# Muzzle on for clipping nails?!!



## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

I couldn't believe this. I usually clip Cey's nails myself but I've been lazy for a couple of weeks, so I wanted to get them professionally clipped before I started trying to keep up with them again. So, off we trekked to PetSmart last night, where the girl told me that he would have to have a muzzle put on him before they would clip his nails??!

I said thanks but no thanks, and left...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I would have done the same!


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

What???? That is just crazy!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Could you take Cey into his vet and have them clipped there? That is where I had Augie's done when he was small. I may have to do the same with his wild little brother. He is such a squirmer.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

WHAT!?? Good for you leaving!!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Petsmart did that to us too many years ago. I walked out too.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

Linda, thanks for your advice. I am late in getting Cey his rabies vacc and I need it in order for him to try out this doggie daycare down the road since his sitter um, resigned, so I will ask the vet to clip his nails at the same time. I have in fact caught the 'quick' a couple of times before (not too badly, but enough to make him bleed), and now his nails are so long (bad me!), and they are black, so that I don't really want to try to clip them myself at the moment.

To everybody - I KNOW, right? Ceylon weighs MAYBE 8 lbs, and he LOVES everybody and everything! All they would have to do is hold him securely and give him a couple of treats and he would be fine - but even if not, he has NEVER tried to bite or snap at me or anybody else except for the occasional dog that he wanted to give a warning to if they were playing too rough with him - including when I caught the quick on his nails before! I only want a professional to do it so that it reduces the chances of cutting too close and making him bleed/whine...

The weirdest part was, the girl FIRST asked what kind of breed he was. I said, Havanese, and THEN she said, oh, we're going to have to put a muzzle on him... wth??!


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

heatherk said:


> Linda, thanks for your advice. I am late in getting Cey his rabies vacc and I need it in order for him to try out this doggie daycare down the road since his sitter um, resigned, so I will ask the vet to clip his nails at the same time. I have in fact caught the 'quick' a couple of times before (not too badly, but enough to make him bleed), and now his nails are so long (bad me!), and they are black, so that I don't really want to try to clip them myself at the moment.
> 
> To everybody - I KNOW, right? Ceylon weighs MAYBE 8 lbs, and he LOVES everybody and everything! All they would have to do is hold him securely and give him a couple of treats and he would be fine - but even if not, he has NEVER tried to bite or snap at me or anybody else except for the occasional dog that he wanted to give a warning to if they were playing too rough with him - including when I caught the quick on his nails before! I only want a professional to do it so that it reduces the chances of cutting too close and making him bleed/whine...
> 
> The weirdest part was, the girl FIRST asked what kind of breed he was. I said, Havanese, and THEN she said, oh, we're going to have to put a muzzle on him... wth??!


Uh, then again, if they want to muzzle him to clip his nails, they are not the type of 'professionals' that I want to take him to anyway, right? So, I guess, no harm, no foul!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

heatherk said:


> The weirdest part was, the girl FIRST asked what kind of breed he was. I said, Havanese, and THEN she said, oh, we're going to have to put a muzzle on him... wth??!


Heather - That is an odd comment, but I had a somewhat similar odd comment made to me the first time we took Augie to day care. When I went to pick him up, they commented that he was the sweetest dog and that Havanese were usually pretty 'snippy' - totally took me by surprise.


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## Julie (Feb 8, 2007)

I am surprised they would need a muzzle for a nail clip. Maybe it is just "routine" for them to do this on all dogs? Like a safety precaution for them? IDK.....at the vet clinic I work at-- we use muzzles pretty routinely as a precaution...NOT to suggest a vicious dog. I must say though--I have never seen them do a nail clip with a muzzle.Muzzles are not harmful or mean though and should not have that negative feeling behind them IMO.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

heatherk said:


> To everybody - I KNOW, right? Ceylon weighs MAYBE 8 lbs, and he LOVES everybody and everything! All they would have to do is hold him securely and give him a couple of treats and he would be fine - but even if not, he has NEVER tried to bite or snap at me or anybody else except for the occasional dog that he wanted to give a warning to if they were playing too rough with him - including when I caught the quick on his nails before! I only want a professional to do it so that it reduces the chances of cutting too close and making him bleed/whine...


