Groomers drugging pets during grooming?
 

How can you tell?
Is it common?
Have you ever had a groomer do this to your pup?

Max always comes back and may just be really tired from being groomed and the excitement but... he sure seemed extra tired today.
We just got back from vacation and the groomer had to groom him early this morning because she got the pick up date wrong. He has slept the entire day.
Mickey is a really good boy while being groomed and I notice he is tired when he gets home but as much as Max.
Maybe I am being paranoid but it's not the first time the thought crossed my mind.

Mine have never been groggy or overly tired coming back from the groomer. Our groomer is wonderful, and they are excited, happy, bouncy, and zooming when we get them after grooming. They do take naps later, but so do I! :D I am working on doing all my own grooming, though...not because my groomer isn't great but because I wanna...:p

The boys were at the groomers for boarding while we were on vacation

No...never had this happen....especially when they are good babies!!! Unacceptable!....at least as far as I am concerned, with no permission from owner!

Where did u hear the groomers were doing this?

I don't remember where I read about this before. Seems like I have (here or on Dogster maybe). Someone found out their groomer gave the pills like the ones given for traveling.
My boys are good with grooming.
So is our Persian cat.
I should just learn to do it on my own.
The nail clipping scares me the most.

There was a pet store here at one time that employed a groomer and she used tranquilizers on some of the pets. She obtained them from a local vet's office. Fact not fiction.

WHAT!!!!!???????? :eek::eek::eek: Oh my goodness! You are kidding me! Totally unacceptable in my eyes. My groomer would never do this. And I would be totally upset if she did. Especially if I wasn't aware of it. Good Lord! What is next!

I think it does happen rarely. Have you stayed to watch?

I groom my pups to avoid all of the possible horrors.

I've heard of some using antihistamines. I just don’t think they should ever use anything without informing the owner. If a dog is too hyped up, they should not groom him unless the owner gives them permission to use something.

I am so glad Callie gets groomed at our vets office and is such a good girl. Also know our vet would never go for that. But it is scary to think about.

Years ago, our Airedale was drugged without our permission by the groomer we used. Our dog weighed 85 pounds and was probably difficult to deal with for grooming. Whatever was given to her never had any ill effect, so we never said anything. We continued to use the same groomer because she was really good and never injured our dog - no cuts with scissors or clippers, no bleeding toenails.

I would never allow this today, and certainly not with a small dog. At the very least, we should have inquired what was being given to her so that we could check with our vet about the safety.

We could tell our dog was drugged because she was very loopy and slightly uncoordinated when we would bring her home. It was obvious she was coming out of something.

My babies are groomed monthly and I know they are not drugged b/c they act all frisky and feeling good. I do think if they are to be given something we should know before it is given...

What's really bad, is that I've heard that the ones that drug often use the drying chambers, and this is a recipe for disaster.

Wow, that is so crazy! I can tell our old groomer didn't do that by the way Princess would run out of there horrified every time.:eek::( Now with the new one she just seems a little shaken (typical for her). I'd flip if anyone drugged her.

How would they know what meds or conditions these dogs are already on/have? It should definitely be up to the owner.

That is a deadly combination. Drying chambers should be banned. I will never forget the Yorkie who was severely injured in one.

As far as I know they don't even have to tell the pet owner that's what's being used. I agree with you, they should be banned.

If I had any doubts, I think I wld take him directly to the vet, tell him him what you suspect and see if he cld do a test to see if he had anything in his system. It may cost a few dollars, but at least you wld know for sure.

I would defiantly not go back there. I've heard of dogs being tired after the groomer and the owners thought it was because they had a bad time there. Never even thought it could be because they were drugged!! OMG how scary.
:(

You know your baby. If you think something is wrong... Something is probably wrong.

My groomer has suggested benedryl for Little Bit because he gets so nervous but we have yet to even try it.

I see nothing wrong with using it, it will make them sleepy, and more relaxed, the better the experience goes the next time there will be less anxiety. It's just that groomers should not use it without asking pet owners.

If the owner agrees to it first with something like benedryl. But when you don't even know and they come home all drowsy that is not cool.

I always stick with the same groomer. Always, always, always. Getting one you can trust is not to be underappreciated, but also Ranger really needs the familiar surroundings. Abandoning him in some strange place is hard for both of us.

I will say this, I worked at a boutique and grooming salon. Real Drugs where never used, but if the groomer felt like it, she would use this calming spray and the dogs would just be in a haze.The groomer was not bad, but i never took Ralph there. I also quit once I found out all of these things.My advice to any dog owner is to make sure you tour the whole grooming facility during business hours when they are grooming so you can see what goes on behind closed doors.

I say, you know your dog best! I would find someone new.

I use a mobile groomer and won't ever use anything but a mobile anymore. He freaks when I carry him in there to her, but he does the same thing when we are going to the vets (and they've never hurt him, obviously, and I am with him the whole time). It's very normal for him to shake and be extremely nervous, but when he comes out and is done, he's extremely happy and energetic!

But I like that he's right in my own driveway, I can peek in and look, hehe! ;) And he's done in under an hour.

That spray sounds scary. Did they inhale the spray and it drug them? When you say they were in a haze, what does that mean? Did they go to sleep or just sit there drooping their head down or what?

It was! They either sprayed it around the dog, or put it on there wrist and stick there wrist to the dogs nose. I mean that they would just stand on the table while they groomed them, so like they did not move or anything like that, and when they put them in the crates they would pass out, and when there owners came they showed no emotion. Which is just awful. When i got to leave up front I would go in the back (before I knew about the spray) and I would go back and hang out with the doggies, I would always ask if they could have a treat when they were dropped off and I would give the ones that could goodies and I would play with them, give them water and such if there owners where okay with it (most were) So they were realitivly calm when it was time to get groomed so i never witnessed the spray. Until I decided to take Ralph to get groomed there and we have cameras in the back so we can watch what goes on back there in the front and I see the groomer shaking a bottle of coins in my dogs face and then spray something so I go back there and I gave her a piece of my mind, then I shortly quit, soon after. There are some amazing groomers and some bad ones, but I would say always go to the back and get a full tour and ask questions, because its better safe then sorry.

That just petrifies me to hear about that drug spray. What in the world do you think the drug was and do you suppose it was by prescription from some immoral vet or something over-the-counter? Either way, what in the world was she thinking?!?! What if the dog had a bad reaction to that stuff or their heart couldn't take it? And even if you got a tour of the back of the shop, you know someone using something like that would hide the bottle during a customer tour. I'm glad I don't have to take Tibbe to a groomer just for things like this that you hear and find out about. He may not look so great but he enjoys his bath here and he's free from all fear and drugs.

My dog came home lethargic once, but I later figured out that she was getting sick from the treats they gave her. I know they were just trying to be nice, but I was annoyed that they had upset her stomach. She was puking for two days after that. Did they perhaps feed him anything? I've been looking for a new groomer and one website I stumbled on said they did not drug their dogs. I had never even heard of that before then!