Bad Dog Grooming Experiences, Please Share...

Brattina88

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#61
heh heh - it's okay. I laugh now, but I didn't at first! I was furious. But, as everyone keeps reminding me, its "just hair" and "it'll grown back: :eek:

I don't have a good pic of her since she's been naked. lol.
This is her most common pose right now. Of course, the week she was shaved is the week the temps dropped up here. It's been super cold, and her hair has never been this short. She shivers a lot


I'll have to take a better one tomorrow ;)
 
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#62
Oh Duncan... this thread is really going nowhere fast now isnt it.

why do you insist on calling people stupid over and over again...

NO ONE needs to be told they are stupid.

What is your point in posting on this forum anyway... you have very few posts... so do you only come on to demean people?!

I can tell you one thing... I would never take my dog to you to be groomed... your a nasty person... and I HOPE that duncan is your dog and not your name because I know for a fact you are not a man... because no man would continue to demean a young girl over and over again.

Elissa
 

SarahFish

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#63
Lui got really cold as well! He'd never properly been cold before but he got shaved just at the start of winter, and he was shivering, which he'd never done before. He was sleeping on a blanket, even under them, which he would usually NEVER do!
And thanks PoodleMommy, Duncan won't listen to me, maybe to you?
 
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#64
Lui got really cold as well! He'd never properly been cold before but he got shaved just at the start of winter, and he was shivering, which he'd never done before. He was sleeping on a blanket, even under them, which he would usually NEVER do!
And thanks PoodleMommy, Duncan won't listen to me, maybe to you?
Sarah...some people dont listen to anyone... I think we have one of those people on our hands here. And I have said it before, but I just stand up for who I think is right! And DONT let some person on the internet make you feel bad about yourself!

Brattina...I know it is upsetting now... but it is hair that will grow back and someday you will laugh at the pictures... You should see some of the haircuts my last poodle had, OH MAN were they BADDD... now that she is gone we look at those pictures and laugh about how embarrassed she must have been but regardless of her haircut you could always see her beautiful face through it all.

Elissa
 

SarahFish

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#65
Thanks PoodleMommy

And yes Brattina, PoodleMommy is right (as always!). I was devastated when Lui got shaved but it grew back in 5 months and the breeder said it would be double coat perfect in a year. It will all be okay, and the time really does fly!
 

noludoru

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#66
Oh my GOD Brattina. I hadn't read the last page, saw your pic, and thought Maddie was a Doxie.

Why on earth is 'matted' and 'fleas' seem to be the excuse for shaving a dog that doesn't need it???
 

SarahFish

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#67
That's what we asked noludoru...
Fleas can easily be gotten with a good treatment like Frontline Plus (which we use on Lui now, because he used to get fleas quite bad but not anymore) and matting, isn't that supposed to be cut apart or something? Or sprayed with a water/conditioner (or shampoo) mix and then combed through. When Lui gets the odd matted bit of fur I do this and it works brilliantly.
And our groomer claimed he was flea "infested". I check him regularly (because of his tendency to keep fleas) and I swear he had none at the time! And if he had picked some up in between the time I checked and going to the groomers, there would have been 2 on there at most... it was so infuriated, they cocked up and then they made up some bullshit story about a flea infestation, kinda like blaming us.
Brattina, I presume it was the same for you then, they blamed you for having to shave?
 

noludoru

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#68
Yeah, it's with your story, Brattina's (and I think another person or two posted something like that in this thread) and a couple people I know who have horror stories of their dogs being shaved from supposed "mats" and "flea infestations" that are nonexistant... almost makes me wonder if it's some sort of moneymaking scheme.... shave the dog and don't tell the owner till we can make them pay for it sort of thing?
 

