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.