# So the groomer shaved him......



## lauramichelle (Mar 11, 2009)

I took Ranger to a groomer...the one at the vet's office we use. Asked her to clean him up where he had matts and give him a good brushing, and trim up his legs and belly fluff for easier cleaning. Well....she said the matts were too much on his hips to comb out, and look weird just shaving his hips....so she shaved him down! At first I was mad, but he seems fine and now his hair can grow out and I can start over on preventing matts. She didnt shave him to the skin or anything....he's still got a good 2-3in all over except for on the hips where she had to get closer. She said to just keep in the house more so he doesnt get cold, which is fine.

My question is, how long will it take to grow his hair back?

By the way....we arent using this groomer again! I dont think an all over shave was neccessary.


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## SouthernThistle (Nov 16, 2005)

If a dog came into me (if I was a groomer,) and the owner said "clean him up where he had matts...trim up his legs and belly" and the dog had matted parts, etc.......yes.....I, too, would shave him. I guess it depends on how bad his coat/matted parts truly were in his coat? Can't see where the groomer would be to blame for shaving him.

I don't know what type of coat your dog has to begin with (longcoat, etc.,) nor the extent of his shaving...so I don't really know how "long" it will take for his hair to grow back. Pictures, perhaps?


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## lauramichelle (Mar 11, 2009)

I dont blame the groomer for doing it, it was just a shock to see him when I picked him up. She did not call to tell me that was what she thought would be best for him. Its not a big deal. He's a family pet so I dont care how he looks really.

He is a long coat. My camera is broke, so I have no pictures right now.


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

Be sure to get a comb as shown on the other post and comb him out daily with that.


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## Mandalay (Apr 21, 2008)

You handled that better than I would have. I'd have been (really really mad). I think that before a groomer shaves a dog that is not normally shaved, they should have called the owner. The groomer should have given you the option of paying more and having her spend more time getting the mats out.


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## ShatteringGlass (Jun 1, 2006)

If he was badly matted, shaving is the best option, much better for the pet than to stand on a grooming table and being brushed for hours, trying to de-matt a dog is painful for the dog. I would not be mad at the groomer ( I used to work in a grooming shop for 6 years, I know how some owners dont understand how badly matted their dogs are).

Keep him in better shape, brush him regularly (at least once a week) and he wont get matted again.


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## Hikitu22 (Jan 18, 2012)

*Groomer Shaved The Shepherd*

Absolutely ther groomer is to blame. If you are a professional, you should know which breeds shoud and SHOULD NOT be shaved. It happened to my Sheperd as well, I asked for him to be cleaned up. Had a bad feeling, so i turned around and returned to see him shaved past his shoulder blades. I stopped her and was furious, if it were a man i would of knocked him out. The groomer should have at the very least called to verify it was ok to shave the dog.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Sorry but having spent most of my adult life knowing many groomers personally, 99% of owners have no clue how badly matted their dog is. They think the groomer can work a miracle in two hours on a dog that took months to get all matted up. 

Sounds like the goomer did the right thing. Don't blame her for your dog being shaved, blame yourself for letting the dog get matted in the first place.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

This thread is 2 years old.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

ugh sorry, I didn't even look at the OP's post date. Just saw the one above me that for some reason felt the need to reply to a two year old thread and it came up in new posts....


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Rerun said:


> Sorry but having spent most of my adult life knowing many groomers personally, 99% of owners have no clue how badly matted their dog is. They think the groomer can work a miracle in two hours on a dog that took months to get all matted up.
> 
> Sounds like the goomer did the right thing. Don't blame her for your dog being shaved, blame yourself for letting the dog get matted in the first place.


Two years old but the info above is accurate.
My sheltie is brushed very regularly and brushed out thoroughly (meaning the wash/brush/get undercoat out) at least 2x a year. But she has a spot by her rump she doesn't like me to get so I tend to avoid it some and sure enough she got a small mat right there. It was small so I got it out with some work, but it was painful for her.
What happens when there's mats is the skin under it gets irritated very easily (and is usually red underneath when the mat is initially removed), people don't realize this. 
The rump area tends to get bad because people tend to brush just the front of the dog and especially if the dog doesn't like the back end being done, they avoid the rear.
Moral of the story - and I tell this to adopters - if you can't get the deep groom/brush removing undercoat (until you can see the skin all over) at least 2x a year, spring for a professional to bathe and brush the dog's undercoat out. Otherwise you're going to have a mess.

We rescued a longcoat a few years ago and I tried like heck to save her coat but could not. She loathed being groomed to the point I had to muzzle her (could tell she'd never had a real good grooming) and I had to clip her entire coat 
It's a vicious circle. Dog doesn't like groomed so you start avoiding it then there's mats, then the dog hates it worse and so does the owner.
If there's any mats at all there's going to be huge problems and clipping is definitely more human than trying to pull the mat off that sore, irritated skin.

We rescued a purebred Airedale a while back, too, her coat was twisted, it mats like twists, and I ended up giving her a "lion cut", as the front part wasn't as bad as the back. A few days later was speaking with an Airedale rescue (we placed the girl through our own rescue but to a home already approved by Airedale rescue) and she told me it's much more humane to shave down than try to brush those twisted hairs out.


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