Stop coddling your dog! You're the problem, not them!!

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gellmannamnesia

New member
This is a bit of a rant, but I'm annoyed y'all!

I had a client who has a 100lb, 8yr old golden. She gets in my van (mobile salon) and goes, 'it's a bath? Not a stand up shower?'. Like yeah? I'm 100% not showering with dogs when it's snowing outside? So we go back and forth of how the dog could never get in the bath, getting in the van was scary enough (dog walked right in, tail wagging, eating all my treats). So she wants me to do it inside... In her shower... I go whatever, I'm already here. So I shower with this dog, getting myself more wet than the dog, and proceed to blow dry the dog and chase it around the bathroom.
We go back to my van (as I'm freezing to death since I'm now wet in the snow) and I say that I need him on my table for the cut (table isn't even 1ft off ground due to it being hydraulic and set at the lowest), and she refuses, too scary, too tall. So she has me chase this dog around my van, giving him the world's choppiest silhouette trim. Can't do nails either, his legs will go out (I was holding him up on my knee at this point, but ok). And no tip, all she said was her husband has a shaver and he can do it... K, I wasn't coming back anyway. I have groomed wayyyyy worse dogs who are actually scared/nervous, and they almost always chill out once I get started because it's not as bad as you make it seem.

So PLEASE! All owners reading this! Unless the groomer has said something, your dog is fine! It won't kill us or itself, you're the only one freaking out and making the vibes in here way worse for the dog. It's scared cuz of you, not the salon. So trust your groomer, if we think it's not safe, we'd say something. Coddling your dog only makes our job so much harder since we're the only people telling your dog no/not giving in to it in it's life... If you don't trust us, your dog won't either, and you'll get referred out because of your attitude, not the dog tbh.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk 😊
 
@gellmannamnesia I am an owner (who typically home grooms my poodle, and loves learning here), but I can totally picture this kind of client.

When I was younger, I worked at the drop off childcare at my local YMCA. One sides was glass windows/walls. The parents who stayed "so their kids could see them and know they were safe" the first few times always cause so. Many. Problems. Just seeing their parents would remind the kids they separated, so instead of having fun and chilling, the kids would get upset and cry, which upset the parents. The parents who dropped and immediately went to exercise (typically not their first kid) cause way less drama.

I imagine it's just like that for the groomers, too. I've seen people try and wave at their dogs through the windows at PetSmart... And plo and behold their dog starts acting up.

When I dropped my dog with the groomer for the first time, after explaining the cut I wanted I just walked out. Dog was fine. The groomer actually thanked me when I came back for pickup for not winding her up before I left.

People are stupid when it comes to the beings they love, and often project so much they make the situation worse.

You did well to finish the dog, and I'm glad you won't have to deal with them again.
 
@keonhanh I 100% share your perspective and also sympathize with owners at times because unfortunately, there is a fair share of bad publicity in our industry when it comes to animal deaths and injuries. Of course these things only make it to the public eye when they're severe, so some owners have crazy dramatic perceptions about the eViLs of dog grooming. Compound that with an already anxious personality and yeah, you get the overbearing owners who create a self fulfilling prophecy by raising a dog who is reactive to everything and gets injured. I would love it if our industry could become more regulated to both give us more "official" professionalism and to make owners feel safer. They really don't have much recourse with injuries and I've unfortunately witnessed this firsthand working for a salon with no insurance.
 
@keonhanh OH MY GOD I WORKED IN RAINBOW CORNER TOO AT THE YMCA. The YMCA was my first job ever.

EVERY DAY there was some type of complaint. "Why wasn't an attendant playing with my kid?" "Why is my kid's snack directly on the table?" (Idk maybe give your kid a fucking plate?) "Oh my god my kid got sick and it's ALL YOUR FAULT!"

And the amount of parents who had the audacity to hand us a baby with a fully loaded diaper and no diaper bag.
 
@keonhanh I got roped into doing church nursery in my early 20s (the congregation had a baby boom that resulted in like 20 toddlers crammed in a small room that year when there were usually like 5-10 at once, lmao it was horrible) and I HATED the parents who would hover outside the glass window. Their kids would settle down once the parents were gone, but the parents WOULDN’T. FUCKING. LEAVE. So the kid would sit on my lap just sobbing hysterically, staring at the parent. And of course the parent would run in, coo and fuss, calm them down for 10 seconds, and leave again, cue heavy sobbing, repeat like 3 times.

