When Scissors Slip: Managing Pet Grooming Accidents

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Accidents Happen: What Can You Do?

Sharp tools, wiggly pets, and even the most skilled human hands sometimes lead to unexpected moments in pet grooming. What happens when scissors slip or clippers nick? How should professional groomers handle these delicate situations, and what should pet parents expect?

Shannon and Tanya of Hound Therapy dive deep into the reality of grooming accidents in this candid, honest conversation about a topic many in the industry avoid discussing. Drawing from years of hands-on experience, they share personal stories of mistakes they've made and how proper handling turned potential disasters into opportunities for building deeper trust.

"Nobody intentionally goes out to wreck their vehicle. They're called accidents for a reason," Shannon explains, setting the tone for a discussion that emphasizes responsibility without shame. The professional groomers outline specific protocols every groomer should follow when accidents happen: immediate first aid, transparent communication with pet owners, documentation, and appropriate follow-up care.

For pet parents, this episode offers valuable perspective on how to respond when receiving that dreaded call about an injury. The hosts emphasize that most groomers feel terrible when accidents occur and have already beaten themselves up before making that difficult call. They provide guidance on distinguishing between honest mistakes that deserve grace and patterns that might indicate it's time to find a new groomer.

Beyond the practical advice, this conversation highlights something fundamental about the pet care industry: the relationship between groomers and clients is built on shared love for the animals in their care. When both parties approach even difficult situations with honesty and compassion, trust deepens rather than breaks.

Ready to learn more about our approach to pet care? Call us at 469-367-0009 to schedule an appointment or visit www.Houndtherapy.com to explore our full range of services for your furry family members.

To learn more about Hound Therapy visit:
https://www.HoundTherapy.com
Hound Therapy
3509 E Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
469-367-0009

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Tail Talk Grooming Chronicles with Hound
Therapy, the podcast where wetalk all things pet grooming,
daycare academy and more.
Hosted by Shannon and Tanya ofHound Therapy serving pet owners
across North Texas, we're hereto share expert tips, hilarious
pet stories and the inside scoopon keeping your furry friends

(00:25):
happy and healthy.
Our motto humanity over vanity.
And don't worry, we don't bite.
Let's get started.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Who let the dogs out who let the dogs out.
Grooming is hands-on andsometimes things happen.
Shannon and Tanya break downwhat to do when cuts, scrapes or
nicks occur and how bothgroomers and pet parents can
respond with grace and care.

(00:54):
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Sofia Yvette, co-host andproducer, back in the studio
with Shannon and Tanya,professional groomers at Hound
Therapy.
Shannon and Tanya, how's itgoing today?
Great.
How about you?
Great Now today.
I know we're tackling a toughone, but this is the kind that

(01:15):
builds real trust betweengroomers and pet parents.
So we know that accidentshappen, so what can you do about
it?

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Well, I'm going to start with just on your mistakes
.
So I'm going to talk to you.
If there are groomers that arelistening, it's a little
different than if you're, youknow, the owner of a pet.
But if you're a groomer and youknow that mistakes happen,
things, dogs look another way.
People come in and ask you aquestion, another dog walks by.
While you're grooming a dog, youknow there's a thousand things

(01:47):
that can cause an accident ascrape or cut, or you didn't
realize.
Oh, I picked up the wrong blade, it's on my clipper.
I mean, we're only human and weall have bad days.
That said, just own it, ownyour mistake.
Do what you can to resolve thesituation as best as you know
how.
Hopefully you have some cpr andfirst aid training if you're in

(02:09):
the grooming facility and agrooming or at least somebody in
your facility that that doeshave first aid knowledge of how
to take care of a nick or cut orscrape.
Things happen all the time.
Nails get cut too short, thatis not usually a big thing, but
if it gets cut way back it canbleed for a considerable amount
of time and then stop and thengo home and bleed.

