Two in three days

[HoneyandChewiespal]

Just had the second dog sent to the clinic from the local Petsomething. First one was brought in by owner ( and clinic tech ) after the dog had received a four inch slice in the neck ( required 10 stitches to close - was done without owner being informed until after the fact when picking up dog). They blamed incident on mats and that dog 'moved'. anybow, dog looked like it had been shaved with s seed whacker. The body had been poorly stripped with a 10 blade, the feet, sani, and and head hadn't been touched. Nails not done. Pads not shaved. Ears not cleaned.

Second one came in today. Same condition - without sliced neck and stitches. They told the owner they would not groom the dog cause it 'moves to much'. This one was terrified of everything by the time I got it. It took hours to get calm enough to even coat with clippers, and get remaining mats shaved off. This was an 11 month old terrier mix that deserved better from grooming professionals.

Can anyone please tell me what is the Corporate logic behind sending out dogs without finishing them? Why are they stripping dogs in such an ugly fashion? ( wish I'd taken pics to share and explain better) My problem is I don't want to trash anyone else's work but this is truly abysmal. I try to offer the upset owners some comfort by telling them that a Corp can't allow their people to take the extra time some dogs need but the is just a BS spew from me to keep the peace.

[Dragynwing]

Well, as far as the wounded dog goes, they would have stopped grooming as soon as the wound happened. It sounded like it happened early in the grooming process so the groomer didn't have a chance to attend to the basics. I'm guessing that the groomer was spot removing the mats while roughing the dog in then the incident occurred. Stop the groom, call the manager, attempt to contact the owner and get the dog to the vet ASAP. At that point, making the dog look good takes a back seat to getting the dog medical help.

As for the second dog, I'm guessing that they just didn't have the time to safely groom the dog. If I have a very squirmy dog, I either have to figure the dog out, give it tons of breaks and groom it when I can after making sure the parent is okay for the dog being there for an extended amount of time or recommend the dog either be brought back on a slower day or refer it out to a groomer who isn't constantly taking in walk in nail trims, mini make-rovers and answering the ever ringing phone.

Being a corp groomer means that we're pretty much a slave to the phone and walk ins. I've turned down a walk in nail trim before when it was close to closing time and I was still working on a dog. Even though I've been told it's fine to turn away a walk in in a situation like that, I still was asked several times why I couldn't "just do a nail trim." I recently had a difficult dog. It was her 2nd time being groomed and she was from a high kill shelter. I was lucky in that the owner was willing to leave her with me for 5 hours but she killed my day because I had to keep switching between grooming her, grooming other dogs, walk ins and the phone. I'm not trying to make excuses for the groomers who worked on your two dogs but most likely they are just not able to groom those dogs in a corporate environment.

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[Pretzel]

Oh I feel you Honey! I think the problem lies within individual corps. There are some great groomers and managers in corps out there that put out high quality grooms with minimal injuries happening. Then you have the other end of the spectrum. The local petsomething near me has a less than great reputation. I don't make it my business to know who grooms there or why they are allowed to send out dogs looking the way they do. But I frequently get calls/walkins from people who just had their dog groomed there and want me to "fix" it. Usually just uneven or pads/sanitary not being done. Sometimes face is hacked up. Sometimes the dog just isn't clean. The thing that gets me is that most of these dogs I "fix" are pretty well behaved. Sure, they may be a little playful and move around a lot, but they are groomable. I also get calls from people saying the petsomething wont groom their dog because he's "too vocal" or moves too much. Hey, if they won't take those dogs, I will. I think (and I don't know bc I've never worked in corp) that when it comes to certain dogs, they'd rather turn away bc it's not worth the extra time to them. Why take a small dog that takes four hours to complete when you can take three small dogs and finish in the same amount of time.

[HoneyandChewiespal]

Thank you both for your replies. I've never worked in a corporation myself. The excuse I generally try to give people is that the corporations put demands on the groomers and they can't take the time to do the necessary job all the time. I guess what bothers me the most is that they are "roughing in" not doing sanis and the ruff in is just really, really, really rough. It's dropping down the back, the sides of the ribcage, the outsides of the legs, not getting all the mats off. Leaving large clumps in between. It's just not the way I was shown how to even do a rough in. In my opinion, they are creating more work for themselves the weather doing this. But who's going to tell the corporation that they don't know how to groom dogs.

And possibly what concerns me about all of this is that I know there are excellent Groomers and corporations. Are used to take my dogs to one. That was before I started grooming. She left corporation because she couldn't take the Strangulation of her skills through all the constraints imposed.

[tickedtabby]

I have to say that at my corp we get similar dogs from private groomers and small chains in the area. Not even bad dogs but just really uneven and awful haircuts. I don't get all the hate on corp specifically when individual private groomers can be just as bad (I am not saying there aren't horrible corps). We regularly get dogs from this lady near us that leaves mats in pawpads, totally matted tails and armpits. I did a spot shave on a sweet Newfoundland who had literally just been groomed and the groomer left the entire stomach and under the ears some matted.

