# Today's grooms



## loves (Jul 2, 2013)

Ohhh, I hate the bows on tops of heads like that, because most people don't take care of it, so I would have gladly given you a cute round head. As for Ash, frequent groomings may help and at home tell her "foot" as you pick up a foot, hold it gently, then put it down with a "Thank you", then on to other feet. Hold it, rub it if you can, but if she jerks it out of your hand, pick it back up and don't stop until YOU are the one to let go and tell her "good dog". Then a treat. May only be a couple seconds at first, but you can build up time.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

You are so right about handling feet, tails, face etc., Loves. One of the best things BF did when Lily and Peeves were puppies was to play with all of those parts every day. We still do those things every day. In the morning when we are having coffee (usually have it in bed while watching morning shows) we invite the dogs on the bed if they aren't already there and we hold their feet and their tails. We also put hands on their muzzles and lift their lips to look at their teeth. We make a game out of it. It pays off at the vet as well as at the groomer.

PoodlePaws I would add giving a treat for letting you hold onto not just feet but to do all sorts of hands on things as a way to help recondition your girls to accept those bits of handling, but only for being relaxed about it. You will be able to get things much calmer.

I also would take Gemma back and have them fix the TK.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

Ash lets us touch her feet and play with them. But just not with the clippers near. Or the nail clippers. Or the dremmel. I'd rather pay to have her done. It just takes up too much of my day. This poor boys arms were scratched all over. I profusely apologized. 

I will leave the TK until next groom. I have no problem fixing it everyday. I just didn't want to have to. Plus the poodles take the bows out. And her brows are too short from the last groom so they don't fit up there and she looks like Oscar the grouch.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Oh well they look adorable! Do you have curved sheers, it would be so easy to just snip that topknot off!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

PoodlePaws said:


> Ash lets us touch her feet and play with them. But just not with the clippers near. Or the nail clippers. Or the dremmel. *I'd rather pay to have her done. It just takes up too much of my day. This poor boys arms were scratched all over. I profusely apologized. *
> 
> I will leave the TK until next groom. I have no problem fixing it everyday. I just didn't want to have to. Plus the poodles take the bows out. And her brows are too short from the last groom so they don't fit up there and she looks like Oscar the grouch.


My childhood beagle had a very bad reputation at the vet's office. I know there are some folks here who have been told their dog was not welcome at a particular groomer again because of behavior problems. To avoid having to apologize to the groomer again, you working on them being used to having their feet touched, etc could probably also let you get away without having to feel like over tipping.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

Me: did she act good?
Boy: I guess
Me: well did she?
Boy: do you see all the scratches covering my arms? She did this. 
Me: ??


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

PoodlePaws said:


> Me: did she act good?
> Boy: I guess
> Me: well did she?
> Boy: do you see all the scratches covering my arms? She did this.
> Me: ??



Gee, I wouldn't want to be a groomer, and have to control somebody else's dogs for grooming - but don't they have grooming nooses and slings to prevent the dogs from struggling and hurting them? I would be curious to hear what groomers in the group have to say - is it the groomer's bad if they allow a dog to scratch up their arms multiple times while they are working on them?


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

They do use nooses. Maybe she just didn't like him? She has never done that to anyone before. Her nails were also pretty dull when I brought her. I guess he could be lying


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

PoodlePaws said:


> They do use nooses. Maybe she just didn't like him? She has never done that to anyone before. Her nails were also pretty dull when I brought her. I guess he could be lying



Or he is really inept!


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## loves (Jul 2, 2013)

Hmmm, my arms usually get shredded during the bath, little dears climbing walls, my arms, everything they can reach, and everytime I pick up the dog or take it in/out of the kennel. Working on feet/nails, if they got shredded there would be no work done. Kinda hard to trim nails or shave feet if they are tearing up your arms. 

Yep, we have grooming leads, Gentle Leader (kinda think of cross-tying a horse), rear straps, muzzles, but some dogs, big and small, jerk/fight/twist/thrash so much that none of the above work. Then you throw up your hands, call it quits before somebody gets hurt. 

Nails, I will often wrap small dogs in a towel, leaving one foot out, that can help. But, yes we have many things at our disposal, but on occasion you gotta know when to fold 'em.


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## loves (Jul 2, 2013)

Now a question, have her nails ever been quicked when being trimmed? I mean have they ever bled? That can be painful, and some dogs could care less, other dogs, if it happens once, you will have a hell of a time working on their nails after that.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

loves said:


> Now a question, have her nails ever been quicked when being trimmed? I mean have they ever bled? That can be painful, and some dogs could care less, other dogs, if it happens once, you will have a hell of a time working on their nails after that.



