A totally superficial vent: My dog got a BAD haircut.

[Renn_aissance]

Yesterday, while I was at a horse show, our Finnish Lapphund Astrid saw the groomer. She needed a good bath to help get out the last of her winter coat, and my fiance asked that she have “a trim” around her face and her pantaloons, where she has been inclined to matts.

Here is Astrid in her native habitat.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“medium”,“data-attachmentid”:9714970}[/ATTACH]

She went in a Finnish Lapphund and came out looking like a Shiba Inu. The groomer hacked off her hair all over her body in a blunt cut and worst of all took a foot of hair off of her beautiful plumed tail. No “trim,” no attempt to feather anything to blend her inner and outer coat, a straight up bowl cut all over her body. Absolutely an awful job even if we’d asked for it.

I am breathing deeply and reminding myself that hair grows back, and that perhaps she will be more comfortable this summer as a short-haired double-coated black dog than she was last summer as a long-haired double-coated black dog, and that beauty is skin deep… but she really is an uncommonly good-looking dog and this is very unfortunate.

For her part, she has already ruined her bath by rolling wildly in fresh-cut onion grass and mud, so she does not seem in distress.

Please remind me that hair grows back.

[S1969]

What, no after picture? We need to see the bowl cut. :lol:

Hair grows back. Usually a lot faster than you want it, at least from the point of a show dog owner. Their grooming tends to last about 10 minutes, or so it seems.

I wouldn’t generally trust a basic pet groomer to know what you mean when you say ‘trim.’ I think a lot of dog owners do just want an overall shorter coat. I wouldn’t go back there again…or at least not without very specific instructions.

[ADTC]

Awww, I can sympathize but I’m sure the dog probably won’t mind. :o

For future reference… take a few photos with you of what you want your dog’s clip to look like. Especially with a rare breed, but there are often several versions of a cut used on the same breed such as Poodles or Schnauzers. Obviously, with a Lapphund, you don’t want any noticeable change from their typical look so a photo might have helped a bit there.

Make sure that you are talking directly with the groomer, not the front desk person, or that precise instructions are written for the groomer. Sometimes details get lost along the way. .

Make it clear whether you want the dog clipped down or hand-scizzored. Big difference between them, and hand-scizzoring is always going to be more expensive. Ask how much it will be.

It sounds like the OP only wanted a little hand-scizzoring around the face and pantaloons, no clipping.

IF you do want a dog (not the OP’s dog) clipped down, it’s a good idea to learn which clipper blade will leave the length you want, it makes it easier to communicate how you want the dog to look. The higher the number, the shorter the hair. So a number four blade will leave the coat much longer than a number ten blade. Some clips have names so that can also be helpful – such as a Poodle puppy clip or a Cocker cut. Clean face and feet is common on Poodles, but not on Bichon, so if you want something not typically done, make it clear.

Terms like trim and clipped down can be interchangeable for many people, so be sure that you and the groomer are on the same page on what will be done to the dog’s coat. Save

[Zu_Zu]

I understand - one of my terriers was trimmed by an apparently blind groomer once - I cried - terrier’s coat grew back quickly.

• just a suggestion - take pics of bad cut - to show to next groomer … before good pics and after bad shots might help prevent such a fiasco.

I’m sorry - I understand - I do.

[LauraKY]

I’ve had it happen too many times to count. No one here knows how to groom collies, so I do it myself. I did have one terrible groomer back in Baltimore who decided to “cut out” all the dark hair on my sable rough collie. She looked moth eaten.

I’ve explained, shown photos, doesn’t seem to make a difference.

Double coated dogs should never be shaved though…sometimes it never grows back correctly.

[Renn_aissance]

Here she is with her bowl cut.
[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“medium”,“data-attachmentid”:9715239}[/ATTACH] My reaction to this picture was OMG WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER.

I hadn’t talked to the groomer myself- she’s my fiance’s dog (in theory. She’s actually my shadow), and he handled the communication. I think next time he will have learned to be more specific. And we will certainly never use this groomer again.

In the meantime, she’ll catch fewer leaves in her mane…

[Polydor]

Oh my! I had to laugh at your description of her getting a bowl cut! lol

Jingles it grows back quickly!

P.

[sprite]

Oh dear.

I remember once once when I was a kid, my mom took our shaggy little terrier x in for a trim, went to a new place called something like “the poodle parlor” which I guessed should have clued her in. Poor dog came back almost shaved, with bows in her ears…she was so embarrassed, lol.

Your dog is adorable! Short haired or long.

[vxf111]

Oh gosh. I’d be really unhappy. But the dog doesn’t know and it will grow in.

[ElisLove]

From the picture it looks like what they understood you wanted was a trim all over her body to the same length. From the pic (which is very hard to tell with her lying down and it not being a very sharp photo) it looks like a fairly smooth job. Double coated breeds can be very hard to get a nice smooth trim on. If it looks as good in real life as the picture then it’s a pretty decent groomer and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again especially since now you can tell them exactly what you don’t want. They will have made notes on what they did so when you explain to them next time they’ll be able to tell the difference in what they did to what you want.

