moooooommyy!!

There are inherent risks to every job. Mine included. As a groomer, the worst I have to deal with fear and/or aggression in my pet customers. Both of those can lead to bites. I was "reminded" of that today, when my 12:00 dog suddenly took objection to having his nails done. Wham! he got a good shot to my left hand. Stupidly, I just wagged my finger at him and said "don't do that again". Picked up his foot again and clipped another nail. Unfortunately, it was too late, and I saw the dog's fuse blow. Wham! left hand again. Wham, wham! right hand... I felt him bite and hold. NOT GOOD. I made a point of NOT trying to pull my hand away, 'cause that would have only made things worse. I waited until he let go, and muzzled him. Re-attached the noose to the grooming arm (I have a safety device installed that breaks the connection between arm and noose if the dog jumps or falls off the table) and with that done, I got the nails finished and the rest of the grooming went without a hitch. I took the muzzle off before the bath, and didn't need it again. The worst bite is on my right wrist. A tooth mark, about an inch deep.

Funny, so far, the biters have only been Schnauzers... and when they decide to bite, they don't fool around! But I also have 3 times as many sweet schnauzers as I have nasty ones. The biters are the exception to the rule (thankfully!)

YIKES! I sure hope you're having that checked out by a doctor!? What a day, huh?

I am just about to graduate from grooming school, I have been going for about a year now and I agree that schnauzers are some of the nastiest dogs, but where I work we get a lot of mean Cocker Spaniels. My schooling is all hands on and I am actually grooming dogs, I am not sure yet how anyone does this by themselves because I definately need help some of the time!

ouch! do you need stitches now?

OMG , bless your heart . I am sure you will feel that for a while . Yea , Snauzers is one of the dogs I don't really care for . They are known to bite . I hope you feel better ((((HUG))))

You sound so calm about the whole thing ... I hope you got a good tip from the owners.

Originally posted by Tobycat
I hope you got a good tip from the owners.

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DITTO!

I hope you got a good tip from the owners.

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NO TIP!!!

And when I told the woman the dog had objected to the nail clipping, her demeanor was "oh yeah, he doesn't like the nails... I tried doing it at home once, and I made him bleed, so..." and you couldn't have told me this BEFORE?!? some people amaze me!!!

thh20 that would have ticked me off too . My Boston Terrier was abused and I think by a man since he don't like man . How ever , when I go to the vet or to my groomer I always tell them so that no man is getting hurt . I think that owner should have tould you right from the begin with .

I agree. Isn't there something that can be done? Obviously you're not going to sue her...but there must be something for compensation...

I wouldn't do her dog again, if I were you. Obviously, she doesn't believe in tipping, and she sounds like a real *&*!@#

ok... so I exagerated a bit. The "big" bite is probably more like 1 cm. deep, but it sure feels deeper! I doubt I'll need stitches, but there'll probably be a few scars, and there will definitely be bruising. I'll have to keep an eye on things, make sure there's no infection. Although with fur flying everywhere with each dog, I can see myself going through a lot of band-aids!! And I think I'll have to wear latex gloves for the bathing, so that shampoo doesn't get into the sores...

and just for the heck of it, I counted the marks... (small and less small): 4 on the left hand (one of them a blood blister), 13 on the right. I guess I was a little slower on the right, huh?

did that woman see what her darn dog did to you ???

I think you and others that groom dogs (because people are too f***ing lazy to do it themselves) should have a compensation of some sort because I wouldn't put up with that kinda of crap, whether it's a little damn bite or a big one. That's your hands or your face or body that risks getting scarred because some numbnut owner is too damn lazy to do it themselves, or they are aware, as with this situation. You have too big of a heart for that position, I would have clipped her damn head off LOL!

when I told her that her dog had bitten me, I held up my hands to show her, and she was surprised to hear he'd bitten me, but she didn't seem very apologetic... (and I told her I'd recognized it was my fault... I'd pushed the dog farther than he was willing to go... but still...). I'd just finished putting band-aids on the marks, so it was maybe a bit harder for her to see where he'd bitten. And I've done that dog twice before, without a problem. Why did he flip out this time?? The dogs that bit me in the past bit a few times, as though to say STOP IT, I MEAN IT!, but this one seemed out to get me! I've never seen a dog so p'd off before!

And when I told the woman the dog had objected to the nail clipping, her demeanor was "oh yeah, he doesn't like the nails... I tried doing it at home once, and I made him bleed, so..." and you couldn't have told me this BEFORE?!? some people amaze me!!!

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AAAAARGH! Don't you want to throttle the ^%&*&(^ ? Some people!