Animal abuse is prevalent in the dog grooming industry. I went to a grooming school in Central SC and the woman who owns it is very abusive to animals. On April 1,2009 she abused a little sheltie named Ty so bad that it shook and whimpered the rest of the day from what she did to it. Because the dog was already shaking from nerves it slipped out of the grooming loop. This woman grabbed the dog off the grooming table and body slammed it to the floor hard. The dog was making what I can only describe as screaming. It was yelping and whimpering because she was twisting the skin and fur as hard as she could while she was shaking and slapping the dog. She then put a choke chain on it and drug it through the shop yelling "you will submit" at it. She then body slammed the dog again before throwing it into the bath tub. The poor thing would not lift his head to look up at all.
Her assistant also hits and slaps the dogs. The last afternoon I was there her assistant was hitting and punching a dog because it defecated on the grooming table. Even though people know she is like this they still take their animals to her to be groomed. Go figure. I even called the owner of the sheltie and told her what happened to her dog.

Sorry to hear about your golden retriever..
Sometimes there are accidents that may occur in an unexpected place.
try to contact local authorities regarding that incident.

[Lara's mom]

I know most groomers are very trustworthy. However, for my own peace of mind, I do not leave my girls in a cage waiting to be groomed and I don't take my eyes off of them for a moment until they are done and back in my care.

[valleyjays]

This is too sad to hear. This is an old thread but I wonder what the results were after? Did you hear anything?

[Groominator]

Really the only thing to say is that people are people. There are bad groomers like there are bad doctors, bad psychiatrists, bad plumbers, bad lawyers. When handling animals some will get injured. We have scissors next to a moving object. No one is perfect and no one is mistake free, dogs do and will get cut. And, people who are not groomers: Just because your dog was nicked does not mean the groomer did not know what they were doing. Dogs move, jump, pull, dance, hop on the table. Some groomers do abuse dogs, no lie, as will some teachers, doctors, daycare workers abuse the people they take care of.

[MrAndrew]

Great advice, my 2 cents: Stay away from corporate PetCOs and PetSmarts, they don't really care about your animal, heck, they offer live animals for sale!!

Originally Posted by Groominator

FOR EVERYONE READING THIS:

Please ask to speak directly to the person grooming your dog. Ask them how long they have been grooming and how/where they were trained. Make sure they are attentive and open to speak with you, and are professional. Appearances and age dont always tell a full story. I have seen some very normal looking people that are groomers that are less than friendly with the dogs. And I have seen groomers with mohawks and neck tattoos that would throw themselves in front of a bus to save your dog. Also, just because a groomer is an older/ middle aged person does not mean that they are a better groomer.