Groomer butchered my baby!
 

I am so livid right now I can just scream. I took Stevie to a new groomer who was recommended by a number of my neighbors (this was only his second time and the first time a different groomer nicked his nose good and didn't mention it then said it didn't happen there so I didn't go back).

I made the appointment for this morning at 10:00 am. I dropped him off told her I wanted a short yorkie cut like one of the others she had there.I ran errands but when I hadn't heard anything by 2:00 I called to see when he would be ready. She said she hadn't even gotten to him yet and I questioned her on why because it had been four hours. She said she would call me back.

So I didn't get a call and ended up just going to get him at 4:30. I didn't even recognize my dog. She butchered him. He is shaved all down so much so that in some parts you can see his skin. His paws are just horribly cut uneven just a mess. He isn't even black anymore he is gray, now I'm not sure if we will get the color we had in him back, it was a nice black with red tints it looked wonderful.

Then she told me it would be $35.00, and I laughed and snatched my puppy from her. I told her I'm not paying a dime for this butcher job she did on my poor dog. He doesn't even look like a yorkie right now besides his size. I'm so mad I'm shaking.

How long will it take for his hair to grow back, and will we ever get that color back or will he be gray now?

I cannot believe this, I showed my neighbor who recommended her and even he was baffled and shook his head. He said it sounded like she just shaved him when I inquired on why it was taking her so long and that she took in more dogs then she could handle today. He apologized and said it had never happened to him before but he wouldn't refer anyone else to her.

I just can't believe she did this to my dog.

I would be mad too. The more I read about bad haircuts the more determined I am to never take mine to groomers. I get enough bad haircuts of my own.

It will probably be a cute cut by the end of summer. As for the color, it's hard to say. Since yorkie hair is not like other dog hair. My guess is that it will go back, but it might not.

My first grooming experience wasnt the greatest either. Most likely the black is gone and now that hair will be gray silver. That black was his puppy hair and once my dogs were cut it never went back to black. It will probably take about 3 months for it to grow back out completely

Poor baby! The time to grow out hair is different on each dog. But I think that black is gone sweetie..... if he is silver on the inside and it is showing..... his new coat will come out like that. So sorry about your experience. I never use to bring my dogs to the groomer but I am such a bad groomer myself that I broke down and took 4 of mine to the one around me.... I made sure I spoke to the groomer directly and told her EXACTLY what I wanted. THey all came out great so I will be going back with all 7 of my furbabies! Sorry to hear about your experience......

That's terrible! I know when Cali had surgery 6 weeks ago they chopped her hair all uneven and had to shave all her belly hair which was black black. It is growing back gray but the rest of her is still very black, so I would guess the black is gone for good on your baby.

That is horrible! It is so hard to find a good groomer that gives you exactly want you want. I myself, groom all of my dogs, at first it was a little rough, but as time went on with practice, I can groom them with them looking really good in the end. I figured why put my dog through the stress of going to a groomer, having him come back looking really bad and having to pay for it when I can groom him myself for free. ;)

I now know that I need to groom him myself. I am still in shock over all of this and you can tell that he isn't taking it well himself. When we got home I put him out in the backyard to run around with my kids and he just sat their howling. I brought him in and just sat with him on my lap and just kept staring at him getting more and more angry and this dumb lady.

I'm even more upset that his black is gone, althought I knew it when I saw all the gray I was hoping it would come back. I'll love him to death no matter what color he is, but that's it for us and groomers. I'll wait for the coat to grow back and just maintain it myself. He is calmer and more comfortable with me at home anyhow.

My kids were trying to comfort me (8 and 6) saying "mom it doesn't look that bad, it will grow back" although they know he looks horrible they were trying to make me feel better because they saw how upset I was.

It's a lesson I have learned and something my stevie will never go through again.

Anekka

This has got to be one of the hardest things for a Yorkie owner to endure... the first BAD Haircut! Its awful!! And for some its worse than it is for others... It sounds like you got it real bad... I'm sooooo sorry!

I do however have a suggestion for you!!! I know your in California... Not sure where exactly.. so I'll give you a few ideas... Northern... Get some cute sweaters!! Or some fun Flannel Jammies! And if your in Southern California... Go for some light weight golf shirts, or maybe a sports jeresy??

Just think of the cute clothes you can put him in while that hair is growing out! It'll cover him up and keep the SUN off of his skin on walks!!! Don't let him burn! And if its cold, it'll keep him warm... And it will keep your eyes off of the whole mess and your mind off of it too!

BTW... where in CA are you... I'm in So. Cal. Palm Springs area..

