Dangers of Dog Grooming?
 

Recently on Inside Edition, they showed dogs that were injured or killed while at the groomers. Story at:
http://insideedition.com/ourstories/...px?storyid=403
I have 2 puppies that I have not yet taken in for a real grooming, somewhat because this story freaked me out. I was at a Petsmart recently, just watching thru the glass windows. You cannot see the dogs getting bathed or dried, just trimmed/brushed on the tables. And the groomers would walk away and leave the dogs just standing there. It made me wonder about my puppies... they tend to want to follow me where ever I go. I could see them wandering off the table after the groomer and getting hung.
How do you go about finding a reliable groomer in your area? I eventually feel I could do this myself, but I'd like to see some professional grooming first.

Teresa

I watched that show also. It was awful what some places were doing. Makes you wonder.

I read more and more on this subject. I have taken Buddy to Petco and have had one groomer groom him. However, they use cages and attach the dryer to the doors! I never thought this was a problem thinking they are professional people until I read these nightmares. I will not take him back!
I have found a groomer who grooms on appointments and hand dryes and does not use cages. We are going there. It is a distance from me but I really don't think I have a choice anymore. Her business has been open for 12 yrs and I know her.:)

I took GiGi to her new groomer this morning. She's been in training at Petsmart, so I took her there 1 time, mostly to have her little bootie shaved. She was not there very long, the lady called and said she would not let her come near her face, and would hardly let her brush her. I thought that was strange. Then after that I watched through the glass how they would yank on the fur (hair), walk away from the pups while on the table. Most of the dogs were just shaking (I assume from being scared to death!).

I was nervous about leaving her today, but I really did my research. I found a place that is usually at full occupancy on their boarding, and mostly full on the grooming schedule. They let you tour anything you want to see, unannounced. And, I got to leave GiGi's favorite toys with her. if anything happens, they prefer to take the pup to it's own vet...... only in a dire emergency would they take the pup to a vet other than the one that normally treats her. They also have doggie daycare there..... so I'm not so nervous now. I did tell them that she had not had a good groomer experience, and they promised to call me as soon as she is done...... unless she is having the time of her life..... then I'll pick her up at lunch!

I NEVER let a groomer near my kids. Some years back all of this came out before. That is when I decided I would learn to groom my own babies. I went to work for a woman who had a grooming/boarding facility. She had some very 'upper crust' clients. I was horrified at the way she did business. She used Nair in their ears to get them really clean, WD40 to get out knots. Slugging puppies with a balled up fist who were too bouncy on the grooming table. And always cutting their nails before their bath so the blood wouldn't show up on their coats. I didn't last long there.... After I quit I tried turning her into everyone but they all said they'd need proof! At least the fates finally stepped in and her place was sold, very valuable property, A huge grocery store now sits there. But I trust no one, granted my babies aren't professionally groomed but I have had a lot of folks stop and tell me how cute their cuts are and who does them? They are clean, neat and safe. And to me that is the most important thing.

I had no idea that dogs were dying a the groomers. My mother use to have a van come to our house to groomer our Llasa apso when I was a kid. I have tried to find some thing like that now. It was called Petvango. They would come to your house in a van by appointment and groom you dog. When Nikki (the Llasa) saw the van pull up she would beg at the door to go. I recently took Molly our yorkie the a groomer in town by appointment and stayed while she was getting groomed. I think you should be able to stay and watch. I mean really would you leave your 2 year old human child at the hair salon for a couple of hours to get a hair cut. If the salon won't let you stay then don't leave your fur baby!!!! My bet is they have something to hide. Trust no one until they gain your trust. These baby's are not yard dogs the a part of your family. I paid more for my yorkie that I did to give birth to both of my children. Sorry I am ranting. I just think it is such a shame that those poor dogs died. Connie K

It really isn't that difficult to groom your yorkie at home. It just takes time and practice. If you have a helper to hold the puppy while you clip him, you can get pretty good results. Look around at other pics of yorkies and choose which cut you like, then try and copy it. Buy a good set of clippers and start slowly. It doesn't matter if the result doesn't look professional, at least you know your puppy is safe in your hands, and you aren't trusting a stranger. When I groom my boys, I don't usually do their whole body in one sitting. I may do the ears and face one day, the legs the next day, etc. They cooperate better for shorter periods. Give it a try. It's well worth it in the long run.

What is a good set of clippers? :confused: I have looked and don't know what kind to get? :confused: I do all my yorkies But Sunshine I am to scared to do her because of the soft spot I take her to a friend that's a groomer and I watch her that's how I know how to groom my other 6 yorkies.

