Please Read! Terrible story I found out is true.
 

So while at the vet today I Got to talking with a woman who was telling me about how her best friend took her Yorkie to the groomer. The small dog (about 6 pounds) was very wiggly after his mom left and even more so after his bath the groomer unable to keep the slick wet wiggling dog in her arms dropped him breaking his back.

The little dog survived however now he may need surgery and he may still never walk (I asked the vet to confirm the injuries she told me about in case she was exaggerating)
The groomer is the most popular groomer in the city however due to the ongoing lawsuit I cannot post the groomer name(if you live near canton and see a groomer in the city if you send me a private message I can let you know)

so horrified by this story I called the groomer to ask about the story, she confirmed that the dog was dropped while being groomed and now supposedly had a broken back.

Now this is not the groomer I use but this can happen at any groomer who is not 100% dedicated to your dog.

I called my groomer To ask her how she would keep this from happening To my dog and she told me that With Gatsby because he is so wiggly she always wraps him up in a towel and he is always still in a towel (from baths at home I know this is true.)

everyone may want to bring this up with there groomer and ask how they know this will not happen to your baby.

I contacted a friend of mine at the local paper and they may do an article on this story.

I lost my first yorkie at the groomers. It was a long time before I could even use a groomer again. I don't even know for sure what happened. We suspected either they put her outside (very hot in FL & Maggie could not tolerate heat) or they used a grooming noose on her and I had warned them of both things when I left explaining she had a partially collapsed trachea. The vet had told us she should be able to live a normal life span. But the groomer called me saying she was having trouble breathing. I raced down there but she was gone before I got to her. That was heartbreaking for our whole family. So much faith has to be placed on a groomer. It is a huge responsibility and those that do it well deserve a lot of respect.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. one of my favorite things about my groomer is that she grooms while i wait i sit in her living room just out of sight the whole time.

Oh my gosh how horrible! We use a wonderful mobile groomer who comes to our house. She only deals with one dog at a time and is so gentle with my little 3 pounders.

Shadow may never looked professionally groomed, but I have heard too many horror stories. Of course I don't show her and keep her in a "puppy cut" so a little "mistake" really doesn't get noticed by anyone but me.

Why is it you can't find a groomer that will let you stay with your dog?

I also cut Gracies hair myself... there are just too many horror stories... :( poor family...

I cut Remy's hair myself. I don't trust anyone. That is a horrible story, I feel for the owners. I hope the yorkie will be okay.. But something like that could of happened at home. I don't blame the groomer.
Because one of us could have easily dropped our furbaby getting it out of the sink/bath tub. Accidents do happen...

I have taken Lizzy to a groomer once and was told that she wasn't very good for them and that was it, she has never been to another groomer. I am scared to death someone might try to correct her too harshly or in a way I wouldn't approve. I know there are tons of dogs groomed everyday and accidents can happen, but stories like this still make me glad I just do Liz myself. She's pretty easy to do, I just let her hair grow and trim around her feet and a hygiene trim. Funny thing, she is pretty good for me.

A groomer cut Eddie's neck open all the way from his ear to his shoulder. He had to be put under anesthesia and sewed up. It was horrible even though he acted like nothing happened. I finally found DVD's on Ebay that show you step by step how to groom your Yorkie from shaving their little bung hole to doing all different cuts and everything in between. I ordered good clippers and all the things I need and now my husband and I will be doing it ourselves.

here's what Eddie looked like after surgery. You don't want to know what it was like before. I hope I'm doing this right

I never took Baby Bear to a groomer, and he is almost one and a half now. I just don't trust anybody handling my wiggly little boy out of my sight.

That is such a sad story:((((

Luckily, I found an amazing mobile groomer (I don't know what I will ever do if she quits!) who takes Jackson into her van and although he's not happy about it, he tolerates her very well. She said he was actually pretty well behaved for her, which surprised me since he hates being touched by other people, Lol. I totally trust her and I've watched her through the window before and can tell she is very calm and patient with him.

What a terrible tragedy.

I'm soooo sorry. :(

[/COLOR]I am so sorry that this happened to you, your family, and especially your precious little pup. I cannot even began to imagine what you went through.[/COLOR]

[QUOTE=eddiesmom14;3416125]A groomer cut Eddie's neck open all the way from his ear to his shoulder. He had to be put under anesthesia and sewed up. It was horrible even though he acted like nothing happened. I finally found DVD's on Ebay that show you step by step how to groom your Yorkie from shaving their little bung hole to doing all different cuts and everything in between. I ordered good clippers and all the things I need and now my husband and I will be doing it ourselves.

here's what Eddie looked like after surgery. You don't want to know what it was like before. I hope I'm doing this right
[COLOR="rgb(65, 105, 225)"]This is something that I have always feared, and why I never take my pups to the groomers and learned how to do it myself.I hope that he is ok now.[/COLOR]

FlDeb-- I am so sorry. I know lost of a little pup will alway stay with you.

You should never ever use a groomer who is not harnessing your dog at all times- even in the tub. A dog can slip or jump even from the most experienced hands- this is why a groomer attaches them to the tub and the table during grooming to insure they are not injured.

Another fine example as to why the only Groomer Andy has is me.

Another thing to be very careful about is cage dryers. Always make sure your groomer hand dries your dog. The industry is not regulated so it's buyers beware when selecting a groomer.

