Bad Dog Grooming Experiences, Please Share...

[SarahFish]

I thought I'd start this because of a time when we took Lui to the groomers because he had a show that weekend and they ended up beginning to shave him!
We took him in the morning, dropped him off, told them he had a show and he needed to be washed and groomed before then. We were to pick him up at 5pm. However we got a call at 4ish saying we've started to shave him because he is "infested with fleas" (which he wasn't, he gets fleas bad so I check him regularly, but he may have had 1 or 2).
We went to pick him up and they'd shaved all his back and under his tail. They said they'd not charge us and they'd pay for any tidy up work.
The next day we took him to some other groomers who completely shaved him (I was nearly in tears) except for his head, tail and legs, which they trimmed to match. This was mid-June, now it's late October and he looks pretty close to what he used to look like. Though, for those winter months (we're in NZ, June-August is winter) he felt cold for the first time ever.
As a note, he's a Samoyed. Those of you who have Sammies or similar breeds will know of them having double coats and how they should not be shaved, however this experienced groomer decided you did.
We told the breeder, who'd actually had it happen to her a few years ago with my boy's sister, with different people, so it shows how inexperienced some people are.

Any more bad grooming stories to share? I will also post some pictures of what he looked like after the first and second groomers (everyone will be shocked, especially the Sammie owners).

 

[Ash47]

I bet you were so annoyed. Did they not ask you what you wanted done?

 

[SarahFish]

We told them he was showing, so we wanted him bathed and groomed. In the series of angry emails between them and Mum, the groomer said "I believed you wanted bath and groom, not just bath and blow-dry" so she assumed that grooming meant shaving! I admit that some dogs need trimming etc for many reasons but surely a groomer would never completely shave a dog.
I was so annoyed, and really upset. His groomer was too, and at the show (which I still went too) someone came up to me and said " I heard about and I'm really sorry about what happened to Lui" in a hushed tone, like it was really serious. I mean, it was, but it grows back, but to them the coat is such an important part of their dog breed. And then the comments and stares I got at show training (a dog show practice group I attend with him), they were all shocked too.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

I don't really know anyone that would take their show animal to a grooming place honestly. For fear of anything like your experience happening. Sorry it happened though.

A few of us have on our vet records that we need to be notified prior to non emergency needed shaving, so they don't screw up show coat needlessly. I think if I felt the need to take my show boy to a grooming place.. I'd be taking paper along with the specifics of exactly what I wanted done to the letter and having them sign it to minimize the possibility for miscommunication or oopses.

 

[SarahFish]

Thats a good point, but he urgently needed the grooming, we had no time, and we told them what we wanted done. Also if she was an experienced groomer (which she obviously wasn't) she should have known what dogs can and cannot be shaved.
Having said that, it was a lesson learnt, and we'll definitely be more cautious about going to the groomers in future.

 

[Ash47]

How is the coat looking now? I know a lot of times it comes back out looking all cottony when a double coated dog is shaved.

 

[SarahFish]

It's surprising, but it looks normal, just not quite as long as it was, yet, but other than that he's gone back to a soft undercoat and the coarse topcoat, which is what it was like before.
We're lucky, because if it had come out cottony (I had no idea it could) he wouldn't have been able to show anymore, and he can enter the limits classes because he had the right coat for the breed.

 

[Ash47]

You're right... You are lucky. A Pom came in the other day to the shop and was nearly bald because someone shaved him completely one time and his hair just grew back patchy.

 

[MysticRealm]

When I get dogs in for grooming I go through a series of questions to make sure I do it exactly right. Some people are very surprised that I ask so many questions and say that they havve never been asked such things. Some are very happy to see that I want to get it exactly right where some people have no idea what the last groomer did.
When you bring a dog in ESPECIALLY a show dog you need to be VERY specific with what you want. Some people call a 'groom' a shave or a teddy bear. and a bath and tidy is called just that. and a bath and brush is another choice
There are many people that want their hairy dogs shaved. You can't convince them that it isn't good (most of them anyway) so you just do it, they'll just try to do it at home if you don 't and then the dog could be shaved with a 40 blade, yikes.
I have done bath and brushes on show dogs before shows but people are very specific. They tell me DON"T TRIM ANYTHING, ONLY BATH AND BRUSH OUT. So I do just that.