Im so glad you never paid her!!!!
It too would be bloody livid :mad:
I do my own grooming, you could give it a try next time im sure your gonna make a much much better job than this butcher did!! and its not as difficult as you would think.
If i ever succumb to a groomer i have one locally that i would use as you can stay with your dog as he/she is being done then you can keep an eye on proccedings, maybe you could look for a groomer that lets you stay too?
His coat will grow back before you know it, in the mean time time buy him a nice jumper.

I can understand how you feel. My pup recently had her first cut and I put that poor girl through so many questions-gave her some pictures and a written description of what I wanted. Holly was the only one in and when i went back after 45 minutes was just being brushed out and smothering the girl with kisses! I will take her back there,but i got lucky. Meanwhile. a nice t-shirt will cover up the mess and Yorkie hair grows really fast. The new hair will probalbly be more silky and less prone to mat too and easier to comb. Have you mobile groomers in America who bring a grooming trailer to your place and let you watch while they work? I am thinking of trying this next,even though i was happy with our result. This might work better for you. My pup is naughty for me when i try to cut her hair.She did better for someone else. I am sure your baby is still real cute. Can you post a picture?

Poor baby! How old is he? If he is gray than that is his adult color and the black will not be back. Such a shame. It is SOOOO hard to find a good groomer! :(

I'm sorry your little one was given a bad cut. The part I find more upsetting was the fact that he sat there for four hours without being touched! That, to me, is inexcusable.

I'm lucky that I have a great groomer who treats each dog like royalty. I knew she was the right one when I went to interview her...she paid more attention to my dog than she did to me! :)I really lucked out in finding her.

I'm more amazed each day on reading here how many bad groomers there are out there. Scary.

i dont know why some of these groomers think they can do whatever
they want to our pups... they do have some nerve.. im glad you didnt pay them. i would of walked out yelling and screaming to other customers
about what happened... i dont go for that crap... i warn them before i hand
over lexi... you do it right or else....and they do for some reason..

Okay to answer all the questions. We do have mobile groomers around here. I have seen their trucks when driving around town. It's a thought but for now I have such a bad taste in my mouth for groomers, I will do it myself.

The shirts and sweaters are a great idea, we will need more sweaters. He already has an assortment (it's so hard to go to Petco and not buy him any clothes) but I can always get more since he is in hair crisis right now LOL!

I live in Northern California, the east bay so it's chilly here and keeping him warm in my main concern, he likes to spend time outside a lot since I am out there gardening or he is playing with the kids. I can't wait for his coat to grow back and he actually LOOKS like a yorkie again and not a shaved down ball.

And to top it all off, I don't even believe she gave him a bath while he was there. The last time I took him to the first groomer, he smelled great. This time he smelled the same as when I dropped him off. So I did it myself last night then we were off to bed. The poor guy just snuggled up to me last night, it was funny like having one of my kids in the bed in the middle of me and my husband.

Anekka

East Bay! I bet he's cold!! I just moved away from Petaluma to So cal... And boy do I ever miss it up there!!! I worked for a couple of months at our store in Walnut Creek, Shane Co. I was covering for another Manager... I loved the weather out there... Not quite as cold as Petaluma... But I still would not want to be up there with all my hair shaved off!! :eek:

I say its a fine excuse to do some shopping! :p

Oh man....Thats just awful...I would report her to the Manager :mad:

I had an appointment to take Scamp to Petcetra....but after reading this I am going to cancel & get my son to do it....It took my son 3 hrs hes a ....perfectionist.. :thumbup: ..& does a really good job..

Pity you dont live near me....he wouldve done your for free & you wouldve been real happy with the outcome :cool:

I am going to Palm Springs in may.....I love it there,all that sunshine :)

Exactly! It's very cold here. I went out this morning and bought him an assortment of sweaters and fleece outfits from a doggie boutique near my home so hopefully that will help him.

I bought a variety of grooming supplies for him and we will just do it here. It will be a learning experience but I couldn't do any worse than the butcher.

I can't report her to the manager because she is the one that owns the shop! That's the worst part about it, she should know what she is doing.

I took some pictures of him but can't upload them they keep saying they are too big and I don't know how to fix it.

He looks better with the sweaters but honestly does not look like my dog at all. It's a shame and my neighbor feels so bad. He came over this morning when we were leaving for the pet store for clothes and apologized again. He went out and bought him a basket of toys. It was very sweet of him and I thanked him, told him it isn't his fault she butchered him and I'm sure he woudln't have told us about her if he knew she would do that. He told me he called her and told her how upset I was and he was about what she did and that he wouldn't be bringing his dog (a scottish terrier) back to her again.

I was venting yesterday and appreciate all the responses. I was just beside myself. Stevie IS a part of this family. I treat him just as I do my own children and you would do anything in the world for your kids and the same goes for him.