Giny

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#69
Yeah, it's with your story, Brattina's (and I think another person or two posted something like that in this thread) and a couple people I know who have horror stories of their dogs being shaved from supposed "mats" and "flea infestations" that are nonexistant... almost makes me wonder if it's some sort of moneymaking scheme.... shave the dog and don't tell the owner till we can make them pay for it sort of thing?
Why on earth would a groomer use that as a scheme when it's much easier to bathe a dog then to shave it? It takes us more time and usually messes up our entire scheduled day for other dogs who are scheduled to come in later. That makes no sense what so ever. It's unimaginable the amounts of owners who come into the grooming salon saying "My dog isn't matted, I brush him/her everyday" only to find out that the top layer of the dogs coat is well brushed, yes, but the inner coat is matted like felt. And I will not put a dog through a tortuous time in dematting the poor dog just because the owner is not doing his or her job of brushing at home. Do clients walk into a human hair salon without brushing their hair for months?

As for fleas, yes they do cause mats in longer coated breeds. The fleas cause them to scratch, and gnaw which in turn causes the fur to tangle.

I'm not saying that there aren't bad groomers out there, they are and a plenty. But a lot of misinformed owners are out there too.
 

Brattina88

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#70
I'm one to admit I'm wrong if I am. But believe it or not, I brush Maddie for hours (when her hair was long, of course). And I know that you can't just brush the top layer of hair, you have to part the hair and brush and brush and brush. It takes a really long time, and I make sure to be very thorough, and there are certain areas that tangle easily so I take extra care to those areas and spray.
If Maddie had fleas, then the rest of the animals would too. And she sleeps right next to me in my bed, I think they would've got me as well. I would think that I would notice if she was scratching, digging a lot as well :rolleyes:

Money making scheme . . . maybe. I think its shear stupidity and laziness!!
 

Giny

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#71
I don't know what happened at this particular groomer but sounds like someone might of screwed up, shaved Maddie, and used that excuse of her being matter. And yes, they should have called. Honesty is the best policy even if it makes me look bad, I am human, I make mistakes. When I used to work in a large grooming salon with 5 groomers on hand it did happen once in a blue moon that the person who greeted the customer at the front entrance would mix up the forms on what needed done on some dogs. But that was rare and the client were always told of the mix up. Now that I work on my own this never happens since I'm the only person the owner interacts with.

Like I said, there are bad groomers out there. But putting the shoe on the other foot, the groomers foot, and see what goes on everyday and you'd see that shaving a dog "to make more money" instead of giving him/her a proper clip takes a groomer more time. That's if the dog isn't matted. And the owner needs to be specific on what they want done, we can't read minds. I have some cockers who come in for a pet cocker trim, with full skirt and legs tasseled ears, then I have some that want them shaved as close as possible, like the picture you have of Maddie.
 

Saintgirl

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#72
I am only one month into my grooming apprenticeship, which by the way I absolutley love!!! However in this one month, I have already lost count of the people who say that their dogs do not have matts when in fact they are covered in them.

And I will not put a dog through a tortuous time in dematting the poor dog just because the owner is not doing his or her job of brushing at home.
I agree!

Removing matts is not as simple as a quick brush out. Yesterday we had a schnauzer whose owners wanted the schnauzer cut- but he was terribly covered in mats. His owners insisted that they brushed him everyday. Before we began his owner was called and he came back to take a look at what we saw. He was horrified that matts were on his dog as badly as they were. He still wanted us to do the best that we could to keep the fur, however the price went up drastically because the time to groom his dog was much longer than originally planned. BUT a good groomer should always call the owner first before acting.

Sarah, you were not stupid, you were trusting. It was a hard lesson to learn and I 'm sorry that this happened to you.
 

Giny

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#73
Congratulations on becoming a groomers apprentice, Saintgirl! I see you live in NS, I used to live in NB and took my course in Moncton years ago. The grooming salon I worked for there was were I took my class. They used to give classes to many from NS, I wonder if the person you're apprenticing for took her class from Blanche?
 

Saintgirl

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#74
No. she is from Vancouver and did all of her training out there. There is now a grooming school in Moncton which I had thought of going to, however after asking around I heard alot of bad things about it. One of the girls who had gone to this school had graduated with hands on experience on ONE dog!! Hard work, but I absolutley LOVE it!!
 

