Advice needed: confronting groomer about damp dog

[karosti]

I'm so disappointed by the groomers at the place we went to today. I sent my dog before and had 0 issues, the folks there were fantastic! At drop off the groomer said my dog was the last dog on their schedule.

50 minutes in, she called to ask how I wanted the feet done and that she will be done in 20~ minutes. I was a bit surprised be hear that since it should take longer than that from the previous groomer.

At pickup, I didn't check my dog and ran out the door since I expected the same quality of work. When we got home my dog was damp all over the body, especially in the groin/belly area. The coat was not blown out at all. She literally just looked like she was fuzzy and the undercoat was tangled in itself. She was at around 75-80% maybe.

At home, I had to use a force dryer at home for another 25-30 minutes to get her mostly dry which was unacceptable. I cannot get my comb through any part of her body at all without significant resistance due to all the fur. I had them use my Best Shot shampoo and conditioner, it never makes fur lock up like that. I'm going over her body with my CC Big K and it's just so sad to see the state of her coat. I feel extra burned because I tipped about 30%. I feel quite embarrassed and almost ripped off?

How do I tactfully bring this problem up to the groomer without making any hostility? I want to speak to them tomorrow and I'm just not sure how to navigate this situation without risking them mistreating my dog in the future. I want to be kind but firm, not sure how that should look in this situation. I'm looking to be put on a 4-6 week schedule as well. It really annoyed me that she was just sitting there on her phone since she was the only person there. She said she had a lot of time which rubbed me the wrong way after I got home.



Edit: I called the shop. The manager was very surprised that the groom was not completed. The manager and owner had a chat and immediately offered a comped groom. They said they groom many shepherds, have a lot of experience and that there isn’t a reason for a gsd to go home damp. No questions about who was the groomer or anything. The owner said they will do the groom and will make it right.

This is the experience that I remembered from a year ago. I will continue to book my dog with the owner if things go well! Thank you for all the suggestions and encouragement. A little bit of respect goes a long way.

I will still tip 30% on the comped groom if it’s done well.

 

[wandereroftruth]

@karosti If it’s a corporate salon you can call and complain and get a refund, likely easily if you explain everything you did in this post. if it’s a private salon I can’t speak for that. Unless the groomer admits to handing it out in that condition you might have a problem getting a refund at a private salon but I’m unsure. Hope that helps

Sorry for your experience at that place

I’m a groomer and there is literally no way I’d ever hand out a dog without it being dried (unless it was ferocious and had to be sent home before service is complete in which case you wouldn’t have been charged) and brushed out. You have to get the hair “bone dry” to get the best cut results. Likely with the hair being tangled, I CANT imagine they actually gave the dog a decent haircut, if they gave a haircut at all

 

[wandereroftruth]

Adding in, Considering it could be a dog that doesn’t require a haircut, I still wouldn’t hand it out damp.. that also defeats the purpose of a deshed service not getting them dry and getting all the hair out. You definitely didn’t get your moneys worth.

 

[karosti]

@wandereroftruth My dog is a GSD mix. I was not expecting a deshed or anything, just a nice bath and brush! I usually do it myself every 4-5 weeks, including force drying. I wanted her to get used to it so the groomer and my dog wouldn't have a difficult time. My dog starts barking quietly after 25 minutes at home so her threshold is probably lower at the groomers. We talked about it at the end and they said she did really well. I stuck a comb on my dog's coat and she walked around without it coming out

 

[preng]

@karosti I would ask for your money back. Explain what you said in this post to the salon owner/manager. You obviously know what you’re talking about because you use correct products and tools on your dog.

Whenever I hear of a groomer leaving a dog wet, it also makes me wonder if they properly scrubbed and rinsed the dog too. And if that wasn’t done properly, it can lead to skin infections with the dog left wet.

 

[amethyst86purple]

@karosti Maaaaybe your dog was booked with a bather and not a groomer. Bathers are always overworked and undertrained (and underpayed). If it was a bather, ask to be scheduled with an actual groomer, which is good practice for any salon you go to!! Bathers and groomers are entirely different things.

 

[steveo]

@amethyst86purple Honestly this is kinda rude. Yeah bathers might be not trained like a groomer but I can still give a great bath. I work corporate and bathers do literally everything except the haircut. We do sani, ear cleaning, teeth, paw pads and trimming feet, and nails. This particular person being lazy and not finishing the dog properly does not mean bathers are not as talented.

 

[beta2]

@steveo It depends. Tbh we have a bather that’s…. Not that great and I have experienced her work first hand. Several times. This is not at all to say that every bather is bad. Some really are undertrained.

 

[amethyst86purple]

@steveo It doesn’t have to be polite to be a possibility. As a generality, bathers are a lot younger, even more rushed, overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated than groomers are. I’m not knocking bathers as human beings, how they’re treated as a whole isn’t usually fair. Since the OP has a German shepherd, it’s more likely the dog will be scheduled with a bather than a groomer.

