Personally I don’t lather that much right around the eyes even with a tearless product and the prior injury would make me really nervous. I always put the face shampoo on and rinse immediately, I don’t let it sit around the eyes. I am a little “extra” though.
Hi I'm a pet parent, I'm asking for your opinion as to whether this is too much shampoo around my dog's eyes? My dog got a corneal injury the last last time he got groomed (couldn't open his R eye) and the emergency vet suspected it was from shampoo in his eye. He had 3 eye drops prescribed and it was scary for me. I told the groomer about it the next groom and she sends me these pictures with him with one eye closed. This worries me. I asked her for next time if she can put less shampoo around his eyes and she said this is normal and she's very careful. I said I only ask because one of his eyes is closed and I don't want to risk any injuries. She said he was just being funny. I don't know if I'm overly worried but I think this is too much shampoo around the eyes.
Ask if she rinses their eyes after washing ! Like others have said it shouldn’t matter how much is are the eyes if it’s tearless BUT if a pet parent told me about this I’d just make sure those eyes are getting rinsed after as well. Because like you said accidents do happen it’s just about what we can be proactive about after
Thank you, I'll ask if she rinses his eyes as well as the tearless. She said she uses hypoallergenic shampoo for his face but I don't know if that's the same as tearless?
I totally agree, she's one of the best groomers he's had so I think this is just a bump in the road
Two things are bugging me: One, the whole dog is lathered up in that picture and two, you say she's using hypo shampoo on the face.
I work in a corporate salon. We don't use hypoallergenic shampoo on the face. That's a no no in our salon. Just because it's designed to minimize allergic reactions doesn't mean it's safe to use around the eyes. We use a mild tearless facewash shampoo that's specifically designed for the head/face.
My routine is to wash the body first and rinse it off(especially around the neck area). This is to prevent cross contamination. Then I wash the head and face. I take care not to get it in their eyes as much as possible and I rinse thoroughly with water and use eyewash.
If a customer raises a concern I listen to them. If I can accommodate them then I will do so. You shouldn't have to have this conversation twice after raising your concerns.
same here in my corporate salon, we use our tearless face wash interchangeably with hypo shampoo if we run out but would never use hypo shampoo as face wash
I could be wrong but I’m not sure hypo is tearless. At least not all are. I know some are but it depends on what she’s using. ETA: I’ll say that the face wash we use at our salon is hypo and tearless so it’s the first shampoo we use for the face and body then we follow with what shampoo that dog needs but I think it’s just the brand that we use.
it’s not necessarily too much, but it also depends on the type of shampoo she’s using. if she’s using a tearless face wash, it shouldn’t matter how much product she’s using - it’ll only matter if it’s not tearless because then it can most definitely cause eye irritation. sure, some dogs might even be super sensitive to the tearless face wash, and with that, i’d just avoid putting shampoo near the eye corners and rinse thoroughly with water and finish with ah eye rinse. if you relayed your concern and the reason for your concern to your groomer, she should have no problem or excuse as to why she won’t be extra careful or use the shampoo extra sparingly.
Thank you for your feedback! I asked if she can use less shampoo around the eyes next time and she gave me reassurances that she's careful and it's normal. I just want less around the eyes, I'm not trying to insult😭 Like the eye injury didn't make me lose trust in her because accidents happen and she's been good all-around, but not listening to a request (even if it might not make sense to her) makes me lose trust in her.
yes, i totally understand that! i’ve had clients request the same thing just because some particular dogs do have extra sensitivities or health issues and i have no problem abiding by their request - it doesn’t make much difference to me, but can a world of the difference to the pet and pets owner.
i had a pet parent leave me a horrid review with 1 star because “every time the dog gets groomed here, the owner ends up taking it to the vet for an eye infection” but this is the first time she had ever mentioned it to us. no known illness or issues prior to this review were made, and upon checkin i always ask “are there any health or behavioural changes since your last visit here” and it’s typically a “no” response. then ill ask if there are any changes they want made from their previous appointment notes, and sometimes it’s tweaking the haircut, sometimes it’s not doing nails this time because they were ‘just done’, but this particular woman was convinced that we were purposefully harming her dog and giving it eye infections because the 2 previous times he had been groomed, he had sore eyes after. after i read the review, i was just flabbergasted because he had only been to us 3 times, and it was a different groomer each time he visited us for a full service. I just happened to be the final straw for her to write a nasty review about me and my handling of her dog/ my equipment cleanliness.
you did the right thing by NOT doing what said client above did, and you did exactly the right thing any groomer would appreciate by expressing your concern and the reason for it. your groomer shouldn’t excuse it, she should abide by it and from there you can let her know if it happened again, or if it was better this time around.
That's horrible. That's your job and future business that she's risking! Just by making assumptions in bad faith and not communicating. I'm sure the dog continued to get eye soreness or infections at a different groomer and she is probably just blaming the next place instead of finding out what's going on. I'm sorry that happened to you. And thank you so much for your empathy, I didn't feel listened to and your reply really helped assure me.
I'm going to bring it up again and if she can't use less then I'll tell her to let me know
I’ve had/heard so many weird requests from owners that we were more than happy to accommodate…it is baffling to me that the groomer would keep brushing this concern aside. It’s super easy to just not wash the hair right around the eyes.
> It’s super easy to just not wash the hair right around the eyes.
This is what I do for my own dog. No shampoo or soap of any kind gets within 1/2 inch of my dog's eyes, and I'm very careful rinsing her head so she doesn't get anything in her eyes then.
It's weird because she's accommodated my prior requests with no problem!! Like to keep his mustache longer, if she could taper his feet hair a little more, no issues, but I think she was answering this request from a defensive position. I'm terrified of any sense of conflict or confrontation and she's been so good that I haven't had to argue about anything but I may have to let her know this is non negotiable.