Stevie will love all the nice clothes he's getting, and hopefully his coat will grow out fast. I just wanted to share with you that I always used the mustache trimmers to do Cassie, the little battery operated ones, the noise never bothered her and she didn't mind them at all. I also shall be grooming Baby Blessing myself from now on. She was one time to the groomer :-( Have a nice day. Patti and ~~Baby Blessing~~

Im sorry that you had a bad experience at the groomers. I hope his hair grows fast. I guess is shopping time for lots of cutsies fo him.

You want to hear about a bad experience with a groomer, well here goes. Gucci was about 8 mts. old. and I took her for the second time with this groomer. My daughter went to pick her up and she called me on my cell hystercially crying. The groomer she shaved her bald and it was Feb. and cut her throat, talk about going crazy. She even admitted that it wasn't Gucci's fault but it was hers. We took her to the vet and thank God it was superfical, just needed a glue bandage. Of course I told her off and never went back.This made me leary of all other groomers. To be honest I have taken Gucci to numerous groomers and I am not to happy with them. Petsmart was not so bad, but I am not crazy about them. I finally found a place but the groomer pissed me off, she did a beautiful job , but when I dropped Gucci off in the morning, apparently she must have peed in the crate. The groomer says I will let you get away with it this time being its your first time here. I do charge when they soil. CAN YOU IMAGINE... SEE YA...lol

I am still looking for a decent groomer......Gina

Are you kidding me! I'm talking about them shaving gucci and cutting her throat! OMG I would have just lost it. Okay so your story way tops mine. I'm sorry that happened to your baby.

Okay and the groomer that says she charges more when they soil! She needs to get into a new line of business because that's what dogs do sometimes. Heck Stevie did it today in Petco while shopping for new clothes. I had my kids go and tell one of the employees, I apologized for the mess but the associate said, dogs do these things and it's a pet store no biggie. I would have just wanted to slap her for saying something so idiotic.

i can relate...
 

I can relate to this!!! My mother's groomer does her yorkies perfect every time so I used her one visit (she is a mobile groomer) I told her I just wanted Lexie washed brushed and dried with a sanitary buzz...I made sure to say Do not cut her hair at all except the sanitary buzz. Lexie's hair was sooo long and pretty.
When she brought Lexie back to me all of her hair was cut off like a puppy cut. I was horrified. Mom is going to continue to use her but I have decided to go back to my old groomer...the one I have to drive to. I can't understand how this woman can groom mom's dogs perfect every time and mess Lexie up the first time. I had never allowed her hair to be cut and I was not going to have it ever cut short...She was a mess. She more like a yorkie colored west highland terrier than a yorkie. I am glad her hair is finally growing back but I have learned my lesson. I think it is best to watch the groomer the first time if you are unsure what they are going to do...that way next time you know they will do it right!

Ohmi...I'm so sorry to hear about your first experience!!

A while back, I made several appointments with different groomer but I canceled them last minute for the fear that my baby's hair would be butched. Oh man, that's totally hard to swallow....

I know, I don't understand how a groomer can cut a perfect hair cut on one dog and butches on another dog. I think that's why I'm soo hesitant. After hearing this story, I'm going to groom her myself.

I can totally relate! I had a very similar experience a week ago. Although I got an apology, and my money back. I will NEVER return to petsmart, and honestly I'll have a hard time trusting any groomer. I had even brought pictures, and talked directly with the groomer (who was the manager).


Heck, lol, here's the link if you'd like to read about it!

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38587

My Rhapsody looked very gray also, but I've noticed in the past week she seems to have darkened up -- she's kind of a very dark silky gray now. . . so the hair's growing back fast, and it seems to be darkening up! Her hair texture seems to of changed, much more silky. I don't know if this is because of the length, or because she's getting her adult coat now. . . oh well, we'll wait and see.

So sorry for your experience. I just can't believe that people think that they can get away with doing this to people's dogs!! They are like our family. Even my 5 year old little girl, Rachel, gasped in horror when she first saw Rhapsody! She still is very upset, and has been very verbal that the mean people won't ever be able to do that to her puppy ever again!! Lol, I should have just had Rachel handle the negotiation -- she would have gotten our money back right then rather than two days later.

Okay in that picture with Rhapsody shaved, that is exactly how my Stevie looks right now. How long ago did this happen? And is the coat back yet or just coming back?

I know it will take a while, but I want his nice coat back. Heck even if it's gray at least he'll have some hair and "look" like a yorkie.

