Please Don't Blame Your Groomer For Your Pet's Drastic Shave-Down
An all-over shaving of your pet's coat is the last resort a groomer will take when no other solution is available to salvage your pet's coat. A badly maintained and matted coat is not able to do it's job at protecting your pet's skin from the elements, nor balance its body temperature correctly. It's a target for parasites and disguises early signs of skin conditions and ill health. In short, it is not something anyone would (or should) want for their pet.
As groomers we are faced with few choices when presented with a matted pet to groom. Usually the best and kindest solution is to remove the coat completely, otherwise known as a shave-down or de-matt. Unfortunately, this is not often a popular solution among pet owners and leaves us groomers in the firing line for hurtful and accusing comments about the motivation behind what we do, as well as our skills and experience.
Please allow us the opportunity to explain...
We hate upsetting your pet
Causing pain and distress to an animal is the last thing we would ever want to do. As groomers, we chose our career because we love animals and want to make them feel, as well as look, good. Drastic shave-downs don't tick either of those boxes. They are uncomfortable for your pet, are distressing to carry out and produce a finished groom that it's hard to be proud of. We do it because we put your pet's welfare above everything else, and this is not something we should be made to feel ashamed of.
Shave-downs cost us money
Despite the popular belief that shave-downs are 'easy money' for groomers, we can actually lose money on a pet that requires a drastic shave. Shaving a matted coat blunts and potentially damages our equipment, which we will have to pay to have sharpened and maintained. In addition to this, shave-downs take longer than the average groom to carry out, and even if we price accordingly for this we can still end up losing money in lost revenue.
Shave-downs are preventable
The sad thing about shave-downs is that usually they are completely preventable through regular and consistent maintenance of the coat at home by the owner. We do our best to encourage and kindly advise our clients on the best way to care for their pets, and it's hurtful when this advice is ignored and we are blamed for the bad condition of a pet's coat.
They're not a good advert for our businesses
We spend a lot of time, money and effort tailoring our skills to produce the best looking grooms we can for our customers, and nothing makes us feel worse than producing a bad finished result. It's very difficult to make a shaved-down pet look their best, and its even more upsetting when we get negative feedback because of this.
Our finished grooms are a great way for us to grow our business through word of mouth, but of course this can work both ways. We would love to be able to offer all our customers a finished groom that makes them turn heads (for all the right reasons!) However, as mentioned above, we will always do what's best for your pet, even if it has a negative impact on us.
We know you're not happy
When we have to drastically shave your pet's coat we know you're not happy. Believe us, we're not happy either! But please remember that we are doing it for the right reasons.
We're trying to help.
Negative comments whether made in person or posted online hurt us deeply when we know we are doing the right thing for your pet. In an ideal world we would have a magic wand that we could wave to instantly and painlessly de-matt your pet's coat, but sadly we don't.
Your pet's coat will grow back, and hopefully next time we will be able to produce a finished groom that you will be happy with. But in the meantime, please don't blame us for what we have had to do.