Puppy traumatized!
 

I had my baby home for 2 1/2 weeks and it was heaven...the best girl ever! Even though she's small at 14 weeks (about 2 1/2 lbs.), she was pad trained, confident and happy.

THEN... yesterday I took her to the groomer (who is supposedly the best around), and I brought home a different dog! Not only was she cut way too short for this weather, she's afraid of going poo and actually tried to eat it last night!! She's skidish, crying and afraid of her own shadow.

Did I take her too young? Anyone else experience this? I feel so bad...I'm even crying.:(

Poor puppy. She is very young for a trip to the groomer, and she has not been in her new home very long. Give her lots of loving and tell her she is beautiful. She is probably reacting to the short hair cut. Make sure she stays warm enough with clothes.

For poop eating, there are many threads in the health section on how to combat this behavior.

Thank you very much! She had so many mats in her puppy coat and I couldn't get them out, I just asked the groomer to get out what she could without cutting her too short...lesson learned!

My Bella is VERY sensitive to new haircuts and people laughing at her. I know this sounds kind of ridiculous, but she will go and hide if she gets a haircut and people laugh. She has done this every time. She will hide for hours or longer. To the point that we can't even find her.

Try grooming your baby at home!! Thats what we do, will take away some of her anxiety!

Your baby was severly traumatized!! There are videos and books on grooming that you may want to check into. This experience will always stay with her now and she should never have to go thru that again.

A groomer will also express there anal glands, its routine for them and it can cause problems in the future...thats probably why she cried when she tried to poop...I always tell my groomer NO EXPRESSING ANAL GLANDS...if they don't have a problem with them than don't have it done.

For the future, you shouldn't be taking her into public places until she is fully vaccinated - including her rabies. I'm surprised the groomer took her that young.

All young dogs are subject to stresses and traumas and our quiet confident response while not feeding their anxieties with our worry and pity(which is there big time, believe me, I know and understand but we have to get over it to help our babies) is the best treatment we can give them. Try to distract her with a squeaky toy, tugowar, suggesting a game, taking her outside - any change of state of mind, when she goes into a panic state and when sheh's distracted, saying positive words like "Hero!" "Soldier!" "Big Dog!" "Rock Star!" always seemed to build up my Tibbe and he would pretty soon be puffing out his tiny chest and acting himself again. Just taking him to the vet and leaving him a matter of hours would cause this panic reaction after he got back home. It was like his world had been rocked and nothing was the same. But just distracting him, redirecting his energy and building him up with those words that we usually say with some amount of built-in positive emphasis seemed to bring him around. Life with a Yorkie can be work at times but the wages are the best in the world - a happy, healthy Yorkie.

A good groomer will do what's best in the interest of the puppy regarding matting. You say she had a lot. Then that is the reason your puppy has been cut short. First, she is very young, second its her first hair cut, and third she was matted. You cannot expect a groomer to demat a puppy on its first groom. It is not fair to the puppy. Demating takes a long time and can be a painful process. The best thing to do is take the coat very short. In order to do this the groomer has to use a blade that is short enough to get between the skin and the mat. A lot of the time the owner has no idea how bad the matting actually is on their dog and the groomer gets blamed for only doing their job.

Now you know better, and if you want a nice long coat on your yorkie you should get a leave in conditioner, a pin brush, and a metal comb. Use them every single day and you shouldn't have a problem with matting again.

Your puppy is also pad trained so I'm assuming she doesn't go outside to potty. The length of her hair and the weather shouldn't matter. Put a sweater on her if she is cold. Right now my yorkie is shaved quite short and she still manages to go outside to potty 4-5 times a day in the snow with no problem.

The groomer could have expressed her anal glads which is a new thing to your puppy so that could be why she was scared. Or it could have nothing to do with the grooming. same with the poop eating.

I hope your pup had all her puppy vaccines before you took her out of the house and to a place where other dogs frequent.

Most groomers will take them as young 8 weeks...The law doesn't require all vaccination and Rabies until 16 weeks, but by 16 weeks they have to be fully vaccinated including the rabies...than you must provide your pups Vet records and cert. to the groomer before they will take them...but they don't require them until 16 weeks

Here in Florida they must be fully vaccinated with rabies by 16 weeks or a groomer will nolonger take them.

That's CRAZY that they will groom an 8 week old dog!!! A groomer should know that you shouldn't bring them around other dogs and in a place like that until they are fully vaccinated at 4 months!

Wow, with the exception of the one post...I feel like I'm being scolded. Yes, she had all of her vaccinations, including kennel cough (I'm not an idiot). I was looking for suggestions as to help her through it, like the gal from Texas suggested, thank you Yorkie Yakker.

