Bad haircut/experience
 

Lola had her first haircut yesterday and I'm disgusted with the entire experience. First of all she's an 8 month old puppy, she's never had a haircut and she's only been handled by me. I told the groomer all of this and she was done by a mobile groomer so only one person handled her.

I told her I wanted her hair cut level with her body, cut her legs down a good bit, DON'T TOUCH HER TOP KNOT, cut the top 1/3 level with her ear (DON'T SHAVE) and trim the rest a little bit.
I wrote all of this down and gave her a picture of Island Girl's dog Sachi for the ears and face shape, but with the beard about an inch longer.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/att...ups-face-2.jpg

Lola was out there for over an hour, when she came back her hair had barely been cut except her top knot and ears. She said it was because Lola kept sitting/laying down and curling herself. WELL DUH! SHE WAS SCARED! This woman has been grooming over 10 years, she should know how to deal with it. She acted like Lola was being bad. I would have been ok with constructive criticism, like you need to work on getting her to stand up and stay still.

I told her I told you not to cut her topknot and her excuse was "it was too heavy". No it wasn't, yes parts of it needed to be trimmed but I was going to do it myself.

She made me go out to the van and hold Lola while she "fixed" her. I knew Lola wasn't perfect when she left, but it was all so rushed and Lola had had more than enough at that point so I had to let it go. I also didn't realize how short her top knot was or how messed up the rest of the cut was until after she left. I feel like I threw $75 away. I should have gone with my regular groomer but I decided to try this woman because she's a yorkie person.

I want my money back or I want my regular groomer to come try to fix her, but I'm not sure how they're paid and I don't want to hurt her financially.
I just got off the phone with the company, the manager is going to call me tomorrow.

Photo 1: Back leg/tail were barely touched
Photo 2: The front leg is entirely messed up
Photo 3: The ear on the right is cut down an inch further, face shape isn't what I wanted, ears were shaved, not the skin but still shaved
Photo 4: Back of the ears shaved, uneven, choppy

The whole cut is just uneven and choppy and not at all what I asked for. At least I was able to somewhat fix the topknot today, but it keeps sliding out and took twice as long.

I'll post before pictures below this.

Before the haircut

That is exactly why I have never let anyone else groom my two. She still looks adorable but I know I would be as disappointed as you if I got something completely different than the picture I showed them.

Aww, poor little Lola! I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with a groomer- I agree, she should have the experience to handle scared pups better than this. Goodness, if the pup is scared, you slow down, try to play with her a little, give her treats, whatever.

Lola is still a beauty tho. I hope your next groomer is leaps & bounds better than this!

Thanks. I eventually want to groom Lola myself, but I need to buy some stuff first and I wanted to have a professional do it while she's still in her squirmy puppy phase.

I would be less upset if the cut were half way decent; I could have done this myself with safety scissors. Her attitude and unprofessionalism also really upset me.

Lola's b4 pic looks better! Sorry you had a bad experience...hopefully the manager will send someone else to 'fix' the problem. I don't see how a groomer can blame the dog for her short comings, very unprofessional.
Don't be intimidated on starting your own grooming! I can help you choose the right products, it's not as hard as it seems.;)

Lola is beautiful btw.

If lola was so "bad"...how did your regular groomer manage to groom her?!?


Does your regular groomer work for the same company??

If so, I would ask the company to send her out to fix Lola for free...even if they have to pay the groomer out of their pocket. I am sure there are lots of other grooming businesses to choose from, so having to bite the bullet one time to keep a regular customer coming back over and over, seems like a no brainer.

I would be very upset! I know my Ellie gave the groomer a difficult time when she was young, but even still she always looked exactly how I asked for her to look. I would definitely make a complaint.

Thanks, I'd appreciate the help.
I'm sure Lola wasn't the easiest dog, but I'm also sure she was FAR from the worst.

My regular groomer groomed my poodle, not Lola. The only cutting Lola has had was when I cut around her paws and paw pads, I also did a sanitary cut. She wasn't happy about it but I got the job done.

I did, they're going to call me tomorrow.
My poodles were not the easiest and they always were fully groomed and looked fine. The last time my poodle was groomed the groomer left her face a little unfinished because she was getting too upset and the groomer was afraid of giving her a heart attack, I totally understood that and was happy she put my dogs health first.
This woman was ridiculous.