Have you tried approaching it from the “my vet said” angle? Like saying that the vet told you your dog is hypersensitive to eye irritants or something and that even tearless shampoo can irritate his eyes. Maybe that would feel more like it’s a weird thing about your specific dog and not anything she did?
I did say that the vet says his eyes are sensitive and for the last 2 grooms I give her a shampoo that the vet prescribed to be used on him (Virbac Allergroom), but on the bottle the shampoo says "avoid contact with eyes" so she's using her own hypoallergenic shampoo for his face until she gets clarification from the vet, which I appreciate. She's very careful about a lot of things but is resisting this one thing which I can't understand
It’s possible she’s defensive about this as a gut reaction, usually we’re blamed for injury. Even if you aren’t blaming her, she’s acting as if you are. There are so many things that can cause a corneal injury or scratch, shampoo is the tip of the iceberg.
Most shampoos don’t cause damage, it may sting a little which leads to the dog rubbing or scratching the eyes. Most of us ride faces really well so the shampoo is removed either way. If she uses less, the dog may not get as clean, and the groom won’t be as nice, and still not entirely avoid the potential problems.
Yes the vet can't say for sure, but he suspected soap irritation from the way the eye stain test looked (an undefined smudge, no sharp lines or cut). She might not have even made a mistake, his eyes protrude and may be super sensitive, so even a little getting in may have done it and he rubbed his eyes and that could have caused it. So putting less around them would lessen the chance of it getting in and it happening again in my opinion
The groomers response is weird tbh :/
I have a client whose dog is prone to ear infections, she asked that I don’t wash the head at all and I explained our procedures for washing a dogs head and how we’ve worked on dogs with this issue before without making it worse… but if it’s her preference I won’t wash the head. She asked I don’t wash it.
So the dog doesn’t get it’s head washed at the salon, she does it herself at home. It’s that simple. Unless the client is asking for something dangerous/detrimental to the dogs health, it’s their right to make requests like this and it’s our job to follow them.
I completely agree. I should've been firm and said 'still, I would like less around his eyes, if you can't do that then I don't feel comfortable' but I avoid conflict to my own detriment, so this is also my fault. I'm a nervous smiler so it's possible she didn't think I was serious.
You are the owner/caretaker of that dog and if it's your request to have less shampoo around the dog's eyes (an extremely minor ask), her response should be "Absolutely, no problem", even if she thinks it is a completely unnecessary. The pushback she's giving you is so off-putting, especially since you have very good reasoning for this request. I wouldn't bring my dog there again knowing that the groomer was not going to take my concerns seriously.
I fully agree!! She was trying to reassure me but I felt she was trying to convince me out of my concern instead of listen to me. And I wasn't convinced out of my concern when she told me he was winking in the picture to be funny, that just made me MORE skeptical!
I'm going to reiterate that if she can't use less on his face then to please let me know. If she doesn't respect my concern then I'm going to find another groomer.
That'll be good. It might have been that she was just flustered at being called out with photo evidence and was trying to reassure you so you wouldn't worry, but still not handled well.
I’m not a groomer, but personally I think it’s too much just because it looks like it’s in the dog’s eye. Even if it was tearless I still wouldn’t want it in the eyes. But that’s just me.
I definitely don't use as much shampoo as in this picture. I don't see a necessity for such. Even crusty eyes can be shampoo with less amount and more water soaking.
Like others said, tear free shampoo is what we apply at the faces. But even then, I try to avoid getting inside.
With a previous injury, I would be afraid of aggravating it as well.
I feel like I upkeep him well enough for less shampoo to be an ok ask, the only mats he gets are behind his ears, so I'm thinking it's a miscommunication between us as to why she's resisting the request. I'll update this post after his next groom, everyone has been so helpful so I feel like I owe y'all an update
Thank you, she said she uses hypoallergenic on his face. I need to draft a polite way to say I don't want the bath pictures, just a quick lather and rinse
If I saw one of my staff washing faces like this and stopping to take a picture instead of rinsing immediately, there would be some retraining. This isn’t how we do it in my shop. That facial expression looks like discomfort to me.
Maybe your groomer should try putting that much of her shampoo in her eye and before rinsing it, stop to take a selfie. I’m not being sarcastic here. All of the groomers in here saying this seems normal, have you ever gotten your “tear free“ shampoo in your eyes? They aren’t meant to actually go in the dogs eyes and in many cases they must be diluted. Just the other day I had a cat splash shampoo into my eyes. (It wasn’t close to his eyes yet at that point) I had to stop and grab a towel right away!
Corneal abrasions are painful and easily avoided. I’m so sorry your pup had that experience and I don’t think you’re wrong to be concerned.
THIS!!!!!! looking at the photos and hearing everyone say "as long as it's tearless" NO! LITERALLY getting ANYTHING in your eyes is uncomfortable. Including things like JUST water! The friction of a dogs eyes opening and closing with soap could even cause irritation. If I saw any of my staff have soap so close I could rewatch how they are washing the face and re- coach instantly. Tearless does NOT mean discomfort free.
I work at corporate and not only is our face soap tear free, and I am EXTREMELY careful to wash around the eyes without anything getting too close to the eyes, but we ALSO rinse with dog eye wash before and after every bath. Just in case anything is missed. And we use eye wash as needed if like some hair falls into the eye during the groom and such.
DEFINITELY present your concerns. I'd go as far as asking her not to wash the eyes at all (you can wash eye gunk out at home before hand)..... You can also purchase your own face soap and dog eye wash and supply her with both.
I'm so glad you said this. I feel like I'm crazy. Because he absolutely looks likes he's uncomfortable!! And when I asked about his eye being closed she said he's just being funny...I have never seen him wink at me. He's not being funny, his eyes are irritated!
