The dog may be elderly, suffer from anxiety or aggression, have a heart murmur or be compromised in some other way. So what do you do?

There are many ways of dealing with these dogs. Care must be taken to reduce the dogs stress levels. In the case of the elderly, sick and compromised dogs, you may like to break the groom into two sessions. Clip and bath one day, style and finish the next. Or, the owner may choose to bath and dry the dog at home.

Let’s look at what happens when the owner stays:

Owner stays Pros

• The owner may be able to offer some form of comfort or security for the dog

• The owner may choose to call off the groom

• The owner can see the challenges of grooming

• Should anything untoward happen to the dog, the owner is there to witness it

• The owner can be shown how to desensitise the dog at home

Owner stays Cons

• Some owners may be upset seeing their dog struggle with some part of the groom. Always monitor the owner and use your judgement to see if this is a help or a hindrance

• It may make the dogs behaviour worse

• It may hinder the groomers ability to move and work around the dog

• The owner may be in contact with other dogs in the salon

• Your insurance may not cover a customer in the grooming room

Making an informed decision with the dog’s best interest at heart is best practise. You may choose to deal with the dog yourself or a staff member and not include the owner.

Check out our Professional Development course, The Difficult Dog Groomer for more insight, tutorials and knowledge - there’s a link on your dashboard - it’s free! You can also learn more in our Challenging Situations section of the Groomerverse.

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