That sucks. She doesn't look that different (which is kind of ironic, usually groomers cut WAY too short when ppl don't ask, lol) so I'd be pissed if I paid for something that I could've just done easily at home. I use a mobile groomer, and Jackson is always terrified, so I'm sure he's not the easiest and he still always comes back looking so handsome and fresh. It's never uneven, etc (except for ONE time out of probably 20+, the groomer gave him a horrible haircut, so not sure what happened there, but I complained and she gave me a free one next time). But I remember it was around the holidays, and I ended up paying for most of it anyway, I just felt bad, because she always does such a good job.

Grooming is a gamble. I've live by the motto that if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself.

dog
 

Were you there to watch this groom? Was she squirming around? Yorkies can be tough to groom. My JoJo is a very busy boy. I have a groomer come to my home and I watch her closely. I help out too. She better never hit him or hurt him. That's why I Never take my boys to the pet shops. Get a mobile groomer or someone to come to your home. Or go buy some clippers and scissors and learn how to groom. Your dog is cute no matter what but if I was that groomer I would not be proud of that clip job.

I'm not that upset by her body or legs because they're fixable. I'm bothered by her head, it's going to take months for her ears and top knot to grow out.
I'm also bothered by the overall lack of quality and her attitude.

I agree, I do everything possible myself. I was hoping to get a good professional grooming so I could follow the lines between cuts.
Looks like I'm going to have to figure it out from scratch.

This was a mobile groomer, they were alone for an hour. That's when she cut Lola's topknot and ears, the rest of her was barely touched.
I complained, she refused to do anymore unless I held Lola, so I went out with them. When I was out there Lola was cowering a little and she kept sitting or laying down. Even the parts she did while I held Lola are choppy and awful, that's when her front leg got messed up.
The pictures don't really show how choppy and uneven the cut is.
I'm sure the majority of dogs squirm or cower while being groomer, a groomer should know how to deal with it.

Lola is a doll both before and after, I would be so pissed if they touched my Lola's top knot because even though she grows hair like crazy everywhere else that part seems to be slowing growing. However to me it does not look like they cut much, was the before photo taken several months back. I also like the look of her face better now, because you can see more of it, I know it's popular to let the ear hair grow long, but I still like a traditional yorkie ear style. What I do is sit next the groomer that cuts Lola so I OK every cut she makes, plus I have learned a lot by doing this so I often do my own touch up in between cuts. I would ask if you could do that, this way you will have more control

The pictures were taken the same day. She isn't a ton shorter except on her head. Which is another thing I'm not happy about because I can only afford 2-3 groomings a year, I told her that too.
I hate the shaved ear look and that's basically what she has except at the very base. I also didn't want them that short because my room is COLD. I wanted the top 1/3 cut level with scissors and the rest trimmed a little. It's especially bad because she cut all the hair off an inch more on one side than the other.

The ears and top knot are the worst part and will take months to grow back. The entire cut is a complete disaster though.

I can't stand there while she's groomed, the van is way too small.

Lola Doesn't look too bad but certainly not a $75 job for heaven's sake. My first suggestion would be to connect with some Yorkie Friends through a local group to learn how to groom her. I did here in VA and a friend showed me a bit before I tried grooming Deuce myself. It's scarey at first but it works out. Look on my page on here and see what he looked like groomed by a groomer an what I do. It gets better as you learn. Always remember it will grow back! And a good pair of blending shears work magic!!!!!!! Good Luck

I don't think there are any yorkie groups around here outside of philly or NY.
Since getting Lola I've seen about 20 yorkies and they were all shaved, even petstore groomers have said they never see Yorkie's with long hair or hair in such good shape.

Part of what makes it hard is I can't find any yorkies with medium length hair. They're all a few inches long, shaved, or very long. I basically wanted a shorter version of what Lola had.

I think I'm going to have to learn with videos and figure it out myself.


The company emailed me back and offered to send someone out next week.

So sorry you had a bad experience! Grooming can give us such anxiety! Lola is still cute as a button tho!

Finding the right groomer can be hard but she is so darn cute even the worst hair cut would look ok on her. The good thing is it is just hair and will grow back. I would ask for your money back.

