I'm not so sure I'm cut out of this

[Backward_Cinderella]

This is the third time in less than a year of grooming that I've been seriously bitten. I wasn't even doing anything really. I put the dog on my table and was scratching her head absently while I was picking out the blade I was going to use. She bit me! I've got a couple of stitches in one finger and had to have some shots. Mind you this dog is very old, but still.
I'm upset and starting to question my career choice. I love grooming, but I don't love being bitten so often! Do other groomers get hurt this much????

Sorry for the rant-y whininess. :(

[Backward_Cinderella]

That should say *Cut out FOR this* not FOR this. I'm tired. -__-

[drmom777]

BC, I have no idea how often groomers get bitten, but that is really lousy. Being unhappy about being chomped on and needing stitches doesn't fit my definition of whiny. I hope you feel better quickly.

[bubbatd]

Maybe with new dogs you should muzzle them .....so sorry !

[Buddy'sParents]

Yes, what about muzzling them? Have owners fill out questionnaires regarding their dogs temperament and past history?

[Backward_Cinderella]

I don't want to ask the vets for anything more just yet, I already waltzed in there like I owned the place and said we needed a floor drier because I couldn't operate with just a hair drier. I think adding any more questions to the form would probably be a bit much right now, because I don't want to seem like I'm trying to change the way things are run. I don't want to be too pushy.
I never think about muzzles until its too late... I'm one of those dum people who gives everyone, people and dogs included, the benefit of the doubt and assumes that they will behave themselves until they prove otherwise.
But you are probably right, I should muzzle them.

[mrose_s]

When I started looking to be a groomer I got told to be prepared to be pee'd on, vomited on and poo'd on, bitten and scratched.

I rememebr my auntie when she groomed, muzzled multiple dogs that she'd groom, but only if they started playing up.

[Backward_Cinderella]

That's usually what I do, Mrose, only if they act up. But I hadn't even started on this dog yet. Maybe she's blind and I scared her, I don't know. *sigh*
I've been pee'd, pooed and barfed on and scratched. It doesn't bother me, its just that I've been bitten so many times it feels like I'm doing something wrong, putting off the wrong vibe or something. :(

[IcyHound]

Its not easy and its not always fun.

You made a mistake and you'll learn from it. Don't give a dog that much trust, even if it seems calm.

One of the dumbest, random thing I ever did was hold a dog up on my shoulder that had just had its nails clipped. It saw its owner, spazed out, and started scrabbling away at my shoulder. Well its paws slipped under my shirt and scratched the small of my neck to bloody shreds. It took about two weeks to heal.

Being bitten is pretty common at the start. You will learn distrust if you did not already have it. I simply don't trust other peoples dogs. My own are not allowed to swing their heads around when they are groomed, especially if I am working on a tangle. I push their head back around and use a grooming noose even thou they are table trained.

Its just a matter of safety IMO. It is easy to accidentally put yourself in that position. So avoid it in the future. Your safety comes first.

[rabbitsarebetter]

we rarely muzzle. actually I have only put a muzzle on a dog once. If they are getting mean i just have my boss hold them where they cannot bite. Luckily I have never really been bitten. just nipped a couple of times. they dogs are not even alowed to turn around and look at me or watch me. i am super cautious and never trust a dog. Unless of course i have been grooming them since they were young, or grooming them often and i KNOW the dog. unless they are a chow, cocker, scottie, etc.

[Domestika]

I would keep in mind that even if you ask the owner about the dog's tempermant and liklihood of biting, one of two things may happen:

1. People don't admit that their dog bites. Or they don't mention it because it's infrequent and they can justify each time the dog has bitten ("Ohhh, Fluffy was just so SCARED of that other dog", etc)

2. People may not know that their dog bites at the groomers. It may be the only place they do it. It sounds like that dog was already feeling VERY threatened by being there and makes me wonder if he hasn't had a number of bad experiences at a groomers. I've seen some groomers in action (crappy places like Petcetera, PetSmart and whatnot) and have seen dogs treated in very brutal ways. And being groomed can be scary and maybe their fear wasn't met with any degree of understanding at the outset.

That's just my two cents. I'm not sure how you can go about not getting bit, especially when an animal acts completely calm. You can't assume every dog is going to bite your face off. I work at a big animal emergency hospital and we see dozens of dogs come through the door every day and you just learn to read their body language. And everyone gets caught off guard when a dog reacts in a way their body language didn't indicate they would react.

