@heaven91 I read before I looked at the pics and thought clipper burn sounds normal, but the pictures are crazy. Definitely seems like the groomer was being way too rough and careless. I would personally just keep it clean and go somewhere else. Asking for a refund would be totally appropriate.
---been a groomer for 4 years
@clos77 Thank you, this is very validating I appreciate it. I'm so upset for my dog right now I'm having a hard time rationalizing if I'm overreacting or not. But, my vet saw the pictures and agrees this is SO inappropriate.
@heaven91 I hard agree with this comment. I took in a golden doodle as a foster - reactive and malnourished - with matting so bad at his rear legs that one sadly had to be amputated. The groomer who did him, even with his squirmy behaviour, muzzle to stop him from biting and TONNES of matting, didn't leave him like this. She's well known for handling reactive dogs but I can't imagine a dog used to grooming who isn't a squirmer/biter pitting up enough of a fight to cause this.
@mttyhu Agreed, my dog has NO reactivity whatsoever when getting groomed since we started her so early. Granted she doesn't love it, but she has never even growled, shown teeth, or wiggles outside of the normal annoyance if you hold her foot too long. Super obedient and easy so I have NO idea how this would have happened
@heaven91 I would call the groomer again and let them know you'll be taking the dog to the vet. They should offer to cover the cost. If the dog wasn't matted and is usually well behaved this looks like the groomer was rushing in my opinion. At the minimum you should have been told so you could keep the dog from licking and irritating the scratches more.
@heaven91 Scratches can happen with matting but groomers should be slowing down to avoid multiple abrasions or stopping the service and sending the dog to a vet. If you have a cone to use to keep the dog from licking that will help with the redness. A T-shirt or surgical suit will stop the back feet from scratching as well. Your vet will have some options for the irritation and to prevent infection.
@thankfullness Thank you, I agree. I always was under the impression if the dog is too matted (which she was not, for the record) to where this happens or if she's being too squirmy they should stop and alert the owner / contact a vet.
Neither of these things happened and I was told she did great, wasn't a problem, easy-going, etc.
@heaven91 Op I've groomed dogs that were so matted I had to start at the corner of the eye with a surgical blade. This is not "dog was too matted" this is....I don't even know. It's bad.
@heaven91 The fact that the groomer didn't point this out and offer to get them looked over is a giant red flag. Also... One of these marks... One... Would be a, oh shit accident. This many? COMPLETELY unacceptable.
If it were my dog, I'd be furious. If it were my client, I'd reevaluate if I was in the right line of work, because it certainly doesn't look like it.
@eurombrem Thank you, as upsetting as this is for me and my dog its very validating to hear I'm not crazy for thinking this is SO wildly unprofessional
@heaven91 I looked at these and gasped. I've worked in grooming salons for a little over 3 years and even when I was a fresh new groomer I haven't done this to a dog. I've never seen this before but this is 100% from the groomer applying too much pressure with their clippers. You're not overreacting and tbh they will probably heal just fine without intervention but if your dog has skin issues or you live where it rains a lot you should bring them to the vet.
@heaven91 I'm definitely one to tell people if they're overreacting and no, no you are not. I would be crying if this was my dog. I've scraped a dog before on its undercarriage with a 10 blade before and felt absolutely awful about it and told the pet parent on pickup and offered to comp the groom due to how badly I felt. It looked nothing like this. I cannot fathom being so nonchalant about doing this to a dog.
@ilykmtns I absolutely cried last night over this. Thank you for caring about the pets you groom, it's hard trusting your animal with someone. My dog is too sweet and trusting now I'm anxious about her being traumatized next time we go somewhere, hoping this didn't shatter 8 years worth of good grooming
@heaven91 I’ll be honest, I was fully expecting some red armpits irritated from matting (especially because clippers don’t actually ‘burn’ as others have mentioned!) and the pictures took me aback. Totally inexcusable, it seriously looks like the clipper was just jammed straight up into those armpit folds. It definitely happens (rarely) to catch the skin a little bit under a mat or if the dog is extremely bad and then happens to suddenly throw itself armpit first on the edge of the clipper (did happen to me once). But I can’t even imagine how it would happen SO many times.
I personally wouldn’t go back to that groomer, tbh.
@heaven91 That is super bad! I’ve shaved tons of wiggly matted to the skin dogs and never had anything more than faint redness from slight irritation that fades! No excuse for this, ask for them to cover the bill, save these pics
@heaven91 Really looks like she was digging the blade too hard into the skin and at the wrong angle. Or the blade was damaged.
In any case there’s no excuse for this, these types of marks show up right away, it’s not the sort of thing where you carry on without noticing and then they turn up after the dog was sent home. If it was just one and she noticed and then adjusted her technique or checked the blade for damage I’d understand but these marks are all over the dog.
