I cried, my children cried, my husband was beyond upset. Grooming Gone wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Johnna]

WHY IS IT THAT YOU CAN HAVE A FIFTEEN MIN DISCUSSION WITH SOMEONE AND AGREE ON EXACTLY WHAT IS TO BE DONE AND WHEN IT COMES TIME TO DO IT, SOMEONE FORGETS OR JUST DOESN'T CARE. I DON'T EVEN HAVE THE WORDS ON HOW I FEEL ABOUT MY DOGS GROOMER. OUR PUPPY, IS 11 MONTHS AND ADORABLE, WAS ADORABLE. WE HAD HIS FACE ALL GROWN OUT AND IS PUPPY FIR WAS ALMOST GONE AND NEW CURLY LOCK WERE GROWING. LONG STORY SHORT. CONVERSATION WITH GROOMER, DON'T TOUCH HEAD OR BEARD, LEAVE BACK THE LENGTH IT IS NOW, ONLY TRIM HIM TO MAKE HIM EVEN. CHECK OUT THE PICS AND YOU WILL SEE WHY I STILL AM CRYING. CAN ANYONE TELL ME HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO GROW OUT?

[Sue & Willy Babe]

So sorry about your doodle's haircut, the picture of the butt looks like it hurts ouch !!!! Wilson enjoys his summer haircut, alot he is more confident and alot cooler too, I will let it grow out for fall and winter, The hair does grow back .

[Paul & Michele]

Hello!! Don't worry his face will grow out by christmas for sure. I had gotten 3 bad haircuts for Molly and finally went and bought a good pair of Andis clippers and will be doing it myself for now on. However I have found that the shorter cut (although I hate that look) is alot easier for the summer because she is always in her doggie pool she should have been born a fish. I am going to start letting it grow back out in Sept. so she too will have her hair back by christmas for pictures. I bought my clippers at pet edge and was very happy with their service and help. Good luck and don't worry he still is cute and he'll grow out pretty quick!!

[Ann W]

I have a groomer that I really like and have used for a couple of years. We too always talk about what I want, and I'm always
surpised when Charlie comes home. I think for me it is seeing him short after being so long. I to like the longer look. We can all say it will grown and it does, but it's still a shock. I have taken matters in my own hands so to speak and have now started to groom my doodles myself. I have to laugh because it seems that when I start he is long and before I know it he keeps on getting shorter and shorter. I love them no matter how they look! Invest in grooming supplies and join the "do it yourself" group.The grooming group is really a great resource here.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I've seen so many bad grooming tales on DK including mine. For some reason, groomers that can actually do doodles properly seem far and few between. I would speak to the owner and ask for my money back. A good friend of mine brought her doodle to the same groomer 3 times with no problem. On the 4th visit, she shaved him after being told NOT to shave him and he had a gash on his rear end that required a vet's care.

It could have worse and of course, it could have been better. Time will heal your feelings and the dog's hair will grow back before you know it.

[Michele Barton]

I think he's still cute, and it WILL grow back. I hope you didn't pay for the cut though, since the groomer obviously ignored your wishes. When my daughter was 16 years old, she shaved her entire head because she was tired of washing her hair. Now that took some getting used to!

[clancy's mom]

I, along with the others here, have many grooming tales. We were using a mobile pet groomer. I would actually go into the van and stand there until she finished. She always did a great job. Then she decided to stop grooming and go back to her "old" job, and recommended another groomer with the same company. It took her six hours and then she had to come back the next day to finish. That was a disaster!!! Our main problem is that Clancy has NEVER been caged and most groomers insist they will cage them at some point -- to dry them or to wait until they are finished doing something with another dog. The last time we had him groomed, we tried a new mobile groomer and the results were 50/50. She trimmed his rear really close and shaved his belly (all while I sat there and watched!) and he has lots of bumps and red spots now. I think his skin must be super sensitive. He wasn't matted at all, so it wasn't because of that she shaved his belly so close. I wish I was confident enough to be able to trim him myself, but I don't think he would stand still for me and I am afraid I would make him a real mess. But, all that said, it does grow back rather quickly and your handsome boy will look great in no time. (Clancy seems to enjoy his summer cut too -- has more energy--as if he didn't have enough to start with.)

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think that it's just easier to do the grooming yourself. With the time saved for transporting it doesn't even take longer. i just use scissors all over for Luca, who is a spiral fleece. It gets better with practice. You can cut out mats and leave the surrounding hair at the length you want and the lower spots are hardly visible. Saves a lot of money and aggravation. Also you can go shorter gradually so there are no shocks and you can decide what you like best.

[Kai Doodle (Kathy & Keith)]

I am so sorry about the haircut. I just don't understand Groomers. Do we all need to stand there and watch them like when we get our own hair cut?

[Adina P]

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience! It sucks when service professionals don't pay attention to what the customer wants. It makes NO sense and is a horrible way to do business. Imagine walking into a hair salon and asking for a 3 inch trim and getting your head shaved because the hair stylist thought that might be better! Or ordering a burger and getting chicken and rice because the cook decided it was healthier for you... When request a service and the groomer nods and smiles and acts like it is agreed on and then does something completely diff it is just ridiculous. Groomers should really offer a 'menu' that clients can use to check off what they want done to their dog including 'whatever the groomer deems best' or 'NO shaving' with descriptions of final hair cut in inches or mm.

That said I agree with others about not going the court route. Not worth it. Just don't go back there and if you want send 'em a letter letting them know why.

I am not on a computer (on phone) so I can't see your attached pics, but it WILL grow back and your pup has NO clue about his butt or any other badly cut parts...so he's not embarrassed. I've only taken my Rosco to the groomer once and I was there watching within 3 feet the whole time and was pleased with the groomer's work. But .. I still decided to do it myself and it has been fairly easy, albeit TIME consuming!

[Adina P]

Okay, just saw the photos. It's not that bad. Here's a link to our past slide show of "Bad Hair Days" and you'll see it could be worse! He's not even shaved to the skin...so they didn't do a bad job EXCEPT for his poor hiney! I also agree that unobstructed eyes is a good thing. Hang in there...it will grow back!

[Chris & Boys]

I am so sorry you don't like you dood's new cut. But, I think he is stil extremely adorable. Look at his beautiful face, you can actually see his true beauty. I am not sure why you would want to take them to court? I understand the cut is not what you wanted,, but except for the sanitary portion of the cut, it looks like they did an acceptable job. Did they tell you why they cut him shorter than you wanted? I agree that you should keep the hair trimmed around the eyes, it was very long and must have been very hard for him to see well. I always make sure my doodle gets a sanitary cut, no, it is not a great visual, but I think it is neccessary for the cleanliness of my house and the health of family. I got Fozzy cut down to about an inch, and a month and a half later, his coat had grown at least an inch. And he has a curly coat. I didn't like the short cut at first. I only did it for his comfort. But now I like it, it doesn't hide his face or his athletic body.

Again, he IS adorable, I hope you feel that way soon too.

[Wendy and Eddie]

It looks like your dog has the same fur as mine. I love the grown out face, but that area gets matted really easily and I'm not good at combing through it as it seems to be super sensitive to Eddie. So, he often gets cut much shorter than I'd really like around his face just to clean out the mats. When Eddie was about a year, I suddenly noticed his hind end was horribly matted and I'd never noticed. I think it was a combo of puppy/new fur and it's a hard spot for me to comb out. I had to get him groomed then to un-mat that area. So, not to excuse your groomers, and they should have at least talked with you about the reasons, but maybe it was too matted for them to leave as is.