Groomers -Disaster

Hi

The girls where all due at their groomers on Sat morning ,I have used this lady on the last three occasions after not being too happy with four others I have been to .So I checked on Thurs to confirm the time etc ,no answer so I phoned again on Friday lunch and this time a recorded message saying they have closed down .As it seems most parlours don't open on Sat or you have to book 4-6 weeks in advance I picked another groomers out of Yellow Pages this is a lady out who has opened up about a mile away so I phoned her ,she seemed very forthright and said she had been in business over 21 yrs and when she did dogs it was a one to one in the shop no others allowed and even said if she didn't like me she would "eliminate me from her list" as I said very firm and appearing very knowledgeable .So we continued talking and she said at that very moment she was doing a cavalier and what wonderful dogs they are ,needless to say I pushed my luck and said (it was 2.30 pm) you wouldn't like to do three more today and of course after some pushing she agreed ,so I took them at 3.15 and picked them up at 8.15 .
As you may guess it was a complete disaster ,much to short poor Daisy looks like a little Blenheim Chihuahua and Poppy just a bigger one ,Rosie was OK she didn't cut short ,apart from the state of them she was very expensive ,so please how long will it take for Poppy's and Daisy's hair to grow back as each time we have been out i have had to put their coats on to keep them warm and to hide their and mine embarrassment .Theres a lady who shows Cavs and is a groomer about 12 miles away and I will definitely be going to her in the future ,and the girls have all been scratching like mad ,its not fleas as they haven't got a lot of hair to hide away in so I think its perfume spray and powder so they have all just been bathed again with a mild shampoo.

Terrible groomer

Hi Brian,
And she had the cheek to charge you! has she ever seen a Cavalier before? I doubt it. We have only just got our 1st cavalier but even we know that's totally over the top grooming
Did you complain when you collected them? I certainly wouldn't have paid her and also i would make sure she never touches another dog.
Cheerio
Ruth
ps take some photo's of the girls for record purpose on how not to groom

It's sickening when something like this happens.I was just about to ask how they got on!! I know it's a lot of trouble to groom three dogs yourself but you might be better off investing in some good products and getting stuck in yourself.It's a lot of money for an unsatisfactory service.
Sins

oh my gosh. Didn't she know to leave cavaliers natural? I don't use a groomer anymore even though we have Lad, a rough collie (who requires frequent grooming) because I used to take Lad to a groomer and a couple years ago they trimmed his hair under his belly, on the back of his legs, & they trimmed away his beautiful feathering (front and back legs) and his beautiful mane (or bib, whatever you call their big fluffy chest and neck). There was no reason to do it...he had no mats! I was sick! Not only that, he caught fleas at the groomers. I also noticed that he seemed to itch after each trip to the groomers, presumably from all the fragrance stuff.

So sorry about that. I would guess they will grow hair about the same rate that their adult hair replaced their puppy coat...like 3 or 4 months maybe? Feathering might take longer. Others on here might have experience.

Hi Brian,Im sure you must have been shocked,a cavalier with no fluffy coat.I remember seeing a little cav a couple of months back and omg it didnt resemble a cav at all.It was like it had been totally shaved it was awful looking.Dontt know if the owner had it done intentional or like you it was a groomers mistake but it wasnt a pretty sight.Anyway you shouldnt have given that woman any money,she obviously doesnt know how to groom a cav,she must groom all the dogs that she does the same way.So she isnt a professional groomer,you'll know not to go back to her again.your little darlings are still beautiful so dont be embarrased :flwr:

Personally I can never understand people who buy a cavalier with a beautiful coat and then go and chop it off. It only takes a couple of minutes a day to comb through I would be inclined to buy the equipment and do it yourself. Mine all line up to wait their turn when they see the comb coming out.

I actually feel sick Brian, I'm so sorry. I think you shouldn't have paid.

Im so sorry Brian...I would be pretty pissed off,pardon my french if it happend to me!