Giny

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#75
No. she is from Vancouver and did all of her training out there. There is now a grooming school in Moncton which I had thought of going to, however after asking around I heard alot of bad things about it. One of the girls who had gone to this school had graduated with hands on experience on ONE dog!! Hard work, but I absolutley LOVE it!!
Wow, I've worked with her for 5 years and never during my time there did a student go through the entire class with working on only one dog. 12 weeks and only one dog, hum, sounds fishy. Especially since to graduate you have to go through 2 dogs as your final exam, or at least that's how it was when I took my class. Ah well!
 

SarahFish

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#76
Sarah, you were not stupid, you were trusting. It was a hard lesson to learn and I 'm sorry that this happened to you.
Thank you! It's not as though I'm trying to shift the blame, because I know that I should have done more, but being told I was stupid several times really does suck!

BUT a good groomer should always call the owner first before acting.
That's what's sad, they called, but after they started, then they stopped and we saw him as he was. There's some pics on another thread of mine, but pretty much his back was shaved and up the top of his tail. If they had needed to shave him because of fleas (still not an excuse) they definitely should have called before attempting.

A grooming apprenticeship sounds awesome! It really is a huge responsibility being a groomer (referring to the other thread of the dog that died) and good luck!
 
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#77
actually, i did read the whole thing. its six pages of people ranting about stuff groomer have done. most of which have sounded like it was not only the groomers fault but the owners. and also, i mostly responded b/c people seem to think that they can tell people what to write on these sites when they cant.

and to be honest, sarah was stupid for taking her show quality dog to a pet groomer, and also stupid for not giving specific instructions. she said herself that she knew before she left her dog there that the groomer wasnt very good, that most in the area sucked. and again, people who show their dogs and do it right, do not let their dogs get into a state where the "urgently need to be groomed". doesnt happen, im sorry. she doesnt know what she is doing, and i have ever right to tell her that.

and i agree, not all groomers are great, which is a rule in any business. but who is worse, the people who do bad business, or the people stupid enough to take their business to that very person. none of these groomers would be around if people did some research and found out what to look for when taking your dog to the groomer, or to the vet, or the kennel, or the dog park. instead of creating a thread 6 pages long about how a groomer wronged you, why dont you take a step back from the situation and think how you can avoid it again.

and i do have a reason to defend those in this business. you people have no idea how hard it is to be a groomer, what we have to deal with in terms of dogs and customers. so to create a thread that only talks about your bad experiances is probably going to get any groomer who reads it to say something about how stupid it is


And you're an ass. Every post that I have ever seen by you is an attempt to belittle or bully another poster. No wonder that you work with dogs because I'm sure that people wouldn't tolerate you and I'm amazed that dogs do.:mad:
 
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#78
wow.. I haven't read all of the last 2 pages but alot of the posts just go to show how little pet people know about grooming! It's amazing!
A lot more goes into even a shavedown than just buzzing it off with clippers.

And just cause I saw this. I do a several cockers (and shih tzus, and poodles, and bichons) shaved right down, cause that's what the owner wants, short short and no maintenace.

COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE with your groomer! We can't read minds!!!! If your not responsible enough to search and find a good groomer, don't complain when the groom isn't what you wanted. and even with a good groomer everyone makes mistakes.
 
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#79
Some terms we use B & B bath and brush, or GSG Full service Groom....

Im sorry this happened to you- i spent many times begging people to NOT have down dogs like Great Pry- Goldens - Labs and GSD the hair that grows back is horrible.
From a groomer point of view it takes double the time to brush and dematt a dog then to shave it depending on size.

I have lost money buy doing a dog over time vs a complete shave.

Some companies require groomers to do 5-10 dogs a shift thus the massive push to shave can occur.

Also since i show I can explain to them what a trim dematt and blow is different than the industry full service grooms.........
 

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