Most groomers believe that dog's hair is NOT ruined by shaving. They have shaved many dogs down and the dogs hair grew back totally the way it should. Bad hair is either a health issue or bad food issue and it just may not be that apparent till it's shaved.

Don't blame the groomer if you were not specific in your requests. I ask a ton of questions to avoid mistakes and groomers should really try to understand what you want but sometimes they just don't remember to ask the right questions or misunderstand what you want. They even gave you the grooming FREE and said they would fix it up as it grew in, what more could you want.

 

[Maxy24]

wow, thats horrible!! your so lucky it's growing in right though, it would have been such a shame if he had to end his career because of some lousy groomer.

Well my Aunt and Uncle's Shih-Tzu Phoebe used to go to this really good, small scale groomer up the street. She went out of business so they had to take her to Petsmart. Well they must have gotten water in her ears because two days later she had an ear infection. She also got razor burn on her stomach really close to her privates, so when she walked it rubber and when she peed it stung so she didn't move much and cleaned obsessively after she peed, I felt so bad for her.

So no more grooming there, now they have to try Petco and hope that is better. I just learned Especially for pets grooms so I'll have to tell them that.

 

[duncan15]

maxy- if that groomer had indeed 'caused" the ear infection, it would have been a problem right away, not 2 days later.
\now sarah, first off i have to say that if you show your dog, you should be grooming your dog. i dont know any show peopel who take their dogs to groomers they dont know right before a show. also, most people with show dogs will not let their dog get to the point where he "urgently needed the grooming". My boss breeds and shows Standard poodles and those dogs are brushed at least every 2 days (and she has 7 of them). second, if all you said was "wash and groom" then it is no wonder the groomer had no idea what you wanted (yes they should ask questions, but it is your dog, we cant read your mind). i dont necessarly agree with the groomer shaving your dog (i turn away people who want these dogs shaved), i also dont agree with you blaming the groomer and then making a thread dedicated to how badly a groomer screwed up a dog. i very rarely come across a situation where the groomer is entirely at fault. you should take responsibility for what happened and accept it as a major error on your part, and a case of miscommunication for the groomer.

 

[SarahFish]

All the thread was was asking who had had a bad experience! I wanted to know if anyone else had had it happen because it is a horrible thing for both dog and owner!
Major error on my part?! I'm not sure... I now look back and think we should have been VERY specific but thats all. The groomer obviously didn't know different dog breeds at all because if she did she would have known which ones you can and cannot shave.
I'm not anti-groomer now, if that's the impression people got. I now know it is important to check out groomers, only get ones people recommend and really tell them what you want.
It wasn't the fact he urgently needed a brush. He is a Samoyed, and I brush him regularly. He urgently needed a bath, and no-one had time to do it. Everyone is different with how much time they have, and whilst we had time a few days later, that was too late because the show was in the weekend and he had to be bathed so many days before.
Your boss, on the other hand, is a groomer! She is very experienced at grooming and, strangely enough due to her job, probably had enough time.
And wash and groom, which we did specify with our meaning to the groomer, to a Samoyed person means wash in a bath, dry, and groom. To other breeds it means different, which I have nothing against.
I started this thread to ask a question, that'a all, not to say that groomers are 'evil' or anything. I respect the grooming profession, and I know a groomer, as well as the one's who tidied him up after, who know what they are doing and I have nothing against.
If you replied to this to tell me it was my fault, I wasn't specific enough, and to say groomers aren't bad people, why bother. The first to points aren't relevent now, and are a bit extreme, and the last I agree with. Don't bother replying if you just want to put in your bit on why I was wrong. I don't care now and the whole point was bad grooming experiences, not my misjudgement.

 

[PoodleMommy]

I have been to more groomers then I can count.

