Why do dog groomers prefer you to leave your dog with them?

If you are one of the many dog owners who take their dog along to a professional groomer from time to time to have your dog bathed, groomed and generally tidied up, the chances are that you are used to the procedure of taking your dog along, leaving them and picking them up again later when they are done.

If you are intent on staying with your dog for their grooming, particularly the first time that you visit a new groomer, this will usually be permitted-however, groomers generally have a strong preference that you leave your dog and don’t stay throughout the procedure unless there is a very good reason.

Whilst most dog owners simply accept this as the way it is, and can appreciate the reasons behind it, others will understandably wonder why groomers prefer to work alone, and it can be helpful to get a groomer’s perspective on why this is.

In this article, we will look at some of the various reasons behind why dog groomers-and other professionals too, such as hydrotherapists, doggy day care managers and in some cases, vets, prefer to work with your dog without you present. Read on to learn more.

Your dog will settle better

It is an indisputable fact that the way that a dog reacts to things and how they behave changes significantly when the owner is not present-and not necessarily for the worst! While many dog owners feel that their dogs are more comfortable with them around or that they can be of help during the bath and grooming, the opposite is usually the case.

When your groomer works with your dog, they do so on an intensive, one to one basis, which relies on them being able to get and keep your dog’s attention, be able to give them commands and manoeuvre them around as necessary.

All of this is much harder if the owner of the dog is present, even if they stand back and do not try to get involved-the dog will still react to the presence of the owner, and seek reassurance and commands from them, not the groomer, which can make everything harder.

The groomer will work more effectively

As well as the effect that your presence can have on your dog, and how this can make things harder, having someone watching the whole process will also have an effect on the groomer themselves, however small this is-nobody works at their best when they have someone hovering watching them, after all!

Whether the presence of someone else simply makes the groomer work more slowly than normal or actually means that they won’t achieve the result they were hoping for, watching the groomer work will make things rather tense for the groomer, whether they show signs of this or not.

Your dog will be easier to manage

As mentioned, when you are around, your dog will look to you for direction and commands by default, and will not be as responsive when someone else is trying to give your dog commands or move them around to do what they need to do for them.

This means that when you are not there, your dog will work better with your groomer, and your groomer will be more business-like and efficient than they would be when you are there. This does not by any means mean that the groomer will be brisk, rough or otherwise handle your dog in a way that you would not like them to-but they will be able to do what they need to do as a professional without feeling as if they have to tiptoe around your preferences!

Health, safety and insurance

Many dog groomers work from a parlour at their home rather than from a commercial premises, and this is absolutely fine-they will still have all of the appropriate insurance, licences and permissions that they will need to do this. However, the insurance for most groomers will not account for having spectators or people who do not work for the company present or involved in the process, and neither will they be likely to have made provisions for people to wait for their dogs either.

Other people’s dogs

When groomers work, they usually schedule back-to-back appointments with only a small gap between them, which often means that there will be dogs waiting to be groomed and dogs waiting to be picked up as well as the dog that is currently being groomed.

These dogs of course all belong to other people, and they may not want someone who does not work for the groomer hanging around and trying to talk to their dogs, or even stressing the dog out simply by their presence.

Keeping to a schedule

Finally, groomers work to a schedule, just like everyone else does-and being able to keep to their schedule and have all of the dogs ready at the right time as well as being able to finish work at the appointed time depends on nobody throwing a spanner in the works!

Whilst all groomers will of course make time to talk through what you want for your dog, any concerns and the results, they don’t schedule time to talk people through the grooming process step by step, what tools are involved and the ins and outs of the business!

Whether you mean to or not, staying with your dog while they are groomed is likely to put your groomer somewhat behind-unless of course they have asked you to stay in order to be able to manage your particular dog, or if they have a health problem.