(02:29):
So as soon as you don't saysomething about it, I assure you
it's going to be a problem athome.
You know, ears get nicked.
Paw pads there's just under thearm, right inside the underside
flap.
I mean there's just a lot ofreal common spots that are hard
to get on.
A little dog or a big dogthat's wiggling a movie or
that's maybe matted or something.

Speaker 4 (02:52):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
Own it.
Be 100% upfront and I wouldcall the owner as soon as you
have the situation under controland say hey look, this is what
happened, it's my mistake and orit was a dog.
Don't, don't cast blame,because a mistake is a mistake,
right?
If you hit another car, nobodyintentionally goes out to wreck

(03:13):
their vehicle.
They're called accidents for areason.
It wasn't intentional.
Now, if you're cutting youranimals on a regular basis, then
I suggest getting with somebodyto better broaden your holding
sensibilities and what bladesyou know what blades you should
be using, because you should notbe cutting them on a regular

(03:33):
basis.
But if it's few and far between, then obviously be honest.
Now, as a client, it's a wholedifferent story.
Nobody wants to drop their dogoff.

Speaker 4 (03:42):
And nobody wants the phone call.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
Hey, we're calling because we cut your dog.
Let me explain to you.
So I always start off with solisten, while we were grooming,
this is what happened.
It's not a big deal, we have itunder control, but you know, I
feel like, hey, this issomething that we've been able
to stop here.
Explain to them that if theyneed to go to the vet, you know

(04:04):
that you'll obviously cover thecost and you know, don't wait
till Wednesday to call me whenI'm open If something happens.
Most groomers that are good attheir jobs will be able to
explain if they think it's amajor cut or not a major cut.
And I myself have had somemajor cuts where I'm like look

(04:24):
this you know, I thought it wasa mat, I cut through it.
You know, I got a huge cut onthe back of a dog's ear and I
took the dog immediately to thevet and it needed stitches.
I looked at it I'm a vet techso I knew that it would and I
just went ahead and did it.
I mean there's, you know.
What vet do you want me to goto at this point is what you ask

(04:46):
the client?
If you can't get ahold of theclient, then hopefully you have
the rapport with them that.
Look, this is what I did.
It was the best that I could dowith what I had and the
information that I was able toget in an emergency.
Right, be responsible, actresponsible.
But as a pet owner, try to be.
You know, give your groomerssome grace Again.

(05:07):
If it's happening all the time,switch groomers.
If it's something that is, it'sclearly a mistake and it's a
one time they've told you aboutit and they're willing to say
hey, your dog is bad at bites.
We're going to try our best notto do it.
We sign waivers here.
So if we get really mad at dogs, so we have dogs that are hard
to handle, you know, dogs thatare old, that can't stand like

(05:28):
real moly dogs.
We try to warn you in advance.
We're gonna do everything wecan not to get any of those.

Speaker 4 (05:33):
But you know you may go home with a lot of quick stop
on their nails, or and we'vehad two first aid care dogs that
were hurt previous to ourgrooming appointment- yeah
there's the dog that comes inwith punctures all over her and
she gets in fights with otherdogs, she gets in fights with
her sibling dogs, adversitygoing to the vet.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
A the vet, a lot of them.
They're here for a groomingappointment so we'll shave those
areas down really close and lowso that owner can keep an eye
on it.
If it looks bigger or infectedor red or yellow, then obviously
we encourage them to go to thevet.
So you know, having a vet thatyou work with is also a huge
bonus and a plus.
Making sure that if you're afirst time person, you know we

(06:16):
asked for vet records all thetime.
We want to make sure animalsare vaccinated here, but we also
want to know who to call if wehave a problem.
We can't get ahold of you,right?
They can speak volumes for areally good clientele groomer
relationship and that is arelationship we both are sharing
the same.
You know love and kindness foryour pet, so we all want
happiness and I get a lot ofangry people in the past that
are like I can't believe you'vedone that.