Kodi has NEVER tried to nip or bite either, in spite of his terror of nail clipping. But I'm convinced that all the trouble we've had clipping his nails came from his first few experiences as a puppy. He was too wiggly for me to do by myself, so I asked my husband to help. He held him REALLY tight, which scared him. Since that wasn't working, and I still couldn't do it myself, I took him to the vet. The tech there tried with me holding him, and he put up a HUGE stink, so they took him out back. It took two techs to hold him, while the vet clipped his nails... and it sounded like puppy murder was going on! (I'm not saying that all vet's offices would handle it the same, but that's what happened with Kodi)

Finally I found our current groomer who is also a trainer. She was willing to take as much time as necessary to do it without freaking him out. For many trimmings, that meant I was SHOVELING Charlee Bears into his mouth to keep him distracted, and even with that, he would occasionally let out an ear piercing scream that had nothing to do with her actually cutting a nail, but just handling his foot. (the head trainer came running into the back room expecting to find a dog dying when she first heard this in the middle of a class!ound Fortunately, he has now gotten to the point that he stands nicely on the table, I can distract him with treats and just give him one at the end of each foot. But it has taken about 18 months to get to this point.

As a side note, he hated nail trimming so much that as a puppy, he'd go into his basket of grooming tools, purposely pull out the nail trimmers and hide them!ound:


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

django is a wreck when the groomer clips his nails, i now have them done at the vet, easy for me because we go every 3 weeks for his shot. the girls always tell me he does great, i guess different environemnt. 

my dog was muzzled at the vet when they had to pull the hair out of his ears. they muzzle all dogs when they do this. he's been difficult with me when i have tried, forget the groomer, she can't go any where near his ears. i am always torn with this issue, his ears need cleaning but doing myself or the groomer is no longer an option. he actually got really sick from the stress the last time the groomer attempted to clean his ears. 

they tell me he's fine at the vet, again, i guess different environment but i still struggle with it, i only do it 3x a year. if i don't he gets terrible ear infections.

maybe the vet can groom your dogs nails next visit. most of them don't charge.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Yikes!! Thats awful!

I usually just walk into this groomer's place next to my office, she's a one lady show and she clips Gucci's nails so fast, I swear...its almost the speed of light, Gucci doesn't even have time to get nervous or upset.. lol

I would NOT tolerate the muzzle thing either, I can see doing that with Pit Bulls or some breed that is high risk to bite, but not every dog

Kara


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

ditto on the muzzle for the nails. djangos nails take 30 second to trim


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

When I had Finn in for one of his shots, I had his nails trimmed as well. I had been able to get the back done myself, but the front - no way. She did the same thing with the shot as with the nails to distract him. She brought in a fairly large brown treat of some kind that looked like a combo piece of fudge and brownie (I know it wasn't that, but that is the appearance it had), and smooshed it down hard on the exam table. While he stood there, busy licking at it, she did 'the deed'.


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## Narwyn (Jan 24, 2010)

Unfortunately as Havs get more popular, more places (vets, kennels, groomers) see poorly bred, non-socialized, puppy mill/BYB Havs who probably ARE snippy little dogs by basis of their poor breeding and lack of socialization/training. 

I worked in grooming salons for many years. Sometimes we simply had to use a muzzle, and yes, little dogs were much worse offenders than bigger ones. Often, our relaxation (since we were no longer on-edge about trying to avoid being bitten) helped the dog relax and it was actually an easier experience for everyone. Granted, we never muzzled a dog by default, only if there was clearly a real problem and other tactics (relax, reward) didn't work. 

It sort of amazes me that people hate muzzles but love those head collars things. Not the same thing, I realize, but do you think the dog knows that? You should never do anything you're not comfortable with, of course, but slipping a muzzle on a dog is undoubtedly more traumatizing for you than them.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

My previous dog (border collie) was extremely jumpy and twitchy. I would tell the vet to put a muzzle on him, just in case. He was the sweetest dog but had a habit of flailing about with his mouth open. It took three of us to hold him during his annual exams. Forget about the few times he had to have his anal glands emptied.


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

Wow I can't believe these horror stories. One of the first or second times my pup had his nails clipped was at this dog-day festival at our local park. There were lots of vendors hawking their wares and one tent was a groomers that did a free nail clipping. Mars was done in about 30 seconds and was still confused about being put up on a table after the deed was done.

Has anyone tried those nail grinders? My groomer said my dog was so chill I can probably get away with using that at home.


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## Flynn Gentry-Taylor (Jan 17, 2008)

My vet's assistant picked up his nail clippers to clip my dog's nails while I was there for shots and I immediately grabbed my dog's paw and said no...when I looked the nail clippers were rusty...now that could have been from being in alcohol as a disinfectant, but I did not see him take them out of alcohol and I was really upset seeing the condition of the nail clippers..just a thought...do they sterilize those clippers?


