Have been taking our little Yorkie for grooming for approximately 4 visits. First visit seemed to…read morego fine, staff helpful and listened to our concerns about being kind & gentle during grooming, since he loves bath time and especially drying off with warm blow dryer.
A little background: In the past, with a previous groomer & different doggie, the groomer had cut his nails too short, and nicked him, and from there on he didn't like having his feet/paws handled. So we are more observant now.
Back to this situation:
The third visit, I did have a slight concern because he now was very scared going into the building and trembled relentlessly, but I chalked it up to him not used to being away from us, I had noticed a slight area that he was licking on his paws that looked a bit raw, but thought it may have been just something that had irritated him like a spur or something, but it occurred after a grooming visit and they had trimmed his fur around all paws...But he behaved the same way during this last visit, on Friday, May 19. Again I shared the same concerns and asked them to be gentle, etc... Typically he is extremely excited and overjoyed when we arrive, even after a five minute trip outdoors, this had been about 3.5 hours later and this time he was very quiet. In the past, a staff member, have typically come and brought him to us and had us look him over and point out various little things they did, but this time, when released from cage, he came to us without any assistance & we opened the door to get him.
When we got home, we noticed that he had been continuously licking his groin area. My daughter was the one who turned him over and noticed he had been scratched/cut on his penis area. It was red and appeared irritated, there was a small little yellowish blister that looked to be forming. We began applying some wound spray and put him in a cone of shame, as it healed.
Long story short, we won't be returning and I hesitated to post, but I know that others who love their furry friends/babies as much as we do and are always worried about taking them and leaving them somewhere should know, so to make best decision for themselves.
I understand that things happen but for a business, dealing with people or animals, extra care should be given. Whether with better spacing of appointments, or additional staff, but in general with being gentle, especially when grooming sensitive areas.
Photos may be a little graphic.