[JanM]

Years ago, a friend moved to a new area, and went to a groomer recommended by several people. Her dog was a mini Schnauzer, and the groomer said that she would do a traditional schnauzer cut. After the grooming the dog was groomed short all over, including the face and beard were closely shaven.

The poor owner was so upset that she learned to do her own grooming until she found someone who actually understood schnauzer cut, instead of poodle with the shaved face. The poor dog seemed to be upset too, but it could be that she just wasn’t used to having her face shaved instead of trimmed with scissors.

[Garythesquirrel]

I know it Isn’t the clip you wanted but she looks so cute like that!!! She looks like such a sweet dog.

[S1969]

@ElisLove

From the picture it looks like what they understood you wanted was a trim all over her body to the same length. From the pic (which is very hard to tell with her lying down and it not being a very sharp photo) it looks like a fairly smooth job. Double coated breeds can be very hard to get a nice smooth trim on. If it looks as good in real life as the picture then it’s a pretty decent groomer and I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again especially since now you can tell them exactly what you don’t want. They will have made notes on what they did so when you explain to them next time they’ll be able to tell the difference in what they did to what you want.

Agreed, I expected much worse! Personally, I like it, but I’m not a big fan of the long haired/maned breeds. Too hairy for me.

Definitely use pictures in the future, and/or have a discussion with the groomer.

My worst grooming story is when the vet shaved part of my show dog’s front leg to the skin, feathering and all. A band of nakedness from just above the fetlock to just below the elbow. That took a long time to grow back.

[Minxitbabe]

As a former dog groomer it makes me sad to see the stories of people who aren’t happy with their dogs haircut. I always tried to be very clear on what the dog would be getting and in the case of your dog would have shown your fiance the clip comb I would use all over if I thought that was what he wanted. I rarely had any communication issues unless there was a a language barrier or the dog was so matted they couldn’t have what they wanted. Next time tell the groomer you want a tight scissor trim. That should be the right phrase for any decent groomer to take all her long hairs and trim them tight to about the same length as her body hair. She is a cutie both ways but I do prefer the fluffy but tidy look unless they are little mud loving pigs.

[vxf111]

Personally, as the fellow owner of a breed that isn’t supposed to be clipped and that is long haired/prone to matts-- regular brushing and using the furminator (I know, I know, it’s not technically correct and it breaks/cuts the hair) will give you more the results you want than ANY type of clipping. I know people who get their collies clipped for cleanliness and it just never looks quite right. They weren’t really meant to be clipped.

[LauraKY]

@vxf111

Personally, as the fellow owner of a breed that isn’t supposed to be clipped and that is long haired/prone to matts-- regular brushing and using the furminator (I know, I know, it’s not technically correct and it breaks/cuts the hair) will give you more the results you want than ANY type of clipping. I know people who get their collies clipped for cleanliness and it just never looks quite right. They weren’t really meant to be clipped.

Line combing is really the way to go for collies. Yes, it takes a long time, but they look so gorgeous after.

[vxf111]

Absolutely, but if you must do a little “cutting,” it’s so much better to do it with the furminator so it’s not BLUNT than do so anything with clippers.

[Renn_aissance]

Totally agree. She gets a weekly brush-out at home. The grooming was “supposed to” be primarily a bath to loosen up the last of her winter coat and a hand trim of two areas of her body to address matting. Something got lost in translation.

We use a rake and slicker on most of her body and hand-pick at matts and tangles with detangler and an equine mane pulling comb. That’s my #1 favorite tool to deal with matts! Works better than half the purpose-built stuff I have found.

[Where_sMyWhite]

IMO, most groomers have basic training but if the breed is not all common, they may not know how that breed should look or be groomed.

For something like a terrier, their coat should be hand stripped but a groomer most likely will not take the time to do that and out will come the clippers.

My old groomer also showed dogs so she was very aware of what some of the less common breeds should look like. I didn’t have her do a show groom on my Bouvs as they weren’t getting near a show ring

Currently, I hand strip my Bfs and the groomer gives them a bath and trims the nails.

[Brookes]

Oh dear lord!! That is just wrong on so many levels! But luckily as everyone says it will grow back. Poor girl! This is why I learned to do my own dogs. Took a long time with some pretty sorry looking jobs at first but I got the hang of it.

I always recommend that you ask a groomer if they are familiar with the breed and what a show cut would look like. If not then it’s time to start googling and show them photos for them to refer to. This way you don’t end up with a Finnish Inu!

I accidentally slipped with the clippers while grooming one of my show dogs and cut a huge groove mark into the back of her neck. There was zero chance of hiding it. I took her to the show anyway, the judge saw it and laughed looked at me and said “squirrel?!”. I said yup! No ribbon for you!!! haha!

I like the idea of photos of what you want and then the groomer can follow that. No tip for that groomer I hope!?