[NorthernLights]

Ok, fair enough!

Actually, the few shihs I've met have been such cool little dogs. They seem really friendly to me- but I don't have to groom them, either.

[Love's_Sophie]

Originally Posted by NorthernLights

I don't know how to ask this properly, so I'm just going to say it:

Are all shih Tzus nasty about grooming?


Is it a breed thing or a socialization thing?

Nope...

I think it has to do with a couple of things

1) how they are handled at home and outside the home; are they the leaders, or are the dog's 'top dog'?
2) how the groomer handles them; are they the leader, or are they afraid to establish leadership? You don't have to be rough to do so, either, but you have to be 'tougher' than the dog is persistant!!!!

I can tell the moment a dog and owner steps into the door who leads the pack...

If these dogs are well socialized over all, they can be 2 years old before they are brought in before they are groomed the first time and be wonderful; that goes for any breed, not just Shih Tzus. However, if they get away with "murder" at home, and never get out of the house, geuss how they are going to act outside of the home? Like little terrors, who have no manners; simply because they don't know any better...I don't usually blame the dog, or the breed. And dog is capable.

However, just because a dog does not have any set boundaries at home, doesn't mean he will be down right nasty for the groomer; I have had many dogs who have come in, and you can tell right off that they are definitely the 'top dogs' in their homes, but I don't allow that in my shop; they usually catch on quickly and seem quite happy to not have to be the leader for a change!

Of course, you get those who aren't extremely happy with their 'newfound' authority, but you just gotta stick it out otherwise you'll never get the dog groomed! They put up some fuss, but eventually they realize you aren't going to give in. I had one of those last week; he was a shih tzu\maltese mix, and he fought me tooth and nail for the first third of his grooming session; then by the time he was ready for his bath, he was as good as gold-if a person didn't see the first part of his grooming, they wouldn't have thought he was the same dog!

[Ella'sMom]

Ella went and got groomed for the first time the other day - it cost $25. Not bad.

Durb - I have the same troubles trying to clean Ella's eyes - I have smartened up and now do it when she is sleeping or reallyyyy tired and half asleep. She doesn't bother me then. I also trim her nails and stuff then.

[barksalot]

Originally Posted by Durbkat

Geez, how many dogs do enjoy it. They must hardly have dogs then. I went to petsmart yesterday because they had grooming and Snoopy needed to be groomed and all the other ad's in the phonebook said "by appointment only" and they weren't open on sundays. So we drove 30 minutes out to this petsmart and on their door it said something like "Nails and paws trimmed $12" Then below it said "Walk in's welcome" so I figured that finally I found a place that was convient for me and I walked in and told her I needed Snoopy's hair cut and she said that they only took appointments and then I pointed to the sign that said "Walk in's welcome" and she said something like, oh thats just for the nail trimming and she brought another employee in to prove to her that the sign was confusing. I was so peeved off because I had just convinced my grandma to take me out there and they only take appointments and there was two groomers in there with no dogs so I didn't understand why they couldn't have took him real quick. But whatever.

There is my little rant about petsmart.

Well... from a groomers standpoint, sometimes what an owner considers a "quick" groom is just the opposite. It may have looked like those 2 groomers had nothing better to do but groom your dog, but how do you know they were not waiting for their next 10 scheduled dogs? I can't tell you how many times people have walked into my shop and acted as if I'm being lazy because I won't take their dog in for a "quick" groom. It doesn't matter that I have 15 dogs on my schedule for the day, they always seem to think I can squeeze theirs in and whip through the dog in 10 minutes. I had a guy just last week who walked in and wanted his pelted Chow done for just "a little trim". When I told him I was booked full for the day he said, "It's just a little trim". LOL!! From the looks of that dog I highly doubt I would have been able to get anything accomplished under 3 hours.

I understand the sign was misleading, but there's really nothing "quick" about grooming - especially if the appointment book is full - unless your talking about a short haired Chihuahua.

[Durbkat]

Well all I really wanted done was his face to get trimmed and then a quick trim over his body, and what I mean by quick is to run the clippers down his body once and thats it, so a light trim.

