bummer groomer experience #2
I noticed when I dropped her off at 8:15 am that the place was very busy. There was a whole line of dogs (regulars) coming in. I was told I'd get a call around 12:30. No call, so I called them at 2 pm. They said rather indignantly that it took 45 minutes to brush her out and dematt before the bath, so she won't be ready until 6 pm. They haven't even started clipping yet. The other groomer we used kept her for four hours, and I thought that was a long time. But today my dog will be at this place for ten hours! This is not a rescue dog, living outside, full of matts. This is a pampered dog that is brushed daily but has a couple trouble spots. They've known for a week she was coming in. They knew she was a new client. They knew she was an OES. And they didn't set aside any extra time for her? I think they're just throwing her back in the crate to wait while they work on the regulars. I mean, if the unexpected part was the 45 minute brush out/dematting, shouldn't she have been there maybe an extra hour? Instead she's there an extra five and a half hours! So tell me. Is this what it's like to use a groomer? Should I have expected my dog to be there for ten hours? Should I expect them to blame the brush out/dematting for this? I mean, brushing out an OES for a bath takes a long time in the best of circumstances, so that should not have been a surprise to them! Am I wrong? I feel so bad for my poor dog stuck in a crate at that place for ten hours. |
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| You should be upset. The shop is not geared to handle the breed. It is a rapid turn around shop not geared to specialty breeds......read hairy breeds. They don't get many OES and really don't know what it entails. I had a great groomer for Splash and Olivia.....while they were in the shop for 8 hours, they were always done together. So this groomer did 2 OES per day and worked in a few easier dogs inbetween. One groomer, no support staff. Start doing a lot of the grooming yourself or find someone else who loves the breed and isn't interested so much in high volume. You may have to pay a premium for a harder breed to groom, but it is worth it. |
SheepieBoss wrote: You should be upset. The shop is not geared to handle the breed. It is a rapid turn around shop not geared to specialty breeds......read hairy breeds. They don't get many OES and really don't know what it entails. I had a great groomer for Splash and Olivia.....while they were in the shop for 8 hours, they were always done together. So this groomer did 2 OES per day and worked in a few easier dogs inbetween. One groomer, no support staff. Start doing a lot of the grooming yourself or find someone else who loves the breed and isn't interested so much in high volume. You may have to pay a premium for a harder breed to groom, but it is worth it. I noticed that the other dogs coming in were Yorkies and other little dogs. But they claimed to me they did "several" OES, though all of them were shaved. I am terrified as to what they're going to charge me. They told me it would be $70 if the matting wasn't too bad, but they're acting like the mats were oh so very horrible. Like I said, she has a few mats, but 45 minutes to brush out an OES is not that bad. I do that a couple times a week! I have been doing the grooming myself, but I don't have a grooming table and that makes it hard. What I don't know how to do is the clipping, and I'm going to learn how to do that come hell or high water. I'm hoping if this clip looks decent  that I'll just be able to repeat it from here on out. |
| 4 hours is about the normal time. Maybe 5 because if the hair is long it takes longer to dry. All day is a little extreme. How did you hear about this place? Do not be surprised when you go to pick her up if she is not shorter then you imagined. I took Oliver a couple of weeks ago to get a couple of matts out. I specifially said that I wanted them brushed out !!!!!! I picked him up and they shaved them off. Thank goodness that it was behind his ears. I was really upset and really don't think I will take any of my dogs back. I am trying to grow him out so that really made me mad. Especially when you give direct instructions. I don't think that alot of people know what to do with them. I do have a great Groomer that comes to the house in a truck, but she was a little more and you have to book way out in advance. So when these matts just showed up, I thought what the heck I just have these people at petsmart do it. Wrong move! The lady in the truck had a book and everything to help her cut him. She admitted that she had never done it before too, which I admired because I would rather know then not to know. She is wonderful. I really would like to take some kind of class specific to our breed on Grooming. That would be so great to have that oppertunity. Good luck when you pick her up and I hope it was worth the weight  Traci |
