Good Morning,

I am hoping you can shed some light on what is normal practice in the grooming industry. I recently took my eight month old puppy for his first visit to be groomed, he is a cross jack russell/shih tzu. He is a very nervous dog when in unfamiliar situations of which I made aware to the groomer. I also offered to stay with my boy, which was declined. When the groomer was humming and harring about him being nervous I said I would take him home, to which she said no she would do it for £30.00. When her assistant contacted me an hour and a half later she said that a further charge of £10.00 had been added because he had bitten her. However, when I arrived and asked to see the bite she then said he had "snapped" at her. I thought it totally unfair to be charged without my consent, of which she responded by saying I would not get my dog back until I paid the added £10.00. When I asked why he was not muzzled she said it is not part of their procedure, but having spoken to other dog walkers, one said she thought this woman was drugging her dog, though when she told her that he kept coming home sleepy he was alright on subsequent visits!

What I want to know is do groomers generally use muzzles? I am waiting to find out if it is legal to hold a dog back in such circumstances but I simple cannot believe that this is legal. Also, do groomers generally change the quoted price when they choose?

Sorry to have rattled on, but this first visit to a groomer has left me really shocked. I am really nervous about taking him to another groomer and now thinking of doing it myself.

I would be grateful for any advice. Thank you.

Doesn't sound healthy in my view, however, if I were you I would write to:

British Dog Groomers' Association
Bedford Business Centre,
170 Mile Road,
BEDFORD,
MK42 9TW


Or give them a call: 01234 273 933

This sounds very extreme and in our salon if we charged £10 extra for everytime we were "snapped" at, we'd be rich by now.
This to me, seems extremely unexceptable!
We use muzzles in our salon, though we try to limit the time it's on the dog, especially in hotter weather.
I am aware of groomers charging extra when dogs are matted, difficult etc, though again it's not generally something our salon in particular do. We may charge extra if the dog requires a lot of work i.e and Old English Sheepdog who may need a lot of deshedding.

We also allow customers to stay with their dogs if requested, though we usual tell them that their dogs will settle but if they want to stay the first 10-15mins and see how it goes.
I think you can hold a dog back if payment hasn't been made, we've never had this problem so I'm not completely sure on the legality of that.
Tbh I don't like the attitude of that groomers at all, if this is the puppy's first grooming experience it needs to be a positive one or groomers are constantly going to be struggling with your dog.

Also I'm curious what was your dog having dog for it to cost £30??
I'm so sorry that your first experience hasn't been a good one. I hope your dog is ok.
I agree with the above, or give the Pet Care Trust a call to, think this Groomers need to be looked into.

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R.I.P too all the Pet's I've loved before:
Tigz, Gizmo, Nala, Fluffy & Tigger ~ Cats
Muffie & Goldie ~ Labs
Thumper ~ Rabbit
Munchkin, Peanuts & Hazel ~ Guinea Pigs
Mickey & Buzz ~ Hamsters
Harry, Butterfly Tail, Whitey, Golden, Big Harry & Mini ~Fish

I don't have any experience but I would have thought that if a price is agreed and you were not informed that if the dog bit it would be another £10 then you wouldn't have to pay it. Especially as the dog did not actually bite.

I would also like to meet the person who would tell me I wasn't getting my dog back till I paid in any situation. Sue me, call the police but try and hold my dog and I'd rip your face off.

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Bo - Cocker Spaniel x Border Terrier
Badger - Cocker Spaniel x Lakeland Terrier

Thank you for your responses. They are really good suggestions and will be following them up.

He was really shook up when I collected him, what made it worse was we had to back in there as they had put the wrong collar on him, so he got in a state again because he thought he was going back!

He apparently had for £30 a shampoo, clipping, nails and anal glands, though I would presume he would be too young for the last one. I would never decline to pay an agreed amount, but I was not happy paying the £10 I had not agreed to. I did speak to Consumer Direct who said to write to her, which I did, but she has not responded.

From what you have said about the way you work we had a first bad experience of which is not commonplace. The thing is he was really calm when I left him, I am more annoyed with myself that I did not insist on staying, even just for the 10 minutes.

Thanks again to you both.

melster, all those things went through my mind too! I just wanted to get him out of there in the end as he was in a locked kennel, which I am beginning to think is for this purpose.

Ah ok the amount might make more sense now, I thought he was maybe just in for a puppy trim or something since he was quite young.
Some groomers still won't allow people to stay.. Everyone is different. I think that they should of allowed your the option to come get your dog rather that charge you extra.

I feel so sorry for your poor dog. It sounds like he's had an awful time when in fact he should of had a fun time, maybe they should of offered just to do a bath or something rather than full works so it's not too overwhelming for him,
Hopefully you can find a better groomer from this and he gets use to it and realises we're not all so bad.

The kennel is generally used for housing dogs safely whilst waiting for the owners to arrive, it we had all our customers running around together there could be major fights, we had two litter mates in yesterday, put them in a kennel together and then 2minutes later were trying to kill each other, made the owner aware and he laughed saying they always do that, we'd of liked to have known that sort of thing.

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R.I.P too all the Pet's I've loved before:
Tigz, Gizmo, Nala, Fluffy & Tigger ~ Cats
Muffie & Goldie ~ Labs
Thumper ~ Rabbit
Munchkin, Peanuts & Hazel ~ Guinea Pigs
Mickey & Buzz ~ Hamsters
Harry, Butterfly Tail, Whitey, Golden, Big Harry & Mini ~Fish