I could definitely not be a groomer. :(

[Saintgirl]

I am so sorry that you are having a rough time. I hate it when people think my job is a walk in the park-grooming is not easy and it isn't all about getting loving kisses from dogs and putting bows in their hair- it is hard, physical, back breaking work that comes with the danger of being bitten.

I think that you would do better and build more confidence grooming in a shop where you had the help and wisdon from more experienced groomers. If you have only been grooming for less than a year, you are still learning the ropes of grooming, body language, tricks for tough fur, etc... Grooming isn't something that you learn all of the tricks of the trade in an apprenticeship, there is still so much to learn after the basics. Here, where I live, a groomer with your experience would still be considered a junior groomer. This is nothing to feel bad about, but there is still so much to learn. I had to study body language and proper handling techniques as part of my grooming course and apprenticeship. ANY dog that gets on my table is approached as a dog that can and will bite. I prefer not to muzzle, and do so rarely, but if I feel I need a muzzle I don't hesitate to put one on.

Every groomer will go through a time when they wonder if they are doing the right thing. You have had a rough little go with this bite, and the cut on the dog you recently did. But remember, these experiences however horrible they are, continue to teach you how to be a better groomer. If you really love the job, hang in there, and remember that it is a hard job, and you are only young in your grooming career. Things will get better!!

[Backward_Cinderella]

Its not MUCH less than a year, it will be a year in a week and four days. I've been done with my apprenticeship for a while.

[Saintgirl]

All I meant was not to get too discouraged if you do love grooming. Sometimes working with other groomers will take away that discouragement when you hear the stories from other groomers about how hard it was when they first started out. The woman I work with suffered serious bite wounds on her arms from a mix dog she was grooming during her second year. She almost gave up on grooming and working with dogs all together. Now 10 years later she owns her own K9 centre, is an amazing groomer and trainer with a very successful buisness. When I am having one of those days when it seems that every difficult dog in the world is on my table she is there with good advice and encouragement.

I didn't mean to imply that you shouldn't be on your own grooming with only a year under your belt, I only meant that in the grand scheme of things a year is a very short time and from experience it is hard to make a good go at a grooming career without a mentor to help you along the way. If I offended you that was not my intention at all.

[Zoom]

It happens to the best of groomers, BC. (((((((HUGS))))))) I used to work with a lady who has been grooming for around 15 years and was an e-vet tech before that. She knows what she's doing. And even still, she got bit so badly on the hand by one dog that she was out of work for almost 2 weeks and had to go to PT and everything. It was a dog she had groomed dozens of times as well...we found out later the dog had pretty severe HD and the owner didn't care, so she wasn't on Rimadyl or anything for it, so when the groomer went to start brushing her hips, it hurt and she chomped.

[Kristine1975dogs]

Hi I have been doing this job for 10 years ...and i have read all the responses and i can not believe that no one as yet has picked up on what went wrong....from what i hear i think you made a mistake when you patted the dog on the head this is extremely threatning to a dog....even as a child i remember being told to never do that same goes in the grooming trade non threatning gestures and another tip is to always start grooming the back of the dog near there bum as i find this the less threatning place to start and you are furtherest away from there mouth so that gives your reflexs more time to move ha ha ha and 1st sign of aggresion muzzle strait away if you are worried to ask vet to buy you a muzzle go and buy one yourself it is better then being injured just by a small muzzle cause that is the one that will get used on seceral occasions i bet ya
Good Luck and hang in there:)

[Backward_Cinderella]

I've got a whole wall full of different sized muzzles. I'm OK there. I know to start at the rear end of the dog.

[duncan15]

every single time someone gives you a post that is not only helpful, but actual honest with you about what you did wrong, you come back with an excuse or some kind of attitude. if you want help on the subject YOU asked about then maybe you should be a little more open to criticism.

only a year of grooming and you are in a shop by yourself? that isjust crazy. a year of grooming is nothing. five years of grooming is nothing. this is an industry where like it or not, experiance matters. any experianced groomer will tell you that they couldnt have gotten where they are without having experianced groomers to help along the way. the fact that you are by yourself and have no one to check your work or critique you is setting you up to believe you already know it all (and judging from your responses, you already kind of think that). this vet sounds like a terrible employer if they are makng you feel like you cant make suggestions to better the business, but the fact that they hired an inexperianced groomer makes me believe that they really arent a good establishment.

