GROOMING TAILS
I would like to reserve this space for those grooming tales that
are a little (or a lot) out of the ordinary....for example:
Early on in my career, while working for another, I had the
unexpected opportunity to perform 'surgery'. A customer brought in a rather
unkept Sheltie; this was one of those pets that demanded a make-over for an
upcoming vet visit...the dog was to be made presentable prior to surgery. Turns
out, this vet had scheduled surgery to remove a large growth behind the dog's
ear. You guessed it, right? The 'growth' was in fact a huge lump of matted
hair, promptly removed by Dr. Oster & yours truly, for a lot less expense!
I've had dogs loose teeth on my table, I've had a schnauzer pass
kidney stones on my table, but the absolute atrocity had to be when a cocker
not only defecated on my table, she passed along with it a condom. I am usually
in the habit of mentioning to the owner any oddity I may witness in a dog's
stool while in my care, yet under the circumstances, I was speechless. What
would you have done?
from: Jo
Bath 'N' Biscuit
The day I realized my career as a groomer was not at all a glamorous one was when I got a call
from our local vet. He asked if he could send down a client with a senior husky to have a few
"sore areas" shaved around. I was just closing the shop but agreed to do it, how hard could
shaving a bit here and there be? Well, in comes this husky. It had to be about older than dirt,
nastier than the devil himself. But I can handle this. After being muzzled by the owner and
placed on the table I got a better look at these sore areas and about lost my lunch. This poor
dog had been kept on a chain for all 13 years of it's life, never bathed, brushed, or looked
after. Needless to say, Huskies without grooming for 13 years are walking sespits. I grabbed
my trusty 10 blade and began clipping away layers of hair, dirt, and...oh my god, maggots!
Yes, maggots...everywhere. As I peeled back the pelt, maggots emerged from holes over the
entire body. I put my clippers down, fought the urge to vomit, and sent the dog right back
to the vet.
I was never so happy to see a toilet bowl in all my life.
from:
DWEDPLER@WEBTV.NET
I will bet that you groomers come in contact with a lot of kookiepeople, I know I have. I would like to tell you about a customer I hada few years back. On day I got a very strange call from lady. First she wanted toknow how long I had been grooming, where I learned, what experience Ihad etc. Then she asked if I had ever used a particular dip and I toldher I was familar with it. Then the conversation was about her dog.She went on to tell me that her dog was going to have 5 puppies at 1:00on Saturday and she was worried that her dog may have fleas and wouldgive the puppies which were all sold fleas. Well she had boght thisspecial flea dip which was safe to use up to 24 hours before givingbirth. So she wanted to make an appointment on Friday at 11:00 AM so thedip would be done just 24 hours before giving birth. I made theappointment but it sure raised a few questions in my mind, like how didshe know it was going to give birth on Saturday at 1:00 PM and how didshe know it was going to have 5 puppies. Well, 11:00 Friday in walks this lady leading a chow. She thenstarts with her long list of what she wants. First she informed me thatthe dog was going to have 5 puppies Saturday at 1:00 pm and she haddeposits on all 5 and the were all sold. Then she proceeded toinstruct me on how to dip a dog, how to pick up the dog so as not toharm the puppies and a lot of precise instructions on the bath and thedip. To this point I hadn't even looked at the dog. Well I took theleash and lead the dog back to the tub while the owner sat down in thefront lobby. I carefully picked up her chow, (the way she insisted I do it)and put it in the tub. I looked at the dog and it obviously was notgoing to have puppies, I went out to the lobby and told her that herdog was not pregnant but had lots of fleas and and ask her whether shestill wanted it flea dipped. She looked at me and said "What do youmean my dog isn't pregnant, I'll have you know my dog got bred 62 daysago with the neighbors and I've got deposits on all 5 puppies" I thentold her that she was going to have to give back the money cause her dogwasn't pregnant. She the said "look how big my dog is" and I told heshe was over feeding the dog. Then she harshly said to me "your not aveternarian just how do you know my dog isn't going to have puppies."You should have seen the look on her face when I told her that male dogsdon't have puppies. If any of you have had kookie customers please share it Dennis
from: indigo21@gte.net
Hi,heres one for you! i have been grooming for 10yrsi work for a vet. like ahy other groomer i get my share of,insane. so kitty got a shot by Doc.6yr old persian.when he was done i went to put him in a cage from hiscarrier.dump kitty in cage (plop) nothing,poke, poke,stillnothing! kitty never woke up!!!! to top that after we toldthe owners kitty went to the litterbox in the skythey tell us the cat was really sick the last 2 times it wassedated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Denise
from: PObrien112
I had worked at a grooming salon with many groomers. This girl was drying a keshound with a high velosity dryer and the tail fell off. Wow we were all stunded.
If I didn't already know that
this sort of thing does happen, I'd think you were kidding. The dog's tail had
'died' for some reason, such as a rubber band or wire being tightly wrapped
around it. This also happens to ear leather, as well as toes. We have a
customer whose grandchildren re-attached a fallen bow by wrapping the rubber
band around the poodle's upper ear leather. The ear rotted, died, and dropped
off before the owners noticed. We've groomed a maltese that was so matted from
head to tail that the tip of its tail rotted off because the hair had shrunk so
tightly around it that circulation was cut off. We've also seen some nasty
wounds resulting from a dog 'growing' into its collar; someone puts a collar on
a pup and as the neck expands with growth, the collar is never adjusted. It's
tragic, but this happens all too frequently. Some owners need to be a lot more
attentive.