I only took my girls to the groomers once. She did a good job but they had this white powdery and highly perfumed stuff in their coat. It made their coat really dull and they itched for days so I had to wash them again anyway. I do them myself now.

The last time I took Mindy to the groomer she got trimmed. She was unimpressed (and I wasn't thrilled either). I usually only take her to get her toenails clipped and the hair between her pads trimmed because the groomer does a really good job of that and Mindy hates me clipping her toenails anyway. I guess next time I'll be more specific. Sorry your girls got cut short.

HI

I suppose I didn't complain too loudly as I just wanted to get out of there and again on Friday I panicked a bit and after my groomers closed down I just wanted to get them done ,and over the phone she was such a forceful person extolling her great knowledge of breeds and when I pushed her to do them I suppose I jumped as most groomers seem booked 4-6 in advance and upon arriving there the walls where covered with photos of all customers dogs and she had just finished a Cavalier as I arrived and she said she needs a minimum of 2.5-3 hours per dog. So upon arrival I told her just a shampoo and dry and trim the hair off the bottom of the feet and only lightly shape the feet and ears and only any straggly bits off their coats as I do like a Cavalier to look like a Cavalier .So i well and truly cxxxxx up and I do feel so sorry for them well I cant glue it back on I suppose its just waiting now for 2-3 months and just hope it doesn't all grow back all curly and I will be ever so careful in the future but thats no reason for the balls up I made on Friday.

And the other problem thats occurred over the week-end all three have started scratching their ears and body so I have bathed them all again with a mild shampoo and reapplied their Frontline ,cleaned their ears with Cleanaural and I still have some Prescription drops from last month left .and I have booked all three into the vets for a complete check over.

Its been a tragic expensive mistake on my part but it wont happen again.

Don't give yourself too much grief over it,we've all made similar mistakes.
Our groomer cut the slippers off Daisy's paws when she was five months old- just as she was beginning to look like a real cavalier.
turns out it was miscommunication on my husband's part.I asked him to make sure that the groomer ONLY trimmed the hair between her pads, he (not being a doggy person)conveyed the message to only trim the hair between her paws.
She'll be two in January and her slippers have grown back to a presentable level but they look like they've been hacked!
We have a reasonable contract with our groomer, she'll do a wash/blowdry and clean ears/eyes and trim toenails when needed for twenty euro every six weeks.Again I might ask her not to put powder in her ears as Daisy rips the ears off herself .
Anyway, our girls are still our sweet cavaliers no matter grooming mishap befalls them.If you search the site there's a photo of a cavalier who had been completely shaved,(hope he's grown back his coat again), that was far worse than anything that happened to ours.
Sins

I don't take Maggie to the groomer, instead I suck it up and bathe and shampoo her myself, clip her nails and trim around her pads. I simply don't trust groomers to leave well enough alone. When I drop my other dog off at the groomer I've been using for many years, I usually have Maggie with me. The groomer is just itching to get her hands on her...wants to cut her slippers, belly fur and ears - no way will I let that happen!

Oh Brian, I feel your pain:flwr:

The same thing happened to us with Murphy in March this year, he was shaved! I said to tidy him up, but not to take more than a few mm off his ears and tail. I forgot to mention his feathers, they disapeared completely

I never took him back, and like you didn't say anything to her. Just keep thinking 'it grows back'

We had the groomers round last Wednesday to tidy Murphy up, she was fab, I will definately use her agian. She came to the house in a van, it has a lovely hydro bath, and a fold away table. Murphy was shut away with her for about an hour and a half, but I really liked what she did. I actually asked her to trim a little more off around his bum. We like his feathers to be kept to about 1" as her loves the mud, and really does get filthy on every walk

Sins,

Daisy's never had her slippers trimmed, and yet they look kind of "hacked", too! My theory is that she kind of drags her feet when we go on walks on the concrete, so it breaks off the hairs right in the middle. Her slippers often look like two V's (like she's making devil horns) projecting out at 45 degrees on all her feet, with shorter hair between the horns. I will now sometimes trim those "horns" so the slippers have a rounded, neater look. Otherwise it looks purely awful!

