Client Showed Up At The Door With Dog -

[Cat]

OMG I officially do not want to be a groomer anymore

[TrinaJ]

I am so with you Cat :vomit: so glad mine are wash'n'wear

[grumpette]

OMG I will never complain again about the dogs waiting until they are out of the shower to shake after a bath And I will be forever grateful for the fact that my chosen breed is wash and wear.

That poor Cocker Spaniel. I would have freaked and then thrown up

[JulesP]

I think my worst was a little dog that had an infected mouth. He had really crooked teeth and had heaps of hair caught around the teeth and all his mouth and gums were infected. The smell was disgusting. I was gagging as I was trying to get the hair out. Was very upsetting.

Got lots with dew claws so long that they had grown into the dogs foot.

[Odin-Genie]

This is a real shock to me;i always envisaged that people who took their dogs to a groomer looked after their dog.

Or perhaps they are too lazy to groom their dog themselves and want to push their problem to a groomer!!!

I always groom my dogs myself. They stand quietly in the bath while I shampoo them. And I can definitely say that if a single strand of hair gets matted on my dogs I would know and it would be cut off asap.

The one time I tried a mobile groomer, he was spraying water with the hydrobath hose directly on my dog's face. It was a good thing that I was standing right next to my dog. I told him to stop immediately since my dog was getting water in his nose and mouth and was seriously squirming while this guy thought it was funny and was laughing.

Now I would not leave my dogs with a groomer ever unless I knew them personally.

I think the issue is that both groomers and ownerscan be good or dodgy. I can understand how groomers could find it annoying to have owners around while they are grooming since some owners would be constantly criticising. But I can also understand how some owners would want to be with their dogs while they are getting groomed to ensure they are not mistreated.

[poodlefan]

I think my worst was a little dog that had an infected mouth. He had really crooked teeth and had heaps of hair caught around the teeth and all his mouth and gums were infected. The smell was disgusting. I was gagging as I was trying to get the hair out. Was very upsetting.

Got lots with dew claws so long that they had grown into the dogs foot.

This is why I shudder when I see all the x bred oodles with long hair on their muzzles.

[atua]

One of my clients is a cocker spaniel who has very loose lips and keeps getting abcesses in the folds. He is always smelly and putrid to the point where you are almost vommiting and the owner wont get let the vet fix it because they are worried it will change what he looks like

[Dogsfevr]

I think the issue is that both groomers and ownerscan be good or dodgy. I can understand how groomers could find it annoying to have owners around while they are grooming since some owners would be constantly criticising. But I can also understand how some owners would want to be with their dogs while they are getting groomed to ensure they are not mistreated.

Actually criticizing isn't the reason,the dogs become so distracted when the owners are about that it becomes dangerous to groom a dog,one wrong move due to an owner not realizing the importance of no distractions & something nasty can happen.

It takes longer,the owners end up talking to the dogs & it becomes a very hard job to groom instead of the simple one it should be.

We do 2 dogs at a time here & not every dog is the same plus when people drop there dogs off often ends up a family affair & you could end up with 5/6 people many with toddlers hanging about ,just to risky & people can't sit there for 2 hrs without distracting .

Grooming here is done without owners ,the only time we do is when teaching people ( show grooms) or demonstrating how to use tools,techniques or pointing out issues.

The reality is a groomer should be like a hairdresser & styling the dog in mint condition but reality is many owners don't care about the condition there dogs come in & it isn't there problem.

Excuses used are very amusing ,infact today we have 2 knotted dogs that haven't been brushed because there kids are studying for exams (yep thats how lame some are )

It often takes 10 mins to brush an unmatted dog weekly but most can't even do that .

Although some of the specials ones are young puppies who haven't been brushed,are matted & wearing a collar,Due to the owners not interacting with pup the collar hasn't been adjusted with age so is technically way to tight & because they haven't brushed & removed collar the hair has matted to the collar in one piece,Once clipped these dogs have great ringbark lines on the necks .

We are very lucky & can pick & choice our clients & we no longer do the hard cases ,its just to hard on your body & the reality is these owners came far & few between & the dog returns in the same horrid state .

We have good clients who book 12 months in advance each year & have the occasional slip up but in general the dogs come clean,not free with no creepy crawlies .

I have been grooming for 20 years now & still love what i do but it does get very frustrating at the laziness of far to many dog owners who have little thought for the dogs & expect miracles .