Yep. Petco would quick Ash every time. Today she went to a different place - but it's probably all the same to her. Gemma did go to Petco today though. She loves it there.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Maybe Petco would be better because they would likely have more hands on deck to help hold her?


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

Probably. They couldn't fit ash in today. So she had to go missy's old groom place. But I did notice when I picked gemma up from Petco, the lady that quicks ash wasn't there.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Do you think that the Quicking is her fault? I mean, if a dog has black nails, and happens to be ones with low veins, it is pretty easy to quick them. I had that problem with one of my previous girls. And I tell you, those veins never receded like they say they will. But I never have that with my current girls - their veins are much higher up and I can keep their nails short without a problem. 
In fact, My peticure broke and by the time I got a new one, their nails had gotten pretty long, but once I got it, I was able to take them right back to short no quicking!
I hope I am not driving you crazy with maybe blaming one groomer and exonerating another - just trying to give you other perspectives to consider is all!


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

Ash used to let me trim her nails all the time. When she started going to groomer, she would let me less and less. It took work and coaxing. They stay pretty worn down as it is. But now she has been acting up for me when i groom her to the point that I can't do it at all. She gets really nervous. She used to be the dog who would lay down while I did it. Those days are long gone. I guess I never should've started bringing her to get groomed since she was so good for me. I just needed a break because it took me forever. Then some of my stuff broke. Grooming makes her a big ball of nerves now. I'm wondering if she had a bad experience behind the scenes and still remembers.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

I knew she was frazzled when I picked her up. She came running out of the door into the grooming area and I said "hi pretty girl you look soooo pretty " and she flipped out trying to find me. She wasn't looking up where my face was. My body was behind the counter. She was so happy to see me. Made me sad though that she was so unhappy there.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

PoodlePaws said:


> Ash used to let me trim her nails all the time. When she started going to groomer, she would let me less and less. It took work and coaxing. They stay pretty worn down as it is. But now she has been acting up for me when i groom her to the point that I can't do it at all. She gets really nervous. She used to be the dog who would lay down while I did it. Those days are long gone. I guess I never should've started bringing her to get groomed since she was so good for me. I just needed a break because it took me forever. Then some of my stuff broke. Grooming makes her a big ball of nerves now. I'm wondering if she had a bad experience behind the scenes and still remembers.



I bet that you are correct :-( they never forget a bad experience.
Timi used to give me such a hard time getting the ball out of her mouth, tugging like crazy. Then a couple of weeks ago doing so yanked out her last remaining puppy tooth, and ever since she releases that ball gentle as a lamb - she remembers, and she foes not want to loose any more teeth lol!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

PoodlePaws said:


> I knew she was frazzled when I picked her up. She came running out of the door into the grooming area and I said "hi pretty girl you look soooo pretty " and she flipped out trying to find me. She wasn't looking up where my face was. My body was behind the counter. She was so happy to see me. Made me sad though that she was so unhappy there.



It is one of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't"situations. I absolutely despise grooming - I would so love to have someone else do it for me, but I just cannot hand my girl's safety and happiness over to anyone else, not even for a few hours...


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## star (Feb 20, 2011)

Have them clip her nails last next time. She probably scratched him because her nails were sharp from being trimmed, he didn't have long sleeves on and she was nervous and wrapping her front feet around him trying to get him to pick her up. Totally preventable. I would say go with your gut, I'd go with another groomer next time.


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## loves (Jul 2, 2013)

Whoa there!!! Your dog was excited and happy to see you and you take that sign that she has been abused and mistreated by the groomer?!! Really? Seriously?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

loves, I'm with you. When I used to routinely take Lily out to be groomed I was happy if she was happy when I went to get her. I figured it meant she had been happy while I was gone. They loved her at the groomer I went to and often didn't cage her when she was done. She would swat the phone when it was ringing if it was on the floor. If the girls were drying a dog, they used her as the phone indicator.


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

But then there is the flip side - my friend's Yorkie was killed at a groomer who didn't cage them after they were done - one person left the outside door open, another opened the door to the grooming area, and out he went, straight into traffic :-(


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

loves said:


> Whoa there!!! Your dog was excited and happy to see you and you take that sign that she has been abused and mistreated by the groomer?!! Really? Seriously?



That's not what I said. I said the dog was upset when she heard me talking to her and couldn't find me and panicked. She turned happy when she finally found me. And my post never said anything about abuse.