 

[kyeshamblin]

@amethyst86purple Side note: groomers vs bathers, a groomer bath will usually cost a little more (not usually a ton but $10-15 more. I’ve had people complain it cost more and it was just a bath. I’ve had to explain to them why. Especially on a dog who normally gets a hair cut but just needs an in between cut bath. Not knocking our bathers but when it comes to certain breeds (DOODLES!) a groomer bath will always be better than just a regular bath.

But for shorter hair dogs and breeds that don’t generally mat(labs, GSD, pitties etc) a bather bath is usually more than sufficient

 

[jessey123]

@kyeshamblin What’s the difference between a “groomer bath” and a bather bath in your opinion? My shop charges the same amount no matter who bathed the dog, so I’m a little confused by this comment. As a bather, I’m a bit insulted by the insinuation that bathers will just send the dog out the door unfinished. I strive to produce just as good of quality services as our groomers and customers have always been happy with my work

 

[shefa]

@jessey123 When I was a bather I was proud of my desheds and large bath dogs, and my list of requests enforced it.

But I have also seen so many bathers have no clue what they are doing! Barely scrubbing, don't utilize the dryer, don't know to check the undercoat to make sure it's actually bone dry, stick it in a kennel dryer for an hour and run a Furminator brush over the top coat for three minutes and call it good.
It made me embarrassed on more then one occasion, and I had to redo so many bath dogs for stressed, lazy, overworked or simply undertrained bathers.

A good deshed takes skill and patience, and many bathers AND groomers don't realize it. My boss has been grooming for over 20 years and honestly when it comes to desheds she is just not good.

 

[kyeshamblin]

@jessey123 (I’m a bather and not a groomer myself) I’d/we’d never send home a dog the way OP explained either way.

I feel the groomers baths (and they have better tools than the bathers due to the fact we are hourly and the groomers are commission, therefore provide their own tools) as bathers we are not allowed to do anything that would involve cutting/trimming of hair, so if a dog has small mats that could be split and brushed out easily, as a bather we can brush them out as much as possible but still may leave behind some mat, groomers are able to do their magic and fully get it out with their extra tools. We are also more time restricted. So I’m an undercoated husky, we can blow out/brush out a ton of the coat and (as you know) can go on forever and if able to spend a long time still getting excess coat out. We’re still able to do a good job and get a massive amount of hair off but the groomers have more flexibility in scheduling to be able to spend the extra time

 

[maysa]

@jessey123 One thing they might be referencing is that in many corporate salons groomers are not "allowed" to do bath dogs so they need to be scheduled in the system as face/feet/sanis so they don't get in trouble.

 

[pamelajean]

@kyeshamblin As a bather, I resent your comment lol. Not really, but some of us know what we’re doing and take pride in sending out beautifully brushed out, clean, happy dogs. It’s not “just a bath” when I do it. I fully dry, brush and comb properly, shave paw pads and round out the feet nicely, do sanitary trims, clean ears (including plucking if it’s requested), and brush teeth. This is the training I received at a corporate salon, and I bathe around 8-9 dogs a day. If bathers aren’t doing all that, then groomers need to train them better. There’s absolutely no reason a bath dog should be done better or cost more if a groomer does it.

 

[kyeshamblin]

@pamelajean I guess it depends on the shop, I’m a bather too and as bathers we are not able to do sanis, feet trims, plucky etc. we wash, blow dry, clean ears, clip nails, and brush (not demating), teeth upon request.
Edit:
So that’s why it costs more for a groomer bath where I work because groomers are allowed to do the feet, sani, plucking etc.

 

[pamelajean]

@kyeshamblin That’s a good point. Idk, I guess corporate salons are training most bathers to become groomers, therefore train for feet and sanitaries (kinda wish bathers got commission, now that I think about it). We use the safest blade length we can and don’t do the face or body, ever. I did have a groomer let me shave down a dog for her one time, but I’ve been there a year, groom my own dog, and am going to academy in a couple of months.

 

[kyeshamblin]

@pamelajean My salon is with in a daycare/boarding so the bathers arent full time bathers, 2 days a week I might be bathing, and another doing kennel work or office..yesterday I was doing other stuff, but someone called to pick up their boarding dog early and wanted a bath..I bathed him bc the bather for the day was on break. I think that’s why we don’t do th extras. We’re not corporate by any means and. I know our business insurance is set up a certain way for liabilities and I’m pretty sure that groomer related things are technical long only covered for the groomers (like blade and scissor related injuries on the pets) it had to do with job titles on the employees.

 

[johnredeemed103]

@wandereroftruth I will on an old dog comfort groom or a dog that can't stand but I explain that to the client. It sounds like she's had decent work from these people before so sounds to me like someone was trying to rush. And she said it was a GSD so no way they got a decent deshed.

 

[adrian64]

@wandereroftruth I have sent a Pyrenees that tried to eat me over the blower home damp, because we had no cage large enough in the dryer area. That said, she was damp, not saturated like this one, and she also was not still tangled. That part is actually worse than the dampness, because the dog will ultimately air dry, but the matts are still going to be there.