Bad, bad dog groomers!!!

sobaga

I did not know anything about dog grooming until the last dog show (which was the first for me and my dog). I presumed that if somebody advertises as a professional dog groomer, they know what they are doing. My presumption was all wrong.
I have a Golden Retriever. She was entered to the show on 2nd December, so I called a PROFESSIONAL (according to them) mobile dog grooming company and booked washing and grooming for my princess for Friday before the show. The nice lady on the phone was not able to give me the exact time, she only said it would be the afternoon and that they would call me in the morning on the day. I was waiting for the call until 12.30 and called myself. I explained that I need to know when to expect the groomer, as I have other things to do, too! I received a text from the groomer five minutes later saying that he would be there between 7 and 9 pm. Interesting notion of an afternoon. Anyway, I managed to re-schedule for the next day, 9 am. So, there is the dog grooming van in front of my house, the groomer gives me an electric plug to plug into my socket (???) and he is ready for the dog. My dog is rather timid and he had to carry her into the van. I asked about the washing products (light coat, sensitive skin) and I heard that he had not a shampoo suitable for my dog. (??? times 2). I gave him the shampoo I had for her. I should have told him to go home at that point, but who would trim the dog for me a day before the show? And now is the list of what I should have got and what I really got for 79 euro. According to their website, the grooming session contains of:
1. Full body clip/strip/scissors cut.

• The dog after the scissors cut (which was done with flat scissors, not the thinning scissors) looked more like a labrador that a golden retriever.
• She had her beautiful feathering cut very short, which made her ugly.

2. Wash, condition and blowdry.

• The dog was not dry when I got her back. "It is a perfume", I heard. judging on the smell, a pet odour neutraliser that you can buy in a supermarket was used.
• The coat did not show any sign of conditioning.

3. Nail trim, eye and ear clean.

• None of these was done, I trimmed the dog's nails myself, after she settled down a bit, I also cleaned her ears.

4. Anti-flea and worm treatment

• No sign of either, besides it takes a lot to make my dog swollow a pill No signs of violence noted.

5. Designer Christmas bandana (If you cut a small square of material diagonally, that is what you get, more or less), a Christmas doggy treat bag (9 pieces of something I would not dare to give my dog to eat) and a toy. The toy was actually the best of what we got.

I sent them an email on Monday morning, saying that the grooming was unorofessional (I received a comment from the Judge: 'are you sure it is a golden retreiver you are showing' - to my utter embarassment) and requesting sorting the problem out. It is Friday, no response, no 'sorry', no 'kiss my ... ' - no nothing!
Anyway - my advice to you is KEEP YOUR DOGS AWAY FROM THAT COMPANY. And I will happily share the name of it with anyone who sends me a PM

10-10-20

I love the wit in that! Very good and I hope you get satisfaction!

sobaga

Thanks And I hope other people will learn from my experience

On the second thought - I have not realised I could write so well in English that other people would notice a sign of wit in it I am flattered

Zsuzso71

sobaga wrote: »

Thanks And I hope other people will learn from my experience

On the second thought - I have not realised I could write so well in English that other people would notice a sign of wit in it I am flattered

sobaga wrote: »

Thanks And I hope other people will learn from my experience

On the second thought - I have not realised I could write so well in English that other people would notice a sign of wit in it I am flattered

Hi, I'd like to ask an advice from you.:rolleyes:
I'd like to complete a dog groomer course. But I as I see, I'll do it in Hungary (I am a hungarian person), it gives an EUROPASS certificate. And why? Because the prices of courses are same. And in Hungary the course involves 500 hours (200 theory and 300 practice), while in Ireland all are 78 hours!!!! I think, it is not enough to anyone, who wants to care for dogs honestly. Who will care for our animals, should be absolutly skillfull and practice.
I am sure, they are similar livings like we, so they and their hair, nails, eyes, ears need similar care like ours. So, as I saw above, it's not only my opinion!
Tha cut is not enough! This job needs love and sensitive. I know, I am a proud owner of a fairy westie-boy.:cool:
What do you think about my plans, i.e. a course in Hungary?

iloveanimals

Your poor dog! I can't believe you had to wait around all day. You may aswell have taken him to a salon and left him for the day. And as for having to plug into your sockets????!
I actually used another mobile pet grooming service who were great. They don't need to use your sockets or make you wait around all day, they arrived five minutes early and were so friendly and professional. My dog also received a bandana but it was a proper one as it had the company's logo on it and he loved the groomer. He's usually nervous of strangers but was completely fine after a few minutes. They did a treatment called furminator which stopped my dog shedding considerably, I wonder does anyone know where I could buy one? Ps. If you'd like the name of that company I can PM you, don't think I'm allowed mention names here!:D

tomred1

Why did you pay them? If some of the stuff wasn't done.

sobaga

I paid them 80 or 90 euro, don't remember exactly, must have been in a deep shock...

the grooming pa

That is a terrible thing to happen, your dog should not be clipped as a show retrievor, you need someone that knows the breed standard, and the feathers on legs are not short, As a qualified groomer City and Guilds Advanced groomer, I suggest you check out really well the groomers qualifications see if they have a couple of certificates toprove they know what they are doing, they should have shampoo for sensitive skin as standard and should know what the dogs should look like when finished and not go near it with a straight scissors.
I am sorry to hear of your experience, perhaps you will have better luck next time, when your dogs coat grows back, I used to show retrievors and hate to see them messed up, they are great dogs. If you need advice you can contact me through my web page. www.thegroomingpad.com
Ann