Shave down on a heavily matted dog at an animal shelter. Hmmnnn.

[Emma123]

Had a heck of a time shaving down a heavily matted dog at a shelter. I left him half done, which feels weird. He had a very bad cough (he is in the isolation ward), so I really didn't want to stress him further. I had nicked his hock slightly while trying to get through the carpet of fur. Had to go up to a 30 blade, which was a new experience for me. Until now, a ten has been good enough. No HV, so couldn't loosen the hair. No conditioner or other hair treatment products. Their clipper seemed to run slow, so that may have been part of the problem.

Don't think they'll be offering me the job. I was trying out for a shelter groomer position. The dog looked terrible, but I think I did the right thing by stopping. I suggested they finish the groom when he is anesthetized for surgery, because there's no way that grooming is going to be comfortable for a dog who is so matted.
Well, at least I got him half shaved. Glass half full, right? Sigh.

[4Sibes]

Hmmmm,...what breed(s) of dog? Just out of curiosity.

"Very bad cough" could be anything from canine cough/upper respiratory, to serious heart problem, to heartworm infestation. Absolutely you did the right thing by knowing when to back off.

Sometimes I suspect they "pull the worst one off the shelf" for try-outs anyway, so one more GOOD reason to put the dog first.
Maybe they are critiquing potential hirees on more than a perfect haircut. In a perfect world that is, lol!

If you have dogs at home...I hope you shed and laundered all your clothing...just to be paranoid, errr...I mean safe!

[Emma123]

I know what you mean about laundering the clothes. You're so right. Better to be safe than sorry.
The dog -- such a sweetheart -- seemed to be part Poodle, part Havanese - that's my best guess. Once I shaved off the hair, there wasn't much dog left over. He shrunk!