Dog?s death highlights grooming hazard - TODAY Pets & Animals - TODAYshow.com

Wow !!!! sorry to hear all these sad stories... I only send one of my babies to the groomers and the other I groom myself...... Timba gives me a hard time to groom him especially cutting his nails, so him I send off to the groomers, but Maggie, I groom her myself she lets me cut her hair, nails and do everything, she whimpers a tiny bit but I sing toher and make funny faces and put her mind at ease.... but now hearing all this makes me not want to send my lil guy to the groomers....

I used to have just one groomer work on my dogs, as Buttons is skittish with new folks, and she had been doing her hair since her first puppy cut. I took Yogi to her as well, and she would have them both done in about an hour & a half.

Last couple times tho, a new girl did Yogi, & she said he "developed a fear of the dryer, actually attacking it, so the 1 & a half hour trip to the groomers turns into a 7 hour thing. She stated he has to air dry now....I can't stand the 7 hours that he is there & recently purchased grooming tools off ebay. They have yet to arrive, but I'm an intelligent person, & figure I can figure it out. I have also been eye-balling that How to groom your Yorkie dvd on ebay as well. I plan on grooming them myself from here on out, and that was before I read the OP's thread this morning. Call me a worry-wart if you want, but that 7 hours is stressful on both me & the dogs!

I'm concerned about my groomer. I have tried several here in this area; we just moved about 6 months ago.

The facility I used the last time is not the greatest; however, my dogs seem to love the individual (female) who does their grooming. They get the same one every time; and she is young and vivacious and they just like her. She does a good job too. I love the way she does Lucy's face and little 'spray' topknot.

Last time, Ringo jumped up and put his paw on her leg and wagged his tail and Lucy licked her face. Normally they do not react to groomers this way.

However, this place also boards dogs and I would NEVER, EVER board my dog there. It's old; I can see cages stacked on top of one another back in the boarding room. Ugh. I don't mind leaving them there for 2 hours to get groomed; but never, ever, ever would I leave them there overnight or anything like that.

So my dilemma is . . should I continue to take them to a groomer that they like, but one who works in an overall facility that I am not that thrilled with??

Also, I specifically asked, and they DO have cage driers. I requested that neither Lucy or Ringo be put in one - but how do I know?

Well, I think I've answered my own question. I need to look around for another groomer.

Such a sad story - I guess I need to learn how to cut my Kody's hair

Thats a tough situation- because it is hard to find a groomer that the dogs like and that does a good job on the cut. However, I always worry that no matter how nice the person is and how well meaning- they may think "oh I have to run to the bathroom let me just throw them in the cage dryer for a second, it won't be a big deal". Thats why I prefer to use a place that doesn't have them- this way they never have the option of using them.

So, so terrible! I cannot even imagine this happening to my baby....my little girl got a torn ACL while she was at the groomer's and even that is making me sick. I know accidents happen but goodness! Be more careful! I cannot send my babies back there again.

I bought the How to groom your Yorkie DVD and it is good. I bought from the seller who has a different DVD for each small breed and there aer about 3 different covers for the Yorkie one, but they are all the same. I emailed and asked. It shows how to pull the hair from their ears and clip their nails without quicking and espress their anal glands and how to look for anything that might be wrong or disease starting in any areas. It is well worth the money. They have a support website, too, and answer emails almost immediately. Oh, and I am not affiliated with them in any way, just a happy customer so far.

So very sorry to hear this, how awful and sooooo completely avoidable.

I do have Remy groomed but he is never left there and is never out of my sight. It was a requirement when I interviewed groomers and this firm was the only one that agreed to my conditions. When he has an appointment, we show up, I hold him until they are ready (no crating) and as he is groomed I stand there and chat with the groomer. They only do one dog at a time, so I get to see exactly what is being done. She is really quite nice and I've enjoyed getting to know her. She also has given me some good tips to use at home. And, when she is not sure how short I may want something she can just ask and the cut is done as per my specifications. It may take awhile to find the proper vendor, but it is worth it to find someone agreeable to your conditions and who does good work.

This is pretty much what I do except I stay out of sight Gatsby when he is being cut Because he wants me to hold him if he can see me However I stand right there when he is bathed and dried by hand and the groomer will sit on her knees on the floor to groom him because she will not use a groomer lead. I actually feel comfortable enough to leave him there if i need to. My groomer also does boarding and rescue, so i know that she is very careful with all animals and loves everything That walks through her door.

And as an added bonus once a year she has sheltie puppies and I get to play with them.

A question for those who groom their own yorkies: do you also release the anal glands yourself? I have yet to take my 7 month old yorkie to the groomers because of all these horror stories I've read. Currently I groom her myself at home but I also know she needs to have her anal glands released. How are your experiences with that?

That is actually what I did when I first started using a groomer again. Found one that let me stay. She was not the best, but as long as I was there, I felt safer. I tried grooming them myself, and that didn't work well. But I have a really good groomer to take them to now that I don't worry about. Just took a few years before I could get to that point again.

I have been told by the vet that my dogs should take care of this themselves unless they get older or something is wrong. You will know if they are having a problem. You may smell a foul odor, see them dragging their butts on the carpet or even biting at their hind end. Routine expressing is NOT recommended. You can actually cause them problems from doing this when they do not need it.

It is not difficult to do, but easiest if you have the vet tech show you how to do it the first time.

Such a sad story.

I have heard so many horror stories about groomers that I was always afraid of taking them in. The one I have finally chosen isn't the most talented, but she's inside my Vet's office. I feel better knowing the vet is in the same room if something were to happen.