# Question for pro groomers out there...



## BaileyBudd (Sep 14, 2008)

I know you guys groom all kinds of dogs, form dogs who just sit there to those who put up a fight. But I guess what I want to know is how often do you guys get bit, nipped, etc. Thanks


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## 0hmyd0g (Aug 18, 2008)

Not often, maybe once every couple weeks or less. Most times it doesn't leave a mark or even really hurt. Only once in the two years I have been grooming did it pierce the skin and bleed and that was from a chihuahua cross. Most times it's just a warning nip to tell me they don't like what I'm doing but they mostly warn me first with body language and facial expression. I muzzle them if it seems too threatening or get someone to hold the head. What I do get often that hurts A LOT though are the scratches! Those nails can be very sharp after a nail trim and if a dog is freaking out I would rather get scratched than have the poor fellow fall of the table or get hurt himself. I have a couple scars on my wrists for dog nails


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## SMoore (Nov 9, 2007)

The worst i've ever been bit was by a golden retriever of all breeds. The dog was so sweet coming in, on his card it said the dog was friendly, easy to work with. I put the kennel leash on him and led him to his kennel in the back he walked in perfectly, then I went in to grab the leash from around his neck and without any warning, no hesitation no sign of aggression not even a peep or a growl the dog lunged at me. I got bit on my arm and have a scar from it and never could get the leash off of him so I closed the gate and tied the leash to it. I called the owners and told them their dog was cage aggressive but they assured me I was insane. When they came to get their dog even they couldn't get him out of the kennel without getting bit, the guy got bit on his hand but as soon as the dog was out he was a complete angel all over again. I have no idea what the dogs problem was but that day he was just very weird considering we had been doing this dog for a year without any problems.


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## BaileyBudd (Sep 14, 2008)

Thanks alot. I wanted to get started or at least learn how to groom dogs, do you guys have any tips or anything?


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## Dieselsmama (Apr 1, 2007)

During grooming, I've actually never been seriously bitten by any dog. You either already know or learn real fast to read body language and if i feel like pushing farther with a certain dog will lead to them trying to really bite I have a helper hold for me. On the occasions I haven't had a helper available I've either tried distraction or whatever i was trying to do didn't get done till the owners got there.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

I have only been bitten once, by a dog, and once by a cat, that pierced the skin. Both times in the bathtub. The cat...well, it was a cat, and it wasn't happy, started to jump, and I was trying to get it out of the tub safely...The dog was a mini poodle...It had never been professionally groomed, just groomed by the breeder, and was a retired breeder just placed in a home. My stainless tub makes a different noise than plastic or other tubs, like the ones used by the breeder. When I put her in the tub, she freaked out, and started to launch from the tub. I tried to body block her, as I could tell she was losing it and didn't want to be bitten, and she launched over me, and I tried to catch her...She chomped my hand good. I did finish her groom, and finished the rest of my dogs that day. 

The above poster said it best. You HAVE to know how to read dogs. If you don't, you will be bitten over and over until you are hurt badly enough you can't groom again. If you know nothing about dog behavior, you will have alot to learn. If you are scared, you will be bitten more too. Dogs sense fear, and uncertainty, it makes them afraid and uncertain, and more apt to bite. Grooming is NOT playing with dogs all day like so many people think...LOL Its hard, physical work, and takes a toll on your body over time. There is heavy lifting, and struggling with large and small dogs..all while working with sharp instruments all over the animal. 

If you truly want to learn to groom, I would recommend you go to a GOOD school. Nash Academy in Lexinton, or NJ are excellent schools, and put out some of the best groomers in the country. There are other schools that are good as well though. I would steer cleer of online courses that claim you can learn all you need to know online, etc...You cannot learn to groom a dog via the internet. It takes alot of hands on, and you never actually stop learning.


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## Love's_Sophie (Sep 23, 2007)

I think I get scratched more often than bit. But I know how to read the animals I work with, so I avoid alot of it. You learn how to work with the animals comfort\tolerance level, or muzzle if necessary. When it comes to the scratches, alot of those actually come from dogs, who are trying to 'hold on' to my arm when I am doing something they don't like; plucking ears, blow drying faces, or giving them their first bath!Lol! 

I did get bit pretty badly by two cats this year though...once on the lower arm, and once right on a thumb nailbed...that nail has just now grown out normally!Lol! These kitties were just plain mean...even with the muzzle they were goofy! 

The last time I got bit 'bad' by a dog was last spring (almost two years ago now), and it really could have been bad if I would have reacted. The dog I was grooming was an unsocialized BC mix, and had been doing fine, but then decided to flip out...he slipped the grooming loop, and hopped onto the floor, I went to slip a slip lead on him when he seemed a bit 'calmed down', and when I got it on him he snarled once, then lunged at me; he jumped high enough to be able to grab my neck and part of my lower chin. I didn't yell at him, and didn't freak out, and he just let go...the doc said I was fortunate, and I know I was, because the one mark that stayed is right over my jugular. 

I do know that there area lot of good grooming schools out there, but you can also learn alot by finding a groomer who is willing to teach you...like an apprenticeship...that is how I learned, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.


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## PupArt (Dec 9, 2008)

I've been grooming over thirty years. Bites have been few. A Lhapso bit me while I bathed it and I had to get a tetnus shot ! That was a real sock in the arm and actually hurt more than the bite. Ouch ! 
A Poodle I had groomed many years who was always well behvaed turned on me during the last time I groomed him. I don't know if the dog had a medical problem or not, but I had never seen a dog change personality so suddenly. I actually finished grooming him with a muzzle on him , but never groomed him again. The way that dog looked at me was like he was posessed. In all my years of grooming I never saw anything like it. 

http://pupart.1hwy.com/


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## Tankstar (Dec 30, 2006)

I have only been learning to groom at the shop Im at now for about 7 months. *KNOCK ON WOOD* I have not yet been bit (I know my time is ticking lol), snapped at a few times. But you need to know a dogs body language and how far you can "push" a dog with out it going over edge. Yesterdya I groomed the most noterious dog int he shop for being agressive, he bites, he jumps, he just plain hates being groomed. I worked it out with him with out so much as a growl. We did take a few breaks, as he can easily snap from gentle to monst in .02 seconds.

learn the dogs, learn their language.


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