Seems like we were in the same boat.....too many horrible groomers out there. My thing is if you think you can't do it the way I asked for it then just tell me. I would be happier for you to say something and take my baby home than butcher him. She told my neighbor when he called her on it that Stevie was difficult and very jumpy. Uh, he's a puppy still and yes he can be a bit jumpy at times but this is your line of business. If you can't deal with it call the family and say you can't do it. She never mentioned that to me when I called to see if he was ready. Had she said that I would have just said forget it I'll come and get him.Ugh!, I will make sure I tell everyone I know never to take their dogs to her (have already made plenty of phone calls to friends that are dog owners to make sure they don't go to her)

:aimeeyork that makes you want to remember that and tell the groomer that if it gets too difficult to call and say they can't do it doesn't it. I am at the point where I will tell anyone who grooms Lexie that I would rather they admit they can't if she gets too wild instead of messing her up...it reduces the risk of bad results.

:aimeeyork I am sorry for all of you that have been through what you went thru. We took my dad's boy Sparky to a very mean groomer who was supposed to cut his hair in a puppy cut...instead they completely shaves him...he was hairless!!! He looked soooo funny. Like a fat chihuahua, lol. Mom wasn't mad about the hair...well not vocally because he was sooo funny looking. The part she was really mad about was that the woman cut a toenail nearly completely off. He was bleeding everywhere! We took him to the vet then contacted the groomer who blamed us saying he was injured when we brought him there. It was horrifying how rude and hateful she got! Later she apologized and said next time would be free. Well next time I took Lexie who was a baby at the time to her to have her ears buzz cut to help them stand. The woman set up an appointment and was nice on the phone but when I got there she made me stand there an hour waiting saying she was busy then asked if i minded if she went out and smoked before getting to lexie. I said no and she asked me to come with her to show her what I wanted done. When we got out around other shoppers she immediately humiliated me by saying I was a liar and was there to ruin her business and that after my allegations (and the complaint's never came from me) she would never allow me there. She also accused me of hurting my pets to make her look bad. I was almost crying because of her screaming at me. I would never do that!!! I was sooey humiliated! A shopper at the next store ran over and tore into her verbally and told her off saying she had no right to treat people that was and she should be shut down because she also messed up her dog. I finally shook it off and went to the store owner who also got rude with me! He had invited me for the free visit before and said he had never offered it. I took out the voucher and he ripped it from my hand and tore it up saying see no proof now you stupid girl.

Anyway we may have bad visits to groomers but the thing to remember here is that there are still good groomers out there. We tend to focus on the bad scaring us and others away from going to a groomer at all. I have had my good experiences too! My current groomer is the best! She spoils my babies!!! They have sooo much fun at her place that they are never ready to leave. On the days I groom them they can't get there fast enough, lol. Don't let the bad ones scare you...remember them and learn from them! That way you will know the things to ask the good ones. You will know the results you expect and the things to work on until you achieve them. Do as others have done...if you have an idea of what you want find a picture and take it to them. Or take a picture of your baby after they are done and use it as your example if you change groomers. Do your research on the people and their clients. In pet stores the shoppers are usually clients too...especially in the smaller stores with groomers. Places people go back to have better reps. For my current groomer I got a list of other clients from her...a referral list. She was happy to give that to me so I could see her other work...it was an interview process but it was well worth it...and I get group discounts for my babies since I have 3 I take and at times my mom's 2 yorkies and her pom. Always ask about group discounts if you have several babies!!! It saves a lot...believe me, lol. Good luck everyone!!!
~Tru

Sigh, only a little over a week ago. She hasn't grown much hair back, but more than I expected. Right after the cut when I ran a comb through her hair I felt like I was scraping skin; now it goes through and pulls up hair. Also it doesn't look like she has any more bald spots. There were a couple places where you could see the pink of her skin -- I don't see any pink now. The hair the comb is running through on her back looks definately dark; I'm wondering if the gray was just her skin showing through. We'll see; it hasn't grown back enough yet for me to say exactly what color I'm seeing. She just is starting to get a darker gloss to her back coat, while last week she looked almost completely gray except where the shadows hit her.

I hope these descriptions make sense. . .

I'd post pictures, but I'm afraid I've had two camera issue problems. First the pups got a hold of the wire I use to download my pictures to the computer. Well, I went and got a replacement, but now I can't find my camera!!! I had it Easter Day, but I'm worried I may have left it somewhere since we were out and about so much, and I was taking pictures through the first half of the day.

Sigh, when it rains it pours. If that darn camera doesn't show up soon, I'm going to use this as an excuse to go get a new digital (mine was a couple years old anyway, lol).

Good luck finding your camera...I lose mine all the time, lol. I think my yorkies hide it so I will stop taking pictures which I do a lot, lol.

You should try Solid Gold Seameal...In the first week I used it on Romeo his hair grew fast!!! It works wonders on him...perhaps it will help your baby's hair grow back fast. Hie hair was staying short but after that week it increased in growth...t months later it has grown out over an inch. I know all puppies are different but this stuff is safe and awesome!!!