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Here's where it's our responsibility to know what's going on. More so our responsibility to make an effort early on to make this as least aversive as possible. Unless it is an emergency ,say a vet procedure, that is likely to create an aggressive reaction ,no one should put on a muzzle our dogs unless the owner is notified. A muzzle is quite aversive to dogs for the first time, and unless desensitized to one prior, can have negative consequences galore. If it was Petsmarts default practice to do this, they should be notified to change this method. I think a groomer especially has no right to do this without your permission. And if you feel it's what's needed, then it's our responsibility to get the dog used to one beforehand. Anyone taking a dog to a new groomer should ask to watch the first time so none of this BS takes place. We need to be more concerned with our dogs well being , than his haircut and nail job.


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

davetgabby said:


> Here's where it's our responsibility to know what's going on. More so our responsibility to make an effort early on to make this as least aversive as possible. Unless it is an emergency ,say a vet procedure, that is likely to create an aggressive reaction ,no one should put on a muzzle our dogs unless the owner is notified. A muzzle is quite aversive to dogs for the first time, and unless desensitized to one prior, can have negative consequences galore. If it was Petsmarts default practice to do this, they should be notified to change this method. I think a groomer especially has no right to do this without your permission. And if you feel it's what's needed, then it's our responsibility to get the dog used to one beforehand. Anyone taking a dog to a new groomer should ask to watch the first time so none of this BS takes place. We need to be more concerned with our dogs well being , than his haircut and nail job.


I agree Dave. At least they told me up front - though I had absolutely NO intention of not being there every single second that they were with him! After Cey's bangs getting cut by his sitter, and especially after all of the horror stories that I have heard about different grooming 'mistakes', I was definitely not going to just leave him there unsupervised lol! I am in full support of muzzles, _where they are needed_ - if and when they are necessary, they can be great. I have seen dogs at the dog park (even just earlier tonight) wearing muzzles, and I have TOTALLY appreciated the owners' being able to take responsibility for their dogs who may be more aggressive/nippy/rough than most, while still trying to socialize them and give them the experiences and occasional freedom that they need. However, just to muzzle a dog based on it's breed - especially, I guess, Havanese (and I understand that some people may have a mistaken idea about Havanese with poorly-bred and poorly-socialized havs becoming common, as somebody mentioned above) - and most especially, with a little 6-month old puppy who is obviously friendly, seems beyond absurd to me. I often watch The Dog Whisperer, and while I do NOT agree with Cesar's methodologies for any but the worst cases, I do agree with him that so-called 'bad' dogs are not the result of their breed, but rather, the result of their owners, and the upbringing that they have experienced. While I do completely understand the groomer's desire not to get bit, I think that muzzling a dog based on its breed alone is not the right answer (especially not in Ceylon's case lol!).


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

motherslittlehelper said:


> Heather - That is an odd comment, but I had a somewhat similar odd comment made to me the first time we took Augie to day care. When I went to pick him up, they commented that he was the sweetest dog and that Havanese were usually pretty 'snippy' - totally took me by surprise.


Linda, I had the same kind of comment from a good trainer (recommended by Dave,) down on the south end of Whidbey Island. Apparently there are few well-bred Havs in many areas of Washington and the results are not good for our breed! So sad! And then ALL Havs get a bad reputation from those.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Narwyn said:


> Granted, we never muzzled a dog by default, only if there was clearly a real problem and other tactics (relax, reward) didn't work.
> 
> It sort of amazes me that people hate muzzles but love those head collars things. Not the same thing, I realize, but do you think the dog knows that? You should never do anything you're not comfortable with, of course, but slipping a muzzle on a dog is undoubtedly more traumatizing for you than them.


I think the issue was that they weren't willing to even see how he did before trying to muzzle him.

Kodi was pretty awful about his feet to start with... lots of struggling, kicking, and worst of all, SCREAMING!!! But he NEVER tried to put his mouth on anyone. A muzzle wouldn't have helped with all his other shenanigans, and would have given him just one more thing to worry about.

Certainly, if my dog EVER tried to bite, or even put his mouth on a groomer or vet, I wouldn't for a moment, resist them putting a muzzle on him.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Anyone taking a dog to a new groomer should ask to watch the first time so none of this BS takes place. We need to be more concerned with our dogs well being , than his haircut and nail job.


