Dog Grooming Schools

Not all groomers offer the brushing of an animal’s teeth as part of their regular service, as technically it’s considered ‘medicine’ and is the job of a certified veterinarian. However, many pet owners will ask for the service, or something similar, if chew bones, etc., aren’t working to keep a dog’s teeth white and healthy.

I personally don’t particularly care for the pre-filled toothbrushes. They don’t have enough paste in them. I like the latex gloves with the brush on the index finger. I rarely have dogs that fight it. Just BE CAREFUL:  I had a dog with teeth that were bad and the gums bled a little and the owners freaked.  I asked my vet about that and he says you have to be really careful because if a tooth comes out or any plaque comes off, they can have a case against you for “praticing veterinary medicine without a lisence.” Stupid. I know, but just the same, I now only offer a spray on dental rinse.  If you do decide to offer this service, make sure the client is aware of any ‘risks’ so they aren’t surprised by a not so perfect result.

I’ve heard recently about a lot of people not paying for their pet’s grooming services or boarding services.  Most states have laws protecting the pet OWNERS but not the business providing the service.  You cannot hold a pet until payment is made; your best hope is filing a civil suit against the customer.

At our clinic, we get a difinitive (or maximum) amount of days that the pet(s) will be staying & have an estimate ready to sign stating they know the amount being due & that they agree to pay the amount when picking the pet/s up. If the pet is going to be left with us for longer than just a few days (than a week usually) then we require that 1/2 down is paid up front before leaving the pet/s. We’ve even had situations where the people didn’t come back for their pets when stated & when called & message left, we didn’t get a return phone call). If on the second day & we still can’t get an answer or a return call, we leave a message that if we do not hear from someone apprising us of the situation that we will be turning the pets over to animal control as abandoned. This usually gets their attention. If we STILL don’t get a return phone call or someone to collect the animals, then we send a registered letter stating as above with a turn over date (usually 5 days). If at that time, we still have no answer, we call animal control or a rescue group. Also a good reason why we MUST have an emergency contact # as well when they leave their pets with us just in case something really has happened with the actual owners that we’re not aware of in which case we would make concesions for. I’ve only known of us having to do this a couple of times in the last couple of years (which is 2 times too many I think) & only once that we actually did end up placing all 3 of the pets with a rescue group that managed to find them all wonderful homes, all be it not together.

If you’ve had a lot of these problems in the past, requiring a 75% payment at the beginning of the service is another option.  It shouldn’t be a problem for customers that plan on paying anyway!!

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