i just have to ask...

[nuk]

one of my regular clients (shih tzu)was asking about ear plucking the other day. as i don't do it on every groom (2wks) only as needed (IMO). well, her OLD groomer told her that a dog will go crazy if you don't pluck their ears! (I don't believe it for a second) and one of the reasons she stopped using her was because everytime she picked her up her ears were bleeding, and she eventually got an infection.

i told her that the ear thing was way off and her trainer rolled her eyes when she asked her. she swore though that the dog had been acting strange, chewing things and running around (never seen a dog do that). then assured me that i would be 'grooming a different dog' since she had cleaned her ears (didn't happen).

anyways, i want to take a poll:

who belives dogs go crazy if they don't get their ears plucked

why does this lady still believe the bloody ear groomer but not me or her trainer?

[Bearmtn]

Maybe she has it wrong. It's the lady that will go crazy, and not the dog.

[jbates]

Crazy! Naaaaaaah. Don't believe ol'wives tales.

Ah ha! that is why Jax is crazy......wacky Jackie I call him. No, really,he isn't crazy, just protective. I have said before my 11 yr olds are NOT crazy Schnauzers,as Schnauzers go...just VERY Spoiled. Consider the short haired dogs and the little hai they have..why would it be dif for a poodle,or Shih Tzu? I think they ned to be clean,not hairless. I have a client with a B.mini S. she owns a hearing aid store. Fritzs' ears are always clean(by her) no,no Q tips dog or human..pushes wax farther in. I do not ever pluck Fritz ... just shve what I see #30-#40. He also is on fish/potato diet.no toe allergies.I stuill think ma lot goes back to allergie. Some shampoos...tho smell great can cause eye allergies..they do me, and I don't wash My hair w/ them, but my eyes can getr very itchy. Cockers make my eyes itchy. Bags.

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

Was the dog acting crazy "after" your groom? Because it should have acted that way before the groom as well, since the ear hair hadn't been plucked during your groom OR IMMEDIATELY BEFORE the groom, lol.

Gee, I kind of think you're right and the other groomer is wrong. In fact, when I pull ear hair, some of the dogs go crazy during the whole session, not because I failed to pluck!

I would say this is one of those customers that might be happy going back to the old groomer---maybe she prefers sore and bloody ears over the dog acting kind of goofy.

That is just ODD.

Tammy in Utah

[DAPER DAWG]

I would just look at her with a dumbfounded face and say WHAAAAAAAT!!!! Roflmao. What does she think it is that drives em nuts about having hair in the ears? Not enough oxygen to the brain. My shitzu's only go nuts when I pluck their ears. The only time I have seen bloody ears is on a cocker I do who has such chronic infections and their so swollen, dry and cracked that if you even tried to lightly clean them with cotton they bleed so I refuse to touch them, he needs to see the vet for that. There's no way a healthy ear canal should bleed all the time.

[furrybestjob]

I cannot possibly believe a groomer would tell someone that. That is one of the stupidist things I've heard in a long time (regarding grooming, anyway). Also, bloody ears everytime? Since I've been grooming, I've never had a dog have blood in its ears after plucking the ear hair, so I cannot imagine what was done to that dog if it truly did have the blood. Boy, the posts I'm ready this morning are stressing me out.

[Petagree]

I have to agree with you furry..I am in awe of what they did while just plucking the ear to cause a bleed...Was it severly infected in the first place??
Sounds kind like this owner is a little on the wooohooo side...

Petagree

[Helly]

People will believe the dumbest things. This one ranks up there with cutting their nails too short will make them bleed to death. Or feeding a dog cheese will give him worms.

Izi's been acting mighty crazy, running through the house, chewing things, baying at his brother. Do you suppose I should pluck his ears? No wait. That's right. He's a PUPPY!

