nervous dog and visiting the groomer

peteb2

I'm embarrassed to say it's been a good couple of years since my dog has seen a professional groomer.

She's extremely sketchy sometimes and if a stranger approached her the wrong you'd think she was going to savage them. Bark is obviously worse than the no bite!

However she could do with some grooming attention and I'm wondering do I just book her in to some where and let them handle it or should I be searching for some one in particular.

She panics in a vets and she's just cowers in the corner and usually pees or craps. And is not a fan of being lifted on the table so I feel she may see this as the same thing.

She's a medium sized lab cross.

Any ideas??

SillyMangoX

Some groomers offer a "stay and play" desensitisation for very nervous dogs, where you come once a week for a few weeks and it's literally playing with the groomer, getting used to them, hearing the sounds of the parlour, getting fed lots of yummy treats and eventually over the few weeks building up to being able to brush/wash etc.
Make sure you're very up front with the groomer about how nervous your dog is though!
Sometimes even nervous dogs can be okay being groomed, they're usually worse around their owner! I once groomed a super nervous dog who was growling and snapping on arrival but after being left to chill and get her bearings, had no problem for the rest of the groom.
Check out the ipdga for groomers! Hope it goes well
(Ps. You may find it hard to get an appointment this side of Christmas, busiest month!)

peteb2

It ain't gonna be this side of Xmas anyway. Wait until she comes back from her Xmas holiday.

Ms Doubtfire1

stay with her. At all times, when you bring her, stay with her through the grooming. A good groomer will allow that and welcome it.

SillyMangoX

Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »

stay with her. At all times, when you bring her, stay with her through the grooming. A good groomer will allow that and welcome it.

In most cases this can make the dog worse, they tend to "act up" in front of owners. When they're with a good groomer and given time to chill they (in most cases) do better on their own.

Vizzy

Fakediamond wrote: »

When I take my dog to the vet for his booster shots, or whatever, and I stay with him, he actually shrieks and leaps off the table if the vet even comes anywhere near him, never mind injecting him. I have now learned to hand him over, with warnings about his nervousness, suggest getting the nurse to help, and then I hide around the corner and watch. Nurse pets him and talks to him, while vet does whatever vets do, all without any drama whatsoever and no muzzle required.

I apply the same principle for his yearly trim at the groomer, and I'm told he's an angel for her. So yes, I'd agree with posters who say they "act up" when the parents are around!

Do you bring the dogs mother and father with you ?

Ms Doubtfire1

There's a difference between acting up and being fearful.

SillyMangoX

Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »

There's a difference between acting up and being fearful.

A dog being fearful even rather than just acting up can be taken up wrong by owners. I've lost count of the amount of dogs that have been carried into the grooming parlour shivering in the owners arms with the usual cries of "oh he hates this, he seems so scared", only to bring them in and for them to be absolutely fine the rest of the time without the owner. They pick up on the anxiety from the owner and it shows.
On top of that, many groomers aren't insured to have owners in the actual groom area so wouldn't be able to offer people the chance to stay.
In saying that OP, if your dog seems to have a genuine phobia rather than just "acting up" with strangers, there's absolutely no harm in staying close by. If the groomer has a lobby area then that's great, but even being a 5 minute drive away should things not go to plan is great too.
People seem to have a misconception that groomers intentionally are agrivated or hurt dogs, largely to do with videos doing the rounds on social media lately, but 99.9% of groomers just want what's best, firstly for the dogs welfare (always, always 1000% humanity over vanity), and secondly, what will work for the owners.

OP if you'd like to pm me with your location, I could recommend groomers in your local area who would have experience with nervous dogs!