Chow's undercoat
Moderator: chowadmin
Chow's undercoat
Hello,
I took my dog for a consultation to a groomer to see if she would be able to groom him. I was more interested in the bath. She looked at the dog, said it had a lot of matted hair and that she would have to remove it. I understood that part. She said she had groomed chows before and still do. She made it seem that my dog would look so great after being groomed.
Well, yesterday was the test and she put my dog through his worst nightmare. He is still reeling from it. Normally, his old groomer (who isn't grooming anymore) would take 2 1/2 hours to groom him. This groomer took almost five hours. I went to the salon and before I could open the door my dog was barking and barking and barking with a muzzle on. Something I had never seen on him at his old groomer before. My dog doesn't behave the way he was behaving yesterday with not one but three people trying to restrain him. She was literally handling him very roughly I said "STOP" and started to take my dog off the table. She insisted she was not done and I insisted he was done. I was so furious I did not look at the damage she had done to my dog until I had gotten home. His bottom coat is all gone, the left side of his body is so thin, you can see his skin, and the right side is a lot thicker. His, excuse the expression, *Censored Word* down to his balls is SHAVEN. Strays of long hair hanging from the side. I cried, and cried because I feel she was abusing my dog to get what she called "matt" out and she was taking his entire undercoat out. I just wished I had gotten there much sooner. My question is, will his undercoat come back? I know the rest of the hair will grow back around his anus but jeez, I am so concern about everything else. I called her this morning and told her about this. The nerve to charge me $135.00 was ridiculous. Had my dog looked like a well groomed show dog for that kind of money it would not have mattered. But to have a dog I am a shame to take outside, I am livid. She told me that the dog had to have the hair removed and shaved. I told her she should have called me with the problem and let me make the decision. I would have stopped her from further grooming and picked my dog up. NO, she insisted so I just let her have it on the phone. Enough was enough.
An angry chow owner
I took my dog for a consultation to a groomer to see if she would be able to groom him. I was more interested in the bath. She looked at the dog, said it had a lot of matted hair and that she would have to remove it. I understood that part. She said she had groomed chows before and still do. She made it seem that my dog would look so great after being groomed.
Well, yesterday was the test and she put my dog through his worst nightmare. He is still reeling from it. Normally, his old groomer (who isn't grooming anymore) would take 2 1/2 hours to groom him. This groomer took almost five hours. I went to the salon and before I could open the door my dog was barking and barking and barking with a muzzle on. Something I had never seen on him at his old groomer before. My dog doesn't behave the way he was behaving yesterday with not one but three people trying to restrain him. She was literally handling him very roughly I said "STOP" and started to take my dog off the table. She insisted she was not done and I insisted he was done. I was so furious I did not look at the damage she had done to my dog until I had gotten home. His bottom coat is all gone, the left side of his body is so thin, you can see his skin, and the right side is a lot thicker. His, excuse the expression, *Censored Word* down to his balls is SHAVEN. Strays of long hair hanging from the side. I cried, and cried because I feel she was abusing my dog to get what she called "matt" out and she was taking his entire undercoat out. I just wished I had gotten there much sooner. My question is, will his undercoat come back? I know the rest of the hair will grow back around his anus but jeez, I am so concern about everything else. I called her this morning and told her about this. The nerve to charge me $135.00 was ridiculous. Had my dog looked like a well groomed show dog for that kind of money it would not have mattered. But to have a dog I am a shame to take outside, I am livid. She told me that the dog had to have the hair removed and shaved. I told her she should have called me with the problem and let me make the decision. I would have stopped her from further grooming and picked my dog up. NO, she insisted so I just let her have it on the phone. Enough was enough.
An angry chow owner
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Butterfly57
- Rank 0
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sun Jul 14, 2013 5:45 am
Re: Chow's undercoat
OMG. Take pictures and if you can, find a lawyer. This person should not be grooming any animals. I don't think I would have been able to restrain myself from doing harm to that idiot!
We took our girl to Petco. My husband stayed with her the first time she went. She was nervous, but handled it well. She had a few matts, but not bad. Her groomer was so very patient with her. Sabrina did not like new things, it was a little like having an autistic child. The same groomer worked with her each time she went. She got very comfortable with going in and she always came home beautiful and happy.
I hope your guy recovers from this fiasco, and I would be looking for ways to get that person fired.
We took our girl to Petco. My husband stayed with her the first time she went. She was nervous, but handled it well. She had a few matts, but not bad. Her groomer was so very patient with her. Sabrina did not like new things, it was a little like having an autistic child. The same groomer worked with her each time she went. She got very comfortable with going in and she always came home beautiful and happy.
I hope your guy recovers from this fiasco, and I would be looking for ways to get that person fired.
Re: Chow's undercoat
Wow! I agree that you should sue and tell everyone you know not to take their dog to her. Sounds awful - I would be beyond steaming angry with her. If she does not own the shop, complain like crazy. Complain like crazy anyway as she clearly does not know how to treat animals with care or respect.
Humphrey went to the groomers last week and it took three hours but she was lovely with him and he looks great. He was fine with it.
I hope that your dog feels better soon x
Humphrey went to the groomers last week and it took three hours but she was lovely with him and he looks great. He was fine with it.