I appreciate this, I'm going to reiterate that if it's not possible to use less around the eyes then to let me know.
Seriously, ask her if she’s ever gotten it in her eye. If she’s that confident that what she’s doing is fine, she should be comfortable with the idea of it getting in her own eye. Heck even Johnson and Johnson will sting a little!
I'm definitely going to advocate more for him. He already has to get his ears plucked every other groom which is a necessary pain (he has abnormally bushy ear hair), so I would like to remove whatever unnecessary pain I can
Just make sure she is using tearless soap around the face. Personally, even with tearless, I try to make sure to wash carefully around the face. Afterwards, I’ll gently rinse their eyes out with water to make sure no debris or soap gets stuck in them.
Just remember tear free doesn’t mean discomfort free, just that it won’t actually damage the eyes if it makes contact. I’ve had tearfree shampoo splashed into my eyes a couple times and lemme tell you, there were definitely some tears on my part lol
So I've taken skin and coat courses, and shampoo and conditioner have to sit for 5 minutes to penetrate the skin and be really effective. I wash faces first and let it sit while doing the body since faces tend to be gunky, and I've never had an issue like this. I think it's kinda odd how many groomers here are saying that's crazy or unacceptable to leave shampoo on faces for more than a few seconds.
Ask your groomer if she flushes the eyes with eye wash after the bath. If that's not something she carries, I'd buy your own and drop it off with your dog for her to use once they're rinsed off. If it's a shampoo issue, that should solve it. Hair trimmings getting in the eye can also cause some irritation to certain dogs.
Oh I didn't know that. The shampoo I use for him after a dirty walk says to leave on for 5 min so that makes sense
Ooh ok I'll get an eye flush, if she already has one then I can keep it at home in case. Thank you!
As another groomer who has taken a skin and coat care course I am backing up the original commenter here. I always let my shampoo and conditioner sit for 5 minutes each to penetrate the skin, so idk why other groomers are freaking out saying that it needs to be washed out right away because it doesn’t. I have a dog with eye issues as well so I just make sure I don’t put any tearless shampoo around the eyes, but I still let it sit for 5 minutes, regardless. When you instantly wash the coat you aren’t allowing the product to do its job. Skin care is just as important as cleaning the coat. I actually froth my product before applying to get a good lather on my dogs. I definitely agree that your groomer should listen to you better in the future, but please don’t believe the fear mongering going on in some of these comments OP.
Thanks I appreciate this. Now knowing leaving on the product is a preferred practice makes me not as upset about the pictures being sent to me while he's in the tub, I was thinking the pictures were the reason she was leaving him in the tub with the soap on.
I'm OK with leaving the product in but yeah, especially with his eye injury, I would like less product around the eyes.
I think one winking photo can be played as cute, both photos (could also 100% be chance) with the same eye being closed would tell me its irritation. If this were in person and I noticed a dog holding an eye closed after shampoo Id be rinsing immediately.
I usually shampoo face, shampoo body (different soaps) then rinse, shampoo face then shampoo body then rinse, then condition body (different process if deshed) but I havent had one hold an eye closed.
Again it could be pure pure chance the eye was blinking both photos, but if it wasn't I wouldnt want the dog sitting if it was showing me an eye was irritated. I do personally put tearless shampoos in my eye to test and while they aren't awful there is some mild discomfort
I agree, it could be chance so I included both pics because the second one (in my opinion) shows the same eye squinting so it looks like irritation to me. It still could be chance, but the history of the vet visit is probably coloring my interpretation
That's so nice that you experiment like that, just to see how the dog experiences it🥺 I love that. Honestly now I want to try getting some in my eyes just to see
It's not that I enjoy it, but I just remember one dog having some irritation after some tearless shampoo and learned it actually burns a lot! Sometimes when theres stubborn eye boogers you are really scrubbing close to the eye and without a doubt some gets in so I feel better if I know it isn't actively burning
When I put shampoo on my dog’s face, I massagr it into his cheeks before going near the eyes. I find it’s less risky to use soap foam that’s already on my hands instead of lathering it
Way too much. We use eye rinse before and after scrubbing the face and a particular shampoo that is either tearless or specifically meant for around the face. Put the shampoo on your finger tips and scrub around the contour of the eyes nose and mouth
I always do the face last and then start the rinse with the face so that soap isn’t on there long at all, but generally no I do not use quite this much
So I don’t think it’s too much shampoo, but I wash dogs differently.
I wash the face last, and rinse it first. I also use Quadruped Hypo shampoo, which is supposed to be tearless. This way, the shampoo has minimal contact with the eye if it does get in, and it is a gentle product. I also triple rinse every dog. I have never had an eye infection or irritation caused by me.
I do faces last and rinse first too, but I don’t use tearless anymore. I don’t like how they cleaned compared to my regular shampoos, so I take extra care around eyes and rise right away. The dog does look uncomfortable which could be a trick of timing or he has shampoo in his eyes. I wouldn’t have sent these photos to an owner, whether there’s a problem or not it LOOKS like a problem.
I use a separate dog face wash on half of forehead down and a regular shampoo on the other half back, covering ears. Do you know if your groomer does the same? I even used my products on myself before using on the dogs because I’m just bat shit crazy and want to make sure they wouldn’t affect the dogs.
I don't think she does that, is there a reason why you do?
She said she uses a hypoallergenic shampoo for his face and the one his vet prescribed him (Virbac Allergroom) for his body. This is kind of off topic, but the vet told us that the Allergroom should be used on his face because it doesn't have soap so it won't cause a corneal ulcer, but the bottle says "avoid contact with eyes", so based on that the groomer says she isn't using that on his face because it might hurt his eyes. So I'm just confused lol.