| Lordy! I brush Tiggy once a week and it takes me minimum 3 and 1/2 hours up to 4 and 1/2 depending on the weather, where she's been to play, who she played with and how patient she is feeling. 45 minutes is a walk in the park, they must have expected you to have brushed her out first. Actually it would still probably take 45 minutes to thoroughly brush a sheepie in coat through even if someone had already just done it. |
Mim wrote: Lordy! I brush Tiggy once a week and it takes me minimum 3 and 1/2 hours up to 4 and 1/2 depending on the weather, where she's been to play, who she played with and how patient she is feeling. 45 minutes is a walk in the park, they must have expected you to have brushed her out first. Actually it would still probably take 45 minutes to thoroughly brush a sheepie in coat through even if someone had already just done it. That's right--I brushed her out last night! It's like cleaning before the cleaning people come (if only I had cleaning people! LOL!). And it was raining this morning when I took her in, so my guess is they put her in a crate for an hour and her wet hair matted as it dried. But she was brushed out last night except for the couple of tough mats that were just too hard. Ear mats are so sensitive. I'm going to have to learn how to deal with them better. They come out of nowhere. The worst part is it's now 4:49 pm and we're getting an ice storm. I have to drive 30 minutes to pick up my poor baby and I'm expecting a bill double what they quoted me. NEVER AGAIN. I'm also expecting a bad haircut. At this point I just want her back home safe & sound. She's been gone since 8:15 am. |
| Arrgghh that's way too long away from home. Ear matts suck! The best option I've found is to groom Tiggy's ears at a separate time if they are matted and I use a comb and spend ages just picking out the edges of the matt. Lots of treats are needed. |
| My fingers are crossed for her. I had this happen once at a new groomer. I called and called the groomers expecting it to take the regular 4 hours for his groom. They finally called me back...when they closed...to tell me that the grooming really stressed Oliver out and that they would not do that cut on him again. I was LIVID! If Oliver was stressed, they should have stopped grooming him and called me ASAP. I would much rather pick up a partially groomed dog than have him terrified and stressed. I know OES are harder to groom. It will not hurt my feelings (in fact I'd prefer it) if someone tells me that they will not cut/groom an OES. It was after that incident that I began doing the grooming myself. Hope she looks good and is happy when you pick her up! |
jcc9797 wrote: My fingers are crossed for her. I had this happen once at a new groomer. I called and called the groomers expecting it to take the regular 4 hours for his groom. They finally called me back...when they closed...to tell me that the grooming really stressed Oliver out and that they would not do that cut on him again. I was LIVID! If Oliver was stressed, they should have stopped grooming him and called me ASAP. I would much rather pick up a partially groomed dog than have him terrified and stressed. I know OES are harder to groom. It will not hurt my feelings (in fact I'd prefer it) if someone tells me that they will not cut/groom an OES. It was after that incident that I began doing the grooming myself. Hope she looks good and is happy when you pick her up! She actually looks fine. The body looks good, but they left the face and ears uneven and a little long. However, she was a wreck when I picked her up. She'd been there almost 10 hours and who knows what went on. As soon as I got her home she peed for like a full minute (did they take her out??), she drank a whole bowl of water, and bit my son on his foot (!!), so I finally put her in her crate where she fell sound asleep for three hours! I will never use that groomer again. Never. I feel just awful. When I make an appointment with my hairdresser, I get a completely different block of time if I'm getting my hair colored or if I'm just getting my bangs trimmed. Dog groomers should work the same way. If it's a greyhound, you're gonna bathe and brush teeth and trim nails or whatever. You block out a one hour visit. If it's an OES, you block out four straight hours. This place obviously has regulars (or quickie jobs) that they push on through in order to make the maximum amount of money in a day. Their website goes on and on saying it's all about the dogs, etc. They refuse to sell anything but the very most expensive "top" dog foods and treats because...it's all about the dogs. I'm thinking it's all about the money.  I'm going to learn to do my own grooming. That's that. |
Poor Bunny, poor you and poor your son's foot.  I hope Bunny is feeling a lot better after her nap. |
