Do you know what happens to your pet at the groomer?

What really happens to your pet after you drop them at the grooming shop? I recently took a position assisting a groomer to bathe and brush dogs and found out the hard way it is not easy work with cute little dogs. It is back breaking messy work that has aggravated my back problem for starters. It also often involves wrestling with a dog as big as a horse trying to bathe them and blow dry them and brush out all of their excess hair. It is also fighting with little dogs with attitude who want to bite your fingers off when you pull too hard on their knotted up hair or don't appreciate you trimming their nails. It is constant bending,standing,wrestling, getting soaking wet and eating hair, literally.

Aside from that,please realize that many breeds of dogs need regular and rigorous brushing to keep their hair from knotting up, especially Bichon Frises,Poodles,Shih Tzus,Lhasa Apsos,Border Collies,Spaniels and many Terriers. Otherwise, the groomer has to literally yank hard on their hair often for hours in order to get it combed out. They also have many other dogs they have to brush and trim or shave besides yours in order to pay their overhead. Everything is always rush rush but yet detail too. These poor dogs often go through a lot of pain in order to come out looking pretty like the owners want. To see how it would feel, my boss recommended spraying your hair with hairspray,wetting it,spraying it some more, drying it, spraying it some more and then letting someone yank all the tangles out for you.

When the dogs become frustrated and growl or even snap, some groomers will hit your dog. One Shih Tzu I was working on who was still a puppy growled because she was frustrated with us yanking on her hair for 2 hours straight. I ignored it since she made no attempt to actually bite, but one of the other groomers slapped her in the face viciously several times just because she growled. I felt so awful for the poor little thing I almost cried. I did not know what to do as this is a well established company and I have only been there a week and am not really allowed to have contact with the clients directly, the owner and the other groomer handle that aspect.

Bottom line, please be good to your dog, try and keep them groomed and clean at home if possible, and that means thorough brushing with some muscle in it. Otherwise, your groomer will have to be very rough in order to get the job done right, and they may not offer the TLC you can at home.

CURING SEPARATION ANXIETY

Using a method known as “planned departure” has proved to be very effective and is far more productive than simply correcting the behaviour as it goes to the source of the problem. The idea is to mould the dog's reaction by making a series of short departures. As the anxious response always occurs very shortly after the owner leaves the premises, the dog is left for only a few minutes (or even seconds to start with) to ensure the owner returns before the dog becomes frenzied. The owner should leave the house quietly without speaking to the dog and should not allow the dog to exhibit a prolonged greeting upon his or her return – simply ignoring the behaviour and turning away will gradually discourage this. The planned departures should be very slowly increased in length, never staying away long enough for the dog to become agitated or frenzied. This process takes time and patience, but it does eventually work. Once the dog is calm during a thirty minute departure, the length of time can be increased by larger increments.