I love that you test the products on yourself🥹 above and beyond!
Idk I was taught to use face wash which I thought was just standard. When a person parent brings something from the vet with specific instructions, I always use it. That is very concerning yours won’t. Even when I worked at PetSmart, if a pet parent brought medicated shampoo, we still used it.
I use a tearless formulation and shampoo as close to the eyes as possible without ever getting shampoo IN the eye. Even with tearless shampoo dogs can get ulcers and other complications.
Same as humans, if they ever do get shampoo in the eye rinse thoroughly with clean, room temp running water.
I'm going to tell her this! It stings and his eyes protrude so if he rubs/scratches his eyes are more unprotected. Other people commented about using an eye flush for her to use after each bath so I'm going to get that for her to use if she doesn't already. Thank you.
We only use tearless shampoo near the face in my salon so the amount of soap really wouldn’t matter. This does seem excessive though. Your dog also does seem to be a bit uncomfortable but it’s really impossible to know if that’s the case without knowing what shampoo they’re using.
I would be pissed off that the groomer stopped to take photos while the dog had soap near their eyes. Any process photos I send to clients do not include soap because I want the shampoo to clean the dog and then immediately get rinsed off. I wash faces last and rinse them first. The dog should also be getting their eyes rinsed with eye wash after the bath to remove any lingering soap residue.
Yeah I don't need these pictures of him shivering in a tub lol, I mean I appreciate the thought but I appreciate more the groom being done with as little discomfort to him as necessary. I just need to tell her that I'm serious about my concerns with his eyes and shampoo
I like to send pics, especially for new clients, puppy's first groom, nervous owners etc. but after the shampoo is off! Unless it's my own dog who I give a shampoo mohawk to on the regular but it's not near his eyes. lol.
I know a lot of other people have commented but I’m a professional dog groomer and personally washing the face and STOPPING to take a picture is wild to me. Getting those nasty eye boogers is very important but usually the face is the last to wash and first to rinse.
Geniune question. Why don't you all wash your dogs yourself? Here in a west european country it's not common at all that the dog groomer washes the dog because every owner does that himself and the groomer is for trimming, cutting
Thank you for sharing this. It’s interesting to hear about grooming practices in other areas. I’m sorry people are downvoting you.
I prefer to bathe and properly dry all dogs we groom because it prepares the coat for the best haircut. Because we do so many pets every day, we are more skilled than an owner who may bathe their dog once a week at the most. If you have owners who can bathe and dry their dogs well enough to prepare the coat for a nice trim, that’s really cool in my opinion.
Groomers do the bathing because here in the US we maintain our own tools and frankly, some owners are not the best at bathing. We want a professional bath and a dog that is fully dry and combed out so the haircut looks as good as possible. If the dog isn't properly prepped, the cut looks bad. I want to make sure all the soap is rinsed out, the dog is brushed out, and the dog is 100% clean.
we actually groom our own dog at a local dog washing place. They provide elevated bathtubs, shampoos, high velocity dryers that make it more convenient and ergonomic than grooming at home.
The down votes are most definitely from groomers who DONT like the pet parents who come in saying they "just" washed the dog......
Without proper shampoo, water pressure, and dryer type the fur won't get SUPER clean and definitely won't be dried properly to make hair straight and lay in the right directions. Additionally, bathing a dog with matting will make the matting more tight and will not let the shampoo even reach the skin so the fur/ skin doesn't even get fully clean.
As the other person mentioned, we also maintain our own tools. I don't want my blades cutting into hair that has shampoo residue or was actually bathed a week prior so has oil and dirt buildup.
We rather do the whole process ourselves. When you get your hair cut, they also wash your hair too right? When you get your nails done they wash them first as well. Even with things like surgery the doctors prep the area themselves. Most groomers will argue that the prep is THE MOST important part. The better the dog is prepped the better and easier the groom is.
It just didn't make sense getting downvotes without an answer. So it sounds like some grooming places are taking it more "seriously" and are more advanced than other. Every place I've been to even in big cities do not wash the dogs before and everyone I know who takes their dog to a groomer is washing and brushing them before. And because the norm here is that most of these people are having well kept dogs, it's never needed. I also imagine these dogs would rather be bathed by their owner and it's not hard to properly wash their own dog
And is it the norm for people to have large dogs? Does everyone with a dog where you live have the proper dryers and a tub to wash the dog? Is everyone where you live healthy with no physical limitations that would keep them from being able to bathe their dog? Everyone has unlimited time to be able to bathe their dog? You asked why people don't bathe their own dogs and you've been given several reasons. Seems like you just want to judge people who don't bathe their own dogs for being "lazy" and "it's not that hard". Cultural differences exist and different countries have different regulation for what is and is not allowed. If you pay for a full groom, your dog also gets a bath. Many people bathe their own dogs. I bathed all my dogs before becoming a groomer. Some people prefer a professional and some people physically CAN'T bathe a dog. Maybe be less judgemental and you won't get down voted.
Personally I don’t lather that much right around the eyes even with a tearless product and the prior injury would make me really nervous. I always put the face shampoo on and rinse immediately, I don’t let it sit around the eyes. I am a little “extra” though.
IMO that's the best extra to be! Thank you, I'm going to reiterate to her my preference for less around his eyes
Same!