well, hopefully you can find a groomer who is good with OES's. They are out there. Make some calls and interview the next groomer. I did! and I was glad I did!!! I have 2 great groomers that get Pearl done within 3 hours and call me ASAP to pick her up. (With Pearl being a senior, I want her in and out..and her hair is so great to work with, she rarely matts, I brush once a week.  )..Heart?? Well, she takes about 5 hours from beginning to end, but again, they call me AS soon as she done. Sometimes she is still a little damp, but I would rather have her home to finish drying. I always brush them the night before a grooming and the morning of, if I have time. Then, at least I know where the problem areas are, so when I drop her off, I can tell the groomer...'Heart has some mats under her arms, or behind her ears"...So, at least, they know where they have to work on her, then, when she gets on the table. I think that prevents them from brushing and then, after finding the problem areas, have Heart is on the table longer than she needs to be. This procedure is really working well for me!!!! Good luck!!!! And how 'bout some pics???? of the little 'clean-bean'.... |
| Poor baby, she must have had a rough day. Like Val said, there are some good groomers out there, you just have to find them. Heart and Harry both go the groomers (right?) and they always look amazing. Grooming yourself isn't hard, it just takes patience and practice. Thankfully we have some invaluable tools on this forum (thanks Carl, Dawn, Jaci...). Extra belly rubs and treats tonight! |
| Unfortunately, I think that kind of treatment is rather typical when it comes to regular groomers and doing OES. However, they should've called when they said they would and explained everything to you. If she was in that bad of shape, they should have let you know then and suggested clipping her shorter so they could clip behind the mats and shorten the grooming time for the dog. 10 hours for an 8 month old is a long time. The bigger problem I always have with these type of situations is that I don't need the lecture and shame-on-you attitude from the groomer. Everything is always so stupidly dramatic-- they love to make you feel terrible about the whole situation. When you're first learning to groom, I think most people don't get to the skin well enough. Add in a coat change and it's nearly impossible. Ultimately, though, I'm paying you to groom this dog. I do NOT want to hear you complain about how bad it was for you. Charge me more or shut up. I mean if they have constructive criticism or want to offer help, fine, but if you don't want to do the work, don't take the dog in the first place. The first priority should be the dog. |
| I totally agree Jill~~ a groomer who does not know the sheepie coat is not a groomer you want anyway. I was very lucky that one of the groomers I use, has OES's and know just how hard grooming is especially in coat transition. Jenny~~~ I still get both of mine groomed professionally... But Judi has been grooming Harry herself for about a year?? She is amazing in that she decides she wants to learn something and then she does!!!!! I am still waiting for her to open a parttime grooming salon in her basement....  Then Heart could get groomed and have a playdate with Harry all in the same day!!!!!!  |
sheepieshake wrote: I am still waiting for her to open a parttime grooming salon in her basement.... Then Heart could get groomed and have a playdate with Harry all in the same day!!!!!! Count me in on that...it'd be worth the 4 hour drive to STL! |
ButtersStotch wrote: The bigger problem I always have with these type of situations is that I don't need the lecture and shame-on-you attitude from the groomer. Everything is always so stupidly dramatic-- they love to make you feel terrible about the whole situation. When you're first learning to groom, I think most people don't get to the skin well enough. Add in a coat change and it's nearly impossible. Ultimately, though, I'm paying you to groom this dog. I do NOT want to hear you complain about how bad it was for you. Charge me more or shut up. I mean if they have constructive criticism or want to offer help, fine, but if you don't want to do the work, don't take the dog in the first place. The first priority should be the dog. AMEN TO THAT! |
| Photos were requested, so here they are. She looks pretty cute, but I'm not sure what I think about the head. They stopped with the clippers right around the collar area, and then did some scissor work (I assume) around the face. It's very uneven and a little long IMO. My husband thinks maybe they had a muzzle on her and couldn't really clip the head as a result! I'd prefer to have the head clipped to a length consistent with the body (as was in the photo I brought them as a reference). They did a poor job of the "sanitary" part of the groom compared to the last groomer I used. They didn't do the potty zones (for lack of a better term) at all. I know this was a traumatic event for my pup and it makes me so angry. What could cause her to keep drinking so much water? When she came home yesterday she drank a ton, and she did the same thing this morning. Made me wonder if they gave her some kind of drug or something!? Or maybe they didn't give her water? Or left her under a dryer for an insane amount of time? BTW, why did they bathe her and then clip? I would have thought they would brush out, clip, then bathe. Why wash and dry all that long hair if it's going in the trash anyway?   |
