table and mingle with our supawvisors. Had to talk to him nicely that he’ll get his playtime after the session. It did help a little before he got distracted again.
Sending him back after his dinner. While he watch us pack his stuffs, he got so excited and can’t wait to head home. We’re glad he enjoyed himself and looking forward to care for him again.
It was drizzling in the morning at our place when we got up and get ready for work. As much as we would like to laze in bed, we have some pickup to do. And we’re off to our first stop, Ruffles, and Kelly. The first pair of fur kids that we’re picking up for the day. Then it’s to pick up Covan next, our last stop before we head back to our humble abode.
Initially, we wanted to pick Covan up first because his place is nearer to us. But our partner reminded us that Covan does have motion sickness. It’s not advisable to pick him up first and journey to the west for the other fur kids. So we decided to pick him up last so he doesn’t have to suffer the long car ride.
No Excursion, Playtime
We were hoping that the rain would stop and we get to have a quick excursion at a park nearby. Sadly, the rain continued and we just had to head home and start playtime earlier than usual.
Once back to our humble abode, the fur kids start to mingle and chase one another. It was chaos for the nannies, but for the fur kids, it’s just a fun time. In our opinion, they seem to have a fun time. While we eat our onigiri for lunch, we used our eye-power to watch over the kids who started a whole new game of hiding and you can’t get to me.
We sent Covan back after his shower session while the others continued to have their fun time. Don’t worry, our partner at work was home to look after them, no fur kids were left unattended while sending Covan home.
Dinner
Ruffles seemed to be excited when we’re preparing their dinner. He wouldn’t stop jumping and loiter around the kitchen. As we only have a pair of hands, we had to feed the fur kids turn by turn. Starting from the slower eater. And whenever we bring a bowl off the table, Ruffles would start jumping about like a kangaroo and hope that it’s his. Kelly would loiter around too, but she’s much calmer while she waits for her share.
Heading Home, Jam at KPE
Traffic jam at KPE tunnel
After dinner, it’s time for Ruffles and Kelly to head home. Set up the GPS and we’re off! Somehow, after entering KPE, we heard a siren coming from behind us and we realized it’s the traffic police. At first, we thought he was chasing someone because there’s a motorcyclist driving past us at a high speed earlier. Then we saw the sign in the tunnel that says the middle lane was closed.
While moving slowly in the traffic, Ruffles got tired and fell asleep. As we moved further into the KPE tunnel, nearing the PIE exit, we finally understand why there’s a long jam. There was an accident between a Mini Cooper and a Blue SG car. Somehow we’re glad that the only casualty was the cars, the humans were fine.
Our first traffic jam experience while on daycare duty was pretty memorable. Thankful the fur kids were patient enough during the traffic jam journey.
Once Ruffles and Kelly got home, we’re finally off work! What a day! It’s both tiring yet amazing all at the same time. Looking forward to the next daycare session and we wonder what our next adventure will be like.
After work and dinner, we head over to pick Junior up for his pawcation. While his pawrents are away for a break from work and staycation, he does have one too. Once arriving at our humble abode, or rather a messy one to be exact, Junior was off exploring and saying hi to our supawvisors, whom he hadn’t met for a few months.
As we picked him up a little late, bedtime came fast for our supawvisor, Toby. Junior was a little sad that he didn’t get to play or interact with Toby much that he stood nearby and watch Toby sleep.
11 Nov 2021 – First Day
The day started with us preparing breakfast for the fur kids. And also feeding Junior his medicine. His paw mum told us that it’s easy to feed him his medicine. We can either feed him like a treat, he’ll take it. Or add it to his food. Being skeptical, we tried feeding it like a treat, and true enough, he took it. We even made sure he swallowed it and did not puke it out somewhere.
We had to leave home for a while to meet a new potential pawcation fur kid. And sadly, little Junior didn’t want to be left out. He whined a little as we got ready to head out the door for our appointment. Silly boy, we’ll be home. It’s not like we’re leaving for good and not returning.
Didn’t get to bring the fur kids out for an excursion due to the weather. It was drizzling when we head back home. So we did a little playtime where we had a little game of catching before dinner time. It was tiring for us humans being chased by the fur kids but we’re glad that they had fun and the exercise that they needed.
Before we called it a day, we decided to feed the fur kids a little bone broth for supper. Fill up their tummy for a nice night’s sleep.
