"Your Abusing Your Dog"

So...how do you tactfully tell one of your customers that they are also abusing the dog that they rescued from and abusive situation?

  

This little guy first came to us back a March.

His new mom had just rescued him.

She told me that he had come from a bad and abusive home.

She was very worried about leaving him for grooming, and how he would be for the grooming.

 He was great.

He was a sweet heart.

A little, gentle soul that just sat there and let you groom him.

He came in again in June for another grooming.

That was the last time that I saw him... until yesterday.

 His Mom walked in with him, reminding me that he was the abused dog that she rescued.

To say that my tongue was bleeding from biting it was an understatement.

It was all that I could do not to say; "What do you think that you are doing to the dog?"

This is a picture of him after I bathed and HV dried him.

I forgot to get a picture of him as he looked when I took him from his Mom.

Why, Why, Why can't owners see that letting their dogs become so overgrown, that mats are hanging off of them, is a form of abuse?

Don't get me wrong.

I am sure that this owner loves this dog.

I have to practically pry the dog out of her hands, because she is so worry about leaving him.

She cooks all of his meals.

She hired a in home pet sitter to watch him when she went away.

But, she let him get very matted.  :/

I see this so many times, where owners don't think that it is any big deal that the dog is matted.

Her only excuse was that she had not gotten around to getting him in for a hair cut.

 I am sorry, you just can't be that busy.

With a good bath and conditioning, the HV drier was able to blow the mats away from the skin enough to get a #4F blade through his hair.

The hair was matted all around the toes.

I clipped down the leg as far as the blade would go.

 Then I scissored up the mats around foot, cutting the mats in half. 

I shaped the foot like I normally would.

Then I brushed out the mats.

Because the hair was shorter, the mats brushed right out.

I finished by rounding off the foot.

I did this with all four matted feet.

This way I was able to keep the nice round feet.

I used the same technique with the face.

In order to save the face and head, I scissored the face and head like I normally would when finishing.

I shaped up the face and head with the mats still there.

Then I brushed the face and head.

The mats came out very quickly and easily.

There is enough hair left to shape up a cute face.

Why would you not want to see your dog look like this all of the time?

Look at those gentle, soulful eyes.

I did make a comment...as tactfully as I could...about letting the dog become so overgrown that the dog was very matted.

The owner did make another appointment for 10 weeks.

She said that she wants to get him on a regular scheduled.

I wonder why I have such a hard time believing anyone anymore.  :(

I will always keep trying to educate the owners.

Hopefully this one will become a regular.

Happy Grooming, MFF