A caution for what it's worth from my vet

My Sister has noticed a few things that have caused problems in dogs after grooming.
1.  cologne, my Sister never sprays on the dog just a bit on the bandana and if the dog is sensitive she doesn't use any.
2.  If there are tiny hairs floating around from the ears etc take a dryer and blow off the tiny hairs.  They can work their way into the dogs skin and cause an ingrown hair...bumps, and lumps.  This can happen to the groomer as well...my Sister had ingrown hairs all through her chest area & face a few times.
3.  Use special shampoo's for certain dogs....if one shampoo is working then put it on the dogs card.  She has had dogs in the past that could not tolerate some of the oatmeal shampoo's  and there are many dogs that cannot tolerate tea tree oil in shampoo...she never uses tea tree oil shampoo's etc on small dogs.
4.  Believe it or not, there are some groomers or their bath blow dryers who don't get all the shampoo out.  Leaving shampoo in a dogs coat can cause skin problems.
5.  Not getting a dog completely dry especially a double coated breed or not brushing out roperly...if a double coated breed is left with a little mat, its wet etc then the skin underneath suffers.

There are other reasons as well.   One thing I found even for myself as a human, I have a horrible time with any shampoo that contains tea tree oil...I use organic shampoos for my own hair and yes I dilute them even tho they don't specify.  I never have a problem with my hair....a couple of times I used a shampoo with tea tree oil and my entire scalp broke out and was crusty....very gross.

Most professional grooming shampoos need to be diluted. We have bottles, for diluting special shampoos (as needed, and they're disenfected, in between) and a Hydrosurge, for diluting normal shampoo. It dilutes the shampoo, in the hose, on the way to the dog. It's cleaned weekly. The shampoos are diluted with warm tap water.
 
We sanitize blades the same as Kennel_keeper. We do it in between, and we use the anti-badstuff spray for cooling the blades. That was not done when I was working in a large, chain pet store.

When I was grooming at PetsMart, we sanitized between clients and used an antibacterial spray during grooming as kennel_keeper described already.

As for shampoos, we diluted because they needed to be diluted.  The professional shampoos we used came superconcentrated.  In general however, I gave each dog two shampoos....sometimes three if they were super dirty.  I also often worked with dogs with numerous skin problems (allergies ect) and worked with clients to fit their dogs needs (be it deep conditioning treatments, hypoallergenic shampoos, or more intensive treatments).  I remember one poor shepard with numerous skin allergy problems (and on steriods) with absolutely terrible skin (very thin, falling out and many sores).  Between her medication, her vet, and various products I used on her skin she slowly began to really shine and see her fur grow out! 

But yes, some shops are horrible.  Before I was a groomer myself, we took my mom's dog to this one place and she ended up coming home with her skin irritated, because they did not rinse out the shampoo enough!  They also burned her with the clippers.  Needless to say we never went back and I had a loooong talking to with the groomer. 

Cally01 -- you've hit part of the problem in specifics -- one of the things Dr. D mentioned to me was that the little tiny hairs are left on skin that is essentially open and may be irritated and THAT is often where the infection may focus (in other words it's not ONE thing -- it's a combination of 'events' and things that all come together to make these massive nasty infections) -- the sharp little hairs must be part of the catalyst of the problem -- and if the shampoo hasn't left the hair bacteria free, but has instead, contributed to the bacteria, it begins to make sense to me where the problem can occur. 
 
Like I said above -- I'm pretty darned ignorant about the whole situation simply because I've never had dogs who required professional grooming (I still think it is the height of self-pampering when I can drop him off for not only a cut but "the works" rather than having to kneel by the bathtub, etc. -- I tried to 'groom' Muffin ONCE -- *sigh* and quickly realized it was one dog thing I just ain't destined to be good at.)
 
You guys are obviously part of the folks who do it 'well' -- and onces again, it's abundantly clear to me that people on this board "care" so much more than so many others do.  It's obvious to me that it's incomprehensible to most of you that someone WOULDN'T do it well. 
 
