
This one is about the grooming industry…
So we all know Facebook is the platform where folks air out the dirty laundry and pick fights over the smallest things. It’s just grumpy over there…
“Dog-book” is certainly no exception.
In my area there is a local pet groomer group with an honest goal of creating community and networking. However, the vast majority of posts are “client warning” posts. These post typically read like so:
“Pet name, owner name, location. Owner called today to book an appointment. We knew from another salon that this dog was extremely aggressive (alligator rolling, defecating, and biting) and we planned on turning them away. Owner mentioned the dog has cancer so we refused service when they mentioned that. The owner threw a fit and told us that’s a ridiculous policy. Book at your own risk.”
Another might read:
“Pet names, owner name, location. Owner brought in three dogs, one was a tripod. We quoted her x price but after working on the dogs realized they were matted and had to charge extra. Also charged extra for the tripod dog. Owner picked up and complained about the price and told us we were discriminating against her dog (we would never do that). She continued to throw a fit and called management and everything. We won’t touch the dogs again. Book at your own risk.”
Yet another:
“Pet name, owner name, location. Client has repeatedly brought their dog in matted and even though we’ve told them they are neglectful they never do anything about it. Should we report them for animal abuse? Going to fire them after this haircut.”
See a problem?
ALL of these scenarios are one sided and ALL of these scenarios put the owner at risk with their personal information now made public.
These examples I’ve written are not copied from real scenarios but they are largely inspired by reality. These examples are also incredibly tame compared to some of the posts out there.
I cannot understate how dangerous this behind the scenes industry gossip can be.
Yes, there are difficult clients and yes, there are neglectful owners. But this attitude towards clients and their dogs is hostile and creates a world where the dog is the one that’s going to pay for it in the end.

Take our first scenario. The dog was refused for having cancer. The groomer did not disclose that they had outside knowledge of the dog’s behavior so the owner is led to believe the cancer is the only thing in the way. Where does the owner go from here? When she calls the next groomer she likely won’t disclose that the dog has cancer. This puts the pet in a potentially dangerous medical situation and puts the owner and groomer in potentially dangerous liability situations.
I would like to also add the slippery slope that is groomers even privately discussing behavior behind the client’s back. Having a special interest in behaviorally challenged dogs, I often joke that I’m the groomer who gets the dogs that everyone else fires. I cannot tell you how many messages I get that go into astronomical detail about how a dog was horribly behaved only to hear that the owner was told “they were a little anxious.” I’m unfortunately honest so the clients get to hear all the raw honest detail I received from the previous groomer and often listen in horror to hear their dog was put through such a high level of stress. Quite often the dog does well for me as I create an environment that minimizes stressors and takes the dog’s emotional state into consideration.
Our second scenario. The owner is justifiably upset because the price is outside of the quote. If you cannot give an accurate quote, don’t give a quote at all! If the shop charges more for tripod dogs, that should have been disclosed initially. (The ableist nature of that pricing structure could be debated but shop owners are in their right to charge how they please for dogs that may be more challenging.) Where does the owner go from here? Trust is lost in pet professionals when they are predatory in their pricing. Lost trust in pet professionals creates a vicious cycle of poor communication between client and service provider and generally puts tension where there doesn’t need to be tension. In this industry unfortunately price and quality do not go hand in hand. There are some incredibly subjective and discriminatory pricing schemes out there; some based on breed discrimination, some based on the perceived wealth of the owner, and other pricing subject to the groomer’s or business’s personal gain or preference.
The third situation is the most dangerous. This owner now has their information publicized alongside a call for animal abuse. I don’t care how upset you are about a matted dog, you NEVER know the full story of why a pet comes in matted. Yes it’s sad, yes it’s neglect, yes it’s frustrating when you work in a field where you see sub par pet care on the regular. But you DO NOT know the owner’s situation, financial status, health status, physical ability, or any other factors outside of the dog. The pet industry, ESPECIALLY grooming, is dominated by generally wealthy, able-bodied, white women and the industry thrives in wealthy, suburban settings where poverty is a far off dream and homelessness is out of sight and out of mind. We as pet professionals come from a very privileged background. This same privilege does not apply to everyone who owns a pet. Your concern should be on identifying where you can help or offer resources to struggling pet owners and not on making a call to animal control or publicly shaming a pet owner after they have come to you for help. Where does the pet owner go from here? They’ve now been blacklisted from getting the help they need; the reason they are at a shop to begin with! The answer is that I don’t know where they go from there; I suppose until they find a groomer who can help them, they will continue to jump salon to salon.
This attitude towards pet owners that implies that the owner is always wrong and the pet professional is always right is so skewed. No one knows everything. The pet owner likely knows the dog best. The pet professional likely knows their job best. We need to work together to put that information together in a way that ultimately benefits the dog. Owner and professional are not combatants; they are equal teammates on the side of the dog.
I honestly started typing this without a real thesis point; I was just clearing my head. I think what I want to convey to pet owners is that the pet industry is a slippery slope and if you are using a professional you need to do some homework to make sure they are a decent person before you entrust them with your information and your pet. I also want to convey to the pet professionals that you are coming from a place of privilege; do not abuse that. No story is one sided and no situation is as black and white as we’d like it to be.

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