PanningForGold

Who would have ever thought that getting a 60 pound wooly coated 10-year-old Husky a bath would be such an ordeal.  For years we had a regular groomer, twice a year Sequoia would go to this groomer at great expense and come back a clean, if not a little hoarse (yes she would howl the entire time).  However, the last time we went to make an appointment her groomer told us she was booked for the year.  Who the heck schedules a dog grooming session a year in advance?  So, it was time to find another solution.  We found another highly recommended groomer, but when we started asking around we heard some stories we didn’t like. Twice we heard that this groomer ended up shaving a dog without the owner’s permission.  Nope, not going there.

We decided we would try the ‘do-it-yourself’ dog wash.  However it was expensive, you were limited to 10 minute intervals and any way you approach it, it was going to be a lot of work.  It takes a groomer a good 3 hours minimum to wash, brush and dry Sequoia.  I dreaded the ordeal.

Nine years ago we took her to Petco where they did a horrible job.  We think they were afraid of her so they cut some corners.  But it had been nine years, and we have heard both good and bad things.  We found ourselves in Petco one Friday without the dog and we decided to check out the grooming service. We  asked our questions and gave them the scoop on Sequoia. We told them straight up what they were up against, a ten-year old, really strong, really dominant husky who was not afraid to get mouthy.   She was rescued from an abusive home and not socialized well and does not get along with other dogs.  She is really sweet but does not like to be fussed over and she cries when we leave her in a strange places (except when we left her with my sisters mother-in-law where she did beautifully, or so we were told). 

We got a goodish vibe, we met the groomer who takes care of the more challenging dogs and she seemed pretty confident.  We an appointment for Sunday at noon.   Saturday evening we decided to get a head start and brush her out as best we could.  Kind of like cleaning your home before the cleaning service people arrive.  And true to form we decided to clip her nails even though it was included in the cost.  We have a fool-proof method of achieving this event, I pin her down while my wife does the deed.  (I am pretty sure my parents will have something to say about this). Soon it was time to leave, I’m sure we were more nervous than Sequoia or the groomer.  When we left her at Petco we looked in the window where they trying to put her in the cage.  The groomer had Sequoia by the collar and Sequoia was doing the stubborn thing, meaning she was twisting around in her collar grabbing at the groomers hand while heading in any direction but the cage.  They got her in, we left the store. 

Three hours later my phone rings:

“Hello this is so-and-so from Petco, Sequoia is ready to go home, please pick her up.”

We got a full report from her groomer who looked a little beat up.  Sequoia it seems, can be quite the handful.  She escaped once and ran around the kennels like a crazy dog.  She took to the bath okay but she really didn’t like to be brushed.  Much to the groomers credit she did her best and told us quite frankly that she just couldn’t brush her out as well as she would have liked.   We assured her this wasn’t a problem, we could brush her out in small periods over time.  It was the bathing that was the problem for us.  I’m guessing Sequoia was not the hooligan she could have been as when we left the groomer gave me a slip of paper with the recommended time to get her groomed again complete with a 10% off coupon with her next visit.