TN Woman's Dog Loses Ears After Grooming Mishap - BOWS!!!!!!!!

[GroomerTALK Coordinator]

http://wjtv.com/2016/02/04/womans-do...ooming-mishap/

MARYVILLE (WATE) – A Maryville dog owner didn’t know what was wrong with her little Maltese until she looked at the dog’s ears. A little more than a week after going to the groomer, the dog’s ears were black. The vet had to amputate them because the circulation had stopped.

All dogs require some grooming to stay happy and healthy. For lower maintenance breeds, this can mean just a quick rubdown, checks of eyes and ears, a bath and nail trim now and then. While seven out of 10 pet owners report grooming their dog themselves, another 30 percent prefer to go to professional groomers.............

[Brit]

What can I say but OMG, poor dog.

[wild4westies]

Hard to say what did or did not happen in this particular case, but a former shop I worked at had an owner bring in their poodle still wearing bows matted into the hair from it's last groom. The groomer noticed one of the bands had been wrapped around the ear leather rather than the hair, and the owner admitted to putting the bow back in when it had fallen off shortly after the last grooming session. Sure enough, the ear leather came off in the groomers hand as the rubber band was removed. Had it not been noticed and commented on at check-in, and the owner admitting to doing it themself, it could easily have ended in litigation. Seeing that ear fall off makes you want to only use clips and barrettes to not only save a dog from their owners lack of common sense, but also to cya!

[4them]

It could have been the owner is that possible? Sounds like it.

[Cyn]

Wow.....poor lil dog. One would THINK that the dog would have been clawing at the ears once it got home if band were put around ears in a salon, but then again...........

[Pretzel]

Oh my! that poor dog! obviously, we won't ever know the whole truth behind the story, but you would think if bows were tight enough or had skin in them, the dog would be scratching to get them out, or the owner would notice right away. What gets me is that BOTH ears had to be removed.

I have heard of this happening before though. My mentor grooms a pom missing an ear. She told me that a few years back, another groomer put a bow in and had it wrapped around the whole ear. The owner didn't realize until the smell of rotting flesh was hitting her. So I guess it's not so far fetched that this happens. And that owners don't pay attention to these things.

still...that poor dog...

[absolutebichon]

But the owner could have reset the rubber band for one ear??

[cockerlvr]

I read this this morning and kept it in mind when I was putting my bows in. I made extra sure that there was hair between the band and the skin. Scary!

[cockerlvr]

Wow.....poor lil dog. One would THINK that the dog would have been clawing at the ears once it got home if band were put around ears in a salon, but then again...........

Nope, my youngest daughter when she was really little put a bow in one of my cockers ears. It was black. The dog's ear is black. By pure chance I happened to see a glimmer of gold on her ear and took a closer look. You guessed it, the rubber band was all the way around the ear. Fortunately for my dog it hadn't been a long time, and although the ear was hot and swollen, the worst thing that happened in she got a white line of hair where the bow was placed once everything healed. If another half a day would have gone by I'm pretty sure we would have lost that ear.

[tabbykitten13]

Clips aren't failsafe either... We had one little puppy brought in to our attached vet because the clips were put ON the ears. Luckily the puppy was fine other than some temporary bruising and irritation. Mom came in super ticked off and yelling at us for putting clips on like that, but she also had 2 girls under the age of 10 and the only person at the time who had clip bows was the manager, who WOULD NOT do that. We've had a long history with this extended family and various attempts to get discounts and freebies...

[Cyn]

Nope, my youngest daughter when she was really little put a bow in one of my cockers ears. It was black. The dog's ear is black. By pure chance I happened to see a glimmer of gold on her ear and took a closer look. You guessed it, the rubber band was all the way around the ear. Fortunately for my dog it hadn't been a long time, and although the ear was hot and swollen, the worst thing that happened in she got a white line of hair where the bow was placed once everything healed. If another half a day would have gone by I'm pretty sure we would have lost that ear.

This makes sense, I suppose the ear would slowly go numb from lack of circulation therefor the dog wouldn't claw at it.

[edderland]

this happened to me twice; the owner's child took, the bow that fell off and put it around the ear. One place I worked they had me show everyone how to put bows in. A few days later a poodle came in with it's ears all swollen from bands around them; the bather had done it and quote" Oh, that's how Deidre showed us to put them in". Luckily the other several people there told on her and her lies.

[GroomerTALK Coordinator]

More news story coverage....... http://news10.com/2016/02/06/dog-ear...t-in-tennesse/

[blingwithfur]

I know a groomer this happened to but it was the owner who changed it. Dog screamed a lot in the end and the ear was saved. I suppose next we will have to issue warning labels on our bows.

[chache88]

Same thing happened to the owner of a shop I worked for years ago. This instance did end in litigation and they found the shop owner liable and she was ordered to pay the vet bills plus some.