Inside Edition-Grooming tragedies
 

Did anyone watch the inside edition story on babies that have died at the hands of groomers. I came in on the end of it where one had died from the cage driers and one had died from being left unattended while on the table attatched to a grooming loop. It confirms my belief in doing my own grooming. Very sad stories.

No, I didn't see that. I wish I would have.

I saw it. That was so sad :(

http://www.insideedition.com/ourstor...px?storyid=403

Is this the story?

That's so sad.. and scary at the same time :(

One of the tips in the article is to only go to groomers who will let you watch the whole process. Where are these groomers who will let you stay? I can't seem to find any. Even Petco where you can watch through a window has a back room for bathing that is out of view.

Yup, that's the story. And Judy, Petco is where the first story with the drier cages happened!!!! It's tragic. For all of you out there who have trusted groomers, you are very lucky. I'm still a skeptic!

I haven't taken him to one yet, I've just been asking questions. I'm actually still looking for a good instructional video so I can learn to do it myself.

No, I didn't realize that was Petco! :eek: That's what I was leaning toward.

No I missed it. One time I went to pick Maya up at the groomers it was in February and the groomer had a young girl working for her, she never had anyone else before, and this girl brings Maya out and she looks really weird andis breathing really funny, she usually pants but this was different. I said to the girl, what's wrong with her and get me some water for her. She just stood there looking at me. Finally the owner came out and I said something is really wrong with her. I called my Vet and they told me to bring her right over and turn the air on in the car. She was having heat stroke from being left with a cage dryer. They put her on ice and in an oxygen cage and told me she was really close to death had I not gotten her there right away. Maya was fine a few hours later. Those cage dryers scare me.

Me too! I called around and asked about cage driers and if I could watch and was never given satisfactory answers. Good luck to you. I've heard good things about some mobile groomers. It's such a difficult decision, it's almost like deciding on a daycare for your child!!!!! If you find a good video, let me know:D I could sure use the help, my boys look pretty rough sometimes.

I'd seen a thread on here a few months back about 2 dogs literally baking to death in the cage drier. Needless to say it scared the crap right oughta me! I'm really blessed though. The absolutely WONDERFUL breeder that I got Lexie from also does grooming. Her setup is so awesome and there is NO cage drier. I don't know what I would do without her. Well, yeah I do...I'd learn to groom her myself.

I've had a BAD experience that I shared on here a few months back. The groomer told me to pick up my cat at 6 because she would take a long time to dry. I came about 10 minutes before 6 and they closed down. I was in tears and I called the police to get someone to come back so that I could get my cat. Later on an ex employee told me that they used to do this to people ALL the time so that they can charge overnight fees. Once a woman called to say that she was stuck in traffic and was 5 minutes away and the manager told her to lock the door. She said that most people just went ahead and paid for it the next day.
I had warned people about it on Craigslist and one of the old employees emailed me. She said she saw the owner repeatedly punched a cocker spaniel in the face when he was bathing her. They dried their dogs OUTSIDE in the back with cages w/wire bottoms with dry fans. They lie about being a 24 hour on site pet hotel. They DO NOT give them water or food from 6pm-6am despite medical requests because they do not want to clean up the mess. Special toys and blankets that were given to them aren't put with the animal. The manager steals the treats people leave for their pets to give to his own dogs at home.
If a person can't groom their own pet the best thing to do is get references AND take a tour of the place. Ask lots of questions!

That sounds terrible :eek: !

What is the name of this place??

http://www.lamesapethotel.com/
the la mesa pet hotel. The owners were actually very nice. Unfortunately their son is the manager and his girlfriend is the assistant manager. She actually wanted to charge me an extra $20 because the owners made her drive back to the facility to open it up and get my cat.

Isn't it strange how on the website it says that they have 24 hour supervision, but you can not get your animal out at anytime?

The old employee also told me that they want notice before their tours. She also said that during holidays like Christmas and Independence Day that they overbook the dogs and keep half of them outside overnight in pens so that they make more money. People around here call it the La Mesa pet Hell.

We lost our first Yorkie, Maggie, at a groomers. Our regular groomer was unavailable so we used a new one. She called and said Maggie was having trouble breathing and I should come take her to the vet. I sped there but was met at the door with long faces. Maggie was already gone. It broke all of our hearts. We never knew for sure what had happened. But she had been happy and playful just before we dropped her off. Such a shock and a loss we still feel.

I will never leave one of our dogs at a groomer again. I am sure there are fantastic ones that would treat them as well as we do, but I will never take a chance like that again. So, my babies always look a little scraggly as I am still trying to get the hang of this grooming thing.

I just wanted to comment on cage dryers. Not all cage dryers are a bad thing - it is the cage dryers that get hot that are bad. Where I work the cage dryers do not blow hot air - the air they blow is right about at room temperature. It's always important to ask what type of cage dryers a place uses if they do use dryers because you do not want heated ones on your dogs - those are the ones that overheat and can kill your dogs. The ones we use never get hot like that. Customers can also request that their dog be hand blow dried completely - I think it's just about a $5.00 extra charge. Some breeds have to be hand dried such as poodles and bichons or their hair will curl up.

