to have groomed or to groom myself that is ?
 

I am so torn on whether to bring Baxter to be professionally groomed or to groom ourselves. I really have an issue bringing him to be groomed and having to leave him there - from my understanding - he'll be in a harness - hanging over a table - and I can't get him for approx 3 hours. Am I being an idiot for thinking like this and should I just bite the bullet and go for it. Get over it so to speak or................Being that Baxter seems to be letting us brush him without too much of a fight - do we try ourselves, or are we getting into something we shouldn't.:confused: :eek:




Any input would be appreciated....

Our groomer comes to the house. I sit out with her while she grooms in her Mobile. Otherwise I don't know what I'd do since I'd hate to leave her somewhere. I had to leave her all day at the doctor yesterday and I drove my husband crazy checking the time!

I got Armani groomed and he did well. SInce then I brought him back to have his ears groomed. I also bought some clippers and shaved his booty this last weekend and he did well, so I think I will continue to progress to grooming him myself, but gradualy, I dont trust myself fully just yet.

for a while Layla went to be groomed but beacuse our house is such a quiet place during the day the barking at the groomer stressed her out so much she shook and insisted on being carried for 3 days after.. so i bought myself a REALLY good clipper from petedge and we do it ourselves now. Saved a lot of money and Layla is much calmer because of it. I have a horrible feeling that perhaps some other bad things happeend there as now we can't walk to the back of petsmart (where the grooming takes place) without her freaking out.. i feel so bad that i made her go as often as i did before i caught on...

My kids were going to a groomer where they had to stay, but I just found a new one where I can stay. I'll like that a lot better.

I do my own
 

I took Chewy for 3 times as a puppy but relaized that I could do it myself and he is so much happier. I did buy a muzzle so I could trim his nails without him bitting me. But he is over a year now and he doesn't bite any more so I don't use the muzzle now. Not only is it cheaper doing it yourself but you know your dog is being treated well and that means the world to me. :D

I think you probably misunderstood about being in a harness and hanging over the table. I've never heard of something like that. Most groomers have grooming tables that the dogs stand on while being groomed. There is usually a noose that they put over their head to keep them from moving too much, stay in the center of the table, and keept them from jumping/falling off the table (although the groomer should never walk away from the table and leave the dog unattended).

I don't three hours is very long to leave your dog at the groomer. It does take some time to bathe them, blow dry them, brush them out, and cut their hair. A lot of times they get done earlier than they say because they usually give themselves extra time in case your dog is hard to work with. You can tell them to call you just as soon as your dog is ready.

The main thing is to look very hard for a good groomer. Don't just go to anyone. Ask your vet who they recommend and even call other vets in your area to see if their is a general concensus on who is the best. Find others with small dogs in your area and ask who they use and if they are happy. Once you get a lot of references for a place or two, go by and see the facilities and meet the groomers. Some of your best places will probably even be booked up for a week or more. To me, if a place is able to take walk-ins most of the time, it is a sign that they probably aren't as good - otherwise they'd have a large clientel base that would keep the appointment book filled. When you take your dog in to be groomed, be very specific with what you want done and what you don't. Even bring a picture in to show what type of cut you want. There are some great groomers out there but you have to look hard for them (because sadly there are a lot of bad ones). It might be a little trial and error with getting the cut exactly as you want it at first so give your groomer feedback when you pick up your dog. Tell them what they did right and if there is anythign you want differently the next time (they should keep records of what they do each time).

Good Luck :)

The main thing is finding a groomer you can truly trust, I have been taking my furkids to the same one now for 2yrs, and he is great, I drop them off at 6am and pick them back up by 730, sometimes earler depending how bad they are, we know each other on a first name basic and my babies like him, good luck to you:) It can be stressful i know.

I took Tilly to the same groomer for over a year and she just started becoming weird. She was always so negative about things. She had a baby last yr and I think she is stressed out. That doesn't matter though. You should always be friendly to your customers. She never kept a close eye on her own skin kids, why would she take care of my furbabies? We would drop them off and she would run inside the house for something. I think she just had to many things going at one time. I now groom both Tilly and JJ on my own. They are more comfortable and it's just as easy. Besides if I mess up I can't get angry at anyone else but myself. :)

I've tried several groomers and decided I'm going to try to keep up with it myself. The latest worry I had was the drying cages - they can get overheated in there. I've had 2 yorkies and one loved it hot and one gets easily overheated.

Good luck with your decision, either way can be stressful. There are a lot of very good groomers out there and then there is the satisfaction of knowing you can do it yourself and know how your baby is being treated. I do a lot of the grooming myself but there are things that the groomer can do better than me, like expressing the anal glands. I can't do this myself. And cutting toenails are the worst thing for me.

Again, Good luck with either decision you make.

I have yet to take my lil one to the groomer...I've purchased the clippers and just purchased a grooming video (waiting to receive it) and figured I'd give it a go at grooming her myself. I've have too many other times with my other larger dogs where they have come home with nicks/cuts and I don't want that for my lil one...

My baby's first trim was a nightmare! He still had his black puppy hair (6+ months old) and it was getting pretty shabby looking. I took him in and told them just to take a little bit off to "neaten" him up a bit. He came home looking like a schnauzer! He was a shaved Yorkie with a schnauzer face. I about cried. I have since found a great groomer that used to be a beautician. She does a wonderful job on Snicker's puppy cut. I do have my own clippers that I am eventually going to try when he is a little older, but I am still chicken.:D

groomer
 

I recommend grooming yourself. Not all groomers are bad, but the one I worked for was. I was just learning how to groom from this person in a well established shop. This person has top winning show dogs and is an AKC judge. A new puppy came to be groomed and was afraid of all the noise in the grooming shop. So, since the puppy would not sit still to be groomed, the groomer started hitting the puppy until it became limp and blood came out of its nose. The puppy passed out and the groomer thought the puppy was dead. The puppy just passed out, thankfully. He was easy to groom after that because he was comatose the rest of the day. The owners picked him up about 4 hours later. Unless you can see your dog being groomed, I wouldnt even take a chance leaving your Yorkie with a groomer. The grooming supplies are a little pricey up front, but in the long run, it is cheaper to buy them than it is to go to a groomer for the life of the puppy. Grooming Yorkies is not hard and you get to spend quality time with your pet.
Just a thought. Lynn

Wow that's aweful! What a terrible person. I hope you reported her. Did the owners know their puppy was hurt when they picked it up? Did you hear if it was okay after that? I would have quit there on the spot and made sure the owner of that puppy knew exactly what happened. Someone should hit her in the head until she passes out and has blood coming out of her nose!