I have had some real horror stories, although most were my fault for not checking the place out well enough.

My first poodle was bought with NO research on the breed whatsoever... this was 13 years ago... it turned out fine...we obviously loved the breed as we have two more now, but it took alot of learning... we knew they had to be groomed but figured any person who called themselves a groomer could do it right? Besides some pretty awful cuts we had many terrible experiences.

We walked into a place and found our dog with her collar on and her tags stuck in the bottom of the cage so she couldnt move at all.... this is the same place she got ringworm (first and last time there.)

We got her back covered in blood and when we told the groomer he said it was shampoo... right red shampoo normally oozes from cuts in my dogs neck.

With these poodles we looked around forever before finding a place... grilled the groomer and he seemed great well Elle came back with cuts all over her neck and he said she was very bad and would need to be muzzled... now I understand the importance of muzzling... but my Elle is the sweetest dog and does not need to be muzzled... if you cut her neck so bad and thats the reason she bit you then good, you deserved it!

second groomer almost broke Bella's leg... if you cant get her to sit still then by all means stop grooming her dont rip her leg off... I watched the incident, so I know exactly what happened and then she limped for an entire day.


We are now back to using a groomer we used with my first dog... she is the nicest person ever, treats the dogs great, and gives a fantastic cut to top it all off... The only reason we had left is because she works bad hours for us... it was hard to find a time when we could get them in... but we either work around her schedule or they go a few extra days without a grooming...

So basically if there is a bad grooming experience to have, me and my dogs have had it.

Although, I must say in the 13 years I have had to deal with groomers... I have noticed and increase in groomers... which means two things... first, everyone is a groomer today which means you need to find out what qualifies this person to be doing the job and you need to ask more questions and second, there are better more qualified groomers to be found.

Good Luck with future grooming experiences.

Elissa

 

[SizzleDog]

And wash and groom, which we did specify with our meaning to the groomer, to a Samoyed person means wash in a bath, dry, and groom. To other breeds it means different, which I have nothing against.

Perhaps the groomer wasn't a Samoyed person? Of course if your dog had been brought to me and I was told to bathe and groom, I would not have done any shaving, but some groomers may misinterpret what you asked for.

I'm also of the opinion that if you were showing your Samoyed, you should not have taken the dog to a pet groomer. Grooming dogs of any breed for the show ring is totally different than a pet groom job. Even my Dobermans get groomed differently for show, and they have next to no coat!

Samoyeds should be bathed the day of the show, with self-rinse used shortly before ringtime to touch up any dirt. I'm guessing Kolesterol and powder are put into the coat and then blown out shortly before ringtime as well. Your dog's breeder is a good resource on how to groom your Samoyed for show - it would probably be wise to have them show you how to groom your dog.

 

[Maxy24]

maxy- if that groomer had indeed 'caused" the ear infection, it would have been a problem right away, not 2 days later.

sorry, what a meant was that she went to the vet two days later, that's when we knew it was an infection. I picked her up from her house the afternoon after the grooming and it was bothering her then, that night she scratched it until her ear bled. The vet thinks it was caused by the groomer getting water in her ears.

 

[Sweet72947]

Shaving a dog for fleas is stupid, IMO. I don't know what your groomer was thinking, SarahFish. We never did any shaving of a dog until we got the ok of the owner.

I worked at a grooming place as a receptionist for two years, it was quite an interesting job. There were a couple of times that we shaved Samoyeds, but that was because the dogs were matted to ALL HE11 and back, and could not be brushed out. There was even a great pyrenees that was shaved once for the same reason. The poor woman who did that job said she was never shaving a pyr again!:yikes:

Not to mention two OES's that came in to get shaved every now and again (you know, they look rather like hounds when they are naked!). The owner of one was a real witch, and we had to use the metro (hose that blows air) on her dog to get off any loose hairs, and if we missed a hair she would get so MAD because her husband had a throat tube (throat cancer) and can't get hair in it. I understand that but, WHY DID YOU GET SUCH A HAIRY BREED THEN?? lol

There were injuries to dogs occassionally (mostly small cuts, nothing serious), and 99% of the time it was because the dog started thrashing and biting in the midst of being shaved/scissored. You would be surprised at how very few dogs are well behaved on the grooming table. Of course, sometimes it has more to do with the person grooming the dog. I knew a miniature poodle who had always been good as gold, and one day a different woman did the dog she that poodle was horrible.
If a dog was uncontrollable we would always stop trying to groom the dog. But some people got real mad that we couldn't finish their dogs. Well geez we aren't superpeople. Sorry we didn't want to hurt your dog, lol.

