Horrible first grooming experience for my 14 week spoo! 😞 Asking for advice o

Was the groomer drunk or spaced out on drugs? That's the worst disaster job I have ever seen by anyone, even by owners attempting clips for the first time themselves. The face work is inexcusable. Wrong size blade used, and the opposite of a teddy bear face; shaggy ears, no visible feet trim, uneven body trim, just an overall bad job.

So sorry this happened to you.

If the groomer worked at a shop, send the photos to the owner and ask for a refund. I wouldn't expect one, however, b/c an owner of a good shop would have seen this person's work before hand, but for whatever reason hired that groomer anyway.

Well, thankfully hair grows back and she should be looking great again before Christmas. She's a very pretty dog, and she trusts you, my suggestion is to wait for her hair to grow out a lot more and comb her gently each day until you take her to a NEW grooming shop.

Maybe start off with a short visit at a new shop where the two of you only watch. If you're lucky you'll see a groomer finishing a Standard Poodle, or ask when one comes in so you can see the work.

Also don't let a groomer express the anal glands (my opinion, others here may differ, and my shop never does these); if done improperly it can cause damage.

This angers me SO much. What is wrong with that groomer???

First thing I would do is report it and leave a truthful review of them on all of their social medias and on google. Let everyone know.
This is WRONG and others need to be warned so this does not happen to their pets. I would include the photos you have of her poor cut up face. This is the work of a terrible person who clearly has no training or cares. I'm no grooming pro, but I can assume they saw the dog hurting from this cuts and would know to stop??!! They need to be stripped form their duties and never touch a animal again...

So sorry this has me heated... I take animals so seriously, especially because they cannot speak for themselves. We do not deserve animals, especially with how cruel humans can be.

Why would that groomer cut that short?? Mistakes happen... but this is clearly not a small accident or slip up.
Why would they think your puppies face is well done with those cuts??? Did they make you pay for this hack job and cruelty??? There is clearly broken skin which I consider cruelty to an animal. I do not hold back feelings when it comes to this.

Next, look into another groomer or do it yourself. I would do Norman's face and feet myself, but I do not have the confidence. Doing it yourself can save you a lot of money too!

Really hope she is ok. I am glad you're not considering returning to that other place. So so so sorry this happened to her and you. I cannot imagine how you feel. Sending hugs and kisses to you and your sweet pup!!! xoxoxoxo

Apricots and other light colored dogs tend to have sensitive skin so they used way too short a blade for a baby dog with unconditioned skin and puppy wiggles. That and that they went very short on the face like that are signs of someone who doesn't know how to groom poodle pups. DON'T GO BACK TO THE SAME SHOP!


Since she has been hurt over grooming I would not necessarily try doing her yourself just now, but instead look for a really good groomer who knows poodles and have them do the next few grooms to help her trust the experience more than she will right now. Later on you can try yourself with light trims on face and feet between the visits to a shop. Gradually you can add to your skill set and what parts of it you do yourself.


BTW remember that there is a lot of work to maintaining a nice looking teddy bear face.

OMG, I’m so angry for you and your poor dog. There is nothing right here, just a mess. How cruel of this person. I hope you didn’t pay for this malpractice groom.

Groomers know that puppies and especially light colored dogs have sensitive skin and you don’t start with a very close shave until their skin is conditioned and ready for it and go only as short as the skin can tolerate.

Your poor baby, that’s animal abuse. Is there someone who specializes in poodles where you live who you can take your do in the future. A decent groomer should know how to do the basic, popular clips for poodles and normally they are fine to go to. But given the trauma you went through, I would want an extremely accomplished groomer to help ease your dog through.

I wouldn’t clip your dogs face for awhile. Looks like there’s some healing of damaged skin and you will want to desensitize your dog for the next time.

As mentioned above run a shaver or similar object on her face and reward good response with copious treats fade-in the treats down over time. Once your dog accepts a shaver touching the face you can turn it on briefly to vibrate without a blade and slowly increase the time and where your dog is calm getting touched. If you don’t have a shaver use a. Electric toothbrush which also vibrates and makes noise.

Hopefully you can put this behind you.

I groom myself and found it works best for my dog, but when you first begin your nervous and tentative plus it takes longer to groom. Given this terrible experience I think it’s better for your dog to have and experienced groomer who will be able to work quickly, smoothly and with authority which will help your dog heal from this botched mess. So sorry.

