On June 26, 2021, I had our family's 8 month old puppy groomed at Pet Smart on Chain Link Drive in Halifax--my third visit. We have a sweet bichon frisée, and her hair was about an inch and a half long. I asked for a trim to even out her fur and to prepare her for a walking-filled outdoor family vacation. The groomer shared that it was "a very busy day" and that she would be ready in 3 hours. She called after two hours for pick up.
Shockingly, I returned to a puppy who had been shaved very close to the skin. The groomer explained that she had "a number of matted areas on her neck and body," and thus had "no choice" but to take her fur to the lowest length. I was horrified at the sight of a bald puppy, who immediately looked in pain when I picked her up. She was not cuddly, as usual and looked as though in pain. But I was even more so shocked and distressed when we brought her home. Her behavior shifted radically: She was skiddish for the first time, incessantly itching, and up the entire night moving, barking, irritable. She moved constantly, as if in pain. Today -- the day after --, she is the same: sad and not at all playful, moving and twitching, and her skin is increasingly red at her spine. In less than a day, she is no longer the sweet, cuddly, playful, confident puppy we left for grooming at Pet Smart yesterday. My family is deeply, deeply distraught.
Today, I spent hours (on vacation) reading about what could be wrong, and found that 1) her coat should never have been taken down so low as it causes great irritation and discomfort for many bichons, 2) that the close shearing makes her skin more vulnerable to sunburn and sensitivity, and 3) that bichon hair (with some normal matting )simply needs gentle detangling care with spray and combing. A number of bichon care resources I studied also warned about the danger of her hair growing back irregularly as a result of such unnecessarily short shearing.
I am disappointed that the groomer carelessly removed all of our puppy's fur and caused such great distress for our sweet puppy and also for our family. I am angry at the lack of professionalism displayed by the groomer who hastily sheared the puppy "on a busy day" rather than taking the time to care properly for her fur and groom her fur as our breed of puppy needed. I am frustrated that the groomer did not simply call to say that she felt our puppy was too matted for a trim; I would have happily picked her up to prevent the distress the groomer ultimately caused. I am tired after a sleepless night and during a much-needed vacation, that will need now to attend to our distressed puppy. And I have been hustled for $70 that deserves to be reimbursed. We deserve an apology and Pet Smart needs to train its groomers with greater compassion and knowledge of breeds that cannot, should not be cut to the skin. At the very least, Pet Smart groomers must be forthright with information regarding the risks of such shearing before we turn our beloved pets over into their care. We the customers need to be able to make the final, informed decisions about shearing, and certainly, I would never have made such a choice with proper information about the likelihood of such harm to our puppy. read more