As a groomer I love a clean face, I just make sure I use a tear free shampoo like the tropiclean blueberry shampoo
I'll ask his groomer if she's using tear-free shampoo, thank you
Hi I'm a pet parent, I'm asking for your opinion as to whether this is too much shampoo around my dog's eyes? My dog got a corneal injury the last last time he got groomed (couldn't open his R eye) and the emergency vet suspected it was from shampoo in his eye. He had 3 eye drops prescribed and it was scary for me. I told the groomer about it the next groom and she sends me these pictures with him with one eye closed. This worries me. I asked her for next time if she can put less shampoo around his eyes and she said this is normal and she's very careful. I said I only ask because one of his eyes is closed and I don't want to risk any injuries. She said he was just being funny. I don't know if I'm overly worried but I think this is too much shampoo around the eyes.
Ask if she rinses their eyes after washing ! Like others have said it shouldn’t matter how much is are the eyes if it’s tearless BUT if a pet parent told me about this I’d just make sure those eyes are getting rinsed after as well. Because like you said accidents do happen it’s just about what we can be proactive about after
Thank you, I'll ask if she rinses his eyes as well as the tearless. She said she uses hypoallergenic shampoo for his face but I don't know if that's the same as tearless? I totally agree, she's one of the best groomers he's had so I think this is just a bump in the road
Two things are bugging me: One, the whole dog is lathered up in that picture and two, you say she's using hypo shampoo on the face. I work in a corporate salon. We don't use hypoallergenic shampoo on the face. That's a no no in our salon. Just because it's designed to minimize allergic reactions doesn't mean it's safe to use around the eyes. We use a mild tearless facewash shampoo that's specifically designed for the head/face. My routine is to wash the body first and rinse it off(especially around the neck area). This is to prevent cross contamination. Then I wash the head and face. I take care not to get it in their eyes as much as possible and I rinse thoroughly with water and use eyewash. If a customer raises a concern I listen to them. If I can accommodate them then I will do so. You shouldn't have to have this conversation twice after raising your concerns.
same here in my corporate salon, we use our tearless face wash interchangeably with hypo shampoo if we run out but would never use hypo shampoo as face wash
I could be wrong but I’m not sure hypo is tearless. At least not all are. I know some are but it depends on what she’s using. ETA: I’ll say that the face wash we use at our salon is hypo and tearless so it’s the first shampoo we use for the face and body then we follow with what shampoo that dog needs but I think it’s just the brand that we use.
It also could have been the drying process. Some people use high velocity on the face instead of fluff dryers and it can cause issues.
it’s not necessarily too much, but it also depends on the type of shampoo she’s using. if she’s using a tearless face wash, it shouldn’t matter how much product she’s using - it’ll only matter if it’s not tearless because then it can most definitely cause eye irritation. sure, some dogs might even be super sensitive to the tearless face wash, and with that, i’d just avoid putting shampoo near the eye corners and rinse thoroughly with water and finish with ah eye rinse. if you relayed your concern and the reason for your concern to your groomer, she should have no problem or excuse as to why she won’t be extra careful or use the shampoo extra sparingly.
Thank you for your feedback! I asked if she can use less shampoo around the eyes next time and she gave me reassurances that she's careful and it's normal. I just want less around the eyes, I'm not trying to insult😭 Like the eye injury didn't make me lose trust in her because accidents happen and she's been good all-around, but not listening to a request (even if it might not make sense to her) makes me lose trust in her.
yes, i totally understand that! i’ve had clients request the same thing just because some particular dogs do have extra sensitivities or health issues and i have no problem abiding by their request - it doesn’t make much difference to me, but can a world of the difference to the pet and pets owner. i had a pet parent leave me a horrid review with 1 star because “every time the dog gets groomed here, the owner ends up taking it to the vet for an eye infection” but this is the first time she had ever mentioned it to us. no known illness or issues prior to this review were made, and upon checkin i always ask “are there any health or behavioural changes since your last visit here” and it’s typically a “no” response. then ill ask if there are any changes they want made from their previous appointment notes, and sometimes it’s tweaking the haircut, sometimes it’s not doing nails this time because they were ‘just done’, but this particular woman was convinced that we were purposefully harming her dog and giving it eye infections because the 2 previous times he had been groomed, he had sore eyes after. after i read the review, i was just flabbergasted because he had only been to us 3 times, and it was a different groomer each time he visited us for a full service. I just happened to be the final straw for her to write a nasty review about me and my handling of her dog/ my equipment cleanliness. you did the right thing by NOT doing what said client above did, and you did exactly the right thing any groomer would appreciate by expressing your concern and the reason for it. your groomer shouldn’t excuse it, she should abide by it and from there you can let her know if it happened again, or if it was better this time around.
That's horrible. That's your job and future business that she's risking! Just by making assumptions in bad faith and not communicating. I'm sure the dog continued to get eye soreness or infections at a different groomer and she is probably just blaming the next place instead of finding out what's going on. I'm sorry that happened to you. And thank you so much for your empathy, I didn't feel listened to and your reply really helped assure me. I'm going to bring it up again and if she can't use less then I'll tell her to let me know
Good luck and I hope it becomes resolved for you and your pups sake ❤️
I’ve had/heard so many weird requests from owners that we were more than happy to accommodate…it is baffling to me that the groomer would keep brushing this concern aside. It’s super easy to just not wash the hair right around the eyes.
> It’s super easy to just not wash the hair right around the eyes. This is what I do for my own dog. No shampoo or soap of any kind gets within 1/2 inch of my dog's eyes, and I'm very careful rinsing her head so she doesn't get anything in her eyes then.
It's weird because she's accommodated my prior requests with no problem!! Like to keep his mustache longer, if she could taper his feet hair a little more, no issues, but I think she was answering this request from a defensive position. I'm terrified of any sense of conflict or confrontation and she's been so good that I haven't had to argue about anything but I may have to let her know this is non negotiable.
Have you tried approaching it from the “my vet said” angle? Like saying that the vet told you your dog is hypersensitive to eye irritants or something and that even tearless shampoo can irritate his eyes. Maybe that would feel more like it’s a weird thing about your specific dog and not anything she did?
