The vet I work with says dogs are not neutered or spayed before 6 months of age. I also bathe my dog at home regularly, although NEVER with baby shampoo. Baby shampoo is too drying for dogs and if bathed regularly in it, can be the CAUSE of itching due to dry skin.

And by the way, I am a professional groomer of 25 years. I, along with several others, were privy to this conversation when it was copied into a listserv. I think you brought up some excellent points for pet owners to cconsider when deciding upon a choice of a groomer, but I took exception to the manner in which you labeled ALL groomers as irresponsible. While you state that you have "researched the topic" at length for some supposed article, I would be interested to read this "writer's" unbiased opinion and read an article that was fairly balanced in order to give the public ALL the information in which to form an opinion. I have yet to read any article which states that ALL daycares are dangerous to children, and challenge anyone to prove to that ALL groomers are a danger to pets.

I had to reply to this. Not all groomers use cage dryers with a heat setting. I am a mobile groomer with 6 years experience (I did not go to school and am not certified, however one can do this)and no I wasn't a bored housewife when I started. I happen to have a great love for dogs and do very well with them. Being a mobile groomer I do not cage dry, I do hand dry. Where I have worked in the past the dryers for cages did not have heat settings. Some do. Groomers do their best to take care of the dogs. And for everyone's information I have worked at a Pet something and just because they have windows up front doesn't make them the best place to go. Use your own judgement and go by how you comfortable feel. They do not have windows in the back (at least not where I was) so you can't see them drying the dogs anyway. You can bathe a dog in a container, however it is easier just to use a sprayer with a dog shampoo (for ph balance). A hose with no sprayer will take awhile to get all the shampoo out. Dogs should NOT be spayed until they are 6 months of age. Some vets will nueter males as early as 5 months. I think that is a preference thing. I have worked for 2 vets. Also, I do not recommend staring at your dog through a Petsmart window while it is being groomed. If the dog sees you it will get excited and not want to stay still making an accident more likely to happen. As far as I am concerned the lady who started this post is giving advice with no credentials or job related experience, unless I am unaware of them making her the same than those she is accusing.

Also, usually whether they go in a dryer depends on their breed and haircut. If you really have an issue with this, just talk to your groomer and tell her your concerns. Some of us have been grooming for a long time and not every groomer is doing things the wrong way. You should talk to your personal groomer about this. Just because a groomer is not certified is no reason to not use them. Some groomers out there have more experience under their belt than certified groomers. You really need to evaluate how your groomer does and how comfortable you are with them.

Chatty Lady, I do understand your worry, but what you speak is far from the truth and you need to investigate a little deeper. Might I suggest visiting www.groomers.com where you will find literally hundreds or more of very compassionate caring groomers. I am a member of that group and we are just a small percentage of other wonderful groomers around the world. All groomers do not use dryer cages, I'm not even sure what metal box your talking about unless your talking about stainless steel cages like most vet clinics have. I in fact use a Stanly blower fan to help dry dogs, there is absolutely no heat but I do sometimes "in the winter" place a small space heater in the general vacinity of that fan if I see any shivering as I don't want my 4-legged customers to be uncomfortable at all. But if you have ever hand dried a 60 pound chow you would see it isn't just a time saver but it saves both you and the dogs sanity, no dog wants to spend hours on my grooming table, even the ones that love to wash my face as I groom them It isn't about money, and not all groomers are money hungry, in fact I know none that are. We have the pets best interests at heart. We are animal LOVERS FIRST, groomers second.

Yes there are a few bad apples as you WILL find in ANY and ALL professions!!! Next you will say, never go to the hospital for any reason, extract your own apendix if you have to because you know I read that once a nurse in a hospital gave someone a lethal dose of morphine and they died! That's as silly as telling people that ALL groomers do this or ALL groomers do that. If anyone has any questions your groomer would be happy to answer your questions and if they aren't THEN it is time to find a new groomer. PetSmart or Petco may seem like wonderful little places where you can watch your pet being groomed like fish in a fishbowl, but most of those groomers are overworked and underpaid, the stress in most of those corporate shops is amazing, and they recieve very little training before they begin as groomer. Of course I wouldn't generalize and say ALL of those places are bad, but like I said I do visit a board of hundreds of groomers and they have a lot to say.

I have been grooming for 17 years. Do I have a certificate?? Nope, I was aprentice trained. Trained by a groomer who had been grooming 35 years. I have been head of 2 very large grooming/kennel facilities, I have worked for numerous shops as I have moved a couple of times and have learned something new and offered my own knowledge every place I've been, I have not once worked for or with a licensed groomer. If you want to see my work go to my homepage www.canine-design.com So what is all that worth without a piece of paper? I guess it all depends on who you ask. Would you rather have a certified graduate of a grooming school that gives 4 weeks of training groom your pet, or have a 17 year veteran who has seen and done it all, knows how to handle all types of skin and coat problems, as well as behavioral issues groom him or her? If this law gets passed all over people like me and several hundred of my friends all over will lose their jobs, and businesses because they didn't hand over 10,000 or so to a school for a 4 - 6 week course to get that silly piece of paper.

Go ahead and wash your chow mix with a garden hose and use that rake "that BTW doesn't work well and most groomers don't even use them" bathe and brush and when you can't get to the skin, your dog gets hotspots that the flys find to hatch their young and you have a nice healthy batch of maggots going there. You won't be taking it to the groomers it will be the vet who will treat your dog, and ask why didn't you have your dog groomed PROFESSIONALLY?????

I too am a groomer, and would be happy to answer any questions about grooming. If you talk to your groomer, she or he would be happy to explain how they dry.
As Scissorat said, Pet Somethings only let you see what happens out FRONT. If you would like to watched your dog be groomed, ask your groomer. Most groomers will be happy for you to watch, but if you dog acts up seeing 'mommy' they might have you look from behind a corner.

Thank you Caninedesign and Annie. Excellent.

[ June 14, 2006, 10:54 PM: Message edited by: Scissorart ]

Well, I shampoo my yorkie in the bath tub for year and my daughter cut her hair and she did fine because she has seizures and we could not take her to the groomer she would get so upset . She did just fine when we gave her a bath . She did not have and infections at all . So all depends I guess

I think this up to the pet owner what he or she would like to do . Pro and cons on this one . There are good groomers like you Canine and there are bad ones out there .

Just my thoughts

CanineDesign
I just visited your homepage and those pets are adorable. I fell in love with Daisy, (who wouldn't?) and Beau looks like some sort of doll! How beautiful the pictures were. Did you groom all of these pets?

Welcome to all the newbees...JJ

There is a difference when it comes to seizures and getting stressed. Something like that should probably be discussed with your vet and options weighed. There is also a big difference between a chow coat and a yorkie coat. As well as a house dog and an outside dog- that is much more prone to getting hotspots.

[ June 14, 2006, 11:02 PM: Message edited by: Scissorart ]