She is precious!!!!  She really looks better then what I thought she would when she came home I assume the order in which they do things is because of matting purposes. So that the coat doesn't mat in the bath more. I don't really know that is my guess. But good for you on getting her home in one piece. I would assume that the drinking is due to stress along side the fact that maybe they didn't give her enough water in fear that she may need to be walked more? Traci |
| Same reason(s) they wash your hair and then cut it at the salon? Dirty hair would dull blades... Dry hair is difficult to get even... Besides, who would want to work on a dirty head or dog? There are probably more reasons. Anyway, your pup looks a little uneven.... but cute and GREAT and it will grow out quickly! |
Awww what a cutie!!!  |
 She looks adorable~~~~~~ |
| I think she looks ADORABLE! I have always had a hard time finding groomers..I have a good one in Waynesville but she always comes out with a bag of hair and fusses about how hard Rosie was to comb out...I feel like a bad kid..Rosie is worse than either of my OES's. Tibetan terriers have an undercoat and their top coats are different depending on their color...the white is so soft and fluffy it mats easily...I think it mats more after I brush them. Maggie is black and white and her hair is more coarse and easier to keep. Both dogs hate having their legs and paws done and of course with the snow and rain they really matt fast. We had a wonderful lady that came to the house and in two hours bath both dogs, brushed them out, trimmed them, nails etc...it was wonderful. In Novemeber she didn't show...called and called for two weeks and no return call...I pray nothing awful happened to her...still have no idea? Desparate I took her downtown to an unknown groomer...told them to cut in puppy cut because of the mats...In Rosie's 10 years NEVER has anyone shaved her down to the pink in her skin....they cut two warts and they were bleeding and the poor thing had to wear her little coat day and night for weeks...just awful! For some reason they didn't shave Maggie down as much. Just awful...they go to a new groomer the vet referred me to this Saturday...still Rosie doesn't have much hair but will get a bath, nails and brushed out. The hours they kept your puppy was too much...call your vet or vets in your area and see who they refer...or look around and if you see a dog looking great ask them...My pet peeve is when I pay top dollar and take my dogs once a month and I brush them as well...I shouldn't feel bad by having the groomer go on and on how bad it is to groom them. They are very tough to keep groomed and I keep them in a puppy cut...I used to grow Rosie out because she is beautiful but it is too stressful for her to be groomed daily and thats what it takes with her hair. |
lhall15 wrote: The hours they kept your puppy was too much...call your vet or vets in your area and see who they refer...or look around and if you see a dog looking great ask them... The first groomer I used was recommended by the vet, and they did a thorough job. However, they shaved the nose and styled the face as a Bichon. I know some people like that look, but I prefer a less fancy appearance.  That place was much better than the place I used yesterday for a few reasons. One, they appeared to be lower volume. It was quiet in the shop and I know for a fact that Bunny was dried by hand. She was happy when I picked her up after four hours. The "sanitary" clip part was excellent and clean, the ears were insanely clean and the nails were done. Very meticulous and professional. The downside was location (very far from home) and the relative unfriendliness of the place. They were very intimidating (refused to shave her down, for example), but now I'm thinking that was because they are real pros who don't mess around (i.e., they knew it would take too long and didn't want to put the dog through it). I would go back to them, but I would never, ever return to the place I went yesterday. I just noticed this on their website, BTW:Most healthy adult dogs have no problem being confined for a few hours without having a “potty break”. Puppies & seniors may have to “go” during their stay, so we like to get them ready to go home fairly early. We are always willing to walk a dog out to our “rest area”, however we need your written permission to take your dog out of the building. All crates are equipped with water bowls & although we don’t keep them filled at all times because of the “spillage factor”, we always offer the dogs water when they are in a crate. So that explains why she peed for a full minute when I got her home and why she's been drinking such an insane amount of water. It appears they left her there for ten hours w/o a potty break, and who knows if they offered her water when she was thirsty ("spillage factor"?!). Nobody ever asked me for written permission to take her out of the building for a potty break. I just assumed they would. Of course, my dog is a puppy, so she should have been "ready to go home fairly early," not after almost ten hours. The breeder of my dog grooms her own (so she couldn't recommend anyone) and her dogs look great. I've been wanting to ask her to teach me, but I hate to impose. I have to say that I find myself caring way more about how my OES looks than I do about my own hair or my kids' hair. I get a clippers and shave my boys' heads every summer. Looks fine to me.  |