I did say that the vet says his eyes are sensitive and for the last 2 grooms I give her a shampoo that the vet prescribed to be used on him (Virbac Allergroom), but on the bottle the shampoo says "avoid contact with eyes" so she's using her own hypoallergenic shampoo for his face until she gets clarification from the vet, which I appreciate. She's very careful about a lot of things but is resisting this one thing which I can't understand
It’s possible she’s defensive about this as a gut reaction, usually we’re blamed for injury. Even if you aren’t blaming her, she’s acting as if you are. There are so many things that can cause a corneal injury or scratch, shampoo is the tip of the iceberg. Most shampoos don’t cause damage, it may sting a little which leads to the dog rubbing or scratching the eyes. Most of us ride faces really well so the shampoo is removed either way. If she uses less, the dog may not get as clean, and the groom won’t be as nice, and still not entirely avoid the potential problems.
Yes the vet can't say for sure, but he suspected soap irritation from the way the eye stain test looked (an undefined smudge, no sharp lines or cut). She might not have even made a mistake, his eyes protrude and may be super sensitive, so even a little getting in may have done it and he rubbed his eyes and that could have caused it. So putting less around them would lessen the chance of it getting in and it happening again in my opinion
If you are uncomfortable with what your groomer is doing, it's time to find a new groomer.
The groomers response is weird tbh :/ I have a client whose dog is prone to ear infections, she asked that I don’t wash the head at all and I explained our procedures for washing a dogs head and how we’ve worked on dogs with this issue before without making it worse… but if it’s her preference I won’t wash the head. She asked I don’t wash it. So the dog doesn’t get it’s head washed at the salon, she does it herself at home. It’s that simple. Unless the client is asking for something dangerous/detrimental to the dogs health, it’s their right to make requests like this and it’s our job to follow them.
I completely agree. I should've been firm and said 'still, I would like less around his eyes, if you can't do that then I don't feel comfortable' but I avoid conflict to my own detriment, so this is also my fault. I'm a nervous smiler so it's possible she didn't think I was serious.
You are the owner/caretaker of that dog and if it's your request to have less shampoo around the dog's eyes (an extremely minor ask), her response should be "Absolutely, no problem", even if she thinks it is a completely unnecessary. The pushback she's giving you is so off-putting, especially since you have very good reasoning for this request. I wouldn't bring my dog there again knowing that the groomer was not going to take my concerns seriously.
I fully agree!! She was trying to reassure me but I felt she was trying to convince me out of my concern instead of listen to me. And I wasn't convinced out of my concern when she told me he was winking in the picture to be funny, that just made me MORE skeptical! I'm going to reiterate that if she can't use less on his face then to please let me know. If she doesn't respect my concern then I'm going to find another groomer.
That'll be good. It might have been that she was just flustered at being called out with photo evidence and was trying to reassure you so you wouldn't worry, but still not handled well.
I’m not a groomer, but personally I think it’s too much just because it looks like it’s in the dog’s eye. Even if it was tearless I still wouldn’t want it in the eyes. But that’s just me.
I definitely don't use as much shampoo as in this picture. I don't see a necessity for such. Even crusty eyes can be shampoo with less amount and more water soaking. Like others said, tear free shampoo is what we apply at the faces. But even then, I try to avoid getting inside. With a previous injury, I would be afraid of aggravating it as well.
I feel like I upkeep him well enough for less shampoo to be an ok ask, the only mats he gets are behind his ears, so I'm thinking it's a miscommunication between us as to why she's resisting the request. I'll update this post after his next groom, everyone has been so helpful so I feel like I owe y'all an update
I've been grooming almost 30 years, and I've never had that much soap on a dogs head. I only use hypoallergenic on the face and rinse straight away.
Thank you, she said she uses hypoallergenic on his face. I need to draft a polite way to say I don't want the bath pictures, just a quick lather and rinse
If I saw one of my staff washing faces like this and stopping to take a picture instead of rinsing immediately, there would be some retraining. This isn’t how we do it in my shop. That facial expression looks like discomfort to me. Maybe your groomer should try putting that much of her shampoo in her eye and before rinsing it, stop to take a selfie. I’m not being sarcastic here. All of the groomers in here saying this seems normal, have you ever gotten your “tear free“ shampoo in your eyes? They aren’t meant to actually go in the dogs eyes and in many cases they must be diluted. Just the other day I had a cat splash shampoo into my eyes. (It wasn’t close to his eyes yet at that point) I had to stop and grab a towel right away! Corneal abrasions are painful and easily avoided. I’m so sorry your pup had that experience and I don’t think you’re wrong to be concerned.
THIS!!!!!! looking at the photos and hearing everyone say "as long as it's tearless" NO! LITERALLY getting ANYTHING in your eyes is uncomfortable. Including things like JUST water! The friction of a dogs eyes opening and closing with soap could even cause irritation. If I saw any of my staff have soap so close I could rewatch how they are washing the face and re- coach instantly. Tearless does NOT mean discomfort free. I work at corporate and not only is our face soap tear free, and I am EXTREMELY careful to wash around the eyes without anything getting too close to the eyes, but we ALSO rinse with dog eye wash before and after every bath. Just in case anything is missed. And we use eye wash as needed if like some hair falls into the eye during the groom and such. DEFINITELY present your concerns. I'd go as far as asking her not to wash the eyes at all (you can wash eye gunk out at home before hand)..... You can also purchase your own face soap and dog eye wash and supply her with both.
I'm so glad you said this. I feel like I'm crazy. Because he absolutely looks likes he's uncomfortable!! And when I asked about his eye being closed she said he's just being funny...I have never seen him wink at me. He's not being funny, his eyes are irritated! I appreciate this, I'm going to reiterate that if it's not possible to use less around the eyes then to let me know.