[misscatahoula]

If she isn't going to be satisfied with you plucking only when necessary and done in a HUMANE manner, she needs to go find another groomer. This doesn't sound right nehow. Bloody ears? Never seen or had that happen! If her dog is spinning and acting crazy could it be the dog has an ear infection, or some other inner-ear issue going on? I've had pups come in with head tilt & spin behavior, told owners to discuss with vet, and that's what it usually is.

[Fur Elite]

Could the overenjoyment of recreational drugs be a factor in this twisted tale? Just asking......

[Raggs]

I have a dog go crazy when I do pluck her ear hair. She used to blow her glands and drool, do everything short of having a seizure. She has come a long way, now she just growls when I do it. So the last time I did her (which was Tuesday) I just shaved all her ear hair out with a #40. She was a lot happier.

A lot of people have a tendency to believe the first thing they hear. So anything after that must be wrong. Her other groomer probably had some good excuse as to why the ears were bleeding. I've never had any bleed after pulling hair. Well once actually, the dog moved and I grab the skin with my hemostats. Just a drop though. I felt horrible, that poor dog just screamed and screamed and shook it's head. Wouldn't let me get the hemostats off. Poor thing, now if a dog moves slightly I'll stop and make sure it's not going to move again. Don't want to go thru that again.

But your right, the other groomer isn't.

[plushpuppy]

one of my regular clients (shih tzu)was asking about ear plucking the other day. as i don't do it on every groom (2wks) only as needed (IMO). well, her OLD groomer told her that a dog will go crazy if you don't pluck their ears! (I don't believe it for a second) and one of the reasons she stopped using her was because everytime she picked her up her ears were bleeding, and she eventually got an infection.

i told her that the ear thing was way off and her trainer rolled her eyes when she asked her. she swore though that the dog had been acting strange, chewing things and running around (never seen a dog do that). then assured me that i would be 'grooming a different dog' since she had cleaned her ears (didn't happen).

anyways, i want to take a poll:

who belives dogs go crazy if they don't get their ears plucked

why does this lady still believe the bloody ear groomer but not me or her trainer?

Nuk
Ask her if she ever watched the "Gremlins" The gentleman Chris that wrote the Gremlins was friends of Steven Spielburg (Who produced it)who ows shih Tuzs, alot of the antics were things that a tzu does, runny around crazy after getting wet was the main one we joke about it all the time.

I don't believe that dogs go crazy if they don't get their ears plucked.

[Plexi]

This is what I have to hand out to customers:
Ear hair is just like hair everywhere else on the dog's body. Some of it is ready to shed and come out, most of it is not at any given time.When you pluck,you're removing hair that isn't ready to come out yet.This causes trauma to the skin inside the ear, which is thinner and much more sensitive than skin on the out side of the dog.
Trauma leads to oozing of serum which is a perfect breeding ground for microorganismslike yeast and bacteria, especially yeast. Trauma also creates microscopic breaks in the skin which the yeast and bacteria can enter, then you have an ear infection.

[KarlaSnyder]

Old wive's tale for sure. Ranks up there with some I've heard from clients over the years. Also, an ear one-if you don't pluck the hair out of a poodle's ear, it will grow into their brain! You can't cut the hair on the westie's back because it will grow backwards into the skin! Oh, if you want to know if the dog is a purebred, look at the roof of it's mouth-it will be all black!!! (how disappointed I was that my Champion cocker didn't have an all black roof)!!!

Can't imagine this crazy thing coming from a groomer, tho. Many Shih and Lhas breeders I know never pluck the ear hair. These dogs all seemed pretty normal to me LOL!

[nuk]

ok, i just had to make sure i was still on my home planet!

i think i put a little doubt into her when i was explaining for the third time (we had about an hour long phone conversation the day before) about how i only pull hair if it comes out easily and painlessly and how many groomers disagree on ear plucking... we all know the story, while the dog sat on my lap and i in the process of petting her pulled the hair out of her ears. the owner was astonished that she didn't scream, or flinch, or even open her eyes to give me a look.

so i'm hoping she'll start to believe me... and if she brings up the crazy again i'll just remind her how happy her dog is.