Your poor puppy. I'm on my 4th apricot/red/cream mini poo and it's very true that their skin is more sensitive to razor burn. More than once someone zigged when they should have zagged and you'll get a nick or a too close bit.

This is beyond that. Looking at your pups face, that comes across, if not as anger, as the groomer determined that your pup was going to learn to be groomed whether pup was ready or not. It's that or the groomer has no idea how to read dogs, let alone groom them. One nick or close bit is understandable. This is not.

I would report to the owner, to the head of the company, social media, get my money back and get an apology. We go to these businesses, these individuals in good faith, trusting that they know their business and will look after your pup as if he or she were their own. This groomer, this business did not fulfill their part of this bargain.

Let your little girl heal, physically and mentally from this before trying a real groom again. The other members have given good suggestions for interviewing groomers and practicing til then. If you haven't already, start a list of potential groomers then in a couple of weeks, take your pup and yourself to these shops without calling ahead. Go see the energy of the shop and how your pup responds to the people in person. Once you've found someone that you think is worth a try, take your pup in for those short visits. Get her up on the table, get sweet talked, brushed and given treats, then stop. Let her get used to the shop environment again too, in small doses.

Hope you and your girl are past this soon.

Oh my! I'm so sorry, where did her top knot go? I do imagine it being a first groom the puppy probably did not cooperate too well however if that groomer I feel didn't know what they were doing. I would most definitely not go back. When I got my poodle I contacted the local poodle club & rescue and I was put in touch with a local groomer who is wonderful. I also had another person from the club step up and say they would help tach me to groom him myself. Unfortunately our schedules never matched up but I am quite pleased with my groomer. I told her from the get go not to stress or stress him more than necessary and basically just keep him where I could manage him between grooms. I think she did a good job. Sometimes his paws came out too short where they looked irritated but on her own she adjusted how she was trimming him seeing his paws were more sensitive. A good groomer will work with you and your dog and while you may not initially get the cut you want she will work toward it. I would keep going to a good groomer and as Lillcd mentioned do a little in-between to touch up. We have been going every 4 weeks as I thought he needed that to get use to the groomer and to being groomed.

Grooming disaster.

I agree with everyone who says bag the groomer. A friend's pup's tongue got caught in the grooming shears at Petco! I have heard other disastrous stories. One of the big pet stores has had dogs die during grooming. I'm afraid that people are entering the field because it pays good money for short training. I took mine to a really good groomer here, who allowed some sort of novice to work on her for 8 hours and still not have got to her head when I insisted on taking her out. I would agree that grooming them yourself is the best bet. I don't have the talent, but have given mine some haircuts. Fortunately, she isn't vain.


In fact, she returned from her first grooming experience, for me, paranoid about her feet being touched. She even snapped at first. Naturally, I was never told what happened. I have started with a mobile groomer, well recommended. My pup is done in an hour and a half. There is a standing invitation to visit the van during grooming. I hope it continues to go well.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Poor pup. Like everyone else has said, report it to the shop owner, do not go back. I groom my own. You can go look at my thread entitled something like 'glad hair grows back'. What you do won't look as bad as what happened there & if it does at least you know your pup is being handled with care & safety.

I did my pup in tiny baby steps so yes, he did look like he was pulled out of an old moth riddled closet from time to time but it was all about his training on the groom table. Puppies get the wiggle-fidgets. That just goes with it. Burns my biscuits when a groomer just forges ahead with a pup no matter what & then they get mad when the pup is bad on the table as it gets older. "Well, idiot, you reap what you sew!" (Sorry, I'm a trainer & I have had to fix a lot of problems from people who claim to be groomers but are far from professional or dog savvy. Apparently I still have some bad-groomer-aggression.)

Whether you go find yourself a pro (by that I mean a real dog groomer who understands to begin with a puppy with the end in mind. A good groomer understands that if they play their cards right, they may have this pup as a client for many many years so they want to start a pup like that right) or if you decide to go at this on your own, your pup will be okay & thankfully it's just hair. Believe me I said that a thousand times as I looked at Mr. Layne with his many very weird hair cuts given by me. He's starting to look better & in the mean time because I put his training first, it's paying off in big ways for me on the grooming table. I will be more than happy to help if you have questions & I know the folks here have been very a treasure trove of advice, suggestions that work.