Dog groomer disaster leaves woman convinced she picked up ‘wrong pet’
Imagine taking your dog to the groomer and walking out with a whole new pet.
If you’ve got a dog, you’ll probably have taken them to have their coat groomed at least once. While you can maintain your pet‘s coat yourself, it’s sometimes easier to see a professional – especially if you have a dog breed that requires more maintenance than you feel qualified to give.
But many pet parents will feel nervous about leaving their precious pooch in the hands of a stranger.
Most of the time, your dog’s groomer will know exactly what to do to combine your aesthetic wishes with what your pooch needs for comfort. However, sometimes wires can get crossed – and you can end up collecting a dog that looks nothing like the animal you left.
That’s exactly what happened to one woman on TikTok, who said her dog had such a disastrous trip to the groomer that she’s convinced the pet she took home isn’t actually hers.
Desirae Maria posted a video in which she said she had taken her husky to the groomer because he was having “issues” with his coat. Siberian huskies are double-coated dogs, meaning they have two distinct layers of fur, which requires regular grooming to prevent matting and shedding.
She said: “I don’t know if I should be laughing or crying right now. My double-coated dog has been having issues with his coat, and the groomer I’ve been taking him to for a year now says, ‘I think we need a little bit of a fresh start’. Last time, she had to shave his belly and his legs, so I thought that was what she was going to be doing.”
But when she went to collect her dog later in the day, Desirae was horrified to find that her groomer had completely shaved every inch of her dog – except for his head which remained big and fluffy.
She added: “I go to pick my dog … I didn’t know this was my dog. Whose dog is this? What? He is bald! He is completely bald with a big head! Oh my gosh.”
Commenters on the post were torn, however. Some said the groomer did what she said she was going to do by “starting fresh”, but others claimed you should “never” fully shave a double-coated dog.
One person said: “You never shave a double-coated dog unless absolutely necessary for surgery or something.”
Another added: “You need to get a new groomer; you NEVER shave a double-coated dog.”
According to Gordon’s Grooming, shaving a double-coated dog is “the worst thing you can do” to the animal. While it might seem as though shaving the hair can help your dog cool down or stop them from shedding hair, it actually has the opposite effect – making them hotter and worsening shedding.
Instead, if you have a double-coated dog – which includes huskies, labradors, beagles, and Pomeranians, among others – you should regularly bathe and brush it to keep its coat healthy.
The grooming experts stated, “In short, different breeds were created with coats that work best for them. For breeds such as Golden Retrievers, Pomeranians, Labrador Retrievers, Pugs, and other double-coated breeds, it is NOT necessary or in the best interest of their health and care [to shave them].”
