# Petsmart Grooming



## Sunnygirl (Jun 1, 2007)

I took Nico and Desi to PetsMart today for their first haircuts. They've had puppy trims before (pads of the feet, sanitary, etc.) but never a full blown cut. I didn't really want to cut them short, but they're blowing coat and as much as we brush them, they're both matting and Nico in particular was a matted mess. He has an extremely thick coat and when we left them with BIL when we went on vacation over New Year's, he didn't get brushed every day. We measured and his coat was 8" long (Desi's was 6", so Nico's apparently grows faster). I figured it'd be easier to get through the coat transition if they got puppy clips. I know other people who've taken their matted dogs to the groomer and ended up with them being shaved very short, so I asked for them to be cut no shorter than 1.5-2", with the tail left full and the ears proportional (I even gave them pictures I printed from this forum). I told them that I'd rather have them at that length with some mats that we would work on at home than have them shaved short. 

Desi was no problem, but poor Nico with his profuse coat was much more matted. He didn't do so well - he was a trooper for the first few hours, but eventually was crying and screaming and lunging on the table. They gave him a little break, and then asked me to come in and hold him while they finished. I thought the groomer handled it very well, and was very patient and gentle with him, and I was very impressed that they combed all the mats out of him instead of shaving him. It took 5-1/2 hours, much of which was spent working on the mats. I never dreamed that PetsMart grooming would spend that kind of time, especially on a busy Saturday, to comb mats out of a dog. Anyway, I like the way both of them look and they are both mat free. I'm sure Nico will not be looking forward to his next trip to the groomer, but I was very happy (and pleasantly surprised) with the job the PetsMart groomer did. 

Any suggestions on how to get Nico over his grooming trauma so he doesn't freak out every time we drive by PetsMart?


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## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

I would say take him in next time and buy him a toy or chewie so the memory of his discomfort is not all he associates with going there, and next time you brush him be especially gentle and give him treats.


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

Well This is what i used to do with Asta .. He liked the car and he loved to go to Petco and Petsmart . I used to take him there just for an outing . Inever had him groomed there but he loved to go there and look around ..
I would put him in the cart and I would push him around and we would look at the fish and the birds and the hamsters Then we would go and pick out a treat to take home .
I would spend a lot of time there at least a half an hour .. I also would do it fairly frequently especially when he was young .. I never let him on the floor though always kept him in the cart .. 
The clerks are always so nice and would offer him a treat when we would check out . Most of the time he would not eat it as he was quite fussy about his treats so I said we will take it to go and they would laugh ..Some days we would go on Pet adoption day and he would get to see dogs and kitties up for adoption .. 
Asta was very social .. I have tried it with Cosmo and he was not as keen and he really did not care for it that much . He is getting better about meeting and greeting but I am not sure if he is up to going to Petsmart again yet ..


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

First, where are the pictures?

Sounds like you were lucky, most of the groomers at those type of places would just shave them. I would say for every time you take him to be groomed, take him every time you buy treats, dog food, etc to help him get over his issues. 

Amanda


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## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

I hope you left that groomer a biiiiig tip~! Thats awesome that they were willing to work on him that long.
And I agree....I would take him to Petsmart maybe once a week or something. Just walk him around and give him a few treats. Maybe sit in the waiting room in a chair for a few minutes loving and cuddling him, gime him treats there too....then let him go home with good memories!
Good luck with the coat blowing...I h.a.t.e that stage!!


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## Sunnygirl (Jun 1, 2007)

MopTop Havanese said:


> I hope you left that groomer a biiiiig tip~!


A VERY big tip, and well worth every penny. She looked happy with it (or maybe she was just happy to see Nico finally leaving. . .)

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think we'll be making frequent visits to PetsMart for the next several weeks. It's on the way home from obedience training, and Nico has always loved going there in the past, so that sounds like a good plan.


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