thematthew
New member
i know this subreddit is soooo flooded with annoying pet parents and frustrating dogs, but i have to get this off my chest because this one takes the cake.
dad tried to book online, did it wrong, called to fix it, whatever. 10mo cocker spaniel, okay, sure. as i’m booking the appointment, he says, “Now, I have to tell you—he’s a BOY boy.” and i’m like, what the HELL does that mean? is this gonna be one of those things where the owner is weird about gender? but then he goes on to talk about how playful and energetic the dog is, and i say, oh, so that puppy energy. “No, it’s MORE than puppy energy.” ooooookay.
THEN he says—“He’s not neutered, and I plan on NEVER getting him neutered. I plan on breeding him out.” oh lord, a backyard breeder type. i book the appointment with my trainee, since they need pattern practice.
my guys. this dog had N E V E R been to a salon before. never groomed. i WISH i’d taken pictures because he looked WACK. he was also really big—a lot taller than a regular cocker, and the body is a little longer. so NOT standard bred. his hair was almost growing in pattern? but all the longer hair seemed to be ONLY puppy hair, while the top was adult coat.
bruh, he tried to jump out the tub, tried to jump off the drying table, HOWLED whenever the trainee tried to hold a leg to get it dried. i took over, and whenever he howled, i held his leg firmly and said “NO” and he would subside. i managed to get him dry, but it was a WORKOUT. trainee gets him on the table, running their clippers over him and he was THRASHING so hard I had to take over.
he was wild the entire groom. i told everyone in the salon, don’t look at him, don’t talk to him, don’t give him ANY attention. which usually helps with puppies—but not with him. any time anyone walked by, i would have to stop since he would go CRAZY and i didn’t want to cut him. once i eventually got to the head i had to be so goddamn careful—he did the thing where dogs pretend like they’re interesting in something on the other side of the room, so you can’t work on his head or face. but then also whenever someone would make even the SMALLEST sound—he would WHIP his head around, which was especially nerve wracking around his ears.
cocker heads and ears usually take me about 5-10 minutes. his took THIRTY.
all in all the groom took me about 5 hours, and that was without me needing to bathe him. we told dad he needs to come in more often and he HAD to get him in training, since we might not be able to take him with this behavior in the future. he pretty much ignored us, and left the training pamphlet on the counter.
this isn’t even including all the matting i had to spot shave. it was GNARLY.
TLDR; bad owner. bad dog. wish i had before and afters.
dad tried to book online, did it wrong, called to fix it, whatever. 10mo cocker spaniel, okay, sure. as i’m booking the appointment, he says, “Now, I have to tell you—he’s a BOY boy.” and i’m like, what the HELL does that mean? is this gonna be one of those things where the owner is weird about gender? but then he goes on to talk about how playful and energetic the dog is, and i say, oh, so that puppy energy. “No, it’s MORE than puppy energy.” ooooookay.
THEN he says—“He’s not neutered, and I plan on NEVER getting him neutered. I plan on breeding him out.” oh lord, a backyard breeder type. i book the appointment with my trainee, since they need pattern practice.
my guys. this dog had N E V E R been to a salon before. never groomed. i WISH i’d taken pictures because he looked WACK. he was also really big—a lot taller than a regular cocker, and the body is a little longer. so NOT standard bred. his hair was almost growing in pattern? but all the longer hair seemed to be ONLY puppy hair, while the top was adult coat.
5 cocker cut, 1/3 off the legs. ok, so a scissor cut on the legs, fine.
bruh, he tried to jump out the tub, tried to jump off the drying table, HOWLED whenever the trainee tried to hold a leg to get it dried. i took over, and whenever he howled, i held his leg firmly and said “NO” and he would subside. i managed to get him dry, but it was a WORKOUT. trainee gets him on the table, running their clippers over him and he was THRASHING so hard I had to take over.
he was wild the entire groom. i told everyone in the salon, don’t look at him, don’t talk to him, don’t give him ANY attention. which usually helps with puppies—but not with him. any time anyone walked by, i would have to stop since he would go CRAZY and i didn’t want to cut him. once i eventually got to the head i had to be so goddamn careful—he did the thing where dogs pretend like they’re interesting in something on the other side of the room, so you can’t work on his head or face. but then also whenever someone would make even the SMALLEST sound—he would WHIP his head around, which was especially nerve wracking around his ears.
cocker heads and ears usually take me about 5-10 minutes. his took THIRTY.
all in all the groom took me about 5 hours, and that was without me needing to bathe him. we told dad he needs to come in more often and he HAD to get him in training, since we might not be able to take him with this behavior in the future. he pretty much ignored us, and left the training pamphlet on the counter.
this isn’t even including all the matting i had to spot shave. it was GNARLY.
TLDR; bad owner. bad dog. wish i had before and afters.
