groomers, are they at fault if a dog is injured in their care? - Page 2

In the time I've run this kennel, there have been  2 grooming accidents that resulted in injury to a dog. In both cases, the dog was cut by the clippers. In BOTH CASES the dogs were small and very wiggly, AND the clipper blades had just come back from being sharpened!

The first dog is the one the groomer dubbed our 'million dollar dog' because he has a horrible coat that mats right down to the roots regardless of how much care it gets, and has extremely fine skin, which is very easy to accidentally cut. Oh, and he also has a nasty, nasty temperament and is very uncooperative. He's not neutered, and two different groomers have been so frustrated with him that they've offered to perform that service free of charge!   (Okay, not within earshot of the owner, of course!) The owner was upset by the accident, but fully understood her dog's issues and they are still customers. She brought him in recently for boarding and his clip looked like it had been done by someone who had never groomed a dog before. She said the groomer had complained about how difficult he was to clip (gee, REALLY?) and used that as an excuse for the sloppy cut. Bet he'll be coming back here for his next groom... 

The other dog was a very small shitzu. The owner is a friend of mine, and was going to have a coffee with me, but first she had to run some errands. When she came back and rang the doorbell, the dog whipped its head towards the sound, just as the groomer was clipping its face. It suffered a cut to the lower eyelid. Fortunately, the eyeball itself escaped damage.

The groomer paid the vet expenses out of her own pocket, and was soooo embarrassed she nearly quit her job! She's a good groomer and a really nice person, so I begged her not to!

Oh, and my own male GSD has fallen off the table twice while I was attempting to groom him, and wound up hanging himself by the grooming noose. Both times this happened with another person present to help (thank God!) but he still injured a hind leg the first time it happened.

Stuff happens. These are living, breathing animals that do unpredictable things!

I am sure there ARE times when the groomer is to blame, but even given the best of precautions, stuff is STILL going to happen!

If it happened under their care, they should foot the bill. Not entirely the same situation, but when I brought my senior dog in for a dental at the vet, they had an inexperienced technician doing the extractions and she ended up fracturing my dog's lower jaw. Had to leave work, drive to another town the same day to get her to a specialist to repair her jaw. They mentioned (after the fact) that because of my dog's age she was prone to jaw fractures but still paid half of the bill at the specialist because the incident happened under their care.

i agree that the owner was partially at fault. i did not say that to her because i did not want to offend her. she is a person that really does not like dogs. i read the update about the dog with great interest, as she rarely writes about him. her husband is gone quite often, leaving her alone with their 2 children, whom she adores and talks about every day. i can only imagine how hard taking care of 2 young children can be, as i decided that one was enough and i would rather have more dogs than kids. the impression i got from facebook was that the dog basically is supposed to guard the house and i don't know much besides that. having had a standard poodle that i spent 3 to 6 hours grooming, i can only imagine how much work a dog that size would be. i think she said it took 3 hours for them to brush him and 2 hours to bathe him. all her friends are saying it's the groomer's fault, but i think if the dog had been accustomed to going to a groomer at a young age and properly socialized, it could have been prevented. i have pretty much kept my opinions out of her conversation, just wanted to see what other people would think.

If it is done regularly it should not be such an issue, however when the dog has never been professionally done and probably never done at home... it would be a nightmare. I am betting that dog fought the groomer constantly. I wish people would not have dog breeds they are not willing to do the work required to properly keep.


As an ex groomer I also agree with Fry.

As the groomers on the forum have indicated, large, untrained dog coming for a first groom are not all that uncommon. As a matter of fact, I just got off the phone with a lady who's bringing in her Berner to board, and also wants him groomed. He's never been groomed professionally before, and from what I remember from last time he was boarded, his coat is totally unkempt.

He's 3 years old, and very nervous.   And I am not going to be here to help when he comes in!

Careful Sunsilver, in florida we have a breeder who is breeding aggressive/sharp/shy Berners.  They are total fruit cakes and will bite very quickly. I actually started refusing on of the dog that is locally owned and only my other groomer who was a man could handle him.  The dog is also severly dysplastic and about butt ugly for a berner. But others here are super nice. They just die of cancer too soon. :(
Fry

The other Berners I've dealt with so far in my neck of the woods have all been sweethearts. If the groomer has trouble with him she can wait till I get back from training, and I'll try to leave early. She won't have to lift him, as it's warm enough to bathe him outside still.

Co-sign what 'fry mentioned, SS--they aren't just in FL, either.  The Berners, like so many other 'photogenic' breeds that were featured in commercials, attracted the eye of the public, and have fallen victim to the 'mass market' breeders just as the Goldens, the Labs, the GSDs, and so on, and so on, have done.  Used to be that one never heard of a Berner mentioned by someone who wasn't "in" dogs, and even then it was a rare enough mention unless you knew a breeder or exhibitor with one. Over the past two years, though, I've heard multiple stories of ill-tempered Berners in average, 'non-doggy' suburban family homes...some from vets who've had to treat the dogs, some reports from trainers who were asked to 'fix' the dog's problems, and some from family members of the dog's owners--in all cases, from folks who know what a Berner SHOULD be like, and these dogs definitely were not to the standard as far as disposition.  Some of the dogs are in MI, some on the West Coast, some in the Mid-Atlantic area.

Hopefully for your groomer's sake--and yours--this one is of the same lineage as the others you've dealt with so far.

agree with Hexe.... Berners for the last 7 years have went the way of the dalmation after 101 dalmations came out because of fluffy gorgeous color markings and who would not want to hug one.... well until people breed for cash and do not care about what they have produced and you get physco berners. A breed I always loved and thought one day I would love to have a nice one of when I am wanting to try something else in the home.