I took my Gizmo to Petsmart for the first time and of course I stayed and watched the whole time and they were really good..I love the ending results the only thing i didnt like was that i couldnt see when they bathe him and well they dry him as they brush his hair right in front of me...I would never leave my furbaby there all alone...My husband has to hold him down when we are just trying to wipe his eyes so trying to groom him wouldnt work with him..Even when i brush him at night he cannot stay still and when i shower him he moves a lot and trys to get away and when i took him to petsmart i guess the fact that he didnt know the girl that was grooming him made him scared and he stood very still which he would never do w/ me...

There are videos that show you how to do the vrious breeds. I'm sure you could learn, it might not be perfect at first but they don't care.

I have never taken a dog to a groomer. I used to give my past yorkies puppy cits in the summer, just by using a scissors and my fingers as a length guide. I took the hair between my fingers and cut it that short.

If I were showing them, it would be different.

Also, I hve a dog clippers, but prefer to use the same Whal clipper that I use for my husband.

I'm happy with my groomer, but she's a girl I went to high school with. She was in my brothers grade. They groom in a building attached to the vet office that I worked in as a kid so I know if there was an accident they would see a good vet right away. I stayed the first time just to make sure he was safe & I was happy with her work. He likes to go see her & she says he's one of her best behaved clients. so there are good ones out there. & I agree that you should be able to stay the first time if not everytime.

I groom the girls myself...I feel even if it doesn't look professional at least I know what kind of treatment they are getting...My girlfriend brings her lhasa to a groomer 2 or 3 times a year. (she has her cut down real short...she doesnt want to be bothered with taking care of long hair...) She went to pick up Tabby at the groomers and there was a small dog on the table..(tied) When the groomer and my friend turned around the dog had tried to jump off the table and was HANGING!! FROM HER NECK! and this is why I groom myself!

I really want to buy a decent set of clippers and do it myself, but my current groomer does an AMAZING job and for only $35 she keeps him for less than an hour. She only does small dogs and she does not crate them since she does only one at a time. She just cuddles him and loves him and she even lets me help hold him for the hard part - the nails and ears - so that he doesn't freak out. Good groomers are out there I promise!

The first groomer we used was OK. I was never worried about Loki getting hurt but I didn't like her cut and she couldn't ever seem to follow my instructions. She also would keep him for 4 hours and was only open from 9-1 when I was working! She would clip all the dogs then bathe them. As soon as I found a better one we switched.

Also, I have a friend who lives up near you and has a good groomer. Do you want me to get the name for you?

Can someone explain to me why dogs go into crates to begin with?
If you have an appointment at 11:00 why then can't you sit there and wait for the dog to be finished? Or go shopping and come back in 1 or 2 hrs to pick up your pet. When you make an appointment at a salon for yourself you don't go into a crate and wait! Why can't the pet grooming business be run the same way? I found one that does and I am going to start using it. They should all be like that to begin with.

Like I said above, the one groomer liked to clip all the dogs and then give them all a bath. I was fine with this except her hours were only in the middle of the day so it was really inconvenient for anyone who worked. I found myself scheduling grooming appts for my days off and that was when I wanted to see Loki! She only did 4 dogs a day. Her biggest issue was she didn't seem to own a pair of scissors - she used clippers for everything!

Another groomer I used for a while would let me drop Loki off at lunch around noon and then let me pick him up at 4:00 when I got off work. That worked well for me until she changed her hours. How do some of these groomers expect you to work around their daytime hours?

I like being able to leave Loki for only an hour, but I HAVE to get a Saturday appt or otherwise I have to make my husband take him at lunch! The thing is, if I didn't work all day I'd just groom him myself! :D

Nugget is a year and a half and to this day we still havent taken him to the groomers....we've never even cut his hair :) it looks really good, be give him a good brushin at least once a day.....we have sure to keep his weenie hair cut at all times too :)

I groom my own. I was lucky and have a friend who is a groomer that taught me and then I found a great training CD on ebay on grooming yorkies specifically. I'll never take any of mine to the groomers, never.

Pet smart has what they call an exspress... this means you are in the store waiting while your puppy gets groomed and there is no wiating time in a crate.:Dp

I do as much as I can with Chewy... but he needs a trim on his body so I called this dog supply store-grooming place and asked if I could stay and observe while he was being groomed. They told me no it's not covered by insurance. i said I would find another place and turned to walk out... the girl said call back when the groomer was there and maybe she would work something out. Well I called and it turned out the groomer is one of my old art students! She said I could stay for everything but the bath. I told her I bath him and no one else ever does so no problem! I am so excited to watch and learn and I know this girl and she is very sweet... I hope she does a great job. I would love to have some one I can work with in the grooming department of my baby!:)

Whats the name of the cd!!! Maybe I can get my hands on one!