I have sent a dog or two home for flipping and screaming the moment I have touched them with the clippers and still continued to do so after several breaks. I would ask the owner to try and work with the dog and come back at a slower time as I don't fell that type of fear can be fixed in one grooming session, and it's not fair to the dog to force it, but some people are impatient and will just keep going to different groomers until someone will do it. Sometimes there are 8 dogs on tables and many more barking in the back on a busy Saturday, that dog is not going to calm down. I agree with Dragy that corp grooming really isn't right for some dogs.

[violet2]

We do really well in our area and it is fantasy that the poorest work comes out at corps, we hear that sometimes. I have resumes on file for groomers wanting to work here. Some of the worst work comes out from the private groomers in my area, not the corps. As a result I dont' have job openings and lots of customers.

[Naturally Furry]

^^^^THIS^^^^^^

[kaida714]

The injured dog, yes this is policy. You cut a dog, you stop instantly and do not finish or try to finish anything with the groom. It sounds to me like they were roughing in the dog and that is why it was so incomplete.
The dog too wiggly.. I have mixed feelings about. Most corp salons are like fish bowls to the public, and customers love to accuse a groomer of doing something wrong when a dog is acting up. Some managers will say we cannot groom a dog if it is vocal, flips around, shows its teeth, or even is shivering the whole time. Why? Not that the groomer is doing anything wrong, but because it looks bad. Again, I don't necessarily agree with this, but I understand to a degree and have had concermed customers ask about vocal wiggly dogs. If I am not in danger, and the dog isn't going to hurt itself, I see no problem and my managers know that.

The main problem is not necessarily the corp itself, but the groomers and managers. If the management team isn't strong and doesn't do the right thing, the salon will suffer. Continued education is another huge problem for corp. My corp does not offer any type of education after the apprentice program and some people just need more knowledge and training. If a groomer wants to learn more, they have to find the information themselves. If a groomer has no will to further themselves, they never will and will be a mediocre groomer for the rest of their career. I wish corp would provide further education programs (and have suggested it to corp on many conference calls), but ultimately I blame the individual for not wanting to better themselves. But, the same can happen in private shops too, and I have gotten clients from private shops asking us to fix the grooms as well.

[DogGamut]

Also At One of the petsomethings Each Dog Has to be in and out in 3 hours from check in regardless of service or condition.

[HoneyandChewiespal]

Thank you. This helps me explain the owners calmly why their pet may need a different situation than a corporate. I want to be supportive of my fellow Groomers but sometimes it's a little hard.

[DogGamut]

Thank you. This helps me explain the owners calmly why their pet may need a different situation than a corporate. I want to be supportive of my fellow Groomers but sometimes it's a little hard.

Agreed theres always some degree of variation but i tell people the best groomers in the world wouldnt put out the best work due to the constraints of corporate policies. its just not an environment for good work consistantly.

Also Its so bad that if you kwik a nail, groom is comped, dog goes home, ear hematoma? grooming stops, Dog Goes Home. if its one of the dogs that doesnt like the nails grinded and pulls the arm in the slightest, groom is comped, dog goes home.

[kaida714]

Also Its so bad that if you kwik a nail, groom is comped, dog goes home, ear hematoma? grooming stops, Dog Goes Home. if its one of the dogs that doesnt like the nails grinded and pulls the arm in the slightest, groom is comped, dog goes home.

This is not the case for all corps. A nail clipped too short is not reason to stop in my corp unless it is so bad it needs vet attention. Small irritations, same thing... but again it depends on the management too if they feel the groom should be stopped.

[andromedaslove]

I think the biggest problem is the lack of significant training and amount of pressure put on corporate groomers. I was trained in corporate by an amazing groomer who made sure we were taught the right way to deal with dogs and customers. I was a salon manager at my local store and the atmosphere was completely different than the one I started in. We weren't to send dogs home at all. It got so bad that I quit. One of my groomers cut a tuck up on my day off and the GM superglued it. I'm NOT kidding.... SUPERGLUE on a tuck up!!! I was dumbfounded.... Corporate can be a great place to start out. It just all depends on the store and the support at that store.

[IrishSetterTom]

I think the biggest problem is the lack of significant training and amount of pressure put on corporate groomers. I was trained in corporate by an amazing groomer who made sure we were taught the right way to deal with dogs and customers. I was a salon manager at my local store and the atmosphere was completely different than the one I started in. We weren't to send dogs home at all. It got so bad that I quit. One of my groomers cut a tuck up on my day off and the GM superglued it. I'm NOT kidding.... SUPERGLUE on a tuck up!!! I was dumbfounded.... Corporate can be a great place to start out. It just all depends on the store and the support at that store.

That's what a vet would do, glue it. We keep glue in our vans in case of a small cut.

[DonWuan]

I had a really long essay I was writing but Ill keep it simple.

This stuff happens at all places. Never believed how bad the industry was until I experienced GA. Atleast where Im at, fake grooming schools and bad teachers.

Thinking about doubling my price at some point.