Just Experienced Grooming Disaster

member 23

member 23

Senior Member
Owned by
1 cocker
I am sooo upset.

When I went in, I showed Sandy (the woman who has groomed Kaylee before, and I was happy with) a picture of the cut that I wanted. I asked for four things: 1) Her tail to be left alone. 2) Her ears to be left alone, except on the inside. 3) Well blended topknot and back-into-skirt. 4) To be told of any and all issues Kaylee has during grooming, so that when I move to NM I can make her new groomer aware. She acknowledged and agreed to everything, even discussed some things to make sure she knew what I wanted.

Well first, I got her in at 8:30. I stopped back by at 1 to see if she was going to be ready soon and she hadn't even been touched yet. She mentioned a different groomer, which instantly worried me. Previous times I'd been there, I'd gotten there at 9:30 and had her by 12, and Sandy did the grooming. When I got her back, at 4, at first glance she looked good. Sandy said that Kaylee as absolutely no issues in any of the grooming processes... Which I would soon realize that If that's the case, whoever groomed her was AWFUL!

I went into the outside light, and in the car and started notcing EVERYTHING. The tail was left alone & the back looked well blended into the skirt to me, BUT....

They cut her ears, they didn't shave them, but they ruined her beautiful curles! Her head looks like a freaking DOG MULLET! :eek: There was little hairs sticking out from her paws that they missed-- including a big jut of hair on one paw that you'll see in the pics below they missed... A lot of the hair was cut uneven... They even missed a small matted area under her right elbow!!!

I cant even think of what else I had to complain about, I'm just too upset. The ONLY thing keeping me glued together right now is that I know her hair will grow back.... And when it does, I'm going to be going to a groomer that specializes in cockers until I can start grooming her MYSELF!!

I've never groomed a dog before, but I swear I could have done better! Her head is what ticks me off the most!! There isn't even really a top knot, when you look at her head from the top, it's like a short swirl of hair... Omg :(

But I do say, despite her crap haircut, she was so happy to see me and sweet as ever, and I just love her Oh So Much!!! :wub:

There are about 14 pics, so I just put them in a photobucket album. Click here to see the Pics
 
Ashlee this is why I am scared to get any thing but Max's Face and Paws Cut! I am so scared they will mess him up because every time I have had my hair down the cut it to short! I am so sorry Kaylee has a Doggie Mullet!!
 
Just looked at the pictures all I can say is WOW Some one should go back to grooming school!!

LOL she looks like she has male pattern baldness with that little whatever it is they left on her head that is crazy!!
 
I know this is no excuse, but I've seen worse. She not blended. Take her back ane while standing there, demand they fix the sticky outies. She might not have had enough hair on head to make a nice topknot, so sometimes you shape it to sort of train it for next grooming.
 
I won't be returning there. It cost extra, and I have to leave the state soon. Also, if you look at her recent pics, you'll see she had plentiful hair. :(
 
I am so sorry that happend to you and Kaylee. That is precisely why I started grooming Ellie myself!

I took Ellie to a groomer (and I use that term loosely) ONE time.
Shaved her head bald - and I specifically told them not to
Ruined her skirt - cut it off
Gave her poodle feet
Actually the only thing they didn't completely screw up was her ears. Go figure.

Oh yeah, she was there for 8 hours.

Check with Groomers.com often - they have sales that are really sales. Ask lots of questions and go for it.

Good thing their hair grows fast, right? She still looks cute - and like Linny I have seen lots worse.
 
I'm sorry to hear that this grooming experience didn't go well.

Thank goodness hair grows back. You will do fine doing your own grooming.
 
Ashlee, I'm sorry you had a bad experience :( I see quite a few sticky-outy hairs, as well as lots of blending that should have been done. It's really too bad that the groomer didn't do what you'd asked AND didn't present you with a good finished product.

I'm with everybody else . . . it really IS worth learning to do it yourself. You can get a lot of the equipment second hand on eBay, and you get good fairly quickly.

The good news is that Kaylee didn't get cut or hurt, and the hair will grow back.
 
Yeah, I've been talking to some peeps on another cocker forum about products/advice/etc on learning to groom myself.. It's something I'm definitely going to start preparing for!!
 
OMG how horrid and what a nightmare! All I have to say is:
Now you have to drive thru Oklahoma so I can fix that girl!
Seriously tho if you won't take her back there, at least just take her back to show the manager and COMPLAIN!!!!!
I don't blame you one bit for being upset.
 
The manager is Sandy, and she's the one that gave her to me. Surely she saw how horrid she looked. How any groomer could hand back a dog looking that awful without giving a refund, I can't say. I wish my drive to NM would take us through OK, but alas, it takes us through Texas, or I'd totally take you up on that. :(

On top of it all, I drove out about 40 mins to take her to this place. So it's not worth the gas money I already spent on driving out there twice today, much less more gas.. It's just under 3$/gallon here now!
 
Ashlee
I'm with everyone else! I'm glad you will try your hand at grooming when you move. The equipment that you buy will pay for itself. And, everyone here will be so helpful. When Robin sent me Stormy, I wanted to preserve his beautiful topknot.. I didn't really see the changes in him. LOL within a couple of months he looked like wolfman LOL. Robin, Linny and Kelly talked me thru trimming it. Linny even emailed me pictures of Stormy with lines to show where I should trim down more. But, what really helped me was Kelly's close in shots of Grace. I love the tight look of her TK.. Read the grooming section, it's well written and full of tips. There are great videos out also.
 
That looks like a rush job for sure. I didn't like way they cut her head either. I had to look up what a mullet was--not very attractive. Kaylee is still cute though. You can't take that away from her.
 
I'm sooo sorry it didn't turn out well for you. I had just the opposite experience when I took Mendi in. She came out beautiful but at $40 per dog x 3 dogs...yeah clippers pay for themselves! The first few times I clipped her myself was a little embarrassing but I think I'm doing pretty ok now. I do like a nice smooth head though and the ears down a bit. It looks like someone was in a hurry when they did her.
 
Yeah, they obviously hurried with her since they didn't even touch her until between 1-1:30! She was "the second to last dog" to come in. Sounds like the groomer just wanted to go home, and in the process just butchered my puppy's hair! UGH! :mad::blink:
 
Not a good job at all. Sometimes Chicka will come back with little bits sticking out, for her it means she went into freak out mode. Sorry it was such a bad, and costly experience. :(
 
Wow! I really suck at grooming, but even my work looks better than that. ^_^ But as long as she's not hurt, and the other dogs don't laugh at her, try not to worry; it will grow back before you know it!
 
Hehe no worries... this actually happened like a year ago or something. This is an old thread! :)
 
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