Bad haircut/experience

[ShowGirlLola]

Lola had her first haircut yesterday and I'm disgusted with the entire experience. First of all she's an 8 month old puppy, she's never had a haircut and she's only been handled by me. I told the groomer all of this and she was done by a mobile groomer so only one person handled her.

I told her I wanted her hair cut level with her body, cut her legs down a good bit, DON'T TOUCH HER TOP KNOT, cut the top 1/3 level with her ear (DON'T SHAVE) and trim the rest a little bit.
I wrote all of this down and gave her a picture of Island Girl's dog Sachi for the ears and face shape, but with the beard about an inch longer.
http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/att...ups-face-2.jpg

Lola was out there for over an hour, when she came back her hair had barely been cut except her top knot and ears. She said it was because Lola kept sitting/laying down and curling herself. WELL DUH! SHE WAS SCARED! This woman has been grooming over 10 years, she should know how to deal with it. She acted like Lola was being bad. I would have been ok with constructive criticism, like you need to work on getting her to stand up and stay still.

I told her I told you not to cut her topknot and her excuse was "it was too heavy". No it wasn't, yes parts of it needed to be trimmed but I was going to do it myself.

She made me go out to the van and hold Lola while she "fixed" her. I knew Lola wasn't perfect when she left, but it was all so rushed and Lola had had more than enough at that point so I had to let it go. I also didn't realize how short her top knot was or how messed up the rest of the cut was until after she left. I feel like I threw $75 away. I should have gone with my regular groomer but I decided to try this woman because she's a yorkie person.

I want my money back or I want my regular groomer to come try to fix her, but I'm not sure how they're paid and I don't want to hurt her financially.
I just got off the phone with the company, the manager is going to call me tomorrow.

Photo 1: Back leg/tail were barely touched
Photo 2: The front leg is entirely messed up
Photo 3: The ear on the right is cut down an inch further, face shape isn't what I wanted, ears were shaved, not the skin but still shaved
Photo 4: Back of the ears shaved, uneven, choppy

The whole cut is just uneven and choppy and not at all what I asked for. At least I was able to somewhat fix the topknot today, but it keeps sliding out and took twice as long.

I'll post before pictures below this.

[ShowGirlLola]

Before the haircut

[nanahas3]

That is exactly why I have never let anyone else groom my two. She still looks adorable but I know I would be as disappointed as you if I got something completely different than the picture I showed them.

[Faboosh]

Aww, poor little Lola! I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with a groomer- I agree, she should have the experience to handle scared pups better than this. Goodness, if the pup is scared, you slow down, try to play with her a little, give her treats, whatever.

Lola is still a beauty tho. I hope your next groomer is leaps & bounds better than this!

[ShowGirlLola]

Thanks. I eventually want to groom Lola myself, but I need to buy some stuff first and I wanted to have a professional do it while she's still in her squirmy puppy phase.

I would be less upset if the cut were half way decent; I could have done this myself with safety scissors. Her attitude and unprofessionalism also really upset me.

[mimimomo]

Lola's b4 pic looks better! Sorry you had a bad experience...hopefully the manager will send someone else to 'fix' the problem. I don't see how a groomer can blame the dog for her short comings, very unprofessional.
Don't be intimidated on starting your own grooming! I can help you choose the right products, it's not as hard as it seems.

Lola is beautiful btw.

[theporkieyorkie]

If lola was so "bad"...how did your regular groomer manage to groom her?!?


Does your regular groomer work for the same company??

If so, I would ask the company to send her out to fix Lola for free...even if they have to pay the groomer out of their pocket. I am sure there are lots of other grooming businesses to choose from, so having to bite the bullet one time to keep a regular customer coming back over and over, seems like a no brainer.

[Kaylee32]

I would be very upset! I know my Ellie gave the groomer a difficult time when she was young, but even still she always looked exactly how I asked for her to look. I would definitely make a complaint.

[ShowGirlLola]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

Lola's b4 pic looks better! Sorry you had a bad experience...hopefully the manager will send someone else to 'fix' the problem. I don't see how a groomer can blame the dog for her short comings, very unprofessional.
Don't be intimidated on starting your own grooming! I can help you choose the right products, it's not as hard as it seems.

Lola is beautiful btw.

Thanks, I'd appreciate the help.
I'm sure Lola wasn't the easiest dog, but I'm also sure she was FAR from the worst.

Originally Posted by theporkieyorkie

If lola was so "bad"...how did your regular groomer manage to groom her?!?


Does your regular groomer work for the same company??

If so, I would ask the company to send her out to fix Lola for free...even if they have to pay the groomer out of their pocket. I am sure there are lots of other grooming businesses to choose from, so having to bite the bullet one time to keep a regular customer coming back over and over, seems like a no brainer.

My regular groomer groomed my poodle, not Lola. The only cutting Lola has had was when I cut around her paws and paw pads, I also did a sanitary cut. She wasn't happy about it but I got the job done.

Originally Posted by Kaylee32

I would be very upset! I know my Ellie gave the groomer a difficult time when she was young, but even still she always looked exactly how I asked for her to look. I would definitely make a complaint.

I did, they're going to call me tomorrow.
My poodles were not the easiest and they always were fully groomed and looked fine. The last time my poodle was groomed the groomer left her face a little unfinished because she was getting too upset and the groomer was afraid of giving her a heart attack, I totally understood that and was happy she put my dogs health first.
This woman was ridiculous.

[Britster]

That sucks. She doesn't look that different (which is kind of ironic, usually groomers cut WAY too short when ppl don't ask, lol) so I'd be pissed if I paid for something that I could've just done easily at home. I use a mobile groomer, and Jackson is always terrified, so I'm sure he's not the easiest and he still always comes back looking so handsome and fresh. It's never uneven, etc (except for ONE time out of probably 20+, the groomer gave him a horrible haircut, so not sure what happened there, but I complained and she gave me a free one next time). But I remember it was around the holidays, and I ended up paying for most of it anyway, I just felt bad, because she always does such a good job.

[Denzilla]

Grooming is a gamble. I've live by the motto that if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself.

[sandy simpson]

Were you there to watch this groom? Was she squirming around? Yorkies can be tough to groom. My JoJo is a very busy boy. I have a groomer come to my home and I watch her closely. I help out too. She better never hit him or hurt him. That's why I Never take my boys to the pet shops. Get a mobile groomer or someone to come to your home. Or go buy some clippers and scissors and learn how to groom. Your dog is cute no matter what but if I was that groomer I would not be proud of that clip job.

[ShowGirlLola]

Originally Posted by Britster

That sucks. She doesn't look that different (which is kind of ironic, usually groomers cut WAY too short when ppl don't ask, lol) so I'd be pissed if I paid for something that I could've just done easily at home. I use a mobile groomer, and Jackson is always terrified, so I'm sure he's not the easiest and he still always comes back looking so handsome and fresh. It's never uneven, etc (except for ONE time out of probably 20+, the groomer gave him a horrible haircut, so not sure what happened there, but I complained and she gave me a free one next time). But I remember it was around the holidays, and I ended up paying for most of it anyway, I just felt bad, because she always does such a good job.

I'm not that upset by her body or legs because they're fixable. I'm bothered by her head, it's going to take months for her ears and top knot to grow out.
I'm also bothered by the overall lack of quality and her attitude.

Originally Posted by Denzilla

Grooming is a gamble. I've live by the motto that if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself.

I agree, I do everything possible myself. I was hoping to get a good professional grooming so I could follow the lines between cuts.
Looks like I'm going to have to figure it out from scratch.

Originally Posted by sandy simpson

Were you there to watch this groom? Was she squirming around? Yorkies can be tough to groom. My JoJo is a very busy boy. I have a groomer come to my home and I watch her closely. I help out too. She better never hit him or hurt him. That's why I Never take my boys to the pet shops. Get a mobile groomer or someone to come to your home. Or go buy some clippers and scissors and learn how to groom. Your dog is cute no matter what but if I was that groomer I would not be proud of that clip job.

This was a mobile groomer, they were alone for an hour. That's when she cut Lola's topknot and ears, the rest of her was barely touched.
I complained, she refused to do anymore unless I held Lola, so I went out with them. When I was out there Lola was cowering a little and she kept sitting or laying down. Even the parts she did while I held Lola are choppy and awful, that's when her front leg got messed up.
The pictures don't really show how choppy and uneven the cut is.
I'm sure the majority of dogs squirm or cower while being groomer, a groomer should know how to deal with it.

[DBlain]

Lola is a doll both before and after, I would be so pissed if they touched my Lola's top knot because even though she grows hair like crazy everywhere else that part seems to be slowing growing. However to me it does not look like they cut much, was the before photo taken several months back. I also like the look of her face better now, because you can see more of it, I know it's popular to let the ear hair grow long, but I still like a traditional yorkie ear style. What I do is sit next the groomer that cuts Lola so I OK every cut she makes, plus I have learned a lot by doing this so I often do my own touch up in between cuts. I would ask if you could do that, this way you will have more control

[ShowGirlLola]

Originally Posted by DBlain

Lola is a doll both before and after, I would be so pissed if they touched my Lola's top knot because even though she grows hair like crazy everywhere else that part seems to be slowing growing. However to me it does not look like they cut much, was the before photo taken several months back. I also like the look of her face better now, because you can see more of it, I know it's popular to let the ear hair grow long, but I still like a traditional yorkie ear style. What I do is sit next the groomer that cuts Lola so I OK every cut she makes, plus I have learned a lot by doing this so I often do my own touch up in between cuts. I would ask if you could do that, this way you will have more control

The pictures were taken the same day. She isn't a ton shorter except on her head. Which is another thing I'm not happy about because I can only afford 2-3 groomings a year, I told her that too.
I hate the shaved ear look and that's basically what she has except at the very base. I also didn't want them that short because my room is COLD. I wanted the top 1/3 cut level with scissors and the rest trimmed a little. It's especially bad because she cut all the hair off an inch more on one side than the other.

The ears and top knot are the worst part and will take months to grow back. The entire cut is a complete disaster though.

I can't stand there while she's groomed, the van is way too small.