Disclaimer:
The opinions and methods here are not necessarily the same as Pet Pizazz. These stories are from when I ran my own shop and how I handled these situations. I hope you find them amusing and maybe informative.
I have learned that very seldom is this a good idea.
It’s understandable being concerned how your dog will be treated if this is a new place to you. If your dog is very timid, you may feel he will be more comfortable with you there. Maybe your dog is a touchy, snappy one. You may feel that your presence will make us feel more comfortable. Or maybe you feel your dog will pine away from loneliness.
I’ll tackle these one at a time.
We always come out in the front room to meet a new client so they don’t feel cornered or intimidated. We will spend a few important moments getting acquainted until the dog comes up to us. Then we shall walk him into the back room. You are welcome to stay for a little bit to observe. Please do not call, speak to, or try to discipline the dog-that’s our department. It will just distract the dog, and they will not give us the attention we need to do the job kindly and safely. I have found they are like children, showing off when mom or dad is there. Definitely NOT on their best behavior. Praise and soft talking work best with a timid dog, usually they really enjoy the whole procedure once we build their confidence up.
I had a client with a full coated shih-tzu. He was very aggressive and sometimes violent. She could not brush him, but insisted if she stayed I could tackle the job. Oh, boy. Three hours later I got him done beautifully. He had taken all his rage out on her and both her hands and arms were bloody. I told her no amount of money would convince me to do that again! If he was to come back he was to be left. She did it and he was very submissive after a few threats on his part. He became a very beautiful, good little boy.
A known biter will wear a muzzle. Sometimes we may have you put it on so the dog knows it’s what you want and we don’t have to confront them head on. Once the option to bite is taken from them, most calm down and accept everything we do. Most do not need to keep the muzzle on for the whole grooming. A few do, because an untrustworthy pet make everyone nervous, and that will lead to an accident. (nails being too short, nicks, cut pads) A fear biter is more untrustworthy than a cranky one. You never know what will trigger their panic until you have done them a few times.
Will your dog pine away? Not likely. Dogs have no sense of time, they live in now. There is so much going on around them, their interest is in the other dogs and what they have to do. Even if they are there for hours, they are busy most of the time. Most don’t have time to pine!
Now a dog with serious separation anxiety (not an owner with separation anxiety, mind you..) is another story. They will pant, drool and pace incessantly. For those cases we will try to set a special appointment before or after the main activity. We will try having the owner stay, but in the waiting room so the dog can smell them but not see them.. If that works we will just do the dog calmly from start to finish. If it’s a larger job that will take some time, sometimes the owner can leave as long as the dog is being worked on and is never left alone.
There are those who need medication from the vet to stay calm and then there are those who will need to have a mobile groomer come to the home, but the majority of them do just fine.
For owner separation anxiety, we sometimes call during the time the dog is away giving progress reports.
