Awful first experience at groomers

[TeddyTeddington]

I apologize this is long winded.

I had a thread on here recently about getting a new dog. I've had him a week (already own a 10year old dog) he's been rehomed to us and dogs needs haven't been met, he's 18months old and hadn't been for walks, underweight and has been brought up basically in a protective bubble by his old owners.

Dog has settled in really well, before he came to us I was aware and even stated in my posts he was a bit matted. Not all over but he had a few matted tuffs. He's a shauzer poodle cross with a thick wavy coat with a slight curl.

Any ways I got some recommendations for groomers a couple of weeks back and all the good ones had closed their books for Xmas but he was in desperate need. I found 2 that had spaces pets at home or a independent husband and wife that had a salon on the side of their house it was a converted garage.

I chose the husband and wife as it said on their page they do dogs individually without any other dogs at the salon, they didn't crate the dogs. And have lots of good reviews on Facebook. I spoke to the wife at length and she reassured me and confirmed the above and that he would be fine and in and out under 2 hours. Pets at home said 2.5 to 3 hours.
I did mention at the time of booking he had a few matts I could clip out with clippers or would leave to them. She said it would be a £10 matting fee incurred but I agreed for her to do it.

I clipper my other dog but he is a Long hair so it's basically his back end, tail and a tidy up with the clippers, I could no way do the new dog round eyes, ears ect.

So I've taken him along and they seem lovely she does all the checks, eyes ears coat ect and writes down on the form matts on both legs, few spots on his back and I signed to agree with £10 extra fee. She kept going on about styles (skirts, tail style, eyebrow style) I said beard and eyebrows short and not fussed on style just need it practical and I'm not looking for perfection just want dog happy, shorter non matted and in and out. She says come back in two hours unless called.

As I'm leaving to collect I get a call to say he's not done come in another hour.

Go to collect him, still not done will be half a hour so I go to wait in the car, as I'm waiting I notice another lady go in and as she opened the door a dog escaped and the husband was chasing him and caught him. The lady then leaves with a different dog (not dog that got out)

I go back in and the husband says I need to come through to the back room. My heart sinks as I can't see my boy. I see crates with other dogs but I can't see my dog.

They explain that they will be reporting me to the RSPCA for neglect as he was "so matted he was the worse case they had ever seen" I argued calmly that they were wrong I had brushed him myself twice and he was matted in places with tufts of matted fur he wasn't that bad that they were making out.
They then said they were refusing to hand him over to me as I was neglecting him. They also didn't believe that I had only just had him. I got out my phone and told them I was calling the police. They immediately released him out of a crate that was covered with a towel. I didn't recognize him as he has been cut very short.

I paid and left, I've checked him over since getting him home and he's got a nick and dried blood on his belly and he's got a nick out of his ear. No mention of this from them or on his form.
He's been cut drastically shorter than we agreed aswell.

I'm still fuming from yesterday's drama and have woken up to a text message saying they still want my custom and hope this hasn't soured my relationship with them and have offered 10% off my next groom and if payment is a issue they can offer a payment plan for next time.

I'm just numb from this whole experience. Can I report them to anyone? Should I leave bad feedback for them? I have no idea what to do.

Well first off id take pictures and go get my money back
Id then put it out on local facebooks sites and social media.

What a nightmare you are doing a good thing taking in a neglected dog. You are doing something good. They sound dodgy and awful defined leave a review about it. Hope the dog is feeling okay after all that

They obviously haven't done a very good job, and they didn't handle the situation well, but I'd be inclined to think that they had his interests at heart by showing concern. You've said yourself that he was not in good condition and you haven't had him long. I have been in a similar situation, but accepted that the intentions were good.

By all means steer clear if the job wasn't done well, but don't be pissed because they were worried about him.

I understand why you're upset, I think they way they went about accusing you or neglect was completely out! I have a lot of sympathy for groomers to be honest as dogs aren't always easy to groom especially if they're not used to it. Dogs getting little cuts from being groomed is fairly normal when a dog is nervous or not used to being groomed as they move about a lot which inevitably will result in a couple of little scrapes, this should get easier for him as he starts getting groomed more hopefully he'll calm down. Matting will result in them having to be shaved off if brushing it out is deemed to stressful for the dog, which could be why his coat is so short maybe they tried to even it out.
I'd leave a review on there website specially about the crates which you said they wasn't meant to be using and look through other reviews to see if anyone experienced anything similar, but I wouldn't try to start a social media post as suggested as they could argue the reason the dog was cut so badly is because he was so badly matted (I'm not saying he was) and they did what was best for the dog which could back fire on you.
I do empathise though must have been a horrible first experience :(

If you can clip your long hair, you can clip this one. I do my poodle occasionally if I can't get her to the groomers- just practical tidy up and scissor trim round muzzle etc- and I've never clipped anything before her!