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## loves (Jul 2, 2013)

*Frazzled?*



PoodlePaws said:


> I knew she was frazzled when I picked her up. She came running out of the door into the grooming area and I said "hi pretty girl you look soooo pretty " and she flipped out trying to find me. She wasn't looking up where my face was. My body was behind the counter. She was so happy to see me. Made me sad though that she was so unhappy there.


You said right there you knew she was frazzled and that it made you sad that she was so unhappy there because she was so happy to see you.

So a dog that is happy to see you return has not been happy wherever she was, and why would a dog be unhappy? She wasn't alone, only other thought is that in your mind they abused her somehow. I mean, heavens we brush the dog! we wash and dry the dog! and OMG we actually expect the dog to behave and cooperate. That is awful!!

As for the person whose friend's dog got out of a grooming salon and died, well dear, they left their dog at a salon that didn't crate dogs. Their choice, their decision. Why would anyone actually think it was better for their dog to be running loose in a grooming shop than nicely settled in a crate? Plus, they obviously never trained their dog to not dash out of a door. Yes, the shop should have had a double gate system between the dogs and the door, but when you leave your pet somewhere knowing full well that the dog will not be crated and seeing dogs loose on the floor, wouldn't you wonder about safety of your dog?


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

loves said:


> You said right there you knew she was frazzled and that it made you sad that she was so unhappy there because she was so happy to see you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



A) trust poodle paws to know if her own dog was upset or not, no need to dissect her words
B) there was a double gate - one dope left one open, and another opened the second one.
Blaming the owner for not training him not to dash out the door of a grooming shop? You cannot be serious!


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

Wow. I guess from now on I will need to go into specific detail about everything that happens in my posts so nothing I say will be misconstrued. My posts will be at least 7 times as long now due to the need to go into specific detail. I hope people like to read. 

Before Ash came out to me, THE BOY TOLD ME SHE SEEMED UNHAPPY THE ENTIRE TIME. why on earth would I say she was unhappy if it weren't told to me??! 

My whole family has a stomach virus right now, and I've been cleaning up puke for the last two days. I'm so very sorry that I couldn't go into more specific detail with my original post. Give me a few days and I will rewrite it for you with a ton of more detail LOVES.


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## loves (Jul 2, 2013)

Don't bother. I've had it with the groomer bashing on here, seeing all the really bad grooms people do on their own dogs and everyone ohhs and ahhs over it. I love my Spoo, he is my first one, but my family has instructions to commit me if I ever turn into the type of poodle owner who obviously is the majority here. I will stick with my sane self confident dogs. Bye bye guys. I don't need this in my life.


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## PoodlePaws (May 28, 2013)

I admit. When I groom my own dogs they look like crap. 

You are taking this post too personally. The boy who groomed Ash looked like a teenager. I'm sure he was the owners son. 

As for PF members who groom their own dogs, Good for them. Most of them DO look nice. Why would you expect a non-groomer to be able to produce results of a professional groom? And - do you honestly think it's nice when someone shows a pic of their dog they groomed and say it looks bad?? Really?? If the owner is happy with it, why does it matter??


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

PoodlePaws said:


> I admit. When I groom my own dogs they look like crap.
> 
> You are taking this post too personally. The boy who groomed Ash looked like a teenager. I'm sure he was the owners son.
> 
> As for PF members who groom their own dogs, Good for them. Most of them DO look nice. Why would you expect a non-groomer to be able to produce results of a professional groom? And - do you honestly think it's nice when someone shows a pic of their dog they groomed and say it looks bad?? Really?? If the owner is happy with it, why does it matter??



Groomer bashing?! Well yeah, if they make a poodle look like a cactus, torture or kill a dog, they will be bashed - and I would think that a professional groomer would be the first one who would want to speak out against somebody who has no right to put them self in the same category as them!

And why on earth would you bash someone who would groom their own poodle? Of course there is a learning curve, but if the owner is satisfied to take the time to improve their skills, why on earth would anybody bash them for it?! I know that there are SOME pros who could do my poodles better than me, but I have also seen many so called professional groomings that are not half as good as what I do!


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## star (Feb 20, 2011)

I think it's poor taste of the groomer to show scratched arms to the owner to what make them feel bad?! It shows the groomer doesn't have proper control of the dog it's not the owners fault. As a groomer it's your responsibility to provide a safe and calm atmosphere for the dogs you groom. If you can't do that then you shouldn't groom. 
If the dog is stressed out and the groomer is scratched up then there is a issue that shouldn't be pushed under the rug. I don't see this thread as groomer bashing at all I see the owner getting picked on for being responsible and wanting their dog groomed. Good groomers don't bash owners for grooming their own dogs either. It might not be a perfect haircut but who cares at least the dog isn't a matted neglected mess.


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