I stay with Kodi EVERY time. If I couldn't I'd be doing him myself.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yeah I hear you there Karen. I think everyone should train their dogs to handle a muzzle. If some day you have an emergency vet procedure that was painful , that is not the time to make things even more stressful by putting on a muzzle. Some dogs go nuts if you try this, without desensitization beforehand.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> yeah I hear you there Karen. I think everyone should train their dogs to handle a muzzle. If some day you have an emergency vet procedure that was painful , that is not the time to make things even more stressful by putting on a muzzle. Some dogs go nuts if you try this, without desensitization beforehand.


Really good idea. Then you could also have one you knew fit, smelled familiar and your dog was used to. Gonna start this.:biggrin1:


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

I always try to promote trainers I know. Here is a video by Charlotte Wagner on this .


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> I always try to promote trainers I know. Here is a video by Charlotte Wagner on this .
> YouTube - ‪Muzzle Training‬‏


Yeah, that is about what I would expect.

Would you use a basket muzzle like that on a little sharp-nosed dog, or a soft muzzle? I was thinking the soft muzzle might be better.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

krandall said:


> Yeah, that is about what I would expect.
> 
> Would you use a basket muzzle like that on a little sharp-nosed dog, or a soft muzzle? I was thinking the soft muzzle might be better.


Pros and cons to both. One of the disadvantages of the cloth is that they are not as good if your dog is panting.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> Pros and cons to both. One of the disadvantages of the cloth is that they are not as good if your dog is panting.


So what are the pros and cons of each? I don't have any experience with either.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

krandall said:


> So what are the pros and cons of each? I don't have any experience with either.


The cage / basket ones, hard plastic or metal can cause injury to the handler more so with larger dogs. Trainers have mentioned that it hurts when a reacting dog butts them with these basket type ones, . Cage /basket are easier to put on and are more dog friendly. The cloth are cheaper. But I have a basket for Molly , simple because it is more dog friendly.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

davetgabby said:


> The cage / basket ones, hard plastic or metal can cause injury to the handler more so with larger dogs. Trainers have mentioned that it hurts when a reacting dog butts them with these basket type ones, . Cage /basket are easier to put on and are more dog friendly. The cloth are cheaper. But I have a basket for Molly , simple because it is more dog friendly.


If it's more dog-friendly, that's what I'll get. I just thought the cloth ones would be softer and easier on the dog.

I can't imagine a little Hav head can hurt you TOO much with a basket muzzle.:biggrin1:


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

*What IS that Brown Treat?*



motherslittlehelper said:


> When I had Finn in for one of his shots, I had his nails trimmed as well. I had been able to get the back done myself, but the front - no way. She did the same thing with the shot as with the nails to distract him. *She brought in a fairly large brown treat of some kind that looked like a combo piece of fudge and brownie (I know it wasn't that, but that is the appearance it had), and smooshed it down hard on the exam table. While he stood there, busy licking at it, she did 'the deed'*.


Hi, Linda:

Is there any way you can find out from your Vet what this brown treat is? I have been grooming Buffy, and I sure could use something like that to distract her.

Thanks!


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

On the muzzle for nails thing...I work for PetSmart. In the state of CT it is the law that all dogs need to be current on their rabies vaccination. If you take your dog to PetSmart for the first time, they do not have your dog's rabies information unless you bring it with you. If you don't, they by law can only do the procedure with a muzzle on your dog. And it's more for the safety of YOUR dog and ME and YOU. If all the dogs are vaccinated, your dog probably won't get rabies if there is an incident and your dog gets bit. What if you get bit? Would you feel better if you know PetSmart does screen for vaccinations, or is it too much of a hassle to bring in paperwork from your vet? What if no vaccinations were required, would you feel safe about bringing yourself and your young, immune-immature puppy to a place where unvaccinated dogs are? Where there's pee and poop (any grooming salon)? Not me! These policies are in place for a reason.

Additionally, I've lost track of the number of "sweet dogs" I've been bitten by, and I'm by far the gentlest groomer in my salon. Yes, your dog may never ever bite anyone, but to me, your dog is just one of the hundreds of dogs a year that I work on, and I can't go by "Oh he never bites." I only put a muzzle on a dog after he shows real aggression, but don't blame a groomer for putting a muzzle on a dog. We are constantly on the edge of getting bitten, since we're not playing with your dog we're doing things to your dog that he doesn't like. Even a smaller dog can cause serious tissue damage, infection, and the need for plastic reconstructive surgery. I know of a groomer that lost the end of his finger to a wheaten terrier. I myself have been bitten in the face by a pekinese and needed to go to the hospital for a tetinus shot and was lucky that it was just puncture wounds and that the teeth didn't tear my face open, which I've seen happen in person by a shih tzu.

