Poor old doggy - What would you do?

[DAPER DAWG]

I started leaving for work today and my car was shimmying and shaking all over the road so I came home and called work and said I would be in as soon as my husband got home and I could take his car cause he works third shift. Well he gets home and the only thing wrong with the car was that the inside of the wheels and axle were frozen solid with ice so he climbed under there and cleaned it all off. I feel like such a woman that I couldn't have figured that out on my own. I get to work an hour and a half late and my boss and co-worker had shaved a 10 y/o Siberian Husky with a #10 blade (#30 in some really bad spots) that had walked in at 8:30 thinking they had an appointment with us but didn't but they took it in anway. The boss had put it under my schedule but they started doing it cause I wasn't sure when exactly I would be there. When they started shaving it realized it had a nasty red, green and pusey skin infection but continued to shave it and then called the person who brought the dog in and told her it needed to get to the vet right away when she picked it up and she agreed. The lady who brought it in was just the neighbor of the man who owned the dog,but saw the dog and felt bad for it cause it was so matted and offered to take it for grooming. Well when the lady took it to the vet they said it was an really........... bad bacterial infectionfdue to neglect of hot spots and matts and the vets called animal control and told the poor neighbor who was doing the right thing that they were keeping the dog until the owner showed up to claim it and he was going to be told that animal control will be following up with him to make sure the dog is beng cared for. I was so.... glad I was running late because I would not want to have kept shaving this dog UNTIL it was seen and diagnosed by the vet and I knew what was wrong with the skin. We sent dogs away with less of skin issues. Although the doggy did look like he felt better I just don't think it's right to continue a groom after discovering such bad skin problem.

[Gracy Rose]

Think of it this way... Sometimes it is needed so that the sores can heal instead of dirty moist hair covering it up.

[RoosMom]

A can-o worms opened

Well, I suppose the 'right' answer is to call the owner, and have the dog seen by the vet, and not finish the groom. For me personally, there are alot of variables that would have to be answered, first. If you're experienced, you can usually tell if it's mange or ringworm. For this particular case, yes, I would have probably finished the groom, for a couple of reasons.
One, guess what the vet would do? Yup, shave the dog. Skin cannot be treated when it's covered with filthy matted hair.
Two, because I want to give the dog some relief from his misery- see number one. <G> If a dog has a deep open wound, anything that looks suspiciously like a contagious disease, or something along those lines, I would stop the groom.

There are plenty who will argue this point, and say that they won't deal with it, let the vet do it, etc. They certainly have every right to feel that way. My main concern at that moment is the animal's comfort, and I personally cannot make myself leave all of that cr*p on a dog for one more minute. I think, "If I were the dog, what would I want?" The poor animal has waited a long time for help, and it can certainly wait long enough for me to clean it up before going to the vet.

Flame away, guys....... been down this road before.lol

[tgood]

Well, I suppose the 'right' answer is to call the owner, and have the dog seen by the vet, and not finish the groom. For me personally, there are alot of variables that would have to be answered, first. If you're experienced, you can usually tell if it's mange or ringworm. For this particular case, yes, I would have probably finished the groom, for a couple of reasons.
One, guess what the vet would do? Yup, shave the dog. Skin cannot be treated when it's covered with filthy matted hair.
Two, because I want to give the dog some relief from his misery- see number one. <G> If a dog has a deep open wound, anything that looks suspiciously like a contagious disease, or something along those lines, I would stop the groom.

There are plenty who will argue this point, and say that they won't deal with it, let the vet do it, etc. They certainly have every right to feel that way. My main concern at that moment is the animal's comfort, and I personally cannot make myself leave all of that cr*p on a dog for one more minute. I think, "If I were the dog, what would I want?" The poor animal has waited a long time for help, and it can certainly wait long enough for me to clean it up before going to the vet.

Flame away, guys....... been down this road before.lol

No flaming from me RoosMom - I totally agree. And you know if you stopped grooming and sent it to the vet, the vet would probably end up shaving it with a surgical blade (40). At least you just used a 10. One of the best things you can do for hotspots and skin irritations is to get that hair off. It's gross for us, but imagine what the dog has had to go through! Just keep it in mind when your doing it.

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

We sent dogs away with less of skin issues. Although the doggy did look like he felt better I just don't think it's right to continue a groom after discovering such bad skin problem.

I work at an animal hospital, you did the vet a favor by shaving it for them. What can ya do? If you leave it, no guarantee that the WHOLE dog will get taken care of, so although I see your logic, the vet would have shaved the areas anyway, and you all surely did a much nicer job.

