Haircut fiasco :(

[bellasmomok]

First some background:
I have not found a groomer that I LOVE yet (and at this point, I GIVE UP!!) Bella has been to several groomers, and all I have had them do in the past is tip her ears, trim her nails, trim the hair between her pads, and do a sanitary trim. (Once, I had them trim a bit off the ends to get off some of the coarser puppy hair because she was tangling too much.) That being said, you'd think "wow, that should be easy" right? Wrong! The last several times I have gotten her back home only to find out they did NOT do a sanitary trim!! If you leave that out, which I happen to think is the most important part.....what did you really do?? Not much on her really..... *sigh I always do a sanitary trim on her myself in between anyway so we don't have to go as often, so it's not THAT big a deal for me to do it....it's more the principal of the thing--that's part of what I paid them to do!! Also, I have started trimming her nails myself every 3 weeks to keep them nice and short, so they don't have to do that anymore either.

Sooo, last Thursday when I took her, I told them I had already trimmed her nails and the hair in between her pads, and I had already done a sanitary trim. All I needed them to do was tip the top 1/3 of her ears and then I wanted them to take just a little of the length off, mostly just to even everything up and make it look cleaner. (Besides the one baby trim she had a long time ago, her body hair hasn't been touched at all, and I just thought it was starting to look a little scruffy and had been tangling more so lately too....just thought it would be nice for it to look more clean and even and that taking the ends off would probably help with the tangling too.)

I should also probably say that I never leave her at the groomer's....I stay there in the front because I hate the thought of her having to be in a crate in a strange place with other dogs barking their heads off (other dogs barking really bothers her) while she's waiting for her turn. Since I can make an appointment and be there so that doesn't have to happen, that's what I do!

When she was done and came out to me, her hair was A LOT shorter than I had meant!! In fact, it is so short that on one side....yes I said one side ....you can see the white of her body!! It is definitely SHORT and it isn't even either!! Also, I asked that the hair on her head be left completely alone aside from her ears being tipped, and I am almost POSITIVE that they trimmed her topknot a little bit AND the hair that hangs down from either sides of her cheeks (I call it her beard even though it isn't coming from her chin ) is shorter and isn't even either!! One side is definitely shorter than the other!! Oh!! AND they didn't tip the top 1/3 of her ears.....the took off the itty bitty tip and that's it! Like MAYBE 1/4"! Isn't that crazy!!??

Grrrrr!!! She doesn't look aweful.....cute in fact...but I am so sad about losing all that hair! I LOVE her beautiful long hair and I really really miss it! I have no idea how long it's going to take to grow back out but I hope not tooooo long!!!

I have since purchase clippers because I'll be home grooming from now on. I already did everything but the ears and evening up the length. I was really nervous about tipping her ears and so hadn't purchased clippers, which is the only reason I was still taking her to be groomed anymore anyway, but I figure it can't be worse than what it is now. So, I'm going to "fix" her ears later this week when I have some time....hopefully that works out okay! And then, I'll just have to learn to trim her evenly after it finally grows back out. I seriously doubt I'll EVER go to a groomer again!!

Just needed to vent.....thanks for listening!

[shawnzeppi]

You should be able to do a good puppy cut yourself IMO. The tricky parts are where the legs attach to their trunks (be very careful not to snip their skin as I did once), and as you say the ears. Also the eyes can be tricky if your pet gets nervous as you snip in this area. I have found that the only way I can effectively trim this area on both my guys is to have my GF block their vision with her hand while I trim away. If I try and do it myself, they will jerk away, and that is a dangerous situation. What ever you do, err on the safe side and avoid a trip to the vets! I have never used electric trimmers, but that might work better if your Yorkie can get used to the noise.

[bellasmomok]

Originally Posted by shawnzeppi

You should be able to do a good puppy cut yourself IMO. The tricky parts are where the legs attach to their trunks (be very careful not to snip their skin as I did once), and as you say the ears. Also the eyes can be tricky if your pet gets nervous as you snip in this area. I have found that the only way I can effectively trim this area on both my guys is to have my GF block their vision with her hand while I trim away. If I try and do it myself, they will jerk away, and that is a dangerous situation. What ever you do, err on the safe side and avoid a trip to the vets! I have never used electric trimmers, but that might work better if your Yorkie can get used to the noise.

Oh, she isn't in a puppy cut and she never will be!!! Right now, her body looks more like a puppy cut, but her head is almost the same--long pretty hair on her head, and I don't have the hair by her eyes trimmed either....her topknot does the trick keeping it out of her eyes! I love her long, long hair, and as soon as it grows back, it will stay that way!!!

Good point on the clippers...getting her used to the noise. That's what they use at the groomers every time, so I bet she'll be just fine (and I'll have my bf holding her for me.....he does that when I do her sanitary trim anyway!!), but I guess you never know how they'll react at home. She's a pretty good girl, so I think it will go just fine! Thank you though!!

[Robin Lodal]

I am sorry that Bella did not have a very good experience at the groomers. Its rare to find a groomer that you fall in love with! I do my grooming as well (its just so much cheaper). Its definitely something you will learn as you go... and there are several videos on YT and youtube showing how to do certain things but if you plan on keeping her in a long coat, you won't have to worry about shaving her down or anything like that.