| I just had my dogs done in a puppy coat last week. I knew when I took them they had some mats and I told them. They were there for four hrs. Ten hours is WAY too long and borders on abuse. If you haven't yet, I would call and complain. Nothing will change, it would just be for your own satisfaction. |
Simon's Mom wrote: I just had my dogs done in a puppy coat last week. I knew when I took them they had some mats and I told them. They were there for four hrs. Ten hours is WAY too long and borders on abuse. If you haven't yet, I would call and complain. Nothing will change, it would just be for your own satisfaction. I could not agree more. But my husband is discouraging me from lodging a complaint. He sees me bitching at them for no reason since we're never going to use them again. But I am pissed. My dog is still not back to being herself. She is stressed (still!!) and anxious. I should have gone with my gut and picked her up after four hours whether they were done grooming or not. If I had known it was going to go on all day I would have done that for sure. 20/20 hindsight. Never in a million years did I think they were going to keep her for 9-1/2 hours. At a certain point I actually wasn't able to leave to pick her up, because it had gotten so late that I had to wait for my son's school bus, etc. I've been beating myself up over this all day.  |
jcc9797 wrote: sheepieshake wrote: I am still waiting for her to open a parttime grooming salon in her basement.... Then Heart could get groomed and have a playdate with Harry all in the same day!!!!!! Count me in on that...it'd be worth the 4 hour drive to STL! You don't need help. In fact, I'm trying to figure out how to send some of my dogs to YOU  KB |
OESCrazy wrote: I do have a great Groomer that comes to the house in a truck, but she was a little more and you have to book way out in advance. Traci, I'm not sure where in Wisconsin you are, and fortunately you've found a groomer you like, but just FYI there are two groomers in WI whose main breed is OES (Jane Collen in Neenah and her daughter, Lisa, in Oconomoc, I think it is) and one in Northern IL (Jere Hoppe in the Crystal Lake area, as I recall). I was on Petfinder last week looking at a picture of an OES in a shelter here in WI thinking, wow, whomever groomed that dog really did a great job, so rare, and, joke's on me, turns out Jane groomed the dog for the shelter  Maybe we need a list of proven OES groomers around the country?  Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: Maybe we need a list of proven OES groomers around the country? Kristine That's a great idea! Like Ron's 24 hour vet list.  |
Mad Dog wrote: OESCrazy wrote: I do have a great Groomer that comes to the house in a truck, but she was a little more and you have to book way out in advance. Traci, I'm not sure where in Wisconsin you are, and fortunately you've found a groomer you like, but just FYI there are two groomers in WI whose main breed is OES (Jane Collen in Neenah and her daughter, Lisa, in Oconomoc, I think it is) and one in Northern IL (Jere Hoppe in the Crystal Lake area, as I recall). I was on Petfinder last week looking at a picture of an OES in a shelter here in WI thinking, wow, whomever groomed that dog really did a great job, so rare, and, joke's on me, turns out Jane groomed the dog for the shelter Maybe we need a list of proven OES groomers around the country? Kristine I need to move back to Wisconsin!!! |
Mim wrote: Mad Dog wrote: Maybe we need a list of proven OES groomers around the country? Kristine That's a great idea! Like Ron's 24 hour vet list. Great idea!!!! |
Serpico wrote: Simon's Mom wrote: I just had my dogs done in a puppy coat last week. I knew when I took them they had some mats and I told them. They were there for four hrs. Ten hours is WAY too long and borders on abuse. If you haven't yet, I would call and complain. Nothing will change, it would just be for your own satisfaction. I could not agree more. But my husband is discouraging me from lodging a complaint. He sees me bitching at them for no reason since we're never going to use them again. But I am pissed. My dog is still not back to being herself. She is stressed (still!!) and anxious. I should have gone with my gut and picked her up after four hours whether they were done grooming or not. If I had known it was going to go on all day I would have done that for sure. 20/20 hindsight. Never in a million years did I think they were going to keep her for 9-1/2 hours. At a certain point I actually wasn't able to leave to pick her up, because it had gotten so late that I had to wait for my son's school bus, etc. I've been beating myself up over this all day. Stop beating your self up for it, its done. Give her some extra loving and some time and she will forget all about it. Just me, I'd call. Maybe save some other poor dog from the same abuse. |