Just my two cents from a groomer's view.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

atsilvers27 said:


> On the muzzle for nails thing...I work for PetSmart. In the state of CT it is the law that all dogs need to be current on their rabies vaccination. If you take your dog to PetSmart for the first time, they do not have your dog's rabies information unless you bring it with you. If you don't, they by law can only do the procedure with a muzzle on your dog. And it's more for the safety of YOUR dog and ME and YOU. If all the dogs are vaccinated, your dog probably won't get rabies if there is an incident and your dog gets bit. What if you get bit? Would you feel better if you know PetSmart does screen for vaccinations, or is it too much of a hassle to bring in paperwork from your vet? What if no vaccinations were required, would you feel safe about bringing yourself and your young, immune-immature puppy to a place where unvaccinated dogs are? Where there's pee and poop (any grooming salon)? Not me! These policies are in place for a reason.
> 
> Additionally, I've lost track of the number of "sweet dogs" I've been bitten by, and I'm by far the gentlest groomer in my salon. Yes, your dog may never ever bite anyone, but to me, your dog is just one of the hundreds of dogs a year that I work on, and I can't go by "Oh he never bites." I only put a muzzle on a dog after he shows real aggression, but don't blame a groomer for putting a muzzle on a dog. We are constantly on the edge of getting bitten, since we're not playing with your dog we're doing things to your dog that he doesn't like. Even a smaller dog can cause serious tissue damage, infection, and the need for plastic reconstructive surgery. I know of a groomer that lost the end of his finger to a wheaten terrier. I myself have been bitten in the face by a pekinese and needed to go to the hospital for a tetinus shot and was lucky that it was just puncture wounds and that the teeth didn't tear my face open, which I've seen happen in person by a shih tzu.
> 
> Just my two cents from a groomer's view.


I don't think anyone here would argue with the need to muzzle a dog who is being difficult or showing aggression. The problem was that they never gave this puppy a chance. As far as vaccinations are concerned, sure, require them, but then ask people to bring their paperwork with them.

*TIP*... We keep copies of Kodi's registration papers and vaccination record in both of our cars. That way, if there's ever any question, we have them right at hand.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

That is why the associate is _supposed_ to offer the alternative that if you do not feel comfortable with putting a muzzle on the dog, (this being a dog that has never been to that salon so its vaccination record hasn't been established yet) you may go home and get the records or we could contact the vet and get them over the phone, thus bypassing the need for a muzzle on a tiny innocent puppy. But alas, PetSmart will hire any warm body off the street and I am reminded of that fact every day at work. Sigh. Some day I will have my own salon.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

atsilvers27 said:


> That is why the associate is _supposed_ to offer the alternative that if you do not feel comfortable with putting a muzzle on the dog, (this being a dog that has never been to that salon so its vaccination record hasn't been established yet) you may go home and get the records or we could contact the vet and get them over the phone, thus bypassing the need for a muzzle on a tiny innocent puppy. But alas, PetSmart will hire any warm body off the street and I am reminded of that fact every day at work. Sigh. Some day I will have my own salon.


Why don't they tell people to bring their vaccination record when they make the appointment. A muzzle may prevent a dog bite, but it won't prevent the spread of Parvo or Distemper. Once the dog is in the store, it's too late for that.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

Yes. Nails clipping/grinding services are walk in at PetSmart and do not require an appointment. If people call over the phone asking about it, we tell them to bring their records with them when they come. If people just walk in because they happen to be in the store and want their dog's nails done and don't have any documentation on them, then this is the situation where we would have to muzzle or we could call the vet or they can come back with the papers. This is why I never put my dog on the floor at PetSmart (and I work there), even though the floors get washed every morning, but I guess that's at any vet or place where there can be sick or unvaccinated dogs.


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

You can tell I'm home from work today, one of my 3 yr old boy twins had a fever and has to stay home from preschool...I get to be on the computer while they nap!


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## heatherk (Feb 24, 2011)

atsilvers27 said:


> Yes. Nails clipping/grinding services are walk in at PetSmart and do not require an appointment. If people call over the phone asking about it, we tell them to bring their records with them when they come. If people just walk in because they happen to be in the store and want their dog's nails done and don't have any documentation on them, then this is the situation where we would have to muzzle or we could call the vet or they can come back with the papers. This is why I never put my dog on the floor at PetSmart (and I work there), even though the floors get washed every morning, but I guess that's at any vet or place where there can be sick or unvaccinated dogs.


