My first (and only!) experience with a groomer was not a good one either...I had a mobile groomer...to cut a long story short..she bathed her without conditioning her coat then proceeded to try and comb through her hair..ouch!
condition the coat then the comb will GLIDE through DUH!
poor Pixie was NOT happy..she didn't like being dried under the dryer but at home she will happily sit on my lap and be dried with no fuss..she then attempted to cut her hair..which was nightmare! I can manage trim away at Pixie's hair with little or no fuss....I think I will be doing all my grooming at home from now on.
I may even look into doing a course sometime too.