How does your dog behave at the groomer?

We've had our dog for 3 years, and she's getting her first haircut this week. Even though she looks scruffy, we've never had her hair cut before because we're nervous about how she'll act for the groomer. She's had baths at groomers before, and we usually get reports that she was pretty hard to manage. She doesn't bite, she's just really really squirmy. And she's pretty big, so she's hard to hold down. When her vet tried to trim her nails, it took four people to hold her down, even with the rope the vet uses to tie her to the wall, and he couldn't even finish cutting all of her nails because she just would not calm down. He gave us a bottle of sedatives and told us to give her one the next time we bring her in. I was in PetCo the other day, and I could see all the dogs in the grooming section standing so nicely on their little tables, but I'm picturing my dog causing a completely embarrassing crazy scene. We'll try giving her one of the sedatives the vet gave us, but I'm still picturing her being a big mess, Does anyone have a similar problem with their dog? I'm so sick of seeing her matted fur, so I really hope she makes it through her hair cut!

Re: How does your dog behave at the groomer?

This is why we just toss 'em in the bath tub and wash 'em ourselves.

Re: How does your dog behave at the groomer?

I am a little nervous about this also. i just made an appt to get Shamrock groomed for July 23. I am hoping and praying that he will be ok because he will need to get this done every 2 months or so.

Re: How does your dog behave at the groomer?

Well, I don't think Petco takes "hard to manage" dogs because my dog is a groomers nightmare. We had an excellent groomer that changed her hours so we had to use Petco. After bringing him there twice, they told me he is not allowed to return there. They don't muzzle the dogs there since the public can see them.

Anyway - we got a sedative from the vet , but at that same time we were able to go back to our orignal groomer , who is wonderful. She doesn't want us to use the sedative, she just muzzles him when he is fresh and I make sure to give her a $10 - $15 tip because I know he is a PIA.

Re: How does your dog behave at the groomer?

I started grooming my dog at 6months old.. She just gets scared.. but she is a very good girl. She just lets you do what ever you want to her. I guess I started young so she is used to it. I have always used the same girl.

Re: How does your dog behave at the groomer?

My little man is great on the grooming table but I do it all myself. The breeder gave him his first haircut when he was very young, and then one a week til I picked him up. Then I always continued. This got him used to it from such a young age he was always fine. He gave me a hard time cutting his nails but I worked with him for a few weeks every day with that when he was a baby and that was it.

Re: How does your dog behave at the groomer?

our dog just goes for baths but i totally get what you mean.
i see all the animals behaving so well and think omg how bad is my dog going to be.
i always tell them that they can use a muzzle if they need to so they can clip her nails.
They usually always tell me how good she is...and most of the time they need to use the muzzle-which is fine.
maybe next time ill actually sneak by to watch.
i hope she is good. good luck!

Re: How does your dog behave at the groomer?

Last time I took our dog to the groomers they called me 1/2 an hour later to pick her up . She was quite the handful apparently (she's a bigger dog). Needless to say, we just groom her ourselves now.