Sometimes, pet groomers get some unusual styling requests. I bet you will recognize some of these:
- "Shave the poodle feet, but do it all the way up to the wrist joint."
- "Trim the legs and feet much closer than the body."
- "Don't take any length at all off the ears" (or maybe the head or tail.)
- "Please cut the hair right to the skin over the eyes; that hair grows so fast!"
- "Just cut the mats out."
These are just some offbeat things people ask groomers to do to their pets.
We know that:
- Shaving up that high on a poodle leg looks dreadful and makes the whole haircut off-balance.
- That shorter legs on a longer body make the dog look like an ottoman. Or a yak. Neither are attractive looks on a dog.
- When we get this request, the hair they don't want to be trimmed is almost always thin and scraggly and would look ten times better if we could neaten it up.
- Scalping that area right over the eyes looks awful. There is no way to fulfill this request and create an attractive groom job.
- If we do this, the pet will most likely look like a giant mutant moth has attacked it.
So what is a groomer to do? Some groomers just flat refuse to do what owners ask for if they know it is a bad idea. Others try to gently educate their customers and suggest alternate ideas that might satisfy them but look better. After warning them it won't look good, others will do precisely as the customer wants.
A groomer friend of mine uses the slogan "Your pet, your way" and strives to groom each dog as the owner asks. She says that sometimes she cringes, but she figures that the pet owner looks at that dog every single day, not her and that she will do what they want.
I groomed a cute Lhasa Apso in a 1 ½ inch teddy bear-type trim for many years. Once, his owners asked that I shave his face smoothly like a poodle. I told them it wouldn't look good, and I was pretty sure they would hate it. They insisted. I did as they told me, and when they picked him up, they gave him a hard look and said, "You were right. That's terrible. We won't do that again."
How do you handle it when the customer wants you to do something that won't look good? In my opinion, the best course of action is to try to inform them to the best of your ability, then go ahead and groom the pet the way they want. Chances are they won't ask a second time. If they do, you can be assured you are making them happy, even if you find the results cringe-worthy.