[barksalot]

Originally Posted by Durbkat

They trimmed his under side and thats it. All this did was his face and his underside, they didn't even trim his beard. They said that they didn't want to "stress him out" for his first time. And can you believe they charged me $20 for what they did? I mean I told them I wanted a whole body trim because he sheds alot and they were gonna charge $30 but I think they should have only charged $15 since they only did half the job.

Ok... so besides the face and underside, was your pup bathed, dried and brushed also? If not, then I would say yeah, the cost was a little high. But if that included a bath/brush then I think you got a pretty fair price. As far as them not wanting to stress your dog out, you should have thanked them. I don't like to stress puppies out during their first groom either. It makes future grooming even harder. Actually, I don't like to stress ANY dog out, regardless of age, because it's a health/safety hazard. Being groomed doesn't need to be a horrifying experience for them. Some dogs need a little more patience (and breaks) then others. If your dog had started to panic during the groom and started thrashing around the table, and the groomer continued to groom the dog regardless, until the dog got himself so stressed out he popped a blood vessel in his eye, how would you feel about that groomer then? I'm not trying to sound like a jack*ss, it's just that sometimes I think people tend to forget that although groomers work with animals, they are still animals. It's a little different then when you go to a salon to have your hair done. When the hairstylist tells you to hold still and don't move or she'll take your eye out with her shears, you listen. A dog typically doesn't.

[Durbkat]

Well I mean Snoopy was dropped off at 8am and I wasn't going to pick him up till 3pm so I figured they could do the whole thing since they had 7 hours to take as many breaks as needed. Plus I think he would be fine with his body getting trimmed, it was just his face that was the problem area as far as him being fussy. Yes, they bathed him but he isn't hard to bathe. He tries to get out of the tub a few times at the beginning but after that he just stands there.

[Lorina]

When the hairstylist tells you to hold still and don't move or she'll take your eye out with her shears, you listen. A dog typically doesn't.

Amen. I have a nice scar on my arm from a dog who broke his nail and was brought to the vet to have it treated. With four techs holding the dog, the vet and I both ended up bleeding from being scratched by the dog's flailing legs. Everyone involved had blood, urine and poop on them, and went home bruised and battered.

The owner was peeved that we had to refer her to the emergency clinic to have the dog sedated to have his nail treated -- our schedule was too full that day to do that kind of procedure. She said that something like that would be treated in the room at her doctor's office. I wonder when the last time one of her doctor's human patients left the exam room looking like a cross between a CSI case, a hotel room after Motley Crue left, and the worst public bathroom imaginable?! Most people don't need four people restraining them for a broken nail.

[Durbkat]

It sounds like she wasn't the brightest bulb in the box!

I know I shouldn't be complaining about the price as other places charge more but I just can't see the point of spending alot of money to get a simple hair thing done, now maybe if I was getting the dog groomed for a dog show I could see the point in it.

[barksalot]

I know you probably think I'm attacking you and I promise that is not my intention. A dog can be good for a bath, but it is still work for the groomer and she/he should be payed for the time it takes to do it. I shampoo, rinse, shampoo again, rinse, condition and rinse. Towel dry, then hand dry with a stand dryer while brushing. It's time consuming - and if a dog doesn't care to have it done it's even more time consuming. I will not take my blades to a dirty coat because it dulls my blades, so the bathing process comes before the clipping. The coat has to be entirely dry before I start clipping or the end result is going to look hideous. So again I say, what one considers a "quick groom" isn't always as quick as it seems it should be.

I agree that 7 hours is plenty enough time to get the dog finished, but if the dog was stressing to much (and most groomers should know when to much is to much) then it's best to hold off on whatever is stressing the dog and try again some other time. If you are really questioning it, then my suggestion would be to ask the next groomer if you can stay with the dog while he's being groomed.

[Durbkat]

I don't think your attacking me, we are just having a conversation! Do you think they stressed him to much when I came to pick him up he growled at me? I was thinking of going to a new groomer because they don't require vaccinations but I forgot to ask before I made the appointment and they would have charged if I canceled. He is up to date on his shots but you can never be to careful.

