Sequence Of Events When Clipping A Dog?

I was just wondering if a dog such as a lhasa apso or shih tzu are badly matted to the skin, what approach should one adopt? does one run the scissors to cut the matts off and then bathe the dog BEFORE clipping (so as not to blunt the clipper blades)??

One other question please, when clipping a dog I presume that one is to start from the neck down but does one run the clippers all down the length of the dog's body, e.g. from neck to rump or is there another system to clip a dog??

I don't want to be doing this professionally but just for neighbours, friends and relatives and of course for my own babies.

Also, I don't know whether it's just me but how many dogs can a groomer handle on her own per day? The reason I am asking is that when I have clipped 2 of my own I am completely exhausted...I don't think I could handle anymore than 2, 3 would really be pushing it.

well at the kennels i work at, we can get through between 2 and 6 dogs a day... but thats with 4 of us in there. Depends on the size of the dog and type of coat.

with the mats... it depends just how badly matted it is.
We had a cat in that was so badly matted, that his skin tore when we tried to shave him, and tore equally as easy when trying to cut it all away with scissors.

id recommend buying a dog grooming book, dont know which one to suggest.

i dont do grooming, me and the girls just prepare the dogs for it, so we shampoo and condition them, then dry them with big dryers whilst brushing the fur and getting knots out. The groomer clips the dogs. At this groomers they tend to run the clippers right now the back from the base of the neck and does the sides too. i should imaging every groomers doesnt i different and theres many different ways to groom a dog, so suggest to get urself a good dog grooming book for reference.