I guess its like the song goes "You can please everybody".

 

[MysticRealm]

Groomers get a bad rap from vets and owners and as a pro groomer that owns my own shop (just opened nearly 2 months ago) it gets either annoying or bad for business. People just don't understand what goes into our jobs. Even people who groom their own dogs at home don't get it. We are dealing with dogs and people that we do not know. The dogs my be bitting at us, or hyper and squirming everywhere, or full or sores and skin problems that owners don't notice till we shave off the matted hair that's causing half the dogs problems. We get peed on and pooped on. Yet we do our very best to please the customer and some of them still go around spreading falsehoods about what we did to their dog.
AND just like anyone else in this world sometimes we just make mistakes.

IF you had said at the bottom of your post that you knew you should have been more specific and now you know better and such I wouldn't have minded but sarcastically saying she was an 'experienced' groomer and such.
It's true some groomers are not up to snuff, then just don 't go back their and learn from your mistakes. But MOST try really hard to do exactly what the owner wants (that's how we make a successful business!)

 

[Zoom]

I like most of the groomer's I know, they're pretty good at what they do, or at least know their limitations. They also make VERY sure to get good instructions, especially when it comes to shaving, since while you can always take more hair off, you can't glue it back on. The worst thing I've seen is a guard fell off of a razor when shaving an Aussie and the dog ended up with a reverse mohawk down the spine. Well, there are the occasional nicks when a dog moves unexpectedly on a table. But for what groomers have to put up with, I'm very much on their side, at least the good ones. Now the ones who basically beat the dogs who are squirmy, yeah, not a fan of them.

There's one bichon that comes into my old work that would ejaculate a couple of times when on the table. :yikes: Imagine having to deal with that!

 

[malmo]

Milo's first haircut he behaved like a little angel, but the groomer was firm and harsh with him and he came home looking like he'd been thrown into a barrel full of hungry rats. Oy! So, I bought my own clippers and tried to make do at home.

Then, I became a student and no longer had time to wrestle with his coat 5 hours a week. Back to the groomer he went. I always have to do touch-ups to get him looking the way I like, but at least the groomer can do the heavy work on his body and legs. My clippers were cheap and couldn't ever cut through his coat the way I hoped.

However, I'm thinking again about trying to buy some quality, professional clippers and get back into the business of doing it myself. I mean, I still spend a bunch of time re-doing things after he's been professionally groomed, and I bathe and blow-dry him weekly, with nails and trims and such. So, really, it's getting to the point where it's almost a waste of money.

Any recommendations on clippers from you groomer types? The ones I bought for human hair just skiffed off the top 1/8" of his coat, no matter how close they were supposed to cut.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

I was gifted a 'home grooming set' they were garbage.. but without them, I'd have never tried on my own. After the 760 dollar vet bill when cider got nicked.. I stopped going to groomers though it was an accident and I have no malice for her. I fought with those clippers for nearly 2 years. Couldn't believe it could get better. Finally bit the bullet and got 150ish dollar andis ultras. I'm in love. I mainly use them for face head and throat as Smudge is show groomed, and Cider is somewhat close to it.. but.. they go through both their coats like butter.. No effort.. I kick myself I struggled with the crappy clippers so darn long.. Wasn't till I got Smudge and needed true show grooming that I got aroudn to making the effort for nicer tools, not just clippers, but stripping knives, assorted combs, nicer shampoo. Poor girl was my experiment.. though both get use of the new nice tools