[barksalot]

Well, I wasn't there so I have no idea but my guess is if they did less then what you asked because they didn't want to stress him, then I'm thinking they were trying to avoid as much stress as possible. Does that make sense? LOL!! He may have growled at you simply because he was irritable after experiencing something he had never experienced. It certainly doesn't mean the groomer did anything wrong.

As far as vaccinations go, opinions on that subject vary when it comes to different groomers. Me personally - at my shop I require all dogs to be vaccinated against Rabies, parvo/distemper and bordatella (kennel cough). Rabies for the obvious reasons, and parvo/distemper and kennel cough because they are both very contagious and it's the last thing I want running through my shop. Personally, I wouldn't take my dogs to a groomer who doesn't require those vaccinations, but that's just me. It's all a matter of opinion.

[Shanette Peters]

Originally Posted by Durbkat

I got Snoopy an appointment for friday at the groomers and from how he is with me I think he may be alittle frisky and snappy when they work on his face. I have heard some groomers will give the dog a sedative so they can get the job done. Buts since I will be dropping him off in the morning then picking him up when I get home from school do you think they would just take breaks when he gets to worked up since they will have him all day or will they just give him a sedative to get it over with? The reason I ask is because I heard its more dangerous to put a dog like mine under because they have short snouts and can have difficulty breathing. I am going to tell them to use it as a last resort if they can't get one or two people to restrain him. Because I know this lady who has a older shih tzu with a heart problem and they gave her dog a sedative without asking to see if the dog had a medical condition that if they sedated the dog it would die. So she was very lucky the dog didn't die because it was drowsy all day and she couldn't understand why and thats when they told her they sedated the dog.

Sorry for all the questions, but one last one. I want Snoopy's hair about as short as it was a couple of months ago when he had short puppy hair. So what do I request to get that, would it be a puppy cut?

Although i have heard of other groomers who will use sedating in a last resort, I have never and hope to never have to use that method. I have had aggressive dogs and usually the only thing i resort to is requesting a second or third person to help hold the dog. Personally i think sedation should only be done by a vet. Even for a dog that moves around a lot or barks or whatever - Patience with the dog is one thing a groomer needs to show. I have had a cockerspaniel that was so bothered by being groomed especially the feet but over the course of 5 grooming sessions I am now at the point the dog is at ease on the table. Deffinately exercizing prior to grooming and leave feeding the dog til after so it doesn't have the need to go to the bathroom might be of some help. Hope it works out for you and your dog!

[poodleholic]

I wouldn't take my dogs to a groomer who drugs dogs - that's practicing medicine without a license, and to do so without informing the owner beforehand is just plain outrageous!

Some groomers will suggest giving an anxious dog a Benadryl prior to dropping him off, with the hope that it will help. I guess I don't really have a problem with that, providing the owner checked w/the vet first about proper dosage. But, it's not an appropriate substitute for conditioning the dog to accept (and hopefully enjoy) the grooming process.

My Poodles enjoy the grooming process, especially my female, and both will fall asleep while I'm shaving feet and doing nails. Because they're so big (Standard Poodles), I have to have them lay down on their sides, and even on their backs (spread eagled!), so I can do tummies and sanitary areas. The little Shih Tzu was a wriggly nightmare when I first got him, so I had to work with him every day, to come to my way of thinking (sit still and let's get this done!)! I did initially tie a gauze muzzle, leaving some length after tieing it so I could hold onto that to keep him still while I used my Mini Arco Trimmer at the inner corner of each eye - just a touch, to have a clear and clean area (less prone to any "goop" buildup, too). Every day I would put Luc up onto the grooming table for a grooming session, and had his "doggie heroin" handy (tiny little cubes of Natural Balance Food Roll) to pop into his little mouth for being a good boy! LOL He went from impossible to cooperative in short order. Luc made me realize why the groomers who had worked on Maddy and Beau were always so happy to see them, and kept telling me how wonderful they were. They really are so patient with me, and cooperative.

When it's time to go for a walk, all three know they have to sit nicely while I run the brush through topknots and tails, and then it's out for that walk! I did that with Maddy from the age of 9 wks. on - so conditioned her without realizing what I was doing - I just wanted her to look "perfect" when I took her out! LOL But, she soon associated being able to go out with sitting still for a hair brushing session first.