I'm chatting with a friend who says she's scared about her dog at the groomers. I asked what gave her a bad impression and she went into a long list with each item she mentioned alone may or may not be a red flag to most but somewhere along the way she says to me
"the lady there just gives off the impression that, she knows how to trim the dogs hair and everything but doesn't actually like working with animals much."I told her she's got to learn to trust that instinct when it comes to both animals and people. Never leave an animal or person in the care of a "professional" that you get that impression from. She also mentioned there only 2 employees, there were only 3 cages for 5 animals and she takes walk-ins...that's just asking for problems and is going to get a person or dog bitten. It's a bad idea and many would argue negligent. In todays "sue first and ask questions later" society I see a recipe for disaster being swirled up. Leaving your animal in a situation like that opens you up to being sued if the staff can't handle the job and something goes wrong.
If you have an animal that is going to be a serious handful and could pose a real danger to people/other animals you have a responsibility to find true professionals or even better yet take the animal to a good vet. They can sedate harder to handle animals if needed and they can provide any medical treatment that would be needed if there is a problem.
Situations do occasionally arise during grooming visits and even the best people lose control of a situation when animals are involved, there's no way around it. I've seen a BIG rottweiler remove what I would have bet dollars to donuts was secure leather muzzle with good size belt type buckles. He had already bitten someone before and lemme tell you the way he growled at the vet made the vets shadow leave the room. I thought someone was getting bitten for sure but the dog eventually cooperated with some help from a few people and the vet was able to give him a sedative. Brutus REALLY didn't want that needle...can you blame him?
If you 'own' a pet you owe it to that animal to give it the best care you can. Now don't get me wrong there are some great people running grooming shops I'm not trying to bash them, the same thing goes for picking a veterinarian. Never use either if you OR your animal (you'll know, you can tell) distrusts a caregiver. The good ones love what they do, they truly love animals and they're not just in it for the money. Everybody has to make a living but things like overbooking and exceeding the facilities a business has is just pure fucking greed. If we as customers don't put up with it those people will either figure it out and change or wither off the vine. Either way we'd be better off without people who hate what they do for a living.
If you're ever in South Jersey and in need a vet I highly recommend
Some situations you just HAVE to trust your instincts.
Twist