I think this is why most groomers just want to shave dogs. They don't really know how to give a hair cut with anything but an electric shaver. It takes talent and patience to give a dog a hair cut with scissors. We used to have an very good groomer that had done show dog grooming for many years. She could give a hair cut with hand scissors only and make the dog look like a star. She is gone now and I didn't think anyone like her was left in the grooming world.

It looks like the groomer did not even give your girl a bath and the cut is uneven. After a disaster experience with a groomer that I took Gracie to I went out and got a little grooming table and started doing most of Gracie's grooming myself. We did find an excellent groomer but since I am able to do most of the touch up grooming myself she only goes to the groomer every 3 or 4 months now.

Thanks everyone. She did get a bath.

I just got off the phone with the company. They insist there's nothing wrong with the cut and it's my fault for not getting her groomed sooner and Lola's fault for being a normal puppy. They won't refund my money but my regular groomer will try to fix her.

The comments about Lola's actions are really irritating me, I have been working with her to the best of my abilities, but she's still a puppy. You can't expect her to have "table manners". I'm also still sure she behaved better than most dogs they see.

I fixed the jagged edges of her ears last night and she was very good.

There probably just worried about themselves one of the best things you can do is spread by word of mouth how unhappy you where and how bad there customer service was.

In situations like this, I'd let their actions be their advertisement. ;) Go to Yelp.com and see if they have a business page already- if they don't, it's very easy to make one and review them. Not only should people know this company is ill equipped in properly handling & grooming young animals, they also make no apologies for their treatment of those animals or their pet-parents. :thumbdown

Sucks that you had to find out the hard way, but maybe you can save someone else the headache.

I don't blame you for being irritated with their comments! It's obvious they do not value their clients. As Lovetodream88 said, spread the word about their poor service!

what part of New Jersey do you live in. I would look for new groomer that has a small shop someone that would let you be there.

maybe it's just me but the picture of Sachi and the after one of Lola looks pretty similar except Lola's face hair is a little longer but you said that is what you wanted. Since you like the look of long ear hair, I would try to find a different photo to use as an example because Sachi's ears look to be shaved and trimmed up, except for the very bottom which is longer but that might even be part of her muzzle hair. You are fussy like I and that's fine, I am also a bit of a control freak, so after years of getting dogs cut shorter or different than I wanted I realized I would never be happy unless I could watch and comment along the way. Not all groomers allow that and especially the chains, your best bet is to search for a small owner operator shop. I don't know about the area you live in, but where I live in MI there must be 10 grooming shops within 5 miles of my home. Look on the YCof America's web site, they might that they have a local chapter in your area, those women would be a good source of help.

For the ears I also told her to cut the top 1/3 level with her ear and trim the rest a little bit. I also wrote it down and drew a picture.

I'm going to see how my regular groomer does, if I decide to change companies I'll write a review on yelp. This isn't a chain, it's a small mobile grooming place.
There are tons of groomers around, but I'd have to search for one who will let me watch closely.

Gracie was about 5 or 6 months old when she first went to the groomer. She was pretty used to being combed and brushed daily but had never been to a groomer or handled much by people she did not know. The groomer did not do what I asked her to do but what she did came out looking very professional. I'm sure Gracie must have given her a hard time because she must have been scared and afraid of the clippers she used. This groomer had been doing dogs for a long time so she must have known how to handle such cases. My problem was that she cut her top knot when I asked her not to touch it and ignored the things I did ask her to do.

To say your little girl looks like that because of her puppy actions just confirms the fact that the groomer did not know how to handle her or do her job professionally. I'm sure she did get a bath I would just question how well she was rinsed or what kind of product they used on her. Your little one has a beautiful coat. It doesn't look like you requested anything complicated. Sadly the company will probably continue to do well because many pet owners just expect the bathe and shave type of cut.

Sorry !!! I know how it feels ! But.....still a cuttie pie !!!

I just noticed she cut Lola's hair by the corner of one eye, I also think she cut the hair in the eyebrow area.

I didn't notice the corner of her eye before because it's one eye and a thin layer of hair.

I specifically told her do not cut by her eyes, only cut the border of her face. I also wrote it down.

I'm seriously considering calling up and threatening to post about them all over the internet, tell all my friends, and tell everyone in pet stores if they don't give me my money back.
:thumbdown :mad: