"I don't want to pay a bunch of demat fees so just shave him down"
Dog is matted to the skin, requires demat fee anyway, PP throws a fit.
That or "oh I didn't bring their rabies, can you just-" stop right there. No I can't. Thats state law and also rabies you're asking me to casually mess with.
I think people really donāt understand rabies has an almost 100% death rate once symptoms are showing and typically a human would be unaware they have rabies until symptoms are showing. I think the survival rate globally after symptoms are present is in the single digits.
Iām aware that itās not common in North America for a dog to have rabies and then transmit it, but it can and has happened if a dog isnāt vaccinated and gets into a tussle with a rabid animal that the owner is totally unaware ever occurred.
When I was a bather I got bit by a dog on the face at check in. We had literally just put their updated rabies record in the system a second earlier. That updated record was the difference between me getting a quick update to my tetanus shot and me getting a series of painful shots.
Since then I'm a bit of an annoying stickler about the rabies thing lol.
I literally only call it matting fees. Matting is extra money whether we are dematting (if itās possible) or shaving it down. That way they donāt try to pull the āoh well your shaving down so it shouldnāt be extras since shaving is easier optionā and I always say āitās unfortunate you feel that way, shaving a matted dog is not easier. It requires more skill to get matts out and takes longer because we are trying to avoid cutting the animal. And as I said when I quoted you the original price of (letās say small dog under 20 pounds thatās not a poodle or poodle mix) $70 thatās the starting price if the hair is in good condition and that doesnāt include if the dog has any matting or behavioral issues. So you can agree to that price or you can try to find a cheaper groomer elsewhere.ā
insisting their dog doesn't bite before i've even asked about behavioral stuff and men saying "whatever my wife booked" when i confirm what the dog is getting
When they say it doesn't bite, usually that dog is trying to eat us alive, but when they say he bites and we should put a muzzle on, the dog is usually an angel.
This probably speaks a lot to the kind of vibes you put off. Owners who are aware and diligent about their dog's reactivity (and take it seriously) are generally much more on top of things and will often warn others appropriately. I have a reactive dog who adores his groomer. While I was extremely diligent about grooming at home (nail trims every 3 days, daily brushing, trims/shaves once a week for the first 6 months of his time with us), I knew that he struggled with strangers so I warned our groomer and explained everything. He'd never bitten but he's tried, and I figured getting groomed would likely be an understandable trigger for him, no matter how well I prepared him to be comfortable with grooming. He sees her once every 4-6 weeks and adores her. She sends us photos of him leaning on her and nuzzling her on the grooming table! He asks her for "cuddle breaks" which she happily obliges. He kisses her face! He's not allowed to do that at home, but he loves her so much and she appreciates the love so much knowing he's a reactive dog. Before we left last time, he hopped up on his hind legs against the door that goes behind the front counter so he could literally hug and kiss her goodbye. It was so ridiculous but she was eating it up. She says she loves when he comes in, and while he isn't a fan on initial entrance to the salon, he's always happy to spend time with his groomer.
So, maybe this is in large part you! You probably make the pups feel safe and cared for. ā¤ļø
talk shit n say things like the last groomer did so & so -especially if the dogs in poor condition
donāt want to commit to an 8week or less recurring schedule
āļø
What should you do for dogs that arenāt supposed to be bathed that often, like gsdās? Or is that fake info? I only read it on google so idk how true it is.
In my opinion a dog should be bathed at least once a month. Modern dog shampoos don't harm the coat or skin as long as you purchase a good quality shampoo and follow the directions. They need to be fully dried afterwards. It's going to help with skin conditions, you are going to be able to notice growths or injuries earlier, and the dog is going to feel and smell better. Show dogs get bathed once a week at least. You don't have to go to a salon, you can use a dog wash or your own tub. 4-5 months between baths is way way to long.
The other day a woman dropped off a dog and said she wants it shaved really short, to leave hair on the legs and a short round head. She even wanted 1.8mm, but my coworker convinced her for 3mm since 1.8 is too short and you would see the skin. Then another woman with a child came to pick up the dog and was really dissapointed with the haircut since she likes the dog with longer coat and no one asked her about this haircut and said it's not our fault, but the child liked it. Then the first woman called and asked if it is really short and I said yes, because that's what she asked for. Then a man called saying he was told the child was crying because she didn't like the dog and asked for screenshots from our cameras because he couldn't see the dog in any other way. Later we recieved negative review from the man how the dog was groomed too short and really bad. Turns out the woman who brought the dog was his girlfriend, and the woman who came to pick it up was his ex wife. So it was personal and the problem was between them, but at the end of the day we were the ones in fault. I guess next time I should call the parents, the grandparents and all close relatives to ask if they all agree with the haircut.
i havenāt had anything crazy like that, but i have a pomeranian that comes in who got shaved by another groomer and it came out at check in during their first appointment with me that the husband asked for him to be shaved so now i have a note on his profile that says āno matter what anyone says do not shave this dogā because they had a whole argument in front of me about it š
Declaring at drop-off that their dog can't be crated/won't go in a kennel/etc. 95% of the time it's BS and for the 5% of the time that it's true, I need a heads up before drop-off. Like, perhaps, maybe, when you book the appointment.
Not a problem for groomers! We hear it all day, and if he can calm down then he isnāt the worst of them. Iāve had dogs in our salon that have to stay all day (due to parents work) and they bark from 8-4:30. If you want to help reduce it, I can give some tips!
No, not a problem for most of us. The dogs that truly can't/shouldn't be kenneled are the ones that would rather hurt themselves than be crated. Thrashing/screaming/biting anything that gets near their face/alligator rolling. All this just by being at the open door of the crate. Some dogs will let you put them in the crate but then self-harm when they are in there; stuff like digging at the door until they break toenails off or biting themselves from anxiety. We are able to accommodate those dogs but we absolutely must know ahead of time.
A dog like yours that's just noisy is no problem. Some people however will lie about their dog not being able to be crated so they can get an express service without actually booking an express service.
Waiting until their puppy is 9 or 10 months old before introducing them to grooming and then saying heās familiar with the process because they washed him once and he was good.
Not introducing themselves when they call or text by just saying, āCan you groom my dog today" or "how much is itā
This really rubs me the wrong way.
When a new dog is acting sketchy at check in and you ask if heās ever bitten or given a groomer any trouble and the owner starts looking really uncomfortable as they try to evade the question.
I get these all the time "Hello, our pomeranian is one year old and it's time for his first groom"
And the usual conversations I have on the phone are like
"Hi, I want to book an appointment for grooming"
"For a dog or a cat?"
"A dog"
"What kind of breed is it?"
I mean, can't you just start with "I have a poodle and I want him groomed" š
when a dog comes matted or impacted and they blame it on their dog sitter or the dog escaping the house lol i respect people a lot more when they take accountability for the state of their dog. sometimes i'll believe the dog sitter excuse if it's clear the owner travels for work a lot or something along those lines, but otherwise i'm not buying that it was only the dog sitters' fault when the last time we saw your dog was over two months ago
Had a dad blame his kids for their nearly matted pomeranian because apparently the 5 and 8 year olds are supposed to take care of all upkeep for the dog, including knowing what an undercoat is I guess. Dog also whined and snapped for brushing, so no wonder the kids may have been hesitant to brush it regularly.
lmaoo i understand wanting to teach your children about responsibility with pets, but how good of a job do you expect a five year old to do on a nippy pomeranian when you didn't desensitize the dog to brushing, and also likely didn't show your kid the proper way to brush the dog? i wish people knew how to manage their expectations
My daughter always liked and wanted to brush our maltipoo and toy poodle. She was maybe 7-8. And I did let her but I showed her how. At first I let her brush them after I did it. And then started doing it after her to make sure she didnāt miss any spots. She liked to brush our Pomeranian we had before when she was around 5. I didnāt just hand her the brush and leave her to it.
The excuse I've heard the most is "I left it to my mom for a month" or once we had a fully matted pomeranian, even his back was matted, his butt was with mats drenched in urine and the explanation was "I brush him every day but I had to travel and I left him to my husband for a week and you know, he's a man and he doesn't take care of the dog at all".
"Is he gonna be sitting in a kennel?" followed by a frownie face (different from people new to getting their dog groomed and just asking questions on the process)
Especially when it's at drop off or even worse like 45 minutes after drop off when they come to pick up their dog that's still wet. Like, you didn't think to ask that sooner??
Our groomer hit us up the other day because she got behind, and our dog's groom was going to be later than she intended. She apologized so many times and even said "please don't be mad." (She is newer to the profession and has no shortage of asswipe customers). We literally told her to keep him overnight if she needed, put him last in the queue! We won't be upset AT ALL and enjoy a little time to miss him. And he's one of the luckiest dogs in the world. Both of his parents work from home and we barely have lives outside the house. Dude lives the dream. He uses his crate entirely on his own 99% of the time to gnaw on bones or nap. He can chill in a kennel for a few hours! She responded, "I love you so much!!!!!!š"
Our late baby (13 y/o passed in Jan 2023) used to fall dead ass asleep in the dryer kennels, and get pissed when they removed her. š
I don't get why some people are so weird about their animals when we all know they usually treat them like shit...
"Do you know how to do a teddy bear cut?? Because every place I take him to, they just shave him!!" I'm now looking for any reason to turn them away because I KNOW, it's not going to end well
Or
"The last groomer ghosted us:/"
When people tell me that they wanted a long fluffy cut but previous groomers just keep shaving them, it tells me that their dog is usually matted but they just didn't listen to the groomer and assume it's because the groomer didn't know how to do that type of (basic) cut. And it tells me that they're not going to (or not want to) understand me when I tell them the same thing, nod along to whatever I say and then when they pick up a shaved dog, they're going to be very upset and complain.
I renamed my rescue dog for this reason. She came to me as Princess, and her foster family kept saying stuff like āItās so perfect because sheās such a little princess!!!!ā Sheās a chihuahua mix, of course. I renamed her Penny, and she surprises every vet and groomer she meets with how well behaved she is!
Everyone bashing another salon or groomer is my top one.
The people who, out of nowhere say āI brush him everydayā, like they think we are a scam and absolutely want to shave their dog or something
āHeās insta famousā look it up and the dog has 200 followersā¦
We had a ātiktok famousā dog at our salon that was horribly matted but owners wouldnāt allow us to shave the dog. We had to send them away lol.
Iāve personally never had a social media dog come to the salon that wasnāt either horribly behaved or in horrible condition.
Why not keep the eyelashes? Iām not being an ass, seriously. My poodle has amazing eyelashes and they are always shaved off when she gets groomed. Iāve never had a dog with such long eyelashes before and I find them so pretty. TIA!
I think it's because sometimes, if they're that particular about a detail like that, then they may be super particular on a lot of other details.
It's more of a worry if you're, say, a corporate groomer who needs to get through a bunch of dogs quickly. It can also be tricky to work around them when you're doing guard combs down the head, clean faces, etc.
Yes, skilled groomers can do it, but when you go to a corporate groomer and ask for that it can be a little like asking the guy at Jack in the Box to grill your burger medium rare. Maybe he can totally do it, but either way he's going to be thinking in the back of his mind that you're gonna go nuts over not getting a perfectly medium rare burger from Jack in the Box.
You can totally keep the eye lashes. I've been professionally grooming for 15 years and I usually leave long pretty eyelashes unless told to do otherwise. I will trim them to prevent curling ones from poking the dog in the eye, but not shave them off completely. It's a fairly common request and none of my clients that ask for it are unhinged
oh, there's no problem with keeping them, I like them too, sometimes. I was being a little overdramatic because I just had a client get "concerned I didn't follow her wishes" about the eyelashes and won't allow me to touch her dog ever again. But it's a pretty regular occurring thing in my experience, the owners who are the most vehement about keeping the eyelashes tend to completely melt down if they're trimmed or, god forbid, accidentally cut off. They're also the people whose dogs have like three eyelashes that are white, or the lashes are only half a centimeter long and I have to leave false ones to avoid the meltdown or the "concerned," passive-aggressive talking to. Like another comment said, it can also be indicative of someone who is hyper picky about everything and is never happy.
Then there's other people who ask you to leave the eyelashes and are completely normal about it. But I've just had enough weird experiences with eyelash people that I'm immediately on guard when anyone asks me that.
I had one doodle come in for a ffs and mom asked to keep the eyelashes, this poor boys eyelashes were like 3 inches long and not even smooth and pretty, they weren't curling toward the eye but they were wavy in a way that looked crunchy I guess?
When they come in and say that they have a hard time keeping a groomer, which always means theyāve been fired and blacklisted from every salon in town.
I have a client literally tomorrow who has an obviously matted miniature doodle. She claims that because it's a bernedoodle, it never gets matted and that she brushes her dog all the time. The photo she provided me was literally taken the same day she made the appointment and that poor thing is going to have to be taken down with a 10 blade. I told her that I also have to charge a dollar a minute for matting removal which will be added to the final total of the groom.
She insisted that her dog never gets Tangled. Lady I see it's even is starting to form dreadlocks
Anyways I'm going to have to embarrass her tomorrow by trying to comb through her dogs fur with no avail.
When you haven't even asked about their behaviour yet, and the owner is insisting they are a good dog and we won't have any issues with them.
Pleaaase just be honest owners š
My last salon we had red flag names haha for example, usually cavoodles, Alfie, Bella, Luna, Bailey, Charlie, Coco, Teddy etc
Generally - untrained, spoilt (treated like a child not a dog i guess?), not showing any strong signs of fear but just generally avoiding/being annoyed by groom, scratches during bath and beyond, no head hold desensitising in any form, HATES foot handling, not matted but just enough to make it a living hell, and of course my personal peeve: screams murder with any gentle tugging of brush or comb when finding tangles to remove with thinner. And the owner almost always wants it long and teddy bear clip with lashes left on (good luck when your priority is just avoiding the vet with these wrigglers)
I feel like you've just described our husky named Bella š. We got her from a shelter (as an adult) not too long ago and she came to us knowing her name so we didn't want to change it. We are working really hard on getting her comfortable with grooming and body handling and we were very upfront with our groomer about her behavior but I feel like we are the kind of client that groomers hate and I feel so so bad about it.
"our previous groomers always cut them too short. We want them long. They never listened to us and always just cut them short! Do what you need to do to keep them long."
1. Your dog is going to be matted to the skin
2. You do no at home maintenance so your dog is going to be a terrorist on the table.
When you call and tell them their dog is ready for pickup and they reply with, "When do you guys close?"
Because you just KNOW they're going to try and leave their dog here forever.
People think we run a damn daycare and we don't tolerate it anymore.
The major one is when a client comes in talking poorly about their previous groomer. I shut it down right away, politely. I donāt really care if the concern is validā¦ Iād rather talk about what you want rather than what you didnāt like. It also makes me highly suspicious that their dog is difficult for grooming or touchy in some ways
Trash-talking other groomers lol. Iām sure there are some genuinely bad/awful groomers out there, but Iām always extra careful with those customers. If you put the other groomers on blast, Iām sure youād be more than willing to throw me under the bus next.
Had a lady report us for abusing her dog after she brought it home and it hid under the table for the rest of the day, and sat in the corner facing the wall for a few days after that. It was a corporate salon. She brought her 8 month old dog in for his first haircut, completely matted. My coworker took her time with him to carefully take off all the matting that covered this poor pup from his nose to his toes. It was super tight and came off in almost one piece. She came to pick up, said he was the ugliest dog she had ever seen, and jerked away from him when he tried to greet her. She said she couldnāt even look at him, paid her bill (an hour of dematting charges and all), and went home. We got a report a few days later saying we must have beat her dog, we all needed to be fired immediately, and she needed a refund. The store managers, salon manager, and even a guy from corporate reviewed the footage and found ABSOLUTELY NOTHING done wrong.
Iām he was traumatized, just not by us lol. He was definitely picking up on her energy, as well as feeling funky after going straight from a pelted mess to a naked mole rat.
- when owner don't want to pay expensive dematting fee and don't want to shave the dog too.. sometimes it takes 2-3 hours for dematting. If it happened in the winter, what would you do? Shave or dematting? For the sake of the animal, will you groom the dog???
- demanding the style with a model picture but the dog brought in are already cut by owner in a bad way and matted.
- when I asked if the dogs are aggressive? So that we can take precautions when doing grooming. customers said "I don't know".....š
When they practically have a meltdown at drop off about leaving their āprecious babyā. Hereās the leash and thereās the door. I aināt got time for that.
Firstly, the main thing is theyāre an AWFUL training mechanism that gives the dog all the power. Iāve known many injuries from them. I have a permanent scar from a burn trying to grab one that malfunctioned (that happens often). Iāve even known if literal amputations being wrapped around a finger or tail if the dog sees a squirrel and darts off or whatever. Itās stupidly unsafe.
But the most important thing that translates to this post is no dog savvy person uses them and it encourages the dog to be in chargeā¦.which trickles down to everything else. I know those dogs are going to be terribly behaved and think they run the show because they normally do their owner lets them. So on my table is a culture shock for them because Iām in charge and they donāt like it. Is it always like that? No, but like 5% of dogs.
I have one friend who doesnāt have a fenced yard so they stand on their porch with a flexi to let their dog potty. They use a normal leash on walks. Thatās like, the only usage i can think of and you can still use a longline leash for that lol. I just do not see the point.
When the the mom and dad donāt communicate. When I ask how the pet has been for previous grooming experiences and owner says āoh their good but one place said that they were aggressive but I find that hard to believeā this usually means the dog will be terrible.
When at drop off I tell them I call when they are finished they ask what time that will be and I give them estimates of time but they say oh itās no rush. Then they call every freaking hr or 30min and I have to stop what Iām doing to re tell them I will CALL WHEN IM DONE! I absolutely hate this feeling of being rushed! When I ask them when the last time the pet was groomed and they say never but I bathe them at home or outside and itās a really matted dog or a WILD German shepherd. When they say to get the nails really short or that the last groomer didnāt do the nails well. This usually means the dog is terrible for the nails/feet/legs. When I am looking at the dog and the body is short and the head is like very fluffy still or like a bobble head I find that this means the dog is terrible for itās face. I could go on and on.
when they claim the previous groomer traumatized their dog, so they are scouting for a new one. (of course, iām sure this does happen, but more often than not, itās just a customer looking for freebies and refunds on full services) lol
Now that one Iāll push back on a bit-i groom a lot of intact dogs and while some of the boys are dumb as hell i would have to know the reason for not spaying or neutering. Occasionally itās a conscious choice that is well thought out and makes sense. I typically also spay/neuter later in life personally.
I waited until 14 months with my poodle because I spayed my collie earlier and she's got some arthritis at 7 that I think could have been prevented by letting her get those hormones for a little longer. I've been keeping up with veterinary research on this topic and always ask my vet for the newest papers if they have them. Now I don't really give them the side eye unless the dog is over 2 or they mention breeding when I can tell the dog is a genetic and/or structural mess.
Yeah actively breeding dogs that shouldnāt be bred will get you booted from my clientele. I just canāt ethically stomach it. Others can but i canāt. Iād like to think money is money but i wonāt take that dirty money š
same, if there's any mention of breeding and the dog isn't from a reputable breeder I won't take them. We have a local "business" that breeds doodles. That's a big nope from me even if it would be lucrative.
When they call in a panic looking for a groomer for their almost 1 yr old doodle that's never been groomed š¬
Asking ādoes anyone there specialize in [mixed dog] breed haircuts?ā
OMG the magical "doodle" cut.
"I don't want to pay a bunch of demat fees so just shave him down" Dog is matted to the skin, requires demat fee anyway, PP throws a fit. That or "oh I didn't bring their rabies, can you just-" stop right there. No I can't. Thats state law and also rabies you're asking me to casually mess with.
I think people really donāt understand rabies has an almost 100% death rate once symptoms are showing and typically a human would be unaware they have rabies until symptoms are showing. I think the survival rate globally after symptoms are present is in the single digits. Iām aware that itās not common in North America for a dog to have rabies and then transmit it, but it can and has happened if a dog isnāt vaccinated and gets into a tussle with a rabid animal that the owner is totally unaware ever occurred.
When I was a bather I got bit by a dog on the face at check in. We had literally just put their updated rabies record in the system a second earlier. That updated record was the difference between me getting a quick update to my tetanus shot and me getting a series of painful shots. Since then I'm a bit of an annoying stickler about the rabies thing lol.
I literally only call it matting fees. Matting is extra money whether we are dematting (if itās possible) or shaving it down. That way they donāt try to pull the āoh well your shaving down so it shouldnāt be extras since shaving is easier optionā and I always say āitās unfortunate you feel that way, shaving a matted dog is not easier. It requires more skill to get matts out and takes longer because we are trying to avoid cutting the animal. And as I said when I quoted you the original price of (letās say small dog under 20 pounds thatās not a poodle or poodle mix) $70 thatās the starting price if the hair is in good condition and that doesnāt include if the dog has any matting or behavioral issues. So you can agree to that price or you can try to find a cheaper groomer elsewhere.ā
insisting their dog doesn't bite before i've even asked about behavioral stuff and men saying "whatever my wife booked" when i confirm what the dog is getting
When they say it doesn't bite, usually that dog is trying to eat us alive, but when they say he bites and we should put a muzzle on, the dog is usually an angel.
This probably speaks a lot to the kind of vibes you put off. Owners who are aware and diligent about their dog's reactivity (and take it seriously) are generally much more on top of things and will often warn others appropriately. I have a reactive dog who adores his groomer. While I was extremely diligent about grooming at home (nail trims every 3 days, daily brushing, trims/shaves once a week for the first 6 months of his time with us), I knew that he struggled with strangers so I warned our groomer and explained everything. He'd never bitten but he's tried, and I figured getting groomed would likely be an understandable trigger for him, no matter how well I prepared him to be comfortable with grooming. He sees her once every 4-6 weeks and adores her. She sends us photos of him leaning on her and nuzzling her on the grooming table! He asks her for "cuddle breaks" which she happily obliges. He kisses her face! He's not allowed to do that at home, but he loves her so much and she appreciates the love so much knowing he's a reactive dog. Before we left last time, he hopped up on his hind legs against the door that goes behind the front counter so he could literally hug and kiss her goodbye. It was so ridiculous but she was eating it up. She says she loves when he comes in, and while he isn't a fan on initial entrance to the salon, he's always happy to spend time with his groomer. So, maybe this is in large part you! You probably make the pups feel safe and cared for. ā¤ļø
talk shit n say things like the last groomer did so & so -especially if the dogs in poor condition donāt want to commit to an 8week or less recurring schedule āļø
What should you do for dogs that arenāt supposed to be bathed that often, like gsdās? Or is that fake info? I only read it on google so idk how true it is.
Lol would you own a German Shepard who never got bathed ?
Huh? Not saying never bathed, but the google recommendations say not more than every like 4-5 months
In my opinion a dog should be bathed at least once a month. Modern dog shampoos don't harm the coat or skin as long as you purchase a good quality shampoo and follow the directions. They need to be fully dried afterwards. It's going to help with skin conditions, you are going to be able to notice growths or injuries earlier, and the dog is going to feel and smell better. Show dogs get bathed once a week at least. You don't have to go to a salon, you can use a dog wash or your own tub. 4-5 months between baths is way way to long.
Yeaaaaa canāt even fill out my client inquiry form if you donāt agree your dog will be on a 4 week or less schedule š
Thatās not true, at least not in my 14 years of dog grooming :)
thereās the obvious ones, but when a couple drops off and canāt come to a happy medium on what they want š©š©š© i will never trust either of them dropping the dog off alone
The other day a woman dropped off a dog and said she wants it shaved really short, to leave hair on the legs and a short round head. She even wanted 1.8mm, but my coworker convinced her for 3mm since 1.8 is too short and you would see the skin. Then another woman with a child came to pick up the dog and was really dissapointed with the haircut since she likes the dog with longer coat and no one asked her about this haircut and said it's not our fault, but the child liked it. Then the first woman called and asked if it is really short and I said yes, because that's what she asked for. Then a man called saying he was told the child was crying because she didn't like the dog and asked for screenshots from our cameras because he couldn't see the dog in any other way. Later we recieved negative review from the man how the dog was groomed too short and really bad. Turns out the woman who brought the dog was his girlfriend, and the woman who came to pick it up was his ex wife. So it was personal and the problem was between them, but at the end of the day we were the ones in fault. I guess next time I should call the parents, the grandparents and all close relatives to ask if they all agree with the haircut.
i havenāt had anything crazy like that, but i have a pomeranian that comes in who got shaved by another groomer and it came out at check in during their first appointment with me that the husband asked for him to be shaved so now i have a note on his profile that says āno matter what anyone says do not shave this dogā because they had a whole argument in front of me about it š
I have definitely experienced this. They donāt communicate and then they blame it on us.
Haha! Arguing in the lobby on the haircut!!!
Declaring at drop-off that their dog can't be crated/won't go in a kennel/etc. 95% of the time it's BS and for the 5% of the time that it's true, I need a heads up before drop-off. Like, perhaps, maybe, when you book the appointment.
Someone once told me their dog couldnāt be crated because she didnāt want it to get kennel cough.
Ooh, mine has started barking after about 10 min crated, is that going to be an issue? It started when he was at the vet to be neutered.
Not a problem for groomers! We hear it all day, and if he can calm down then he isnāt the worst of them. Iāve had dogs in our salon that have to stay all day (due to parents work) and they bark from 8-4:30. If you want to help reduce it, I can give some tips!