I would just not use them again. And remember he'll grow out

Thanks for everyone's posts. I have calmed down a bit. Dogs ok, he is scratching himself a lot and running himself of the carpet and was shivering a bit trying to get in the duvet so I got him a jumper and he seems happier today.

I can imagine what a tough job groomers have, my old boy is a nightmare for me hence why he's never been to one. He's very good dog but as soon as the clippers come out he bites, snarles and walks off and constantly sits down when I'm trying to prune his back end.

I had a good Google yesterday and noticed that the Facebook page was actually only 6 months old but the pictures on there were date stamped and went back years. After a good dig around it seems they have name changed their business and prior to that moved and name changed. When looking up the old names there is some horrendous reviews on google and also a dog forum.

I really can't understand why they would lie about the non crating and only single dogs when it seems they are running a production line of dogs.

I've spoken to a family friend who is a ex groomer who I originally got recommendations from, she does groom occasionally but only a selection of ex clients of hers.

She has said moving on I've got 3 options.

1. A very good home based groomer near me but they get booked up months in advance so you book in for the next appointment when your leaving.

2. pets at home as they don't crate and each groomer works soley on that dog. They are more expensive but you can watch from behind the glass. They do have a few bad reviews but they are open 7 days a week and do a very large amount of grooms per week.

3. she comes to me and teaches me how to cut him myself.
   I am worried about this as he will need to be done all over and the eyes, ears and cutting of the balls scares me. But in theory I quite like that idea.

I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience. I suspect that the nonsense about the RSPCA and refusing to hand the dog back to you was designed to wrong foot you because they knew they'd messed up badly. I don't think for a second that they meant any of it. I'd be inclined to take pictures and report them to trading standards.

I didn't know that about PAH grooming - I'd previously ruled them out for my dog, but would reconsider bases on that.

Is that really all there is in the way of groomers near you? Could you ask around and see if anyone knows any other options. We're in a very rural area and even here there's two groomers - one comes to you (probably better with a small dog!) and so your dog can be in a familiar setting.

The other who we used to take our old dog (sadly no longer with us) to was a lovely lady who was totally happy for you to stay with your dog and reassure him while she worked if needed. In fact she encouraged us to do so when ddog was very elderly and losing his sight so that he wouldn't feel abandoned.

What you're describing sounds really grim :(

On a positive note he has been groomed, the matts have gone,he will be feeling a lot more comfortable despite the nicks and the coat will grow back. Luckily he is happy to wear a cosy to tide him over for a while until he is due again, by which time you will have found a new lovely groomer who will make him look handsome.

In the meantime remember that he is now in his forever home, will be having a warm, safe, well fed Christmas with you and look forward to the good times next year when his little personality will bloom.

And where are the pictures??????

PAH do use crates if there's more than one dog waiting to be collected at a time. But I guess this depends on the volume of customers, my experience is at a busy London PAH so the crates are used when owners our late to collect or they're running behind schedule. You could probably go for a nose and watch them groom a dog through the glass next time you're shopping in there!

We do have quite a few round here 7 that I have come across but I have ruled them out for one reason or another. Most are home based and do not welcome you staying and state that on websites. All the local ones have atleast a bad review.

2 are brand new and just qualified home based with very little info or pictures.

1 who's been about a few years now but again works on a production line of dogs. And looking at the Facebook page she takes loads of photos of the dogs she's groomed on different backgrounds with hats glasses and outfits on the dogs after their grooms. To me I just don't like that as its a lot of messing about. And seems unnecessary.

1 who has been up and running about a year who has some really bad reviews on her page and has responded terribly to her customers really of the defensive.

And a salon that's on a majorly busy 1 way system with no parking near by at all. It's a tiny shop that had been there years but I just don't like that fact it's on such a busy road. God forbid if a dog got out.

I am being massively picky I know, it's so hard who to know who to trust as I feel it's like when your picking a nursery for a child who doesn't speak. You just never know.

ATM I'm very much considering atleast watching some tutorials on grooming to see if it's something I could perhaps do myself before considering a lesson. Also what kit I would need to do the job.

I would take the odd bad review with a pinch of salt . The groomers I use have one bad review ( on yell I think) , I know loads of people who use them and my dog goes twice in 5 weeks and I've never had an issue and nor have any of my friends , they are also really busy and despite having at least 2 groomers at any time ( usually 3) you have to book at least 3 months in advance for a Saturday appt and generally 5/6 weeks for a weekday . I do a mass booking and have booked all my dogs apps for next year already to ensure I get the days / times I want .