Hi, my name is Vivian ITHROW@prodigy.net
and I've been grooming in the NYC area for four years.Last week I've had a llhasa come in "Puddles" .who was presented to her mom with a nicest, patty's day bow. Mom was very upset because the bow didn't match her furniture - she wanteda mauve bow!!!. - so I gave her one. I had a great dane come in and on the same day I had a chihuahua. When called to bring up brutus I mistaken-ly took the chihuahua up instead of the dane. the owner looked quite puzzle when I brought uplittle chico instead. I just said "oops..he shrunkunder the dryer" - got a lot of laughs that day..
from: havocs@flash.net
Thought this story might serve as a warning to always make sure cats areconfined in some kind of container. Even an old box is a hiding place ofsome sort. I was working out of my shop. Just starting out and the only one there otherthan the client. I had the scheduling set up to have the cat that is afraidof dogs to be all alone in the morning and scheduled to be picked up 15mins. before my next client was scheduled to show up. An older woman withtwo fat shepX.was my next client.Can you see where this is headed? Yep, catowner was late, dog owner was early. Kitty had all claws, just clipped, andwas on a lead. "Oh no, this is the way we take him every where." To make along story shorter, the cat proceded to use Mom and mom's screaming friendas trees! The owner of the dog was really no help what so ever, in fact wasallowing sniffing which set the whole thing off to begin with. I finallyended up grabbing Kitty up by the scruff of the neck and announcing to Mom'sfriend to stop screaming and lead me to the awaiting car. I came back in tomy shop heading directly for the first-aid kit, that I knew was properlystocked.(Thanks to nurse Mom) I thru on plastic gloves and went for myclient and started treating many wounds. Discovering after cleaning her upthat the cat had peirced her nose!!!!!!!She blamed herself remembering myurgency of a container.(Wiping sweat off my brawl.)I called her the next dayand she said that she was going to be fine,per her Doctor.I still wonderwhat the shep. owner thoughts were. She didn't really seem to know thatanything strange was going on. When she picked up her dogs she let me knowvery matter of factly that her dogs have grown up with cats and would neverhurt one. We just love our job don't we???????!!!!!!!!!!!Kym
from: Mithrandor@msn.com
My name is Anjie, and do I have a tale for you! When i first started grooming, I would take ANYTHING. This man called and said he had a full coated cocker he grooms himself, but he has so many ticks, he can't groom him. No problem, I think, I'll take you tomorrow. The man walks through the door and the dog is slipping all over the floor. I figure that the hair on his paws must really be long, and probably his nails too. Well, then I got a better look. The cocker was COVERED in about an inch of slime. He said ticks, I'm thinking, not slime. Turns out, he's old school and uses Vaseline to make the ticks "suffocate" and remove themselves from the dog. However, he had no Vaseline, so he used Brylcreem, 2 tubes of it to be exact. The dog was so slime covered I couldn't even pick him up, he kept squishing through my hands. I put him on the table, and took a lok at him, not only was he covered in Brylcreem, he was matted to the skin! I told his owner it had to all come off. He said,"I've never shaved any of my dogs down, and I've had cockers for 40 years now! Nevermind!" And took the dog home. Well, 2 days later, guess who showed up, now full of carpet fuzz (imagine the man's house!!!), pine needles, leaves, sticks , grass, and other foreign objects stuck to his body. The man practaically begged me to shave him. I did, and after about 8 baths, he was finally clean, and no longer slippery.
Another from Anjie
One morning, while I was at the shop, I was eating breakfast and reading a grooming magazine, since we didn't open for another half an hour. I heard a loud commotion at the door, and decided to go look, well this woman was frantically banging on the door, screaming. I opened the door, and was about to ask the problem, when she thrust her Yorkie in my face, belly first, as she was holding him by the forepaws, and on the base of his swollen penis, there sat a wedding ring. Well she was screaming I had to do something, and since I was yet to be awake, I grabbed the dog, ran in back squirted Dawn all over his "unit" and slid the ring off. Then I rinsed him , toweled him, and handed him back. Straight faced I turned to her and said, " That will be $20, and please, next time, go to a vet." She then told me that he had jumped from her bed to the dresser, and since he was an intact male, began to hump her ring tree, and then got the ring stuck on him. I personally almost died laughing right there, but held my composure until she left. I'd also like to add, that I think the story she gave was TOTALLY false, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.. What do you think? Anjie
from: BubbaBath@worldnet.att.net
When I first got out of Grooming school I was working for a vet. Of coursewith that you get all the rejects of the mean dogs and cats that everybodyelse turns down. One day Fluffy(the cat) came in for her second skin afternot being groomed at all for 2 years.I picked up the cat from the doctorafter he sedated her and took her to the groom room. Then the kennel girlcame walking through and like always she stopped to chat. I was gettingready to start the wonderful skinning act when she looks at me totallyserious and says did you have to seduce this cat? I looked up and saw shewas serious and about died. Now every time I think of a groomer at a vetsoffice I think of Lacey and her seducing of a cat.