Is that what you meant about how your Daisy's look? I'm just curious, as I don't see anyone else's dog have slippers like that. Anyone else's dog get that type of slipper shape over time?

Where are the good groomers???

There's obviously a real problem with groomers in general. :bang: Could we name the good ones??? not sure if that would be allowed. Or if someone is looking for a recommended groomer they could be contacted via private message. I've had the same problems with groomers. I couldn't possibly do the grooming myself as Bella is too lively and I wouldn't stand a chance.

I never take Daisy to the groomers' either. I brush her every night, or every other night at least. She's got a very long coat and feathers (probably the longest coat I've ever seen on a Cavalier). She's very cooperative as I give her a chewy treat as an inducement to jump up onto the grooming table (AKA our leather ottomon) and let me brush her. It's a deal we've worked out over time. After she's done with her treat, she continues to lay there and let me brush her. Usually, I can roll her over and reposition her like a sack of potatoes pretty much as needed. Once the few tangles are out, I'd imagine it feels wonderful to her to be brushed. She hates the slicker, though, so I rarely ever use that. I only use the pinbrush and occasionally a boar bristle brush to finish.

The only thing I really don't like to do is trim her nails. I know I don't do it often enough. I try to do it after a long walk when she's tired, ditto with trimming the hair on the bottom of her feet. It is a bit of a struggle as she jerks her feet away from me right at the instant I start to cut, and I'm scared to death that I'll cut a nail too short.

I think much of the beauty of a Cavalier is in their gorgeous coat, so I'd never trim it. I'd be way too scared to trust a groomer to "take off just a little," as I'd be traumatized if anyone cut her beautiful coat off!

So I feel for you, Brian! And right before the winter, too! Shame on her.

Sometimes it is hard to know what the owner wants , it can take a few tries to get it right. one persons idea of short can mean something totally different to someone else.

I shaved a cavalier earlier this year & the owner obviously wasn't happy . However it wasn't my fault honest, She had sent her husband & he insisted he wanted him shaved right down despite my protests ( & I did show him another cav i'd done that morning so he knew how it would look )

I knew when he collected the dog took one look , mumbled thats fine , stuffed the money in my hand & left that he must have got in trouble when he told his wife what he'd asked for,lol
The next time she brought the dog herself & asked to " have a word with me" about how she wanted it doing

Hi AT

I agree with you on the occasion you refer to it sounds definitely owner caused so as you probably say on many occasions the owners are to be blamed for being so vague on what they want and in your case if they asked for shaved what do they expect .As i said prior all I ask for is the hairs on the feet bottom to be cut back and their slippers ,feathers, ears and tail and any straggly bits taken off then their ears and feet very slightly shaped but to keep ther main their coat untouched and only straggly bits cut back ,but it didn't work for me .Its funny now as first thing in the morning after Dawn lets them out of their crates about 5.30 they all go outside to the toilet then race up the stairs crash onto the bed then Daisy disappears under the bedclothes all the way to the my side then curls up with her head on my tummy so I don't know if its because of her haircut or if shes just cold ,Rosie does too but stays up top of the bed with her nose just out of the clothes and then Poppy tries to sit on top of the moving lumps.

and their slippers ,feathers, ears and tail and any straggly bits taken off

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Ach! There's your problem, Brian -- I would probably have interpreted it the same way your groomer did! You wanted their feathers, ears, slippers, and tail taken off?! Surely you didn't say it that way you to her exactly as you wrote it here? If that's what you said to her, then I can definitely see why she did what she did.

Oh well, it'll grow back. Next time, I would take a picture of a Cavalier in a cut like you want so hopefully there is no miscommunication. It is frustrating when one person's "clean up a little bit" or "shape" is another person's "shave down to all one length."