(06:37):
You know everybody cuts my dogthere and if that's the case
then maybe again be honest.
Say maybe your dog is wiggly orit's moving, or it doesn't like
those areas being tight, it'sgot thin skin.
There's a thousand reasons thatit happens.
It's got a scab, there are moldthere.
If you don't tell us about it,you know we can't, we can't
avoid it.
And then the same for forgroomers.

(06:58):
Be honest, hey, we didn't seethem all there.
We hit it, we know.
Now for next time to me, yeahhappens to all of us that's
happened.
Uh, you know, I've, I've, I've,I've gotten a dewclaw off, a
whole entire dewclaw, and oddlyenough it didn't bleed that much
.
But you know, I did tell theowner and the next time she came
in she said the same last time.

(07:20):
But we would like to keep theremaining three dewclaws and
they were free floating dewclawsso, that said, I would have had
them removed anyway if I had myvet.
So it was kind of a win-winbecause it really wasn't a bad
injury although it could havebeen, but it was just a little
flap of skin that had a dewclawattached to it.

(07:41):
But it was traumatic for allthree of us the dog me, you know
, the owner and the dog, youknow I don't think really felt
much and but I felt awful.
And then the owner was like, ohmy gosh, is he in pain?
I'm like it doesn't seem to be,you know.
So it's a conversation, right.
And she came back, we werehonest about it and it hasn't

(08:06):
happened since.
It's got all three D claws, sothings that that.
It's just they're hard.
You've got to have first aidknowledge If you're going to be
in this.
You've got to have a vet oncall if you're in this, this
industry and, as an honor, justgive your groomers some grace.
Dogs are hard to do.
It's difficult, this is adifficult job.
It's I can't.
And chances are when we are ifsomething happens to your dog in

(08:30):
our care.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
We feel like crap, yeah, every time.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
Yeah, we've already beaten ourselves up or somebody
else has yelled at us why wouldyou let that happen?
Yeah, it's hard this job.
I can't say it enough.
It is difficult.
Just because somebody saysthey're a groomer does not mean
they're a good groomer and thisprofession.
It is very hard to find peoplewho are truly dedicated into
doing what's best for your dogand 90% of us who to take that

(08:55):
time and the dedication toexplain these things to you.
We're not doing anything onpurpose to intentionally hurt
your dogs.
That is not our goal.
That's not how we keep andmaintain business.
So it's an accident and ithappens.
We try to handle it as best wecan with the most care that
we've got.
If you're a shop owner or a doggroomer, arm yourself with

(09:17):
photos before and after.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
And even the clients.
That'll help customers too.
If something's not swollen andyou take a picture of it the
next day and it is swollen, thatcould mean some sort of
infection is sitting in.

Speaker 3 (09:31):
We've had dogs that have had eye issues, that when
we shaved them they've had openwounds and sores underneath them
and they didn't know it.
We've had dogs that had tumorsthat are bloody and open and
once we got to them and wentthrough it the owner didn't know
and they were able to go to thevet.
So that communication is goodtoo.
Don't be afraid to mentionthose.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, wow, definitely some good life lessons there
today.
Right, we can't always preventthings from happening, but it's
about how you move, goingforward.
Thank you, shannon and Tanya,for sharing that with us today
and navigating this delicatetopic with such grace.

(10:11):
We will catch you next time onyour next episode.
Until then, I hope you bothhave a fantastic rest of your
day.
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
Always a pleasure.
You both have a fantastic restof your day.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
Thank you, always a pleasure.
That's a wrap for this episodeof tail talk with hound therapy.
Ready to book your pet's nextgroom daycare stay or grooming
Academy tour?
Call us at 4 6 9, 3, 6, 7, 0 00 9.
That's 4 6 90009 to schedule anappointment, or visit us online

(10:46):
at wwwhoundtherapycom.
Serving North Texas with expertpet care.
Until next time, keep thosetails waggin'.
Who let the dogs out?
Who let the dogs out?