Confidence Knocked

[Tracey@Woofcutz]

Hi all, my name is Tracey, I am a new groomer just starting out, I made a rookie mistake yesterday, I got a call by someone asking if I could groom their Yorkshire Terrier, I had a gap so I said yes, The mistake I made was not getting a good background of the dog, we discussed everything that the owner wanted, so I started the groom brushed out the dog, was a little nervous but did not think much about started Clipping the dog did the first pass down the back then the dog started to get stressed and upset, decided to wash the dog and that made the dog worse, I called the owner, and told her about the stress the dog was under, then she told me that, she had only had the dog for a few weeks, was a rescue, she has problems bathing and brushing the dog, she thinks it was abused before, I could not go on grooming the dog as it was getting more and more upset, I had to had the dog back only 1/2 groomed feel like a failure, but I have learned to get a detailed background on the dog first. Has anyone else had any experience like this, Thanks for listening, Tracey

 

[ThatCrazyGroomer]

You are NOT a failure!!! Part of being a good groomer is knowing when you are in over your head and when it's time to stop. I've been grooming ten years. There are very few dogs anymore that I can't groom, but even with my industry experience, I still have some dogs that I refer to a vet's office to be sedated rather than continue to stress them out and risk injury. You did the right thing. Don't stress, this won't be the last time it happens. Just remind yourself that not every dog is compatible with every groomer. <3 learn from this experience. Look into some methods to calm dogs in the future. I have a lavender diffuser in my salon and also run relaxing music that is surgically pitched to dogs. I audio occasionally pull out the canine calm for dogs who are really stressed out. Are you working with anyone else or is it just you?

 

[milos_mommy]

Lots of groomers would just muzzle and restrain and further traumatize the dog, and any decent groomer would return the dog with the suggestion of sedating next time or working with a trainer to desensitize the dog.

Even the very experienced groomers I know have had to send dogs home...often even if you ask for a background the owner will over or under exaggerate the dog's stress/trauma. If I was the owner I'd very much appreciate a groomer choosing not to stress my dog out.

You made the right call. Definitely check background next time (we ask how long they've had the dog, medical issues, if they've been groomed before, bite history, etc), but know a lot of people will lie or just have a different perception of what stress/trauma/aggression look like, so even if you do it's not fool proof.