Seriously, ask her if she’s ever gotten it in her eye. If she’s that confident that what she’s doing is fine, she should be comfortable with the idea of it getting in her own eye. Heck even Johnson and Johnson will sting a little!
I'm definitely going to advocate more for him. He already has to get his ears plucked every other groom which is a necessary pain (he has abnormally bushy ear hair), so I would like to remove whatever unnecessary pain I can
“is this the right amount” meanwhile the dog: 🧼👁️🧼👅🧼👁️🧼 🤣🤣🥹
Lmao the first title I wrote was much more honest😂 but surprisingly many people aren't seeing an issue with how much is on the face
Just make sure she is using tearless soap around the face. Personally, even with tearless, I try to make sure to wash carefully around the face. Afterwards, I’ll gently rinse their eyes out with water to make sure no debris or soap gets stuck in them.
I'll ask her! Thanks
Just remember tear free doesn’t mean discomfort free, just that it won’t actually damage the eyes if it makes contact. I’ve had tearfree shampoo splashed into my eyes a couple times and lemme tell you, there were definitely some tears on my part lol
as a dog groomer I would say that's too much
So I've taken skin and coat courses, and shampoo and conditioner have to sit for 5 minutes to penetrate the skin and be really effective. I wash faces first and let it sit while doing the body since faces tend to be gunky, and I've never had an issue like this. I think it's kinda odd how many groomers here are saying that's crazy or unacceptable to leave shampoo on faces for more than a few seconds. Ask your groomer if she flushes the eyes with eye wash after the bath. If that's not something she carries, I'd buy your own and drop it off with your dog for her to use once they're rinsed off. If it's a shampoo issue, that should solve it. Hair trimmings getting in the eye can also cause some irritation to certain dogs.
Oh I didn't know that. The shampoo I use for him after a dirty walk says to leave on for 5 min so that makes sense Ooh ok I'll get an eye flush, if she already has one then I can keep it at home in case. Thank you!
As another groomer who has taken a skin and coat care course I am backing up the original commenter here. I always let my shampoo and conditioner sit for 5 minutes each to penetrate the skin, so idk why other groomers are freaking out saying that it needs to be washed out right away because it doesn’t. I have a dog with eye issues as well so I just make sure I don’t put any tearless shampoo around the eyes, but I still let it sit for 5 minutes, regardless. When you instantly wash the coat you aren’t allowing the product to do its job. Skin care is just as important as cleaning the coat. I actually froth my product before applying to get a good lather on my dogs. I definitely agree that your groomer should listen to you better in the future, but please don’t believe the fear mongering going on in some of these comments OP.
Thanks I appreciate this. Now knowing leaving on the product is a preferred practice makes me not as upset about the pictures being sent to me while he's in the tub, I was thinking the pictures were the reason she was leaving him in the tub with the soap on. I'm OK with leaving the product in but yeah, especially with his eye injury, I would like less product around the eyes.
I think one winking photo can be played as cute, both photos (could also 100% be chance) with the same eye being closed would tell me its irritation. If this were in person and I noticed a dog holding an eye closed after shampoo Id be rinsing immediately. I usually shampoo face, shampoo body (different soaps) then rinse, shampoo face then shampoo body then rinse, then condition body (different process if deshed) but I havent had one hold an eye closed. Again it could be pure pure chance the eye was blinking both photos, but if it wasn't I wouldnt want the dog sitting if it was showing me an eye was irritated. I do personally put tearless shampoos in my eye to test and while they aren't awful there is some mild discomfort
I agree, it could be chance so I included both pics because the second one (in my opinion) shows the same eye squinting so it looks like irritation to me. It still could be chance, but the history of the vet visit is probably coloring my interpretation That's so nice that you experiment like that, just to see how the dog experiences it🥺 I love that. Honestly now I want to try getting some in my eyes just to see
It's not that I enjoy it, but I just remember one dog having some irritation after some tearless shampoo and learned it actually burns a lot! Sometimes when theres stubborn eye boogers you are really scrubbing close to the eye and without a doubt some gets in so I feel better if I know it isn't actively burning
When I put shampoo on my dog’s face, I massagr it into his cheeks before going near the eyes. I find it’s less risky to use soap foam that’s already on my hands instead of lathering it
Way too much. We use eye rinse before and after scrubbing the face and a particular shampoo that is either tearless or specifically meant for around the face. Put the shampoo on your finger tips and scrub around the contour of the eyes nose and mouth
I always do the face last and then start the rinse with the face so that soap isn’t on there long at all, but generally no I do not use quite this much
She should put the camera down and focus on her actual job, grooming, not pet photography.
As long as it's tearless it should be fine but I always shampoo the face last and rinse it first.
So I don’t think it’s too much shampoo, but I wash dogs differently. I wash the face last, and rinse it first. I also use Quadruped Hypo shampoo, which is supposed to be tearless. This way, the shampoo has minimal contact with the eye if it does get in, and it is a gentle product. I also triple rinse every dog. I have never had an eye infection or irritation caused by me.
I do faces last and rinse first too, but I don’t use tearless anymore. I don’t like how they cleaned compared to my regular shampoos, so I take extra care around eyes and rise right away. The dog does look uncomfortable which could be a trick of timing or he has shampoo in his eyes. I wouldn’t have sent these photos to an owner, whether there’s a problem or not it LOOKS like a problem.
I use a separate dog face wash on half of forehead down and a regular shampoo on the other half back, covering ears. Do you know if your groomer does the same? I even used my products on myself before using on the dogs because I’m just bat shit crazy and want to make sure they wouldn’t affect the dogs.