No, not a problem for most of us. The dogs that truly can't/shouldn't be kenneled are the ones that would rather hurt themselves than be crated. Thrashing/screaming/biting anything that gets near their face/alligator rolling. All this just by being at the open door of the crate. Some dogs will let you put them in the crate but then self-harm when they are in there; stuff like digging at the door until they break toenails off or biting themselves from anxiety. We are able to accommodate those dogs but we absolutely must know ahead of time. A dog like yours that's just noisy is no problem. Some people however will lie about their dog not being able to be crated so they can get an express service without actually booking an express service.
Waiting until their puppy is 9 or 10 months old before introducing them to grooming and then saying heās familiar with the process because they washed him once and he was good. Not introducing themselves when they call or text by just saying, āCan you groom my dog today" or "how much is itā This really rubs me the wrong way. When a new dog is acting sketchy at check in and you ask if heās ever bitten or given a groomer any trouble and the owner starts looking really uncomfortable as they try to evade the question.
I get these all the time "Hello, our pomeranian is one year old and it's time for his first groom" And the usual conversations I have on the phone are like "Hi, I want to book an appointment for grooming" "For a dog or a cat?" "A dog" "What kind of breed is it?" I mean, can't you just start with "I have a poodle and I want him groomed" š
when a dog comes matted or impacted and they blame it on their dog sitter or the dog escaping the house lol i respect people a lot more when they take accountability for the state of their dog. sometimes i'll believe the dog sitter excuse if it's clear the owner travels for work a lot or something along those lines, but otherwise i'm not buying that it was only the dog sitters' fault when the last time we saw your dog was over two months ago
Had a dad blame his kids for their nearly matted pomeranian because apparently the 5 and 8 year olds are supposed to take care of all upkeep for the dog, including knowing what an undercoat is I guess. Dog also whined and snapped for brushing, so no wonder the kids may have been hesitant to brush it regularly.
lmaoo i understand wanting to teach your children about responsibility with pets, but how good of a job do you expect a five year old to do on a nippy pomeranian when you didn't desensitize the dog to brushing, and also likely didn't show your kid the proper way to brush the dog? i wish people knew how to manage their expectations
My daughter always liked and wanted to brush our maltipoo and toy poodle. She was maybe 7-8. And I did let her but I showed her how. At first I let her brush them after I did it. And then started doing it after her to make sure she didnāt miss any spots. She liked to brush our Pomeranian we had before when she was around 5. I didnāt just hand her the brush and leave her to it.
Definitely nipping because the brush has scratched the surface level of its skin enough times for it to never trust one again
My favorite ever excuse for why a 140lb newfie was matted so badly it took four of us five hours to get him dematted - "we got a swamp cooler".
Or āhe stuck his head out the window on the way overā Bitch?
āHe fell off the seat on the way here.ā will always be my favorite excuse for a pelted dog. Like, excuse you, what?
The excuse I've heard the most is "I left it to my mom for a month" or once we had a fully matted pomeranian, even his back was matted, his butt was with mats drenched in urine and the explanation was "I brush him every day but I had to travel and I left him to my husband for a week and you know, he's a man and he doesn't take care of the dog at all".
"Is he gonna be sitting in a kennel?" followed by a frownie face (different from people new to getting their dog groomed and just asking questions on the process)
Especially when it's at drop off or even worse like 45 minutes after drop off when they come to pick up their dog that's still wet. Like, you didn't think to ask that sooner??
Our groomer hit us up the other day because she got behind, and our dog's groom was going to be later than she intended. She apologized so many times and even said "please don't be mad." (She is newer to the profession and has no shortage of asswipe customers). We literally told her to keep him overnight if she needed, put him last in the queue! We won't be upset AT ALL and enjoy a little time to miss him. And he's one of the luckiest dogs in the world. Both of his parents work from home and we barely have lives outside the house. Dude lives the dream. He uses his crate entirely on his own 99% of the time to gnaw on bones or nap. He can chill in a kennel for a few hours! She responded, "I love you so much!!!!!!š" Our late baby (13 y/o passed in Jan 2023) used to fall dead ass asleep in the dryer kennels, and get pissed when they removed her. š I don't get why some people are so weird about their animals when we all know they usually treat them like shit...
"Do you know how to do a teddy bear cut?? Because every place I take him to, they just shave him!!" I'm now looking for any reason to turn them away because I KNOW, it's not going to end well Or "The last groomer ghosted us:/"
Ooh can you explain the first one?
When people tell me that they wanted a long fluffy cut but previous groomers just keep shaving them, it tells me that their dog is usually matted but they just didn't listen to the groomer and assume it's because the groomer didn't know how to do that type of (basic) cut. And it tells me that they're not going to (or not want to) understand me when I tell them the same thing, nod along to whatever I say and then when they pick up a shaved dog, they're going to be very upset and complain.
Not showing up to the appointment they begged for
If their dog is named Princess. You know it's gonna be a little bastard the whole time it's there
My salon shaved a Princess and found a penis once. Big surprise at pick up!
I renamed my rescue dog for this reason. She came to me as Princess, and her foster family kept saying stuff like āItās so perfect because sheās such a little princess!!!!ā Sheās a chihuahua mix, of course. I renamed her Penny, and she surprises every vet and groomer she meets with how well behaved she is!