I work full time ,7 days a week plus have high maintenance long coat breeds that take 2/3 hrs to bath,groom & i have no issues committing to the time because thats what you do & i don't have 1 day

[Atanquin]

I have a cocker it's not hard to keep that clean my anti had them too and she told what to use just 1 part apple cider vinegar to 2 parts water use a cotton wool pad and get wipeing same with the ear use it to clean to ears and it's better than any product you can buy gosh some people should really think about what breed of dog they are getting before the buy one

[Atanquin]

I have a cocker it's not hard to keep that clean my auntie had them too and she told what to use just 1 part apple cider vinegar to 2 parts water use a cotton wool pad and get wipeing same with the ear use it to clean to ears and it's better than any product you can buy gosh some people should really think about what breed of dog they are getting before the buy one

Edited September 8, 2011 by Atanquin

[pebbles]

The grooming, pet supply and food shop I opened was the first one within about 60k's so I started with pets which hadn't been groomed for a long time and most had no manners. I guess it was a case of "Ohh a grooming parlour, let's take the dog". A good one was a farmer who brought in his working Border Collie, never had a brush near it in it's life but he was going to the Ag sheep trials so thought it would be nice to have a glamorous dog Three hours later it wasn't looking too bad

With some of the really disgusting ones I charged a lot first time then told the owners if they brought them back in 5/6 weeks it would be half price, that generally worked. The Vet and I did an OES which was pathetic, as well as being vicious, that was the only one I ever had to sedate, found a chain embedded in it's neck. Doing a Malt, matted to the skin, going carefully along the tail and it fell off, not magotty thank heavens, just a shorter tail hugely matted. Had an Afghan that couldn't sit down properly, the body hair was matted to the hind leg hair, he looked very relieved when that was freed. A greyhound trainer would bring his dog for a bath before a race, easy, until the night he had 5 greys racing Had one 'oops' clip, wending my way through the matts, easing the scissors through the worst, accidently cut off the one hind dew claw,lots of blood, luckily the Vet was free and came and did a quick fix.

There were a lot of lovely dogs and owners, it was great to trim, wash and tidy those up.

Yep, might write a book about the grooming days and combine it with some showing events, might be in strife though

[Kitteh]

Ummm.. all I've got to say is holy shit, wtf is wrong with some pet owners? Seriously, if you don't have the time or inclination to look after a pet that needs regular grooming, why get one? Choose another breed.

P.s anyone know any good groomers in perth that are SOR?

[Andisa]

I think my worst was a little dog that had an infected mouth. He had really crooked teeth and had heaps of hair caught around the teeth and all his mouth and gums were infected. The smell was disgusting. I was gagging as I was trying to get the hair out. Was very upsetting.

Got lots with dew claws so long that they had grown into the dogs foot.

This is why I shudder when I see all the x bred oodles with long hair on their muzzles.

Oh - when they sneeze in your face when your are pulling the hair out of their mouths that have been wrapped around their teeth - the putrid smell of rotting teeth and gums , not all dogs appreciate you doing it and will have a go.

eta: dew claws and nails growing full circle into their feet, festy holes in their pads. Some dogs need a firm reminder that they need to co-operate so we can help them, any takers yet on the offer I made earlier ;) ?

Edited September 8, 2011 by Andisa

[TrinaJ]

I'm appalled at the state some of these dogs appear to be in, hair wrapped around their teeth matted fur, maggots you guys don't charge enough! Don't these people care about their pets! How would they like maggots in their hair, bloody disgusting and shouldn't be allowed to have animals

[Andisa]

Trina - these pics were taken a couple of yrs ago, this dog has lovely owners but unfortunately this is the condition she is always in when they bring her to me. It takes ages to do dogs like this and it's harder on the clippers/blades and me. This is a good one - at least she is clean, no shit, no fleas, no maggots and has a lovely nature. I just wish they never let her get like this. Clippers and scissors are only doing mm at a time - getting started is hard enough but the hair is literally wrapped around the legs - tight. Great care is taken so they don't get cut which is so important that they co-operate.

Edited September 8, 2011 by Andisa

[OSoSwift]

Ummm.. all I've got to say is holy shit, wtf is wrong with some pet owners? Seriously, if you don't have the time or inclination to look after a pet that needs regular grooming, why get one? Choose another breed.

P.s anyone know any good groomers in perth that are SOR?

Is Midland north or south?? anyway BedazzledX2 has one in Midland :D

[OSoSwift]

Yep Andisa done many many like that of all breeds and as I worked in a Vet hospital also many many cats like that and worse.

Edited September 8, 2011 by OSoSwift

[Andisa]

Yep Andisa done many many like that of all breeds and as I worked in a Vet hospital also many many cats like that and worse.

Just remembered when I did an OES that was very matted - his coat filled up the owners wheelie bin , he was in awful condition. I was so glad that he was docked, it was bad enough what stuck on the way out, imagine what they are like with tails and neglected , I don't do any OES now, used to do several at one stage.

Have been thinking about all the cocker spaniels that I have done too .

Edited September 8, 2011 by Andisa

[JulesP]

When you have to cut a clipper path with your scissors first you know the poor doggie is very matted....

[Andisa]

How is this for timing - I found my old grooming trailer on Ebay. Wonderful business opportunity for those who would love to become groomers too. Perfect time of year to get started, nothing like jumping in deep water (or deep shit) right . I sold this a few yrs ago, the add say's it was built in 2005 - it was built Dec 2000. I sold it empty so I don't know what they fitted it out like.

Edited September 8, 2011 by Andisa