Groomers

I tried to take my 1 year old American Eskimo to the groomer's today (new groomer, first time) and she was NOT happy. We tried to play toys, come with treats, etc. but she would not budge with being picked up by someone other than me.

When I told my husband, he said I should have asked the groomer to muzzle her (we do not own a muzzle for our dog). My question is this: Would it have made any difference whether the groomer (assuming he had one) had muzzled her or not? Wouldn't that traumatize her experience for the future?

They refused to accept her because of unwillingness to be picked up so they could put her in the kennel to be groomed.

I haven't worked at a grooming shop that didn't carry a variety of muzzles... I avoid using them, but some dogs just need it to keep both of us safe. Especially for nail trims!!! Buy a soft muzzle for her and practice luring her nose into it with lots of high value treats, like hotdogs and cheese. She gets lots of yummies for the muzzle! Bring it with you to the groomer and stay there so you can put it on if need be. It would be a good idea to stick around in the waiting area so you can pick her up and put her on the table or in the kennel. Eventually, once she gets used to her groomer, she will be comfortable with them handling her.

Any groomer who isn't willing to accommodate you and help condition your dog to being groomed isn't worthy of your business! I'm always happy to help condition dogs to being groomed, and I love getting loyal customers and getting to know their dogs. It would be good to visit the grooming shop as often as possible, weekly if you can. Take her in for regular brushing and nail trims, and just to visit and get some treats! It will help her feel less anxious about going there.

Would it make her experience more pleasant? Or make her calmer? No, not at all.

I've never met a groomer however, who wouldn't just muzzle and groom a problem dog (provided they weren't EXTREMELY distressed), without the owner asking for the dog to not be muzzled.

You can work with her at home to get her more used to being groomed, and work with desensitizing her to being lifted by strangers or staying calm in new environments, very slowly. It's also pretty easy to groom an American Eskimo at home, provided you're in good physical health, or you can try taking her to a grooming center where they allow you to groom the dog using their forced air dryers and such.

Sounds like a lot of Eskies I've come across

Does your dog tolerate handling from you? How is she with strangers in other situations? Has she been to other groomers? How is she at the vet? Depending on her general behavior, you may need to find a groomer who specializes in difficult dogs and/or talk to your vet about possible anti-anxiety medication she could be given prior to grooming.

Not all groomers want to work on difficult dogs, nothing really wrong with that. The shops I work at, it depends on the dog. If we couldn't even get the dog checked in because of aggression or being too freaked out, then we wouldn't accept them. We have gotten new dogs in only to have them growling and trying to bite when we went to put them in the tub and sent them right home without anything being done. We will work with dogs to a point but not so much dogs that you can't even get in the tub/crate or examine. There's other risks involved in working on dogs who are too difficult, beyond the risk of getting bitten including risks to the dog. And it's hard to have to fight with/against a dog for every part of the groom.

Does muzzling and making the dog accept handling help or hurt? It depends on the dog. Training wise, it's basically flooding. It works on some dogs and over time, they learn to just accept it. Other dogs...always need muzzled or at least always need muzzled for some things.

I dont know any groomers who do not own muzzles. Yes it may have made a difference, for the good or bad, depends on the dog. 98% of the time when I slap on a muzzle, dogs calm down. I have a few who still dont. but it just means I can safley groom them with out being eated
This is not possible at every grooming shop. I do not and would not let a owner stick around, even in the waiting area. we have on any given day 4-8 groomers working and 20-50 dogs (and cats) in as well. it would not be safe to have a dogs owner comng in and going. all that would do is rile up the dog AND would set off the other dogs on tables/in tubs. We are on a very very busy street corner in a down town core. we have a front door and a gate. but most people never close either. and although we will go out and do it, and even though we do not have a cage free shop. Im sure my boss/owner would not be thrilled with some one in and out with the potential of a dog escaping.

At my work I handle almst all the agressive dogs. I do just fine working with them on my own. we are in a old house, so have spare rooms. where I will take a agressive dog, and just hang out. I have one dog no groomer could or would touch for years (a BC X) he was in terrible shape when I said I would try. I spent 20mins in a room with him, snarling in a corner if i even moved. took a few groomings, but now he comes bounding in to the shop and jumps up on me, spinning, barking and just being silly.
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