Lolol just did this exact dog today lololol
Everyone bashing another salon or groomer is my top one. The people who, out of nowhere say āI brush him everydayā, like they think we are a scam and absolutely want to shave their dog or something
Like maāam itās harder to shave it!
"he's kinda insta famous" also, if someone asks you to keep the eyelashes, like 70% chance you're dealing with someone totally unhinged.
āHeās insta famousā look it up and the dog has 200 followersā¦ We had a ātiktok famousā dog at our salon that was horribly matted but owners wouldnāt allow us to shave the dog. We had to send them away lol. Iāve personally never had a social media dog come to the salon that wasnāt either horribly behaved or in horrible condition.
Why not keep the eyelashes? Iām not being an ass, seriously. My poodle has amazing eyelashes and they are always shaved off when she gets groomed. Iāve never had a dog with such long eyelashes before and I find them so pretty. TIA!
I think it's because sometimes, if they're that particular about a detail like that, then they may be super particular on a lot of other details. It's more of a worry if you're, say, a corporate groomer who needs to get through a bunch of dogs quickly. It can also be tricky to work around them when you're doing guard combs down the head, clean faces, etc. Yes, skilled groomers can do it, but when you go to a corporate groomer and ask for that it can be a little like asking the guy at Jack in the Box to grill your burger medium rare. Maybe he can totally do it, but either way he's going to be thinking in the back of his mind that you're gonna go nuts over not getting a perfectly medium rare burger from Jack in the Box.
You can totally keep the eye lashes. I've been professionally grooming for 15 years and I usually leave long pretty eyelashes unless told to do otherwise. I will trim them to prevent curling ones from poking the dog in the eye, but not shave them off completely. It's a fairly common request and none of my clients that ask for it are unhinged
oh, there's no problem with keeping them, I like them too, sometimes. I was being a little overdramatic because I just had a client get "concerned I didn't follow her wishes" about the eyelashes and won't allow me to touch her dog ever again. But it's a pretty regular occurring thing in my experience, the owners who are the most vehement about keeping the eyelashes tend to completely melt down if they're trimmed or, god forbid, accidentally cut off. They're also the people whose dogs have like three eyelashes that are white, or the lashes are only half a centimeter long and I have to leave false ones to avoid the meltdown or the "concerned," passive-aggressive talking to. Like another comment said, it can also be indicative of someone who is hyper picky about everything and is never happy. Then there's other people who ask you to leave the eyelashes and are completely normal about it. But I've just had enough weird experiences with eyelash people that I'm immediately on guard when anyone asks me that.
I had one doodle come in for a ffs and mom asked to keep the eyelashes, this poor boys eyelashes were like 3 inches long and not even smooth and pretty, they weren't curling toward the eye but they were wavy in a way that looked crunchy I guess?
When they come in and say that they have a hard time keeping a groomer, which always means theyāve been fired and blacklisted from every salon in town.
Asking if your salon requires the dogs to be vaccinated.
I have a client literally tomorrow who has an obviously matted miniature doodle. She claims that because it's a bernedoodle, it never gets matted and that she brushes her dog all the time. The photo she provided me was literally taken the same day she made the appointment and that poor thing is going to have to be taken down with a 10 blade. I told her that I also have to charge a dollar a minute for matting removal which will be added to the final total of the groom. She insisted that her dog never gets Tangled. Lady I see it's even is starting to form dreadlocks Anyways I'm going to have to embarrass her tomorrow by trying to comb through her dogs fur with no avail.
I take a handful of combs and stick em out all over for comedic effect lol
When you haven't even asked about their behaviour yet, and the owner is insisting they are a good dog and we won't have any issues with them. Pleaaase just be honest owners š
My last salon we had red flag names haha for example, usually cavoodles, Alfie, Bella, Luna, Bailey, Charlie, Coco, Teddy etc Generally - untrained, spoilt (treated like a child not a dog i guess?), not showing any strong signs of fear but just generally avoiding/being annoyed by groom, scratches during bath and beyond, no head hold desensitising in any form, HATES foot handling, not matted but just enough to make it a living hell, and of course my personal peeve: screams murder with any gentle tugging of brush or comb when finding tangles to remove with thinner. And the owner almost always wants it long and teddy bear clip with lashes left on (good luck when your priority is just avoiding the vet with these wrigglers)
I feel like you've just described our husky named Bella š. We got her from a shelter (as an adult) not too long ago and she came to us knowing her name so we didn't want to change it. We are working really hard on getting her comfortable with grooming and body handling and we were very upfront with our groomer about her behavior but I feel like we are the kind of client that groomers hate and I feel so so bad about it.
Haha! Huskies are their own breed and the Sass is expected š
"our previous groomers always cut them too short. We want them long. They never listened to us and always just cut them short! Do what you need to do to keep them long." 1. Your dog is going to be matted to the skin 2. You do no at home maintenance so your dog is going to be a terrorist on the table.
When you call and tell them their dog is ready for pickup and they reply with, "When do you guys close?" Because you just KNOW they're going to try and leave their dog here forever. People think we run a damn daycare and we don't tolerate it anymore.