I agree but I have seen it and even asked about it...and thats what this groomer told me...she said all they do it bath and dry...just to get them use to the table and all the sounds.

Sorry your baby and you had such a traumatic experience at the groomers. Hopefully in a few days she will be back to her playful self. Dogs are very forgiving.

Thank you Patti!
 

As of this evening, she's back to herself and I've kept a sweater on her all day, which I hadn't done before. My husband and I are going to learn to groom her ourselves. Thank you for your kind words. :)

A word about grooming yourself.....don't expect perfection. I've had Shadow for 6 months and just now really getting the hang of grooming. The first time-she had a little spot on her head that was REALLY short. Another time it looked like I shaved off her "eyebrows".

THe hair does grow back. Like anything else grooming takes practice and unfortunately Shadow is my "practice" dog.

I'm sure you'll do fine. Best of luck and welcome to YT!!

Sophiesquirt - good news to hear. Glad she's doing better. Would luv to see pic of that little squirt in that sweater! All the best!

May sure you use the right kind of brush. I had a poodle before so I used a slicker brush and then I thought Teddi was gaining weight because she was getting broad shoulders.....well it ended up I wasn't brushing her all the way down to her skin so she had to get shaved!! So then I found out that I needed to use a pin brush. We haven't had any problems since and she actually has never even been to a groomer in 3 years. I just to the minimum myself.

Which brush do you use? There are so many...I'm not sure which one to get. I've been using a baby brush, which obviously wasn't working. She's so tiny, I want her to enjoy brushing as much as I do, and she does, but this brush didn't do anything...

Use a pin brush with no heads on the brussels :)


Heres a link to show you what they look like.

Pin Brush For Dogs

I'm sorry you felt "scolded" sometimes people aren't as tactful as they mean to be....you didn't do anything WRONG!! You're just trying to take care of your baby...it probably would have been better to wait to have her groomed or even bathed until she got used to you and your household..but what's done is done....Just love her and reassure her...try not to cuddle or pet her when she's in a fearful state...try to get her mind on something else...when she's happy and in a positive mind frame...give her a treat...that will encourage that state of mind.

The good thing about dogs is they don't have memories like us...she might be a little fearful in the future...but just stay positive and reassure her...They live in the moment...she'll get over the scary experience....like the other poster said...just try to play with her..be positive....and she'll be just fine! :)

I'm glad she's doing better!! Maybe she just got scared from being groomed-it was a new experience. Is it possible for you to find a groomer to come to your home and do the grooming, that way your baby will feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings.

What I do is brush my babies when we are relaxing in front of the TV...I have 2, Bella and Harley, Harley is only 5 mos old so I let him smell the brush, he trys to chew on it LOL all while I'm brushing him I try to make it a bonding and relaxing time for us...he is just starting to sit still and enjoy it...He is due to go to the groomer here in a few weeks for the first time...I'm no good at cutting hair and I know I would mess up :eek: and I like there coats a medium length and pretty LOL...so all I do as far as groomering them myself is baths, brush them out daily and thats it ;)

We use the: 20mm POCKET/TOY FUSION BRASS PIN BRUSH from Chris Christensen - it is WONDERFUL!!!

Do you have the site for this one. I'd like to order one for Zhoie.

I've read on here about the ones that has wooden pins, have used that one? Thanks!

Do you have any specific videos on grooming yorkies that you can recommend?

Why are some pin brushes so sharp? Some of them actually hurt to touch the ends. Hopefully no one uses those on fragile Yorkie skin.

I am glad she is getting better. I learned to groom my 4 because I can't afford to send 4 dogs to the groomers and I don't like having them out of my hands. I use the Chris Christensen gold series pin brush, CC butter comb and the CC wooden pin brush and the madden pin brush. They aren't perfectly groomed by any means but they are good enough. You will learn as you go along and hair grows back. lol

Use a pin brush - but not one of those cheap ones from pet stores with the balls on the ends.
I use the Madan brushes from www.toplinepet.com - Jenny is a member here (and I love to support YT members when I can), her user ID is mimimomo, you can Pm her and she can advise you on which brush is the best for your little one.

I love the Madan brushes too; they are perfect for all 4 of my doggies even though their coats are different. They are so gentle, no pulling, and therefore the doggies enjoy the brushing rather than fighting it.

Sophiesquirt, glad she is back to normal. I do think they can act differently due to a haircut or unusual experience, or to YOUR reaction to her in how different she looks. Might take a little while for her confidence to grow. Grooming yourself is not that hard, and takes away all the worries, so go for it.