Here's a nice little double-coated dog I did once. I'm surprised it didn't have the same problem:

[Raggs]

I've stopped in the middle of a shave before. Skin was coming off the dog and I was uncovering some really nasty skin. Open sores and all. As soon as I saw the first one, I showed my boss and called the owner to pick up the dog and take it to the vet.

Last thing needed is the owner of the dog to blame the groomer for slicing the dog open and causing severe skin problems.

There was another time where another groomer and myself were shaving a Malamute. Our boss was pulling the cement like fur away as we were shaving. I think I've mentioned this dog on the old board. It was full of June Grass. He has open sores all over him, his skin was rotten in some places. My boss called the owner while we were shaving, found out the dog had been hit by a car and had never seen the vet. She told the owners she was calling the mobile vet to come look at the dogs skin. Then she called the vet and she told my boss to tell us to finish shaving the dog. As bald as possible. All over, head and all. Which we gladly did.

The dog had some serious infections as well as a broken pelvic bone.

That poor guy. That was 3 years ago. I believe the vet still checks up on that dog regularly.

[RoosMom]

Spikey......

Here's a nice little double-coated dog I did once. I'm surprised it didn't have the same problem:

Not to hijack the thread, but where did you get the hydraulic table the Mal is on? I'm looking at similar 'non-grooming' tables like that one. What's the lowest and highest it goes? Thanks!

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

Scissor Cart

Not to hijack the thread, but where did you get the hydraulic table the Mal is on? I'm looking at similar 'non-grooming' tables like that one. What's the lowest and highest it goes? Thanks!

My father-in-law put the table top on for me (42" long, 24" wide), covered it with a vinyl covering, and voila, a grooming table. And NO, the handle thingy does NOT get in my way. I really thought it would, but it doesn't. It's great actually. Even with big dogs, I never stand straight behind them, it's always to the side so that bar doesn't bother me. Oh, and the table was on sale for $199, the rest cost $20. It has locking casters as well. Scoop, a groomer on this website, has the same table. (I'm the copycat). This same table is available from Hanvey for $795 - $895. EEEKS.

Here is the website and some closer photos:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93116

DANG IT!!! This website does not allow us to post photos twice, I've posted those photos on "most important equipment" thread.

Tammy in Utah

[DAPER DAWG]

I normally don't mind but he had oozing open sores and they smelt like something died. I'd just be afraid to aggravate the problem. I suppose in the end the right thing was done but it's hard to know before hand. I am going to the intergroom in April and taking the class on skin care and hopefully will learn more about these different kinds of infection. I know what mange and ringworm are but am not so sure some other sorts of pusey infections might not be contagious. I'm interested to hear what the owner had to say to animal control, if he ever showed up at the vet. Seeing he wasn't even the one to bring him. What a sweet caring person he has for a neighbor. There should be more people like her in the world, that saw a problem and stepped right in.

[sheilabgroomer]

Not to hijack the thread, but where did you get the hydraulic table the Mal is on? I'm looking at similar 'non-grooming' tables like that one. What's the lowest and highest it goes? Thanks!

I think this is the table that Spikey's wonderful daddy-in-law made. Am I right Tammy?

I agree w/the others and would have continued shaving. I have done a lot of dogs w/bad skin and it would have to be pretty horrible or the dog acting like I was really hurting him for me to stop. Now, I always call the owner and tell them to get an appt ASAP. I have gotten good feedback from the vets and customers doing this because it saves the vets a job they don't like doing, and the owners are happy because they don't have to pay the vet extra clams for shaving the dog!

[DAPER DAWG]

Do you make the owners sign a waiver first?

When you get a dog in this bad of shape do you make whoever brings it in sign one of those waivers saying your not liable for an aggravation of the pre-existing or any conditions that may show up upon shaving? Would a dog like this have been a good candidate for wet shaving seeing as some tight spots needed a #30?

[rapuzzled]

When you get a dog in this bad of shape do you make whoever brings it in sign one of those waivers saying your not liable for an aggravation of the pre-existing or any conditions that may show up upon shaving? Would a dog like this have been a good candidate for wet shaving seeing as some tight spots needed a #30?

We have form that they sign if the dog is really matted, or there are health issues, though I have learned on this board sometimes even the best worded form can be thrown out in court.

As for your original question, I'm not sure what I would do. Most cases I would probably just keep shaving, but I think it would be a case of needing to see the dog to know for sure...sometimes you just can't know what you would do till you see it.