Ungroomable?

I've been grooming dogs for about 8 1/2 years now. Sometimes it astounds me how far I've come.

For example, when I was first learning how to groom, my boss at the time (I found out later) honestly thought I was not going to make it as a groomer. I had too many breakdowns, got too flustered, let the customers get to me...

Now, I'm the groomer people can bring their naughty dogs to. The women who answer the phones have taken to recommending all the difficult dogs to me.

Saturday morning, I got one such dog. This dog had been turned away from both PetSmart and PetCo and was labeled "ungroomable." The girl who took the phone call assured the customer that I was really good with naughty dogs and I would almost certainly be able to groom the dog. I was warned by the girl who had made the appointment that this dog was difficult, so I was prepared when the woman came in with her terrified Japanese Chin.

The owner was already flustered, worried that he dog would never be able to be groomed. I listened to her about the bad past experiences, talked about what she wanted done, and then shooed her out the door so I could get started.

Now, for those of you who aren't groomers, let me clarify why I didn't want the owner to stick around. Many many many nervous dogs are picking up their owner's nervous energy, and having them around tends to make things worse. It also makes me more nervous, and I wind up worrying about the owner instead of the dog, and that will get somebody bitten very quickly.

So I sent her out - she refused to leave the property; she sat in her car and read a book, certain I would come out any minute telling her I couldn't groom the dog.

Anyway, I could tell immediately that this dog was not mean, he was just terrified, and fear biters can be the most vicious dogs of all.

So what did I do?

I sat on the floor for half an hour.

I'm SO glad to work in a place where we only do one dog at a time; it allows me to focus all of my energy on the dog at hand and not worry about all the dogs I have drying in kennels that need to be finished.

Why did I sit on the floor? What good would that do? You can't groom a dog on the floor (at least not very easily).

I needed the dog to trust me. If I tried to pick him up too quickly, he would freak out and be a whirling mass of teeth and terror for the entire groom. So I sat on the floor and only gave him about 2 feet of leash to start. That gave me enough room to stay away from his teeth during his initial freak out. Slowly, ever so slowly, I crept closer and closer. I let him smell my hand a few times, but he was still too skittish for me to touch, so we got up and walked over to grab a towel. He was perfectly happy to walk on the leash, so I was really optimistic.

I sat on the floor again and only gave him about 18". I started introducing the towel to him. If he was going to bite, I would rather he bite the towel than my hand. I eventually got so I could pet him with the towel and swing it near his head. Slowly, I was able to pet him. Once I could pet him a little, I picked him up and put him on the table.

He was still skittish, but I got through the entire groom (except the toenails) without a problem. He bit me when I tried to do his nails, but hey, nobody's perfect, right?

His mom came in before I was done and was in shock when the girls said I was still grooming him. The haircut wasn't perfect because I didn't want to push him too far, but the owner was SO thrilled that I got him done; I have a customer for life.

All that "ungroomable" dog needed was a groomer with experience, time, and patience.

I think he'll always be nervous, but once he gets to know me better, I think he'll be okay.

Oh, did I mention I never needed to muzzle this dog either? I maybe should have for the nails, but now I know. Not all difficult dogs need to be muzzled, restrained, or sedated.

Anyway, it just amazes me that I have grown from somebody who would cry from the smallest dog problems to somebody who can do "ungroomable" dogs. I guess practice does make perfect.

Although...dog grooming is not for everybody. Not all groomers will learn to have patience or work in a place where they have time to spend half an hour just sitting on the floor.

Sorry there aren't any pictures today, I didn't think this post would be so long from one story. More pics soon!