I hope that your dog feels better soon x
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Rory's Dad
- Rank 3
- Posts: 1708
- Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 6:48 am
- Location: Mansfield, MA USA
Re: Chow's undercoat
The ONLY thing i am ok with here is the time line. Chows have a very thick undercoat and the time required to get them dry is what takes the time. Better to use a slow speed drier that hooks to the crates than a high impact, high heat drier. It spooks the dogs a lot less. Ours take about 4 hours. That being said...
See some of my prior posts, i have 2 show Chows. They get groomed 1 day before every show weekend. We use our local Petco, with VERY explicit instructions to never cut, trim, or shave any section of the dogs other than to neaten up the paws area (shape toe fur, trim between pads). Their grooming (spa) experience includes teeth brushing, nail trim, shampoo and conditioner, and full brush out. My handler takes care of touch ups and 'fluffing/finishing' daily before each ring session. 2 weeks ago, she asked how much Petco charges and was floored that we pay $85/dog. She also owns a kennel and suggested $35/dog for maintenance grooming was more in line. Too bad her kennel is 2 1/2 hours away... $135 to hack a dog is completely out of line and borderline criminal.
Seeing the dog in muzzle should be a good clue (obviously too late at that point) that the dog knew something wasnt right and was having an issue with the groomer. My 7 month old female does well at the groomers but is getting an impatient bug. We pulled her from a couple shows recently rather than risk a DQ at her age. We have all the necessary brushes and combs, so i just invested in a grooming table to get her used to the daily regimen. The table was less than your grooming session and i went mid-line. The undercoat will grow back, but i would recommend that you start doing regular maintenance grooming yourself. It takes patience, but is well worth it both financially and as a good bonding experience.
Naturally, no idea how bad the mat situation may have been, but it sounds like she just pulled out the trimmer and shaved them away. Lazy and irresponsible, and no clue how to deal with a Chow. Depending on the climate where you live, this could have been life threatening for your dog as the coat and undercoat provide natural insulation in the cold and cooling in the heat. Without it, he may have trouble adapting to the weather. And he will be embarrassed to be seen by other chows...
I would take to any social media available and post reviews. Not too sure about any legal recourse, but you should definitely make her lack of skill, knowledge, and responsibility well known.
See some of my prior posts, i have 2 show Chows. They get groomed 1 day before every show weekend. We use our local Petco, with VERY explicit instructions to never cut, trim, or shave any section of the dogs other than to neaten up the paws area (shape toe fur, trim between pads). Their grooming (spa) experience includes teeth brushing, nail trim, shampoo and conditioner, and full brush out. My handler takes care of touch ups and 'fluffing/finishing' daily before each ring session. 2 weeks ago, she asked how much Petco charges and was floored that we pay $85/dog. She also owns a kennel and suggested $35/dog for maintenance grooming was more in line. Too bad her kennel is 2 1/2 hours away... $135 to hack a dog is completely out of line and borderline criminal.
Seeing the dog in muzzle should be a good clue (obviously too late at that point) that the dog knew something wasnt right and was having an issue with the groomer. My 7 month old female does well at the groomers but is getting an impatient bug. We pulled her from a couple shows recently rather than risk a DQ at her age. We have all the necessary brushes and combs, so i just invested in a grooming table to get her used to the daily regimen. The table was less than your grooming session and i went mid-line. The undercoat will grow back, but i would recommend that you start doing regular maintenance grooming yourself. It takes patience, but is well worth it both financially and as a good bonding experience.
Naturally, no idea how bad the mat situation may have been, but it sounds like she just pulled out the trimmer and shaved them away. Lazy and irresponsible, and no clue how to deal with a Chow. Depending on the climate where you live, this could have been life threatening for your dog as the coat and undercoat provide natural insulation in the cold and cooling in the heat. Without it, he may have trouble adapting to the weather. And he will be embarrassed to be seen by other chows...
I would take to any social media available and post reviews. Not too sure about any legal recourse, but you should definitely make her lack of skill, knowledge, and responsibility well known.
Re: Chow's undercoat
Five hours seems like an excessive amount of time. Tess gave me at least an hour when I groomed her. That was about all she could stand. Lilly, so far a lot less. Knowing Lilly and how she would act under the same situation it would be considered abuse. I would surely complain to the manager & make your feelings completely clear. It will probably take some time for your Chow to trust again. You also need to be completely in charge of what "the person" is doing to your Chow. If the time frame seems unreasonable to you, you need to step up.
Re: Chow's undercoat
My suggestion is to groom and bathe your dog yourself. Use a rack and a comb and cut mats that are too big. Any tables with a yoga mat on top will help a lot so you don't have bend over. A chow that has been spaded makes grooming much harder because of hormones changes, and will mat much easier.
Buy a shower massager to attach to your show head to makes giving a bath much easier. (About $10) Especially getting all the soap out. Put a screen over the drain to caught any fur.
I start dry with the Absorber XL towel and then blow dry with NO heat.
Then brush again because warm water will loosen their fur and if you didn't get it all before the bath it will be easier now.
good luck,
612
Buy a shower massager to attach to your show head to makes giving a bath much easier. (About $10) Especially getting all the soap out. Put a screen over the drain to caught any fur.
I start dry with the Absorber XL towel and then blow dry with NO heat.
Then brush again because warm water will loosen their fur and if you didn't get it all before the bath it will be easier now.
good luck,
612
Brutus