[Jellybaby]

Hi everyone. Pebbles is my first yorkie. She is 5 months old and she's my little ray of sunshine. I brush Pebbles every day and she is happy to let me handle her feet, ears, tail but she doesn't like anything other than my hands near her head. She had an ear infection a while back and she really didn't like it when the vet tried to check her ears, clean and treat them. She hated her eardrops medication. So now she is a bit skittish when something goes near her head/ears. She is very relaxed when it's just my hands on her ears and face, I'm slowly trying to get her used to other things near her head. For instance I've been holding a tiny scissors and opening and closing it so she can hear the sound of the scissors and get used to it. She attempts to chew up the cotton wool that I try and wipe her eyes with and also tries to bite her brush and comb! She is teething and tries to chew on anything near her mouth.

Last week I brought her to a groomer. I arranged for a short visit to introduce Pebbles to the groomer. I wanted her to have a positive experience so it would be less stressful when she eventually goes for her first full grooming. We agreed the groomer would cut her nails, check her ears etc.

I waited at the end of the room while the groomer worked on Pebbles. Cutting her nails went pretty well. But the groomer was too rough cleaning her ears and Pebbles yelped in pain. She then tried to trim the long hair around Pebbles eyes with a huge scissors that was bigger than Pebbles whole face. Pebbles wouldn't let her (kept trying to bite the scissors) and the groomer gave up. She seemed irritated by Pebbles unwillingness to stay still and told me that at her next visit she might have to muzzle her.

She also brushed her and was amazed that she was mat free. I told her that I regularly brush Pebbles and give her a bath every 7-10 days. She seemed really surprised at that and said a dog should only be washed every 2-3 months and that I would ruin Pebbles fur by washing that often. ( I know a bath every 2-3 months is fine for most dog breeds but I thought it was ok to wash a yorkie every 7-10 days since they have hair???)

I had an uneasy feeling as I left, if she showed slight irritation in front of me and made Pebbles cry out in pain what might she do when I'm not there? At one stage she also answered her phone and turned her back to Pebbles, leaving Pebbles on the high table with the noose around her neck. Of course Pebbles immediately started wriggling and trying to escape. I thought she might injure herself so I moved towards the table and stayed until the groomer got off the phone. Surely you shouldn't turn your back and walk away from a puppy in that situation when the puppy isn't used to it?

The following night Pebbles let me trim the hair around her eyes using a tiny scissors. I certainly won't win any awards for my hair cuttting attempt, it's a little ragged looking! But at least Pebbles doesn't have any hair irritating her eyes now and she was very good and quiet as I cut. I really think it's just a matter of time and patience to get Pebbles used to having implements near her head and keeping her head still.

I'd love to hear what other members think about all this. Should I bring Pebbles back to this groomer? Maybe I'm just worrying too much, this was the first time I had ever met a dog groomer so I don't know what is normal practice. I don't want Pebbles to be injured or frightened though. Do any of you have any tips on how to recognise a good groomer? Thanks and sorry for such a long post.