# Dog acting almost completely different after grooming



## TerraNova

Hello,
My female Shih-tzu (barely a year) was taken to the groomer yesterday. She was dropped off, and they were supposed to call whenever they finished. It took three hours for them to finish. When she came home, her appearance was greatly improved, but she seemed lethargic, and didn't respond to her name. The strangest part is that she isn't hardly paying attention to the person that she was the most affectionate towards before the grooming.


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## Labmom4

What the heck? Maybe talk to the groomer and try and get a feel as to what happened?


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## Kyllobernese

Whenever I clip Remmy right down (he is Shih Tzu x Maltese) he acts silly for about the next week. I don't know whether it is because they feel differently without the hair. He will sit around a lot, not want to play and as I do him myself, I know nothing strange has happened to him. My sister had her dog in Obedience and the day she clipped her, she took her to the Obedience and she kept worrying about her tail touching her back and would not pay any attention to her. Sometimes if they are clipped really short, they can get clipper burn but shouldn't if the groomer is watching what they are doing.


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## JuneBud

Kyllobernese said:


> Whenever I clip Remmy right down (he is Shih Tzu x Maltese) he acts silly for about the next week. I don't know whether it is because they feel differently without the hair. He will sit around a lot, not want to play and as I do him myself, I know nothing strange has happened to him. My sister had her dog in Obedience and the day she clipped her, she took her to the Obedience and she kept worrying about her tail touching her back and would not pay any attention to her. Sometimes if they are clipped really short, they can get clipper burn but shouldn't if the groomer is watching what they are doing.



I had the opposite response. My previous American Eskimo Trixi was incontinent when she was asleep and had to wear a diaper, so to keep her easy to clean up, she got clipped. After clipping, she always got more energetic and "cozy" with us. She seemed a lot more happy and comfortable with a clip. When her hair was long she slept on the hard floor. When she was clipped she wanted to sleep on the bed. There was much less moving around to find a cool spot. She did get annoyed when her tail touched her back until she got used to it.


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## RonE

Sounds like they sent home the wrong dog.


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## Graco22

A grooming is very tiring for a puppy. 3 hours is not a crazy long time for a pet to be at the groomers. It takes time to bathe, dry, and give a haircut to a dog, and puppies need breaks during the process, to prevent them from being overwhelmed. Was this her first groom? If it was, that would explain it all. For a pup to be a year old and NEVER been groomed, THAT is stressful for the pup..Hopefully this was not the case. I am sure the dog was just tired/wiped out. How is she doing now?


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## xoxluvablexox

It's normal. My Mini Poodle always acts a little wierd after getting his hair clipped. I think he gets upset because he looks like a girl after they take away all his fur lmao. After a few days he gets used to it. He'll usually act a little more skittish, sometimes hiding under a chair someone is sitting on, usually in between their legs or just less playfull and more depressed, like just laying around instead of playing like usual. It might also have something to do with the size difference, he looks a lot bigger when his fur is long compared to how tiny he looks after it's gone so he might just feel less secure. I'm not really sure...he's a strange dog as it is so it's hard to guess what his issue is lol.


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## osdbmom

When we took our first puppy to the groomer the very first time (petsmart) she acted just like herself after. We werent happy so we tried another groomer the next time, and when we came home, Zoey acted just like you describe. She was sluggish, wouldnt eat well, couldnt play, when I stood her up, she sort of tipped over and laid back down. I described this to some other people I know and they thought maybe the groomer had given her benedryl or something to make her hold still (she is quite wiggly). Ive read since then that some groomers will do that, even w/o the owners consent. Since then, I found a great groomer, and Zoey always comes home happy and acting just like herself, which makes me think the previous groomer did something to her. I dont have proof, but Id never take my dog back there....besides that, she shaved my pap/poodle cross, three inches of hair she buzzed right off, when all I had asked for was to trim around her face and do her nails


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