My poor Bijou suffered thru a another bad haircut ;-)

[tricollie4me]

Maltese Love - yes, they basically said to come get my girl and don't ever come back Evidently, she did some fear biting and several of the Petsmart groomers at our location are not very highly trained (for example, the person who did Bijou's prior grooming a few months before the fear biting incident told me she'd be gone from the salon for several weeks -- to go to grooming school, lol!). I actually think that Petsmart played a large part in Bijou's fear and dislike of being groomed. They have so many dogs go through their salon in a day that they use a tight schedule/routine to groom their dogs -- for those pups that are easygoing or have short coats, it's no problem. For dogs that require a little more TLC or have greater needs for grooming it's harder to stick to the schedule -- pups like my Bij end up getting treated a bit harshly (I've seen/heard this) and it's no wonder that pups with sensitive temperaments end up highly reactive to that style of grooming.

In any case, the times I've taken her for sedated grooming at my vet, they've said she's done great, requiring very little meds and not showing any fear biting at all. My girl is definitely a lover, not a fighter

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone -- I miss Bijou's fluffy coat, her mane and her skirt, but it will surely grow back. Perhaps next time I have her groomed, I'll bring a photo of a full rough coat and say "This is what she should look like afteward!"

Any future dogs will have short/easy care coats!!