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I have Chloe groomed at the local Petsmart because she is very good for them and she's a dirty little tom-boy. By groomed I mean only that I let them bathe, brush and blow-dry her about every 2 months. Well she hasn't started shedding...she is 11 mos old so I was assuming her puppy coat just wasn't ready to come out yet. They called and asked if they could do a procedure called a low-shed which she explained was a procedure with special shampoo, conditioner, blow-outs, repeat, etc to get her under-coat out with the blower. I complied thinking I'm not a groomer, maybe her undercoat is ready to come out and it will save me brushing and vacuuming time. They know not to ever cut or shave her under any circumstances or at least I thought they did. When I picked her up I was told by a different groomer then I thought was doing her that she used a dematting rake on her (she had no mats)...those things with the razor blades, so basically it seems to me they thinned out her coat...they didn't just remove ready to come out hair..shedding hair. I am furious because I am worried this will somehow damage her coat. A dematting rake used all over her body would take out adult coat as well as puppy coat is my thinking. I mean a dematting rake is for working on mats right, not grooming the entire body? It's razor blades. My question after all of this rambling is do you think it will damage her coat to have it thinned out in this manner rather then the normal shedding manner. I am also probably venting because I am getting madder by the minute. Do not trust groomers!

Breathe Laura, just breathe!

Whilst I have NO idea what on earth the groomer was thinking I do not think that it will harm Miss Chloe's coat in the long run. Several 'show' chow people that I know using thinning shears on the the coats of the chows they are not showing in the summer. I was thinking about doing it to Millie.... It's prehaps best not to go it with a dematting rake, but it will be fine. The hair around Alf's legs that was shaved to the skin has returned looking beautifully thick now

Oh Laura, how dam annoying and irritating for you. However as Layla said, all will be fine, it will grow back.

Thanks you two. I am still mad and they will be receiving a 'Chow grooming 101' phone call from me today but what's done is done. I guess I can wait another year or however long it takes for this to sort itself out to see her full adult coat.

I can feel your pain. Not long after I adopted Ping I broke my ankle so I decided to get Bear a lion-cut. I couldn't keep up with him, Ping (blowing puppy fur), my broken ankle and going through a divorce. I'd taken Bear to this groomer before so I wasn't afraid of what they might do. When I went to pick the both of them up, Bear looked like Fozzie Bear from the muppets. They only left fur on his ears and tail...he looked terrible. I paid the lady and never returned there. Bear seemed to like his new look, so it wasn't all bad and it grew back quickly (probably not as quickly as I wanted though).