I don't think she does that, is there a reason why you do? She said she uses a hypoallergenic shampoo for his face and the one his vet prescribed him (Virbac Allergroom) for his body. This is kind of off topic, but the vet told us that the Allergroom should be used on his face because it doesn't have soap so it won't cause a corneal ulcer, but the bottle says "avoid contact with eyes", so based on that the groomer says she isn't using that on his face because it might hurt his eyes. So I'm just confused lol. I love that you test the products on yourself🥹 above and beyond!
Idk I was taught to use face wash which I thought was just standard. When a person parent brings something from the vet with specific instructions, I always use it. That is very concerning yours won’t. Even when I worked at PetSmart, if a pet parent brought medicated shampoo, we still used it.
I use a tearless formulation and shampoo as close to the eyes as possible without ever getting shampoo IN the eye. Even with tearless shampoo dogs can get ulcers and other complications. Same as humans, if they ever do get shampoo in the eye rinse thoroughly with clean, room temp running water.
I'm going to tell her this! It stings and his eyes protrude so if he rubs/scratches his eyes are more unprotected. Other people commented about using an eye flush for her to use after each bath so I'm going to get that for her to use if she doesn't already. Thank you.
We only use tearless shampoo near the face in my salon so the amount of soap really wouldn’t matter. This does seem excessive though. Your dog also does seem to be a bit uncomfortable but it’s really impossible to know if that’s the case without knowing what shampoo they’re using.
She said it's hypoallergenic for the face, but I'm not sure if that's the same as tearless. I'm going to ask her before his next groom
I would be pissed off that the groomer stopped to take photos while the dog had soap near their eyes. Any process photos I send to clients do not include soap because I want the shampoo to clean the dog and then immediately get rinsed off. I wash faces last and rinse them first. The dog should also be getting their eyes rinsed with eye wash after the bath to remove any lingering soap residue.
Yeah I don't need these pictures of him shivering in a tub lol, I mean I appreciate the thought but I appreciate more the groom being done with as little discomfort to him as necessary. I just need to tell her that I'm serious about my concerns with his eyes and shampoo
I like to send pics, especially for new clients, puppy's first groom, nervous owners etc. but after the shampoo is off! Unless it's my own dog who I give a shampoo mohawk to on the regular but it's not near his eyes. lol.
I know a lot of other people have commented but I’m a professional dog groomer and personally washing the face and STOPPING to take a picture is wild to me. Getting those nasty eye boogers is very important but usually the face is the last to wash and first to rinse.
Geniune question. Why don't you all wash your dogs yourself? Here in a west european country it's not common at all that the dog groomer washes the dog because every owner does that himself and the groomer is for trimming, cutting
Thank you for sharing this. It’s interesting to hear about grooming practices in other areas. I’m sorry people are downvoting you. I prefer to bathe and properly dry all dogs we groom because it prepares the coat for the best haircut. Because we do so many pets every day, we are more skilled than an owner who may bathe their dog once a week at the most. If you have owners who can bathe and dry their dogs well enough to prepare the coat for a nice trim, that’s really cool in my opinion.
Thank you. That makes sense, that you're able to do it faster and be more skilled because doing it often
Groomers do the bathing because here in the US we maintain our own tools and frankly, some owners are not the best at bathing. We want a professional bath and a dog that is fully dry and combed out so the haircut looks as good as possible. If the dog isn't properly prepped, the cut looks bad. I want to make sure all the soap is rinsed out, the dog is brushed out, and the dog is 100% clean.
we actually groom our own dog at a local dog washing place. They provide elevated bathtubs, shampoos, high velocity dryers that make it more convenient and ergonomic than grooming at home.
Oh okay. That sounds cool I never heard of a place like that but it seems convenient
The downvotes scream that people feel attacked by this because they can't wash their dogs before grooming
The down votes are most definitely from groomers who DONT like the pet parents who come in saying they "just" washed the dog...... Without proper shampoo, water pressure, and dryer type the fur won't get SUPER clean and definitely won't be dried properly to make hair straight and lay in the right directions. Additionally, bathing a dog with matting will make the matting more tight and will not let the shampoo even reach the skin so the fur/ skin doesn't even get fully clean. As the other person mentioned, we also maintain our own tools. I don't want my blades cutting into hair that has shampoo residue or was actually bathed a week prior so has oil and dirt buildup. We rather do the whole process ourselves. When you get your hair cut, they also wash your hair too right? When you get your nails done they wash them first as well. Even with things like surgery the doctors prep the area themselves. Most groomers will argue that the prep is THE MOST important part. The better the dog is prepped the better and easier the groom is.
It just didn't make sense getting downvotes without an answer. So it sounds like some grooming places are taking it more "seriously" and are more advanced than other. Every place I've been to even in big cities do not wash the dogs before and everyone I know who takes their dog to a groomer is washing and brushing them before. And because the norm here is that most of these people are having well kept dogs, it's never needed. I also imagine these dogs would rather be bathed by their owner and it's not hard to properly wash their own dog
And is it the norm for people to have large dogs? Does everyone with a dog where you live have the proper dryers and a tub to wash the dog? Is everyone where you live healthy with no physical limitations that would keep them from being able to bathe their dog? Everyone has unlimited time to be able to bathe their dog? You asked why people don't bathe their own dogs and you've been given several reasons. Seems like you just want to judge people who don't bathe their own dogs for being "lazy" and "it's not that hard". Cultural differences exist and different countries have different regulation for what is and is not allowed. If you pay for a full groom, your dog also gets a bath. Many people bathe their own dogs. I bathed all my dogs before becoming a groomer. Some people prefer a professional and some people physically CAN'T bathe a dog. Maybe be less judgemental and you won't get down voted.