Sophia goes to groomer

[mrstu]

Well, the mobile groomer came saturday and the girls look wonderful. Sophia did a GREAT job. I did go buy her her own muzzle and she put it on and jumped right in the truck. When she was in the bath and wet, she was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SMALL...all of a sudden, the groomer took the muzzle off , put soap in her hands and washed Sophia's face. Sophia behaved wonderfully.. she did not nip or anything, just let her do it. The groomer did have one of those cage muzzles so I swapped out for one of those so that she would have more movement of her mouth. I believe she probably would have been good without it but I kept it on just in case. She did a great job getting all the hair off of Sophia...I stayed with her the whole time. When her little head was wet, and her little eye were just popping out, she looked so sad and i wanted her to be able to see me. .I was able to touch her head, kiss her, etc and it went really well.

Well, in the beginning, when the groomer came, both puppies were really friendly with her. Even Sophia jumped on her and let her pet her right away. She wanted to do my goofey newfie first so my husband went to put her in the van and she did not want to go so that was an ordeal. He stayed with Maggie for a while and then came inside. I went out to see how it was going, there are big windows in the van where you can see in the back where the dog is being groomed. When I walked up, the groomer's back was to me and she was trying to clip around Maggie's ears and I heard her say "STOP IT.."and jerked her lead a little. It did not appear that Maggie was struggling with her. I jumped in and said "you do not yell at them do you?" She said no, not really but sometimes you have to redirect them. I told her that my girls NEVER get yelled at. I do not think she did anything wrong really but I felt like a mom picking her kid up at daycare overhearing a teacher correcting my child. My motherly protectiveness came out loud and clear. Maggie really is a big big dog that was not used to being groomed. I just felt bad to hear someone tell her in curt tone, STOP IT..

The groomer took almost 5 hours to do them both, they both look great but Maggie is clipped in some spots not as nicely as I would have liked but she was not cooperating as well as Sophia. Overall, the groomer did a good job but I will stay with my puppies if she comes again. Am I being too overprotective (I have a tendency to be that way) of my girls.?

So the girls are all clean, shiney, and fluffy and smell GREAT!!

[fillyok]

Ummm are you teasing us by not posting pics??
I don't think you're being overprotective at all. Poor Maggie only looks grownup...she's still a puppy. That groomer shouldn't have been so harsh with her. That's the one reason I don't take mine to the groomers often if at all. Bear is the only one that I think can handle being groomed by someone other than me. He went recently and seemed fine afterwards, but I always worry about how he's being treated when I leave him. I've thought about a mobile groomer, but with four of them I'd have to sign over a paycheck.

[Auddymay]

To be truthful, you may be a touch over protective. I would not muzzle Sophia. She is demonstrating her co-operation, and the groomer obviously was comfortable with her. And, though it may have sounded harsh to your ears, from a groomer's perspective, a verbal correction is not out of line. You admit your Newfie is not used to grooming. Also, a dog the size of a Newfie must not be allowed to be dominant, so prehaps the groomer was just forming the relationship boundries with Miss Maggie. It is hard as owners to see that, that is for certain.

I trust our groomer, and she is only about 300 or 400 feet from my house (how is that for lucky!) so I can drop in anytime after the drop off, but seldom do. The reason being, is just like with children, our Chows tend to act up more when mum is around.

Good to hear they are all spiffed up, and yes. We have no photos!

[mrstu]

Auddymay, I appreciate you being honest with me. I can be a bit psycho with my girls. When I asked the vet about Sophia and the groomer, she recommended the muzzle. Honestly, Sophia really took to her right away as soon as she walked in the door which was weird. She jumped up on her and let her touch her. I was with Sophia the entire time and she could see me the entire time. The groomer did a good job at hugging her and touching her head, etc. She did not get aggressive when she took the muzzle off and she washed her face. She grabbed her little (tiny) face and washed it with her bare hands, cleaning her eyes, etc and she just went with it. We will likely try it without muzzle next time. Sophia is really good with the muzzle, she will sit and let you put it on her and the one i had let her bark, etc and she had plenty of room in it.

I just try to protect them from anything negative happening to them. This was a first for both of them. Sophia is really particular about the way that she is touched. I am not sure how she would have been being picked up. She also does not like to feel like or be rolled on her side or back -- she will not even do that with me. She will also back up to you and she kept wanting to do that while being groomed. She will take her little self and manipulate herself until she her back is facing you. We call her the backwards chowbaby. She does that with me even.

We will use this groomer again although probably not soon due to the high cost. They were just both in such dire need of grooming that it was worth the money this time. Now that I know the blower really helps take the undercoat off, I can do that myself at the pet store.

Thanks again, I like this board because my friends here always point me in the right direction so I appreciate the advice.

[Dogdad]

sounds like the girls were angels. Now did someone mention pictures

[Bear's Mom]

I used to do grooming and I know that you need/have to be firm with them...otherwise you get nowhere and maybe bitten. You have to establish yourself as the "boss" so to speak or they'll have their own way. And sometimes it makes it harder when the owner is around, they just act different...I know this because I used to work for a vet also and I could see the difference in the way they acted right away when the owner would leave the room. Total change. I'm not trying to advocate cruelty in controlling a dog for any reason, but during grooming and in the exam rooms at the vet, dogs do act up from time to time cuz "mommy" is there and they know that they can act a certain way and they can get away with it. I take Bear to the vet and I leave the room when he gets is vaccines cuz otherwise he'll growl at the vet and give him that look out of the corner of his eyes, so when I leave, he's fine...just trying to protect me so when I leave, no threat. Just my two cents.

[summer_rose03]

As far as if your over reacting.... as long the dogs are behaving for the groomer while you are present, you should be fine. There are many dogs who go absolutely nuts when their parents are near and usually you can't get anything done when that happens. If the dogs are giving the groomer any problems, (excessive whining or crying, jumping, pulling towards you, etc.) I would suggest not hanging around. Sometimes they get more anxious when you are there, than when you're not. If you're there, they don't understand why they can't go with you. When you're gone, they know you're coming back, it's just a matter of time. Just watch out that you're not stressing them out more by being there than if you're not. 5 hrs is not too bad for doing a chow and newfy, especially if one was a bit hairy.

Just some tips from a groomer! Some things I wish all people knew before bringing in their dogs. I personally only mind having parents around if it drives the dogs nuts. If the dog behaves, I don't have a problem having the parents around. Just make sure you are hanging around for the right reasons. I have no doubt that next time they will be fine on their own! If they groomer needs you, you will be just in the house. Newfs are gentle giants, so there should never be a problem with Maggie. If Sophie did fine this time, she will be fine next time. I just wanted to reassure you from a groomer's point of view!

[jacqui]

it sounds like Sophie was an angel.shes a sweet little girl and she did great
I too,can be over protective with my Chows,I just can't help it.
I always stay at the groomers with them.now with Kai I have to do him myself,he won't let vets or groomers touch him
I think its great if the groomer lets you stay!

[Sirchow]

I haven't had to use a groomer yet but it is great reading all this before I do. You guys have so much experience between you.

Dying to see the end results. Where are the pics?

[WildThings]

It sounds like girls were very good for their salon day. I understand you concern about the yelling at them. If someone yelled at Fiona, they would never be able to touch her again, that's just how she is. Loud voice cause her to shut down, it would take forever to build up trust with her again.

Squeaky clean chow and newfie pictures would be wonderful though (had anyone mentioned that yet? )