Huh. Well, they asked me to come back with his vaccination papers, AND that he would have to be muzzled. Maybe I just misunderstood, though I don't think so...


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## atsilvers27 (Jul 5, 2011)

Probably not. The quality of a PetSmart salon depends on the staff, which can vary tremendously. Overall there is high turnover which means a lot of new hires, so they often get mixed up with the policies. Add to that corporate keeps on flipping on weather we can even clip nails without documentation (Since I've worked there for not even 2 years it's changed 3x) it can be easy for an associate to get confused. 

PetSmart salon staff are under tremendous pressure and stress to groom dogs as fast as possible without causing injury to the dog, plus take on all of the customer service duties as they are too cheap to pay for a receptionist. I work in a high volume salon and now that it's the busy season I often spend 2 hours of my day answering phones, checking dogs in and out, doing walk in nails, dealing with PetsHotel, the list goes on, and I have a fully booked day and I must groom the dogs well, get my dogs done on time and not go on overtime. If a PetSmart groomer says they don't have time for a walk in nail service that means they don't even have time to take the time to tell you. No wonder I am so stressed out and want to quit!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

StarrLhasa said:


> Hi, Linda:
> 
> Is there any way you can find out from your Vet what this brown treat is? I have been grooming Buffy, and I sure could use something like that to distract her.
> 
> Thanks!


I am so sorry, I missed your question until now. Haven't spent a lot of time on the forum lately - busy with loads of outside work/chores!! But it has been raining past couple of days so trying to get caught up a bit!

I just got back from the vet and she tried the same technique on Finn this a.m. but he wasn't buying it this time - for his Rabies vacc - she said 'oh, he is a sharp one'! So I just called back to ask what they were: Greenies Pill Pockets. He scarfed it right down *after* he got his shot. 

When Augie was small and hated being brushed or his feet hair trimmed, etc., I would give him a Merrick Flossie and he would be so into chewing on that that I could get the 'deeds' done to him. They were reserved only for grooming chores. Later, we graduated to clipping one nail and give a little treat, another nail and a treat. Then it was a whole foot and a treat. I have used a Himalayan chew for Finn, and was able to get his hind feet hair and nails trimmed. However, not so successful with the front. Had those nails trimmed today at the vet - they didn't even charge me. Next time I will have a Flossie handy and try that with him.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

At my Vet it is the policy for every dog even if it's friendly, the reason is most of the staff has been bitten, there is a lot of stress on dogs when at the Vets even when we don't see it. I do my dogs nails at home, but sometimes if they have been boarding I have them do it. 

I am so glad that Dave brought up getting your dog use to a muzzle in case of an emergency. God forbit anything happening to your pup but the most friendly dog can bit when in pain. Being comfortable with a muzzle lets the use not be one more stressor in an emergency. All my dogs are ok with them.


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## StarrLhasa (Jun 6, 2010)

motherslittlehelper said:


> I am so sorry, I missed your question until now. Haven't spent a lot of time on the forum lately - busy with loads of outside work/chores!! But it has been raining past couple of days so trying to get caught up a bit!
> 
> I just got back from the vet and she tried the same technique on Finn this a.m. but he wasn't buying it this time - for his Rabies vacc - she said 'oh, he is a sharp one'! So I just called back to ask what they were: Greenies Pill Pockets. He scarfed it right down *after* he got his shot.
> 
> When Augie was small and hated being brushed or his feet hair trimmed, etc., I would give him a Merrick Flossie and he would be so into chewing on that that I could get the 'deeds' done to him. They were reserved only for grooming chores. Later, we graduated to clipping one nail and give a little treat, another nail and a treat. Then it was a whole foot and a treat. I have used a Himalayan chew for Finn, and was able to get his hind feet hair and nails trimmed. However, not so successful with the front. Had those nails trimmed today at the vet - they didn't even charge me. Next time I will have a Flossie handy and try that with him.


Thanks, Linda!

No apologies needed. We are all busy, and I appreciate your getting back to me.

Thanks for checking with the Vet about the pill pockets. I have some that I can experiment with.

The flossie might work also. I bought some, but both dogs got loose poops although I only let them chew about 1/2 a flossie each. But using a flossie only for grooming might make Buffy less reluctant to let me comb out her mats and grind her nails.

Thanks much! :yo:


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