Groomer Problems

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Originally posted by tomkatzid
That is very sad and scarry to hear. What signs should we look for before we leave our dogs and after what should we be looking for as we pick up our dogs? I don't want to know stories, because that would be too sad. But I would like to know your
in-put on what we as the owners need to be aware of. Especially since we just got the new groomer for Nina. Which seemed to go just fine. But now I'm scared.
Katz

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Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything to watch out for. Many salons have several groomers and not all of them will be the bad one. Usually there are one or two people in a shop that are the ones you don’t want grooming your pet. It’s just really hard to say. You say later that the groomer you used didn’t ask for #’s, etc. While not necessarily bad, not a good sign either. I’ve never worked any place where (if there were no current tags on the pet) we didn’t ask for vet records. If your vet does grooming, take your pets there. This is horrible to say, but at least if something does happen, at least they are at a place where they can get proper care. I used to groom for a vet, and in that clinic at least, nothing horrible went on. He was very choosy about his entire staff.

Don't be scared, Nina will probably let you know if she doesn't want to go there again. How has she reacted in the past when you took her for grooming at other places? Happy? Scared? If you take her back there and she doesn't want to go in the door and that's unusual for her, leave and find someone else.

BUT
Just because your dog acts afraid does not mean that the staff has been nasty to it. Dogs do not want to leave their beloved owners and stay in a "strange" place. When they act afraid the owners coddle them and the dog is getting PRAISED for acting scared. So they LEARN to act scared to get love and attention from their owner.

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Originally posted by jenluckenbach
BUT
Just because your dog acts afraid does not mean that the staff has been nasty to it. Dogs do not want to leave their beloved owners and stay in a "strange" place. When they act afraid the owners coddle them and the dog is getting PRAISED for acting scared. So they LEARN to act scared to get love and attention from their owner.

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Very true. All I'm saying is if the dog normally is ok to go places like the groomer and suddenly doesn't want to even go in the door, something's wrong.
My westie was always happy go lucky and never scared to go anywhere, but we moved and left our trusted groomer behind. We went to a new groomer in the new city and got a great cut. When I took him for the second time, he refused to even go through the door. I turned around and went home, investigated and found a groomer that someone I knew, knew. (friend of a friend) I took him there and he never refused to go, in fact he was excited to go and fairly happy to be led to the back away from me.

Oh defense of the groomers....

Just because you see a dog freaking out on a table doesn't mean the groomer is being mean to the dog. I had an awful day wrestling with a gigantic malamute mix with at least 6 inch long fur. The dog hadn't been in since last year. I had to wash him 3 times...and his fur was matted to the skin (ehem and the owner told me he only had matts behind the ears :rolleyes: ) Try taking 5 hours of your life struggling to brush out a dog that tries to bite you and yowls every time you touch him. And it's not the dogs fault...it's the owner who doesn't ever brush his dog! I ended up staying an hour and a half late too. Talk about stressful! Both for me and the dog!

I've seen some times where groomers could have been nicer to dogs, and some accidents that could have been prevented...but I've seen a hell of a lot more incidents of stupid owners who just didn't take proper care of their dogs. Yeah, don't get your dog used to grooming, neglect it for 9 months then bring it to us and expect us to magically make the dog look like it did 9 months ago! :rolleyes:

Ok done....just ranting...not against any PTers...it's fun to rant sometimes....;)

All you wonderful pet owners would burst into tears if you SAW what some dogs (and cats) come in to the shop looking like. Dogs that come from the SPCA are in better shape than some dogs that are suppose to be family pets. In your (non-groomers') wildest imagination (nightmares, I should say) you cannot fathom the neglect and abuse we see from the OWNERS!
1) So much goop under the eyes that they are pasted shut and the skin under this goop is bright red from irritation.
2) So many mats that we need to use a SURGICAL blade to get them off.........and then it still takes 2 to 3 times longer than your average well groomed dog
3) MAGGOTS growing under mats that were allowed to stay wet for months at a time.
4) Ear flaps that have formed hematomas because the heavy mats were allowed to hang from the delicate skin for a year at a time (or longer)
5) pets that smell so bad from urine that is should be concidered toxic waste and after the bath STILL reek because the smell is imbedded in the pores of the skin!