you are doing somethingt wrong if you are geting bit that much. i have only been seriously bit once in 2 years of grooming, and that wasnt even very serious (one stitch), and it was completely my fault (nothing like that has happened since). from what you described in this instance, you said you were "absentmindedly" doing something. theres your problem. you cannot be absentminded at all while grooming. if you give the dog an inch they will take a mile. the dogs are taking advantage of your inability to always being paying attention. this wouldnt be a big deal with a well behaved dog, but when you are doing a dog you dont know, you have to be alert 100% of the time, not 95%, esp. with older dogs that may not hear or see so well. i actually make it a point to always be touching these dogs so that i dont accidently startle them when i stop touching them for a minute.

honestly, you sound like you have a LOT to learn, and the setting you are in is not ideal for learning. i dont think any groomer should be in a shop alone in the first 3-5 years. you NEED someone to watch what yoiu are doing and interfere when something is wrong. this way you actually can learn what you did wrong. there is no way for you to really know what you are doing when no one is there to tell you. without an experianced groomer to guide you, it is likely that you will get frusturated and quit the business. i think that if you find a better salon that has other groomers to help and guide you, you will feel better about making mistakes b/c instead of just feeling bad, youll actually be able to grow from them.

[Backward_Cinderella]

every single time someone gives you a post that is not only helpful, but actual honest with you about what you did wrong, you come back with an excuse or some kind of attitude. if you want help on the subject YOU asked about then maybe you should be a little more open to criticism.

only a year of grooming and you are in a shop by yourself? that isjust crazy. a year of grooming is nothing. five years of grooming is nothing. this is an industry where like it or not, experiance matters. any experianced groomer will tell you that they couldnt have gotten where they are without having experianced groomers to help along the way. the fact that you are by yourself and have no one to check your work or critique you is setting you up to believe you already know it all (and judging from your responses, you already kind of think that). this vet sounds like a terrible employer if they are makng you feel like you cant make suggestions to better the business, but the fact that they hired an inexperianced groomer makes me believe that they really arent a good establishment.

you are doing somethingt wrong if you are geting bit that much. i have only been seriously bit once in 2 years of grooming, and that wasnt even very serious (one stitch), and it was completely my fault (nothing like that has happened since). from what you described in this instance, you said you were "absentmindedly" doing something. theres your problem. you cannot be absentminded at all while grooming. if you give the dog an inch they will take a mile. the dogs are taking advantage of your inability to always being paying attention. this wouldnt be a big deal with a well behaved dog, but when you are doing a dog you dont know, you have to be alert 100% of the time, not 95%, esp. with older dogs that may not hear or see so well. i actually make it a point to always be touching these dogs so that i dont accidently startle them when i stop touching them for a minute.

honestly, you sound like you have a LOT to learn, and the setting you are in is not ideal for learning. i dont think any groomer should be in a shop alone in the first 3-5 years. you NEED someone to watch what yoiu are doing and interfere when something is wrong. this way you actually can learn what you did wrong. there is no way for you to really know what you are doing when no one is there to tell you. without an experianced groomer to guide you, it is likely that you will get frusturated and quit the business. i think that if you find a better salon that has other groomers to help and guide you, you will feel better about making mistakes b/c instead of just feeling bad, youll actually be able to grow from them.

I will not argue with you. I will say that I did not mean to come off as a know-it-all or rude, or snotty in any way. Thanks for your suggestions.

PS
We do have someone checking my work. The old groomer is now a tech there and she goes over it.

[drmom777]

BC, I think you are just trying to figure out what is going on. I don't think you came off as a know it all at all.

And yes, I know there are too many "all"s in that sentence.

[noludoru]

Sigh. Duncan, while a lot of your posts have valid points, some politeness would go a long way. I would even go so far as to say that perhaps it is not BC who thinks she is a know-it-all.

[Backward_Cinderella]

Thanks Dr. Mom and Nolu ((((hugs))))

[Kayla]

Hang in there:) if its what you love I think its worth pursuing, It can certainly be rough though, I did a lot of small grooming jobs at my past work mainly just bathing and drying and nail/feet clips but nothing too fancy, I always muzzled if I didn't know the dog to be honest we didnt have any of the proper restraining equipment, unless I knew the dog from previous clips and seen how they reacted then the muzzle stayed on. I never got any serious bites this way but I was always glad that I put the muzzle on when the odd dog would try and grab me.

Also I would say that when it comes down to your safety you should not be afraid to suggest things to your employer, if anything leave as theyre are plenty of other places you can go.

Best of luck
Kayla