This is going to be fun...NOT

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

So tonight I was doing my reminder calls after work, and called this woman with two Bichon Frises. I had never groomed them before so thought I'd ask the usual questions, when were they last groomed, how long do you keep them, etc...

She says her daughter usually grooms them, but thought they'd bring them in this time (bad sign). I have learned that people who groom their own dogs often have freak show dogs because they never knew how to handle them properly to teach the poor dog to be groomed. So I asked her if they'd been professionally groomed before, and she says, "Well, one of them had when he was a puppy (his first groom) but we didn't feel they did a very good job considering the money we paid. I figured my daughter did a much better job without us having to pay. My daughter is 12 years old by the way, can she stay and watch you groom them?"

:: faint ::

What do you think, am I in for trouble? I'll update you tomorrow (wednesday) when I get home.

Tammy in Utah

[amysue2638]

Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised and they will be angels! But you will probably spend the whole time trying to fix the years of hack groomihg jobs.

Are you going to let the girl stay? I typically don't let them stay unless I absolutely need their help, usually with a bigger dog that won't cooperate. She will probably just get in the way or try to show you how she does it, thinking it's the *right* way!

[Arrooh]

Hmmm

if her daughter is doing so well, then why are they coming in?? It might be that they well behave well thinking if the 12 year old could groom them I wouldn't think they could be too wild. Will look forward to how it went. The child likely wants to learn how to groom them better. But hey this could be your future bather, groomer trainee in a few years.

[RightlookPets]

Looks to me like they are trying to get you to show their daughter how to groom for free. Seems like there is a money issue there.

[Helly]

I can think of two possibilities; the dogs will be well behaved, seeing as a child has been able to groom them. But they could be matted to the bone, seeing as a child has been grooming them. We've all seen it; perfectly brushed on the surface, but matted at the skin.

Or they've been getting worse and worse about being groomed, and she can't handle them anymore.

Hopefully it's the former, without the mats, and they just want them groomed to look like proper Bichons.

[bubbaleahia]

bichons

I am wishing you luck. If they are in reallly bad shape, i would let the girl stay and MAKE her mother stay so they can SEE what the deal is.
It doesn't sound good, but sometimes those are the ones that surprise us!!
Liz

[baddog]

This confirms it....people are CRAZY!

[Pixie]

I just hope things went well for you today.

[k2p1e]

I am overy optimistic...lol. I sister is 13 and will be 14 this summer. She has owned her own mini poodle for 5 years. She has ALWAYS done the grooming till I took my course. Now my sister has been wroking in my shop, she learned to bath properly, she can fluff dry okay...she is still working on that, that can do wonderful brushout with NO brush burn, she is studying dematting. And she bought her first pair of Oster's so she can learn to groom her dog even better...Lily never has a single know in her hair, wears bows and is adrema to groom except for nails and I swear that is genetic (I groom the entire litter all four scream bloody murder for nails).

[Poodlefluff]

Hey don't knock the 12 yr old, the standard poodle handler I worked for has a 12 year old girl that helped us during the summer- She can spray up a standard poodle better than I can. She bosses the handler around too saying what order to put the wigs in the dog it is funny, I forget how old she is sometimes. But she did grow up in the dog show world.

[CountryCanines]

Well How did it go???

We wanna know! How were the Bichons LOL

[stacie-gotg]

Yeah ya gotta wonder what people are thinking when they decide to buy a breed that needs so much grooming. Can you say strip down. This should be interesting. Yeh i do have a 1 year old Brittany i hve to shave down next week. I forgot ta ask if this dog saw a professional groomer ever. I bet not. Should be fun. NOT!

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

Ok, one was a freak show, but I groom 2 other dogs from that litter (I recognized his fat black lips the minute I saw him, lol), and they are all freak shows, goof balls acting like they're drowing in the tub. So he acted "normal" if you compare him to his other 2 litter mates.

The other one was PERFECT. I'm not kidding. Calm, quiet, sweet, gentle.

And neither were matted except the nutcase had some mats along his right tuck up and along his side because he had a sore he chewed on. But it was worth it, and they pre-booked for 6 weeks.

They say her daughter wants to be a vet or something in the animal field and can she come and watch. I said fine, call me in advance. She was a "mature" 12, and she really had groomed the entire dogs herself, including scissoring the heads. THey had hair sticking out all over, but I've seen worse groomed by adults in this town, lol. They had a vet appointment due to ear hair not being pulled they both had really bad ear problems. The vet told them they needed ear hair plucked, get them groomed!

So it was not so bad. Oh wait, they were due in at 10:00 am. They had a vet appointment at 9:30 and were in there for 2 hours! I had NO idea they were even at the hospital so I thought they no-showed! They thought the vet techs would have told me but I explained that they are separate from grooming and wouldn't have known they were there for a grooming, but we had time so we groomed them.

Tammy in Utah

[Pixie]

Glad it turned out so well. It could have been a lot worse.

[Pixie]

I forgot to ask. Did the 12 yr old stay and watch you groom or is she going to do that at another grooming?