12 Nov 2021 – Grooming Day
Junior’s grooming before & after
It’s grooming day for Junior. We couldn’t stand his shaggy look and decided to give him a nice trim. A few hours later, Junior is all fresh and clean with a cuter look.
Had to shave his fur shorter than usual as he’s on cream medication for his skin. With a shorter fur, it’s much easier to see and apply the cream for him. He didn’t like it and did attempt to lick off the medicated cream. Thankfully, we do have an extra e-collar for the fur kids to use.
13 Nov 2021 – Home Sweet Home Day
Junior waiting for his chance to steal Twix’s food
Breakfast was chaos as we try to separate Junior from our supawvisors as he’s trying to steal their food! It wasn’t easy considering Twix’s vision is deteriorating and she’s a slow eater. We had to protect her food like a hawk to make sure Junior couldn’t get to any.
Fetched Covan back to our place for his weekly shower and he chased Junior with his Kong’s e-collar. After he found out how scared Junior was of the Kong’s e-collar, Covan kept chasing him the entire morning. Poor Junior had a short run in the morning on his last pawcation day. Well, it’s a nice exercise for Covan as he needed to walk more and build more leg muscles.
We send Junior home after dinner and he just couldn’t wait to be back. He ran off greeting his pawrents once they arrived at the lift lobby to meet us up. He didn’t even turn back to say goodbye but it’s OK. We’ll see him again in December for his next pawcation.
Took our supawvisors, Toby & Twix, as well as our weekly staycation boy, Jordan, along to pick up Kelly and Ruffles for their monthly grooming daycare. It was all well and sunny when we set off, however, the sky turned dark as we approach BKE towards Woodlands before we’re welcomed by the thundery showers.
In our mind, we’re like oh man~ How are we going to have our excursion for the day? Despite the thunderstorm, we’ve been hoping that it will be over once we pick up Kelly and Ruffles. If the rain continues, then we’re definitely not fated to have an excursion for the day. And maybe, we’ll just have a short walk in the multi-story carpark before we head home to continue our daycare program. As we’re worrying about the day’s excursion, our old supawvisors are both snoozing away in the passenger seat on their comfy Fuzzyard bed.
Sengkang Riverside Park
Decided to try our luck and head over to Sengkang Riverside Park. Thankfully when we arrive back at the North-East area, the rain had stopped and the sky looked a little gloomy.
Got the fur kids off the car and we’re off for a quick excursion in case the weather decided to change again. It’s our first time walking five fur kids and to be honest, it was total chaos! Some were eager to explore and our leashes started to tangle. We do salute those dog walkers who walk multiple dogs at one go.
As the sky gets darker, we had to urge the fur kids to hurry up and we needed to leave in case another rainstorm comes.
Playtime/Nap Time
While the nanny (us) are having a lunch break, we needed the sustenance to keep ourselves going with 5 fur kids in the house. They’ve all met before and thankfully, they’re all getting along well.
Maybe it’s the long car journey, from North-East to West and back again, the fur kids seemed to be having their nap time earlier than expected after their few minutes of mingling.
Grooming & Dinner time
We started with Kelly first while the others are either mingling or taking a nap. Once she’s done, it’s the next fur kid’s turn. We continued on till we’ve showered and groom every one of them. Amazingly, they’re all quite cooperative which makes the job easier. If it weren’t for their cooperativeness, we probably would be working overtime.
Dinner for the fur kids is home-cooked food consisting of either chicken/pork, vegetables, and pork liver. They were all circling around as we’re preparing them. Ruffles decided to become a kangaroo jumping around impatiently. But we’re definitely glad that all of them managed to lick their bowls clean. So we’re guessing it’s yummy. Now it’s time to figure out more menu options for the daycare fur kids.
Home Sweet Home
After dinner, we prepared Kelly and Ruffles to be ready to head home. A long car journey back to the west and Ruffles seemed to be enjoying his ride by sitting on top of our car’s armrest. It gave him a nice view during the car ride and in our opinion, his balancing skill is superb.
Our Thoughts for the day
The day was memorable and which we’ve decided to make some changes to the excursion. It’s a hassle to be holding on to that many leashes and the way we hold it apparently is dangerous for us. And so, we went online in search of how to walk multiple dogs and we’ve decided to invest in a new leash that will help us walk multiple dogs safely. Now we can’t wait for the new leash arrival and give it a try.
We’re glad to have this opportunity to learn and change the way we do things in order to have some safety measures in place not only for us but for the fur kids as well.
