Bouvier Grooming Story

A Bad Hair Day
by CJ Weiss
Excerpted with permission from the BouvLovers Email Group

We agreed this week to take our Bouvs to a groomer this week as Tim had to go out of town again unexpectedly and our list of seasonal chores was out of control... Tim is the official groomer in our house. (I'm not allowed to man the scissors after some cuts that were considered too short.) So this was a big decision for him to let go and have a stranger groom our dogs. They have occasionally been to a groomer but it was Ollie's breeder who also owns a dog parlor. And we trust him beyond words.

So I found one that is also a school so I figured they would be good with all dogs, especially our Emily. She is still working on her skills with strangers and needs a firm hand.

I took them in this morning and faced a crowd of about 7 woman, all of whom worked there, as we discussed what to do. We didn't want Anal glands done or their nails clipped. So far we've had no negative experiences on the grooming table and we'd like to keep it that way. Just a straight wash and cut. The place is a fairly open concept so I felt comfortable that no abuse would occur.

As for the cut, I told them we didn't want a show cut or a shave but somewhere in between. I wanted Ollie's hair to be half as long as it was, ending up around 1 1/2 inch on the body. They took a clipper to his belly and showed my how much they would take off. I assumed they meant by the amount they showed me on the floor for length off. It was less than I wanted but better too long then too short

They called me when the dogs were done.

When I walked in this black dog looked at me. Had it not been for the eyes, I wouldn't have known it was Ollie. He was shaved! And it is not a good look for him, he hasn't filled out completely and he is all legs. Now he really does look like a horse! He was tied on to a hook in a room with a bunch of other dogs on grooming tables. I have "halties" for them and the haltie was around his neck instead of over their nose. I still don't know how they had it on so wrong.

I was busy adjusting it correctly (I was concerned it could choke him that way!) and they brought out Emily.

My beautiful Emily who looks like the perfect Bouv... not any more. She's a leggy girl, I'll give her that. Haltie on wrong on her too...

I was so flabbergasted that my babies looked so awful.. And there are tuffs of fur in places where they didn't get the razor evenly across. And Emily had had a poop on her leash. I just paid and got them out of there.

When I got them home they both needed to use the bathroom and they drank a ton. Needless to say, we won't be going back there!

So now my problem is Tim. He is still out of town and won't get back until late tonight. I have debated packing up and leaving town, maybe return in about 2 months when our dogs look like Bouviers again. But he'd know where to find us...

I've thought about seducing him with wine and lingerie in hopes he won't notice the dogs. But that will only work for so long.

I have thought about telling him that I traded in our Bouvs for poodle type mutts. Not sure he would buy that one though.

I know one thing - I'll never get him to agree to take the dogs to another groomer. And there will be very few pictures of our pitiful looking Bouvs this Christmas... And I may have to buy them sweaters so they can hang out in our cold Canadian winter!

However, I do know what my dogs will look like in July when I shave them down because they won't stay out of the lake at our cottage!

CJ, Emily (brrrr, it's cold, anyone feel a draft?) and Ollie (What's so funny?)

Emily & Ollie