Groomer called her fat!

[OliviaB]

I took Belle for a spa day today. She needed her nails done and we had a rainy week so I thought a bath wouldn't hurt either. I have a bad shoulder so bathing a dog is hard for me. I met the groomer last week and I was happy with her. It's a small salon but it's modern and clean. When I picked her up, she was clean and her nails looked great. The groomer/owner caught me off guard though because she called out to her assistant to bring up the "fat bulldog". Uhhhh...excuse me?? I looked at her funny and she smiled and said again, "Yeah, this lady is here for the big fat bulldog." I couldn't really tell if she was joking or not but it seemed like she was serious. I've only owned Belle for a week but her breeder told me that her body condition was ideal when I picked her up. She hasn't changed since then. I know bulldogs are built thicker than other dogs so maybe this lady just isn't familiar with them? Belle has a lot of loose wrinkly skin but I can still feel her ribs although they aren't visible. I feel like she's in great condition but I wasn't happy to hear someone calling her fat...thoughts? Maybe I'm just being too sensitive. She's my baby though and I don't think that was a good thing to say to a new client

 

[2BullyMama]

Nope, I'd be looking for a new place to do my business! that is just damn rude.. nothing more or less

 

[OliviaB]

Nope, I'd be looking for a new place to do my business! that is just damn rude.. nothing more or less

Thank you! I thought maybe I'm just being too sensitive, but it really rubbed me the wrong way. We have plenty of nice grooming places around so I'll keep looking I need someone who knows about bulldogs and appreciates them...not insults them!

 

[2BullyMama]

Thank you! I thought maybe I'm just being too sensitive, but it really rubbed me the wrong way. We have plenty of nice grooming places around so I'll keep looking I need someone who knows about bulldogs and appreciates them...not insults them!

exactly! Take your baby somewhere that he will be treated properly....

 

[harveyspecter]

You could just be reading this wrong. I believe the context is bring that fat (cute/adorable) bulldog. I think she is trying to complement just not coming out and sounding right. After all, you are a paying customer, so for her to insult you is just bad business sense.

I have used that word before on an bulldog but it means cute.

 

[OliviaB]

You could just be reading this wrong. I believe the context is bring that fat (cute/adorable) bulldog. I think she is trying to complement just not coming out and sounding right. After all, you are a paying customer, so for her to insult you is just bad business sense.

I have used that word before on an bulldog but it means cute.

Hmmm...possibly. I don't know...she seemed serious but that could just be her personality.

 

[harveyspecter]

Hmmm...possibly. I don't know...she seemed serious but that could just be her personality.

My litmus test is trust your feelings. If you are uncomfortable then you are probably right and by all means follow your instinct. I took Harvey to Petsmart last month and one of the groomers went to him and called him a large sack of potatoes. She then told the other groomers that no one dares to touch this bulldog except her, so I knew she just finds this dog totally adorable. So all was good.

 

[Vikinggirl]

I agree with the others comments, even if she was joking, it wasn't appropriate for her to treat a new client like that, and the fact that she repeated it more than once wasn't professional. I would feel the same way as you, I don't like when people make rude bully jokes and think it's funny, I get things like they're so ugly their cute, they have a face like smashed bananas, only a gave a mother can love, or they're not very smart dogs, they're retarded, or lazy, or my favourite when they were called ugly beasts. People might think it's a joke or they are trying to be funny, but I hate when people put down my babies. Grrr.

 

[RiiSi]

In my opinion IF she were over weight, a groomer would be a good person to point that out, but NOT like that. A lot of people do let their bullys get a bit too chubby. It is not healthy for any dog. But from the small avatar pic that you have there, she don't look over weight at all. She looks just perfect. So the groomer was just being rude or ignorant, or both. I hate when people say anything bad about my babies.

 

[OliviaB]

In my opinion IF she were over weight, a groomer would be a good person to point that out, but NOT like that. A lot of people do let their bullys get a bit too chubby. It is not healthy for any dog. But from the small avatar pic that you have there, she don't look over weight at all. She looks just perfect. So the groomer was just being rude or ignorant, or both. I hate when people say anything bad about my babies.

I completely agree. Typically a groomer is a great person to assess body condition...especially on long haired breeds when it's hard to tell. I feel like this lady is just ignorant about bulldogs though so I doubt we will be going back. The more I think about how she said it, I'm pretty convinced she was serious. IF Belle had a weight issue, I would welcome constructive advice but I know that her weight is fine. This groomer also rolled her eyes and acted disgusted when I pointed out that one of Belle's ears had been temporarily glued into a better rose position by the breeder. It's a common practice with bulldogs so I wasn't sure why she acted so judgmental.

 

[nycbullymama]

She's not fat. No idea why the groomer would even mention it unless like [MENTION=12554]harveyspecter[/MENTION] said, you were reading it wrong. But if she made you uncomfortable, definitely find another groomer.

About the ears, many people don't agree with this practice. In fact, most of the time they will rose on their own.

 

[OliviaB]

She's not fat. No idea why the groomer would even mention it unless like [MENTION=12554]harveyspecter[/MENTION] said, you were reading it wrong. But if she made you uncomfortable, definitely find another groomer.

About the ears, many people don't agree with this practice. In fact, most of the time they will rose on their own.

I didn't know that about the ears. She had one that is perfect but the other one was sticking up really high and looked funny. The glue wore off and now it's much better. Just being curious, why don't people agree with that? I know a lot of breeds have their ears glued to train them to lay right...we always had to do it with our shelties and collies when I was growing up.

 

[nycbullymama]

I didn't know that about the ears. She had one that is perfect but the other one was sticking up really high and looked funny. The glue wore off and now it's much better. Just being curious, why don't people agree with that? I know a lot of breeds have their ears glued to train them to lay right...we always had to do it with our shelties and collies when I was growing up.

They think it's cruel and serves no real purpose.

Personally, I don't know how I feel. But recently, I was talking to the owner of one of Blues brothers, found out that my breeder glued the entire litters ears. For some reason, I don't remember if she told us or not.
But I do remember there was a lot of goop that I couldn't get off.

At 9 weeks old I took him to the vet (for a different reason) and found out he also had an ear infection. Now mind you, he is not prone to ear infections so yeah, I blame the glue and all the crap I went through to get it off.

At the same time, I keep hearing that floppy ears are a breeding ground for infections. So rose ears are definitely better in that regard. But at the same time, some bulldogs are just prone to infections rose ear or not.

Either way, I don't really have an opinion on it.

 

[OliviaB]

Wow...personally I don't see any cruelty in it at all but I respect other opinions. Belle just had a tiny dab of glue and she never seemed to notice it. Now actually cropping ears is a different story but I've never seen any dog mind a bit of glue. I'm glad you told me though..I had no idea that it was controversial at all.

 

[madie4589]

I had NO idea gluing ears was a thing, but I was looking at frank and realized he has one floppy ear and one rose ear! just another way he is my unique little babe I guess. haha