I'm interetsted in the CD too!!! I have been giving Adonis all his hair cuts since he came to me. Sometimes, it don't turn out so pretty, but I know he's safe with me.

Nephews new gf works at a vets office. She offered to take him in one morning and bring him home that evening. I think she was highly offended when I said NO. :D Oh well, she can get mad, and get glad.

If mine gets groomed, I'm gonna be there and watch! Seen too many post about grooming gone bad here. And to think, I was leary before I found this website too;)

I have always stayed at the groomers anytime Mojo was getting groomed - whether they wanted me to or not. I have never done those that tell you to just drop them off and pick them up at the end of the day (no way). But, I am lucky and never had to do that.

Speaking as a groomer here I can never imagine doing those things to a dog, let alone having one die while in my care. Its those types of places that make us good ones look bad. I groom alot of senior dogs and am always extra careful with them, I had a 16 year old peke today come in for grooming.
Years ago when I first started grooming I got my start at petsmart (been grooming for 11 years) they drilled in you to NEVER leave your dog alone on the table and if you had to walk away have someone stand there with the dog until you came back. If you see this happening report them to a manager in the store
Im just posting to defend myself as a groomer, not all of us are bad and it kills me to hear about a groomer mistreating a dog

I went to a groomer in magnolia texas that everyone i talked to said was great. WELL----- Not great at all.

I called for an appt, got there 10 mins early, waited 30 mins more and no show. So i went home. Called for another appt the following day. Got there 10 mins early again. Walked in a saw 4 small dogs in one crate. That pissed me off from the start. Then I asked what time was Penny getting groomed, she said in a couple hours, I said shes not staying in that crate for a couple hours. She said well i guess I can do her now. I said ok, where can I sit to watch. CAN you believe she told me I must leave, I cannot stay because penny will not obey her and pay attention and I might get upset if I was to hear her cry! I grabbed my penny and out the door we went. the nerve of her, what a b---h.

I now do all my own grooming, penny might not look the best in the world, but I know I can be trusted...LOL

I took Ferdinand to Petsmart to have him groomed, and they told me to come back it 2-3 hours. Then when I got there, I HATED his cut. It was awful... looked like a 2 year old could have done better. And they charged me an extra $7 to use conditioner and an extra $5 for something else. Oh, and $10 to trim his body, and they only trimmed half his body. Seriously, it was bad. I love Petsmart, but I'll never go to their groomers again.

I bought some Wahl clippers a while back, but I've just been trimming him with scissors and my fingers.

A similar story happened not too long ago with a yorkie here in CT. Sooo sad.

The only thing that I let groomers do to mine is the nails, only because they will not let me do it and they do it right there where I can see them. So, I'm very comfortable with that.

It's been a long time since I took a dog and dropped them off to be groomed. I'm not sure how comfortable I would be with it now after all the horror stories you hear. I have gotten a couple of recommendations from people that I have met. They own their own shops.

I do not take either my yorkie baby or my maltese baby to the groomers. I did take the Yorkie "ONCE" and that was all it took! They did his nails and his ears and I know I could have done a better job but since I had only had him a couple months, I thought I would have it done by a "professional.":rolleyes: So the next time he needed his ears done, yours truly did it with scissors but I too need to get some clippers to do the real yorkie ear look and to do his pads. So I'm a lookin'. No more groomers for my babies.

to person talkling about groomers
 

please !!!!! be careful choosing a groomer !!! stay demand that they let you stay and watch while they groom - especially if they are going to clip any hair!!! I or rather Bubba had a terrible experience ! a week ago - our vet. recommended a groomer - so I took him to have his hair clipped away from his ears - they were very shaggy - that was all I said to do - when I left and I talked to the girl up front for fifteen minutes about this showed her exactly what I wanted too- when I came back a few hours later - they brought Bubba out and you can't imagine the shock and horror I felt when my sweet little boy came out with no!!! hair !!!! shaved !!! no joke they shaved him he looked like a rat! I blew them out !!! and took Bubba home cryed all day ! took him to Pets mart showed him to his trainer and she consoled me told me to take him into the groomers there and let them help me - of couse they told me how quickly his hair would grow - and they could cut as it grew and shape it up and in 8 - 9 months he would have a beutiful coat again and I could watch as they cut I felt better - just be very careful bas1

grooming
 

The reason I started grooming years ago was because one of my pups I placed got out of the shop and killed in the parking lot...groomer did not even miss the dog until someone found him.

The problem I have with many groomers is, they have to groom in quantity to make money...that can lead to accidents and problems. Not enough time and attention is given to each dog...mobile groomers are good..and I have found many groomers who work for vets do very well. It is not hard to learn basis grooming yourself...