I got to the point I’d straight up tell them, “It’s harder on the kids when they see you outside the door. I know you’re in the class across the hall, I’ll come get you if he’s still crying in 5 minutes.” I never once had to go get them, with the exception of one kid who honestly was just a little behind developmentally and needed a few more months before he was ready for nursery. We tried again in a few months and he was fine.
 
@dontajohnson Yup, every crying kiddo would always settle within 5-10 minutes unless there was a good reason. The one that took the longest (daily visits for over a month before she was ok for 10 minutes) had been adopted from a really bad situation. In her case we worked with her parents for a softer transition (we would go read her a book in the lobby with her parents the first week), and they had realistic expectations (kind of like the pet clients who are cool with their newly adopted dog going home wet; at least effort was made.) Then one day she was fine and played for 90 minutes. Most of us caretakers cried to see her so happy!
 
@gellmannamnesia I'm so happy I stopped trying to make people happy. Good for you for sticking it out but I would have just left and probably been a little rude for wasting my time .

Anxious people drive me nuts . I'm anxious too but 100% confident in my job, so those people I find insulting and infuriating
 
@gellmannamnesia You have got to start setting boundaries. Figure out your business policies and stick to them. No fucking way i would’ve gone into that house. Set a minimum trip fee so your time isn’t wasted, have her pay it and go. She can have the next patsy cater to her every whim.
 
@gellmannamnesia Asking someone to shower with your dog? I don’t understand how people request things like that. I would be so mortified.

I have a nervous former stray who turned into a massive fluffball (hence why I’m here - challenging pup who deffo needs grooming). All I’ve done is let the groomer know up front that I’d rather the dog have a good experience than look perfect. I know they’d stop with signs of major stress, but we’ve taken him to a behaviorist and she suggested playing it extra safe. I figured it was better to let them know he’s my sweet little hot mess. I hope they don’t think I’m crazy.

But hey, maybe someone just needs to shower with my dog and he’d chill out.

omg, no. I just can’t.
 
@danial Groomers will never think you're crazy if you're just warning them. We understand that it's your baby and you love them to death. It's when owners stop trusting groomers to do what's best and demanding to be a part of the whole process that we start getting upset
It's like asking your dentist to let you watch them clean your kid's teeth or something like that
 
@danial i absolutely LOVE reassurance that you care more about the dog's safety and health than getting a perfect groom. i’m always nervous when a dog won't let me do something because some owners want me to put their dog through so much stress just to make the groom look slightly cleaner😭
 
@gellmannamnesia I groomed mobile for 3 or 4 years, and I would have never washed a dog in someone's shower or not put a dog on the table to finish the groom. I would have probably laughed in the owner's face and politely told them that they either help me get their dog in the tub, or I was leaving.

I know how hard it is saying no to an owner, but it's really important to stick up for yourself. This is your livelihood. Chasing a dog around just to get it bathed, dried, and trimmed sounds incredibly hard on your body. People like that owner are not thinking about you at all, just what they want done with their limited knowledge on how your business works.
You absolutely need to be selfish in this area, you want to be able to make a living grooming for as long as you are able, and bending over backwards just to make someone happy will end up with you getting hurt.

Like a previous comment said, make sure you set boundaries and stick to them no matter what! Don't let entitled owners push you around. Mobile grooming is extremely hard as is, don't make it harder on yourself.
 
@gellmannamnesia You let her in the van??

I'm gonna also say (and I'm sorry) you're training the client to think that behavior is ok because you catered to her unrealistic expectations so you did kind earn any stress she gave you.

Fire any client like that. They can do it themselves clearly. I mean, her husband has a shaver, how hard can it be?
 
@gellmannamnesia Dog Grooming Hourly Rate:

$100 hr minimum

$180 hr if you watch

$300 hr if you 'help'

$500 hr if you tell me how to do my job

I would have said no to the request I shower with the dog. Not happening. They can either let me do my job or I can be on my way.
 
@gellmannamnesia I once arrived to groom a setter. Parked in the drive about 4metres from the front door. Owner comes out with the dog in full snow suit and boots. I’m like oh wow I’m just going to take all that off again but ok…
Owner then proceeded to refuse to leave. Said the bath was too cold (it was a hydrobath and very warm). Dryer too scary. He cried ONCE and she snatched him off the table saying it was all too traumatic for him. Left without paying me.
Her house was HUGE btw. She could definitely have afforded to pay
 
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