Should I Continue the Groom?

I finally got my computer up and running in my new little office.

That is about all that I have gotten done in this room.

The rest of it looks like a bomb went off.

There is still a lot of stuff to take out of boxes, and we still have two more rooms to paint for my daughter.

I gave myself a break tonight and got my computer up and running.

The last two days at work have seemed like they were never going to end.

It has been in the 90's for the last few days, and boy, has the phone been ringing off the hook.

Yes, I know, that is supposed to be a good thing, but when you have to listen to the people moan and groan, and beg and plead when you tell them your earliest appointment is next month, it is no fun answering the phones.

"He's only a little dog, and all I want is his hair cut really short, so that won't take much time."

"It's only a small Golden, and I only want a bath and good brush out. She's easy to do."

The last comment was made by a lady who got very angry with me when she called on Saturday morning wanting an appointment for that day, and I told her I could not do her dog.

That was just the phone calls.

Yesterday we had three customers come in on the wrong day for their appointments.

The first one was a customer with two dogs.

Her appointment was for the 10th, she thought it said the 1st.

Well, I guess she could have gotten that mixed up.  :/

I went ahead and took her, because we had just had a last minute cancellation for one dog, and her other dog was a small Bull dog that I didn't want to see her take him back out into the heat.

Of course, my kindness bit me in the butt, because the Pomeranian turned out to be a matted mess that could not stand to be brushed.

Needless to say, my daughter was not happy with me.

I also had a Miniature Poodle in yesterday that I have written about on here before.

She is the one that gets a Retriever Cut, and also the one that was injured by another groomer.

My husband took the dog in.

When he brought her back into the grooming room he told me that she had injured her right back leg, but that it was okay to groom her.

Great!

I already had to be careful of the left rear leg, because that was the leg the other groomer injured and is missing a bone.

I am beginning to think that this dog has delicate bones, and that just maybe the other groomer didn't injure the dog.

Anyway, the dog apparently popped the knee out while doing the crazy poodle spin on the floor.

She did great in the tub, and for the HV dry.

She was standing on all four legs.

I brushed out her three other legs first, and saved the injured one for last.

I took one light stroke of the brush to see how she would react, and up went the leg.

I started to scissor on one of the other legs to see if she would put the leg back down.

Nope.

Now I stood there wondering; do I try to finish her, or send her home?

Other than holding up the leg, she did not act as if she was uncomfortable.

She stands wonderfully on the table.

She never moves unless you move her.

I told her owner about how good she is on the table.

Her owner said; "Oh, that's because she is petrified to get groomed now, after her bad experience."

May I ask you; does that dog look petrified to you?

I told her owner that she was not petrified, she was just a good girl.

I could tell she did not believe me.  :/

Anyway, what to do?

I started to scissor another leg.

I let her lean against my back board.

She never tried to sit down.

She never moved.

Other than continuing to hold up the leg, she didn't seem to be bothered in any way.

But, I was.

I kept arguing with myself.

Finish her?...Send her home?...Finish her?

I have to admit that this owner worries me.

I don't want to be the next groomer on her list to blame for her dog being hurt.

What did I decide? 

I finished her.

Once again I scissored the other three legs first.

After I finished the other three legs, I stood back and wondered if I should stop there and send her home with one unfinished leg.

I couldn't do it.

I could not send her home with one unfinished leg.

Believe me if she had been showing any discomfort, that would have been it.

I would have been on the phone to her owner, and she would have gone home unfinished.

I never tried to move her leg.

I let her keep it tucked up as much as she wanted.

I just scissored what I could get to.

I used the comb very lightly.

Just enough to pluck up the hair, but never pulling.

Once again, she never moved.

When she relaxed her leg, I supported the foot so that I could scissor a little on the inside of the leg.

I just about stood on my head so she would not have to move that leg very much.

It certainly wasn't my best work, but at least she looked half way descent.

Don't look to closely at her.

I am sure you will see sticky outies, but since I could not lift any of her legs while scissoring, I could not check everything like I normally would.

Did I do the right thing?

Others may not agree, but in this case, I think that I did.

The owner was happy with what I got done.

She understood that I did the best I could with the groom.

I have sent dogs home before, when I feel that they should not get groomed.

I have also told owners to get the Vet's approval before I will groom a dog.

I think that you have to go with your gut feelings.

I always tell owners about any discomfort I notice with a dog.

It always amazes me how many times I tell owners things about their dogs, and the owners have no clue.

I wonder if some owners even pet their dogs. :(

Of course if it were my dog, I would wait till they were feeling better to have them groomed.

But that's just me.  :)

Oh, one more thing.

I did charge the owner the full price for the groom.

Even though the groom was only 95% finished, I spent a lot of extra time being very careful.

The groom was worth the whole price.

Happy Grooming, MFF