But going back to the grooming... so did you mention how it was UNEVEN and how they weren't supposed to touch certain parts of her face? I totally would've mentioned it.

[cheryl19]

Sounds like you can do a better job then them. Maybe you should go into business

[jeanm1963]

Well at least she doesnt look aweful.... Lacis first hair cut I had a groomer come to my house.. I told her a TRIM, she asked me to leave the room , she brings her own grooming table and supplies.... I told her a trim, round her face and that was it... I gave her her elastic and bow, I put them right on my counter.. ( which means she wears a topknot) , I came in she CUT her short.. cut her whole face and cut her topknot right off, I was LIVID... yelling , swearing... you name it.. I actually was crying I was so mad...
I wish I had save the picture to show you , it was aweful.. what was more agravting is that my daughters Fiance is a groomer and I chose to have this woman come to my house instead of him because Laci would NOT stay still for him.. urrgghhh, NEVER AGAIN....
Sorry you had such an aweful experience... I hope her hair grows quickly!!

[bellasmomok]

Thank you all for your sweet words of support. Usually bad haircuts don't upset me too much because...hair grows! But, as time has worn on, I'm just a little sad because I miss her hair and sort of feel like it's my fault too. And, who knows how long it will take to grow back. But, I know it will, and I know all I can do is NOT go there anymore!

[aqeuous18]

Is your Groomer a show groomer or pet groomer? If you keep your Yorkie long you should take her to a show groomer. Doing a trim up all over the body takes extensive work and skill. Most groomers only use clippers and combs, they aren't skilled with hand scissoring. That's probably why she looked awful!

It sounds like your Groomer is one of those "Well I think your idea for your dog will be stupid, so I'll just do what I think looks good!" Also be sure to let them know when you get your dog what is wrong. They should fix it right then and there! No sanitary trim? Make them do it right there if they forgot!

[susiereynolds19]

The bottom line is this. Way too many people give themselves the title of groomer and set out to do other peoples dogs whether it be in a basement at their house or in a shop. Do they have experience 15 or more years is experience...6 months or 2 years is NOT. This is where the problem comes in. The only way to be a good groomer is to actually be grooming for 15 years or more. I have been grooming for 30 years. I know how long it took for me to get good at it. That is why I don't advise anyone ever to get into the grooming profession because by the time you actually get really good at it you end up with carpal tunnel in your hands and can barely do it anymore. Grooming is not licensed in any state so the only way to find a good one is to find out how long they have actually been grooming.

[joeyyy2010]

UGHH!!! This is my story as well! Every groomer I have been to has messed up his hair, or taken 10 times longer than I wanted. The only place that I was happy with was petsmart, but that took going back a second time. I just dont get how people can do this to pets.

[Marhcarter]

I do most of Huey's grooming myself. I bought a book and taught myself. I have had some issues in the past because I keep him more in a silky cut instead of a yorkie cut; no topknot, visor over eyes and clean feet. I also keep him fairly long, but more body contoured, not floor length. I take him to a groomer for his feet and nails, but I do the rest myself, including sanitary, body trims, face trims around the eyes, etc. I bought a handheld battery operated clipper on dog.com that was inexpensive ($19.99) and fits into the palm of my hand. It works wonderfully and is not very loud. I have never had any trouble with clipper burn or rashes. The hardest part is getting the body trim straight and even on a moving target!!
The 1st groomer I ever took him to (he was still a little pup), I instructed to NOT tip his ears. I know that is not breed standard for yorkies or silkies, but I like his ears. She tipped them anyway and when I complained, she said "that is breed standard and that is how they are done" I was so mad that I didn't go to another groomer for a year, and since then have always stayed for the entire visit. I learned my lesson.

[gracielove]

I know how you feel. I have had the same experience. Some groomers just do what they want to do. Maybe they don't know how to do it right or maybe they resent having owners tell them to do things differently than they are accustomed to doing.

When Gracie was a puppy and I was growing her topknot and coat out I had the worst time getting the groomer to not cut the length or the topknot!

I ended up doing a lot of the grooming myself also. I do think the ears are a delicate area that I prefer to have someone else do but when I was between groomers I decided to scissor them. I was afraid to use clippers.

I now have a wonderful groomer ( but she would love to cut more than I let her!) I think most pet parents let groomers do whatever they want and leave it to them to choose how the cut will look so when someone comes in with different ideas they don't like it. But there are also a lot of very inexperienced groomers that just don't know how to do the job.

[TysonMyBoy]

Dang groomers! I had the opposite problem though, lol. I kept taking Tyson to the groomer and saying, please do a puppy cut. The groomer kept saying, "oh we should let it grow to the floor." I kept insisting, but I would pick him up...he looked beautiful, trimmed and clean, but she would never cut his hair. I paid the lady (this happened at least four times) and would struggle to keep him combed out and clean. I finally had to find a new groomer. NOw Tyson has nice neat, short hair that I love! I'm too nervous to cut it myself!