The Nail Trim Debate
Another huge point of contention between customers and staff centers on nail trims. For as mundane and monotonous as it is to most groomers or someone like myself that has quite literally trimmed over 100,000 individual dog nails over the course of the last decade it is a common point of stress and contention with over protective pet owners; especially those with pets that have been conditioned by the owners to react negatively to the experience. There are a myriad of situations that I could cover regarding the back and forth surrounding the process, but I will try and scattershot most of the issues in the following hypothetical dialogue:
Pet Owner: A young lady brings in large dog for a nail trim “I would like to get his nails trimmed, but I warn you he bites.”
Business Owner: Observes dog and he looks nervous but not overtly aggressive “No problem Sir or Ma’am, I will see what I can do” approaches dog and dog is wagging nervously, somewhat reserved but the overall tone is friendly but apprehensive.
Pet Owner: Gets tense, starts applying pressure to the leash, becomes visibly nervous, voice pitch changes and again warns of this dogs vicious nature. Dog is beginning to get upset and more apprehensive feeding off the owner’s body language.
Business Owner: Attempts to diffuse the situation and asks the owner no nonchalantly hand over the leash.
Pet Owner: Hesitantly does so.
Business Owner: Creates some space between owner and pet to diffuse the situation and get the pet away from the nervous owner who is inadvertently adding stress and tension to the dog. Speaks to dog in calm, assertive way and dog begins to calm down. Wags shyly but compliantly and begins to head towards the grooming area for requested nail trim.
Pet Owner: “Can I go in with you and hold him?”
Business Owner: “No Sir or Ma’am, only employees are allowed in the grooming room”
Pet Owner: “Why? How do I know you are not going to hurt him?”
Business Owner: “Ma’am, we have a great deal of experience trimming dog nails and having mom or dad around can at times make the pet behave in a negative way or cause them to act out as they feed on a pet owners stress.”
Pet Owner: “What do you mean?”
Business Owner: “Ma’am, dogs are masters at reading body language and if you become stressed or continually try and communicate or interact with the dog while we are trimming the nails he/she could wiggle around or act out which puts both our staff and your dog at risk of injury.”
Pet Owner: “Well, the other grooming shop that I go to always lets me hold him when they trim the nails.”
Business Owner: “I can understand that but that is their policy, our is different and for insurance reasons we cannot allow you in the grooming room while we are trimming the toenails. Why did you stop going to the other shop that let you hold him?”
Pet Owner: “They said he was too difficult and that they couldn’t do him anymore.”
Business Owner: “No problem, if you would like we can continue and I will see what we can get done.” Leads dog into grooming room and asks pet to sit (which he does) and observes the dogs body language. Dog appears nervous and anxious, so a moment is given to calm the animal, petting and soothing talk. Dog calms a bit and one paw is taken to begin trimming nails.
Pet Owner: Opens door and shouts nervously into grooming room “Be careful, don’t hurt him.” to which the dog becomes upset and yanks foot back, body language changes.
Business Owner: “Ma’am, You need to close the door and not enter the grooming room while we trim his nails. Have a seat or browse the store it will only take a second.” Dog now more nervous is muzzled for the safety of the staff and the procedure starts again. One foot is secured and the first nail is trimmed. Clean cut, no quick, no injury but the dog yelps.
Pet Owner: Once again opens door and screams in to stop hurting her dog. Dog becomes more upset and begins to visibly struggle.
Business Owner: “Ma’am, please have a seat and allow us to finish or we will be unable to safely trim your dogs nails.”
Pet Owner: Begrudgingly closes door and the atmosphere once again calms.
Business Owner: Again calms the dog, now the owner is out of sight the dog begins to relax and the nail trim proceeds without incident. Exits grooming room with dog and returns it to owner.
Pet Owner: “You didn’t hurt him did you?”
Business Owner: “No Ma’am, he did just fine..”
Pet Owner: Visibly shaken “But how do I know? He looks so upset.”
Business Owner: “No Ma’am, there were no problems, he did very well.. Just relax and the dog will relax, when you are stressed the dog will feed on that and likewise become upset.”
Pet Owner: “I didn’t know that.”
Business Owner: “No problem Ma’am.”
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