Should I go on??

To Jen and the other groomers....I am glad that you have been posting on this thread and enlightening us about grooming. I have nothing against groomers, I guess I was initially upset that they would take that attitude about my sweet Guinness. I guess now I understand what you all have to go through and why some groomers are the way they are.

Honestly, I guess any comments I have made can be chalked up to my ignorance. All my life, all the dogs we had were lab mixes you could wash in your bathtub, fairly short fur. And Bailey is Little Miss Low Maintenance with REALLY short fur, partly because she's part pit bull, but partly because I don't think her fur ever really grew back after her episode of nearly starving to death (before we got her). I've never had to go to a groomer for one of my pets before. I hope that when I go today, we have a good experience. And if there is something that we haven't been doing in the last 2 weeks since we rescued Guinness, I hope she teaches me the right way to do things.

Again, thanks for the advice and enlightenment. I really do appreciate it. :)

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Originally posted by wolf_Q
Oh defense of the groomers....

Just because you see a dog freaking out on a table doesn't mean the groomer is being mean to the dog. I had an awful day wrestling with a gigantic malamute mix with at least 6 inch long fur. The dog hadn't been in since last year. I had to wash him 3 times...and his fur was matted to the skin (ehem and the owner told me he only had matts behind the ears :rolleyes: ) Try taking 5 hours of your life struggling to brush out a dog that tries to bite you and yowls every time you touch him. And it's not the dogs fault...it's the owner who doesn't ever brush his dog! I ended up staying an hour and a half late too. Talk about stressful! Both for me and the dog!

I've seen some times where groomers could have been nicer to dogs, and some accidents that could have been prevented...but I've seen a hell of a lot more incidents of stupid owners who just didn't take proper care of their dogs. Yeah, don't get your dog used to grooming, neglect it for 9 months then bring it to us and expect us to magically make the dog look like it did 9 months ago! :rolleyes:

Ok done....just ranting...not against any PTers...it's fun to rant sometimes....;)

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I know, it took me a long time to get over a lot of crap I saw as a groomer, caused by groomers and owners. All of the things that Jen & Amy talk about are the reasons why I quit grooming. I always refused to brush a dog that was too badly matted. I just wouldn’t do it. My option was shave it. I would call the owners and argue with them, sometimes until I had to put the phone on hold and scream! It’s so unfair to the pet. We had one lady who refused to let me shave the dog, so she came and picked him up. It was not possible to remove this dogs mats and he needed to be shaved to the skin. I refused to torture the damn dog myself by attempting to brush him out. It was simply not possible. Of course this is the same woman who told me he hadn’t been groomed in two months. She said she only skipped a month. :rolleyes: Yeah, right.

Karen was so nice! Guinness was a little afraid, not of her, but of the new situation in general. He did so well!

She had her pretty black chow with her named Fancy Girl. Fancy also hung out with us while we were fixing up Guinness:)

She was very sweet with him and I thought it was so nice of her to let me watch. We such a nice time chit-chatting.

She said that Brian and I have been doing a great job of using the shedding blade and slicker brush. She said she really didn't have that much more undercoat to get out. She said from now on, I should probably just be able to use the "self serve" service, which is only $13, compared to the $30 she charged me.

What a fun wonderful experience! Even though he seemed a little rattled by the dryer, I think he liked Karen too!:)

Here's a picture of him in the tub, it's kinda hard to see cause the lighting was bad....
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/fb71885d.jpg

And here's another:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...6/fb718855.jpg

At the end of my street, we have a self service dog wash. It is perfect for Binx and I. We walk there, leave our hair and gook there, then head for home. I especially like the air dryers...all air, no heat. While I don't dry him completely, I do dry him enough to become accostumed to the sound, for the winter time. I think I have it easy,as Binx is a single coated doggie, shorter haired, at that. I can't imagine matts in his coat.

The large tub they have will soon become too tiny for us though, and I will have to figure something else out.....