| The times I've used a groomer... I've never had them done before 6 hrs even when they've PROMISED they'd be done sooner. ...and we've definitely had them tell us late in the afternoon that they wouldn't be done until the very end of the day (totalling 8-10 hrs). ...and it was only as a puppy they ever came with any mats. And by mats, I don't mean a lot. Now they're not getting groomed the whole time, and it used to bother me A LOT, but now I just expect it. I've been to tons of groomers too. Most in my experience work on their other dogs while the large hairy ones dry. If the dog looks good in the end, I generally don't care anymore. Now that I've gotten picky, it's rare I take a dog to the groomers, but I was thinking of going in a few weeks before I have this bean. Will depend if I'm in pain or not. |
| I think she looks just adorable! But 9 and a half hours is a long time. Maybe next time, if there is a next time, tell the groomer you do not want your dog to be there that long and perhaps she can be brought at a later hour. As far as stress, my dogs still get streesed at the groomers and they are only there about four hours. But I expect it and give them extra attention when they get home - although usually when they get home from being groomed, they are exhausted and thristy and drink and then sleep for a while. |
Serpico wrote: The breeder of my dog grooms her own (so she couldn't recommend anyone) and her dogs look great. I've been wanting to ask her to teach me, but I hate to impose.  I would think your breeder should want to teach you how to groom properly. That's one thing we offer to all our companion homes. I mean, why wouldn't I want a dog carrying our kennel name to look good? And how better to achieve that than to teach the new owners how to groom like I do so when people see the dog they can pretty much tell where you got it?But you do have to understand that you can't learn it all in one lesson or a few hours. For the record, I had Olivia over 2 weeks ago for a shave down. Her coat was about 4" long. I started on her at 10:30AM & finished her up at 5:00PM with 2 - 10 minute breaks. I brush out, shave, bathe, dry, shave a 2nd time, pluck ears, do nails, shave between the pads of the feet & trim the feet. In order to trim or shave down they need to be mat free. And to be honest, everyone THINKS their dogs are mat free when they brush them but they never are truely mat free. Even my co-breeder will find mats in my dogs when they are brushed out. My friends used to tease me because once I bred my 1st litter they told me now I had earned the rite to find mats in other people's dogs (even my co-breeder's). I guess that is a breeder's rite....because they are always supposed to be mentoring too.  |
Serpico wrote: The breeder of my dog grooms her own (so she couldn't recommend anyone) and her dogs look great. I've been wanting to ask her to teach me, but I hate to impose. I would think your breeder should want to teach you how to groom properly. That's one thing we offer to all our companion homes. I mean, why wouldn't I want a dog carrying our kennel name to look good? And how better to achieve that than to teach the new owners how to groom like I do so when people see the dog they can pretty much tell where you got it?But you do have to understand that you can't learn it all in one lesson or a few hours. For the record, I had Olivia over 2 weeks ago for a shave down. Her coat was about 4" long. I started on her at 10:30AM & finished her up at 5:00PM with 2 - 10 minute breaks. I brush out, shave, bathe, dry, shave a 2nd time, pluck ears, do nails, shave between the pads of the feet & trim the feet. In order to trim or shave down they need to be mat free. And to be honest, everyone THINKS their dogs are mat free when they brush them but they never are truely mat free. Even my co-breeder will find mats in my dogs when they are brushed out. My friends used to tease me because once I bred my 1st litter they told me now I had earned the rite to find mats in other people's dogs (even my co-breeder's). I guess that is a breeder's rite....because they are always supposed to be mentoring too. |