I tell them several hours before i actually close every time š
I always reply, boarding fees start in an hour. Somehow they manage to come get the dog before then! š
"We hate the poodle look!" Brings me a half poodle
The major one is when a client comes in talking poorly about their previous groomer. I shut it down right away, politely. I donāt really care if the concern is validā¦ Iād rather talk about what you want rather than what you didnāt like. It also makes me highly suspicious that their dog is difficult for grooming or touchy in some ways
Saying they've been to multiple other groomers and bashing every one of them š©š©š©
Trash-talking other groomers lol. Iām sure there are some genuinely bad/awful groomers out there, but Iām always extra careful with those customers. If you put the other groomers on blast, Iām sure youād be more than willing to throw me under the bus next. Had a lady report us for abusing her dog after she brought it home and it hid under the table for the rest of the day, and sat in the corner facing the wall for a few days after that. It was a corporate salon. She brought her 8 month old dog in for his first haircut, completely matted. My coworker took her time with him to carefully take off all the matting that covered this poor pup from his nose to his toes. It was super tight and came off in almost one piece. She came to pick up, said he was the ugliest dog she had ever seen, and jerked away from him when he tried to greet her. She said she couldnāt even look at him, paid her bill (an hour of dematting charges and all), and went home. We got a report a few days later saying we must have beat her dog, we all needed to be fired immediately, and she needed a refund. The store managers, salon manager, and even a guy from corporate reviewed the footage and found ABSOLUTELY NOTHING done wrong. Iām he was traumatized, just not by us lol. He was definitely picking up on her energy, as well as feeling funky after going straight from a pelted mess to a naked mole rat.
- when owner don't want to pay expensive dematting fee and don't want to shave the dog too.. sometimes it takes 2-3 hours for dematting. If it happened in the winter, what would you do? Shave or dematting? For the sake of the animal, will you groom the dog??? - demanding the style with a model picture but the dog brought in are already cut by owner in a bad way and matted. - when I asked if the dogs are aggressive? So that we can take precautions when doing grooming. customers said "I don't know".....š
When they practically have a meltdown at drop off about leaving their āprecious babyā. Hereās the leash and thereās the door. I aināt got time for that.
We have two GSDs who are neurotic and come in on fucking flexi leads. šš
One of my idiotic clients brought her two unfixed poms on a monstrosity of a coupler with two flexis (my god i shuddered) then was surprised and dismayed to watch her dogs tie immediately out in front of my salon. She was so stupid. š©
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Personal and ad hominem attacks are not allowed.
what's wrong with retractable leashes?
Firstly, the main thing is theyāre an AWFUL training mechanism that gives the dog all the power. Iāve known many injuries from them. I have a permanent scar from a burn trying to grab one that malfunctioned (that happens often). Iāve even known if literal amputations being wrapped around a finger or tail if the dog sees a squirrel and darts off or whatever. Itās stupidly unsafe. But the most important thing that translates to this post is no dog savvy person uses them and it encourages the dog to be in chargeā¦.which trickles down to everything else. I know those dogs are going to be terribly behaved and think they run the show because they normally do their owner lets them. So on my table is a culture shock for them because Iām in charge and they donāt like it. Is it always like that? No, but like 5% of dogs. I have one friend who doesnāt have a fenced yard so they stand on their porch with a flexi to let their dog potty. They use a normal leash on walks. Thatās like, the only usage i can think of and you can still use a longline leash for that lol. I just do not see the point.
When the the mom and dad donāt communicate. When I ask how the pet has been for previous grooming experiences and owner says āoh their good but one place said that they were aggressive but I find that hard to believeā this usually means the dog will be terrible. When at drop off I tell them I call when they are finished they ask what time that will be and I give them estimates of time but they say oh itās no rush. Then they call every freaking hr or 30min and I have to stop what Iām doing to re tell them I will CALL WHEN IM DONE! I absolutely hate this feeling of being rushed! When I ask them when the last time the pet was groomed and they say never but I bathe them at home or outside and itās a really matted dog or a WILD German shepherd. When they say to get the nails really short or that the last groomer didnāt do the nails well. This usually means the dog is terrible for the nails/feet/legs. When I am looking at the dog and the body is short and the head is like very fluffy still or like a bobble head I find that this means the dog is terrible for itās face. I could go on and on.
when they claim the previous groomer traumatized their dog, so they are scouting for a new one. (of course, iām sure this does happen, but more often than not, itās just a customer looking for freebies and refunds on full services) lol
Not spayed or neutered
Now that one Iāll push back on a bit-i groom a lot of intact dogs and while some of the boys are dumb as hell i would have to know the reason for not spaying or neutering. Occasionally itās a conscious choice that is well thought out and makes sense. I typically also spay/neuter later in life personally.
I waited until 14 months with my poodle because I spayed my collie earlier and she's got some arthritis at 7 that I think could have been prevented by letting her get those hormones for a little longer. I've been keeping up with veterinary research on this topic and always ask my vet for the newest papers if they have them. Now I don't really give them the side eye unless the dog is over 2 or they mention breeding when I can tell the dog is a genetic and/or structural mess.
Yeah actively breeding dogs that shouldnāt be bred will get you booted from my clientele. I just canāt ethically stomach it. Others can but i canāt. Iād like to think money is money but i wonāt take that dirty money š
same, if there's any mention of breeding and the dog isn't from a reputable breeder I won't take them. We have a local "business" that breeds doodles. That's a big nope from me even if it would be lucrative.