Also where I work, there is a big window to where you can see the grooming room and anyone is welcome to watch, as long as it doesn't cause their dog to be too hyper or excited to groom. The bathing room does not have a window because it can appear messy back there at times. We keep it very clean back there, dissinfect everything regularly, and constantly vacuum the hair but when you have dogs being bathed and blow dried - hair can be flying and it just doesn't always look clean to the outside eye. We will allow customers to look in the bathing room to see what our facilities are like but we don't allow them to stay and watch in the bathing room because it is a small area - just enough room for the dogs and the two bathers - not a lot of extra room for people to sit and watch. Plus, like I said, it can get a little messy at times before it gets cleaned up.

Adding to your comments on dryers, some dogs, like Pekengese have to be hand dried also, they have 'special needs' so to speak because of their facial structure and can die even in the room temp dryers.

I know that you can watch them thru a window at Petsmart.

Our groomer is so good to us (small town business). I always bath Shelby & Seymour (I enjoy doing it AND the dogs like it when I bath them). I will call the groomer within a day or two of their bath and she will call me back when she is finished with her appointments for the day. I then take the dogs to her shop where she trims their long hair, does their nails and puts in a fresh bow, WHILE I WAIT. They are fresh and clean and all combed out when we get there, so her job is pretty easy! :)
Of course she gets great tips..... where else could you get such great service??
We have been going there with our pets for almost 19 years now.

I'm so sorry. I wish they would have brought her to the vet right away. Was there an autopsy done? I hope that never happens again.

That is a GREAT idea! Thanks!

Mine have only been to a groomer for nail cuts and having the ear hair pulled out. I even do those too now. I will not take any chances with my dogs. I wouldn't leave them with any strangers in the first place, and sure wouldn't leave them at any groomers.

My girls don't go to the groomers period. I don't trust them, and I never will. I let Autumn go ONCE and they shaved her...I was sooooooooo mad!!

I had recently become unhappy with my groomers and was looking for a new one. A friend took her dogs somewhere where she stays the whole time...I called, but there was a 2 month waiting list.

So...I stopped in at my vet and asked for recommendations. Then I called each person on the list and discussed things with them including asking if I could stay.

The one who said yes is where we went the last time. I'm glad I got to stay and see the whole process and will probably do that most of the time.

It's hard to fake good habits;)

Yes I saw some of it. It's so sad, I think I saw that they were interviewing one of the people working there, a girl and she said all you need is like two days training and you get the license or something like that. Or there are some places that don't require a grooming license, that is why those accidents happen, they don't know what they are doing. I would only take my dogs grooming if I can stay and watch or I would just groom them myself, which i plan on learning.

no we dont have normal US TV here... I might see it a few months from now (Got to LOVE military TV)...

but the groomer I use here dose not use the loops. If your furbaby cant stand still with out it then its a extra 20.00 for them to have some one hold them while he cuts. Luckily my Bella is tiny and He can hold her with one hand while he cuts her. My Bunny just stands there, like hurry up...You dont yet ? lol

He will even let you stay and watch him too ( I did this the 1st few times). My girls LOVE going to him! He always play with them while he is waiting on his next apt to get there and he NEVER over books so he can have all the time he needs to cut and play with them. Which is a BIG plus bc they come right home, eat there dinner and go right to sleep.

I am really going to miss him when we leave here... Its going to take for EVER to find a good groomer like him... If I can even find another like him...

This is just terrible. I'm getting so nervous because Lily is 4 months and I know soon enough it's going to be time to get groomed. I would do it myself but I'm so horrible at it (I tried to trim a little and believe me, I was kicking myself afterwards...I'm definitely no groomer)
I've asked around for somewhere I could stay and watch but so far, no luck.

These stories just break my heart..I can't even imagine what the owners feel.:(

this is why i groom my own dogs
it takes a while to get a haircut right but there alive !!

I didn't see it, but how scary! People laugh at me because I worry about taking Jake to the groomer....stories like that are the reason why! I hear so many bad things about various groomers.

I think the best thing to do, if you can, is to go in person and make the appt. That way, you can take a look around and ask questions. My son-in-law recommended a groomer to me that he has used, and he knows a friend of the owner. I was in the area and had Jake with me and decided to stop in and check it out and make an appt. I was really happy with what I saw, so I made an appt. Unfortunately, they had a death in the family and called me to reschedule, and then some other things came up in the meantime with Lily, and I injured my neck/back/shoulder so I haven't been able to make a new appt. yet. But, I do plan to as soon as things calm down a bit around here.

Going in person also allows you to see other dogs during or after grooming. I saw two yorkie brothers there whose names were "Fast" and "Furious" lol. Their owners were just picking them up, and they looked gorgeous and seemed happy!:)

I found a great video on ebay. It's called How to Groom Your Pet Yorkie at Home.
This video is exactly what you need.

Just go to ebay seach and type in yorkie grooming video. It will come up.