| Ask your breeder for a lesson or two, I bet she/he would be delighted to help! Amber gave us lessons when we got Mady. Then she gave us more lessons when we met up at a show. Last week I called her and forewarned her about what extra lessons we will need when we see her in Toronto in March. She just smiles and pulls out her bag of equipment and we ask a million questions and Mady lies there and laps up the attention. We have had groomer issues too (you would think that a city of a million plus would have groomers familiar with sheepies, but I swear most sheepies are shaved here) and have pretty much decided to do it ourselves, with advice from Amber and help from Carl the Maniacal Groomer who has many excellent posts on these forums on grooming. We are new to dogs, new to OES and have certainly made some mistakes but we are getting better and better at it. We save money, it is easy on Mady as she is with us. It does take time but it also really makes your bond with your dog strong. |
ChSheepdogs wrote: Serpico wrote: The breeder of my dog grooms her own (so she couldn't recommend anyone) and her dogs look great. I've been wanting to ask her to teach me, but I hate to impose. I would think your breeder should want to teach you how to groom properly. That's one thing we offer to all our companion homes. I mean, why wouldn't I want a dog carrying our kennel name to look good? And how better to achieve that than to teach the new owners how to groom like I do so when people see the dog they can pretty much tell where you got it?But you do have to understand that you can't learn it all in one lesson or a few hours. For the record, I had Olivia over 2 weeks ago for a shave down. Her coat was about 4" long. I started on her at 10:30AM & finished her up at 5:00PM with 2 - 10 minute breaks. I brush out, shave, bathe, dry, shave a 2nd time, pluck ears, do nails, shave between the pads of the feet & trim the feet. In order to trim or shave down they need to be mat free. And to be honest, everyone THINKS their dogs are mat free when they brush them but they never are truely mat free. Even my co-breeder will find mats in my dogs when they are brushed out. My friends used to tease me because once I bred my 1st litter they told me now I had earned the rite to find mats in other people's dogs (even my co-breeder's). I guess that is a breeder's rite....because they are always supposed to be mentoring too. The breeder may well teach me to groom, but it hasn't been offered. I would have to ask, and I feel like I'm imposing. I'm going to do it anyway, at least to learn how to do the face. I know I can't learn it in one lesson or in a few hours, which is exactly why I feel a little weird calling the breeder and saying, "Hey, will you give up some evening and weekend hours for the next month or so to show me how to groom and clip?" I knew my dog was not mat-free and I made it very clear to the groomer. The reason I was having her shaved was because she was matting! She's about to be spayed and I didn't want to be grooming her constantly matting coat while she was healing from the surgery. But in my opinion the fact that it only took 45 minutes to brush her out and demat pretty much proves my point--there were very few mats. Aside from that, there is quite a bit of coat left after the clip. Nowhere is she shaved to the pink. She has a good 1-1/2 or even 2" of coat left. If she had been horribly matted (a) it would have taken longer than 45 minutes to brush out what was a full coat and (b) she'd have uneven spots where they had to shave to the skin. The clip is very uneven, but it's in the opposite way--she has whole sections that are much longer (i.e., missed by the clippers), especially underneath on her legs. It looks like they were rushing (which I'm sure they were, since they'd already had her for six hours before they even started to get ready to clip) and didn't finish what they started. I know it sounds like I'm being really picky about the cut. But I'm complaining about it because after ten hours of being stuck in that place (and she is still a nervous wreck and won't leave my side), I would have at least expected the cut to be even. When you personally spend 10:30 to 5 doing your own dog, you're giving water and food and potty breaks, plus you're plucking ears (they didn't do that), doing nails (they didn't do that), doing "sanitary clip," including the pads of the feet (they didn't do that), etc. What it looks like to me is that they brushed my dog for 45 minutes, bathed her, put her in a crate with a dryer pointed at her, and left her there for several hours to dry. After that, they quickly shaved her, and did a bit of scissor work on the face. And we know she got no potty break and possibly no water for 9-1/2 hours. |
| It could be & I suppose there is no way to really prove it. Like you said, you weren't happy with the entire situation so best thing is to try a different place next time. You should definitley ask your breeder for help in learning how to groom properly. Cathy & I always offer this. Most people don't take us up on it & prefer to take their dogs to a groomer. But we have had several with companions who wanted to learn enough so they didn't have to go to the groomer except maybe 3 times a year. And for show homes we do the bathing, grooming & trimming until the dog is finished. This is all free of charge. |
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