I know my groomer is probably one of the most valuable professionals I know, and I try really hard to treat her accordingly.  It was a 'bad' groomer that cost my first cocker his hearing (I actually caught her forcing dirty water IN his ears when he already had bacterial infections).  IN my book, you guys are unsung heros, people we rely on to help us professionally care for "our kids" -- but people who are generally not paid nearly as well as they should be. 
 
Thanks for all the input -- I was just raising a question (kinda cos my vet asked me to) and yet I've learned a whole lot.    Will get that article as soon as I can. 

I tried to 'groom' Muffin ONCE -- *sigh* and quickly realized it was one dog thing I just ain't destined to be good at.

Hahaha! You should have seen Emma, the first time I groomed her. It was pretty horrible. She walked around in a t shirt for six weeks, til she only looked slightly lopsided. Grooming is not one of the things that most people are naturally good at. It requires messing up[] All you can do is be super careful, be aware of the "rules", take your time, and hope you never hurt anyone. It's fun, though. I think you would like it, given some time. I really love it, and now Emma looks so good most people can't tell she's shaved.

I know my groomer is probably one of the most valuable professionals I know, and I try really hard to treat her accordingly.

Quote by calliecritturs
 
Wasn't dog grooming on the worst most dirtiest jobs...lol  we heard that from a client...I never saw the show myself.
 
 

What makes a shampoo go "bad" is when the materials in the shampoo spoil, especially any biological materials, or when the emulsifiers that keep the oily ingredients in mixture with the water break down. This is a function of the shampoo ingredients, not the water. There is already water in the undiluted product. When you dilute the shampoo, you "thin out" the preservatives so there may not be sufficient ratio of preservatives to be effective against bacteria, mold and microbial invaders. Refreigerating the diluted shampoo would probably help more than using distilled water. Keeping containers closed is also helpful. Many microbes ride in on the air, more so than in the water.

Most shampoos have a shelf life in the original bottle of several years. Some diluted shampoos may also be fine for a long time, but others may spoil.  When emusifers break down you can see the problem as the product seperates.
 
There are shampoos made for different results like medicated, whitening, coat texture, etc, but the delution factor does not change for different breeds or different coats. 
 
I really wouldn't worry about your pets picking up a skin condition from your groomers shampoos.    I have seen more skin problems related to bad food, over use of antibiotics and over inocculations.   Remember, kennel cough has many strains so insisting for this protection is misleading and false.  Building your dogs immune system is the best defense to a healthy dog.
 
 

I'm just glad I own a shorthaired dog [].

Although I do have to be careful about diluting my shampoo enough.

Well said nkswen...Wow, what an impressive post[]

I shared this with a number of groomers on another site.  Based on the information that was given most people had trouble accepting the information based on several reasons.
.

"First, the vet saying the groomer should sterilize her blades. Groomer's don't sterilize anything. We can't. We don't have autoclaves. A vet who has also been a groomer should know this. And should know the difference between sterilize and disinfect."

"A vet would also know that the vast majority (over 90%) of skin infections are caused by staph, not pseudomonas. Even the dreaded flesh eating bacteria is a strain of staph. Furthermore, these bacteria are always present on the skin. There are probably more bacteria on the skin at any given time (short of immediately after bathing with an antibiotic shampoo) than in a whole gallon of shampoo."

"Another thing that doesn't make sense to me, from a purely logical point of view, would be that diluting that bacteria ridden shampoo would increase the number of bacteria. Wouldn't it make more sense that diluting the shampoo with clean water would also dilute the bacterial load? And if the water does contain that many bacteria, wouldn't it be unsafe to drink, or to rinse the dog with? And let's face it, whether we dilute shampoo by mixing it with water in a bottle, or mix it with water directly on the dog, we're still mixing it with water. So either way, it's being diluted."

"And one other observation; shouldn't a vet who's also groomed be aware that those shampoos are specifically designed to be diluted? That groomers dilute shampoos because they come to us in concentrated form, partly to cut down on the cost of shipping? After all, who wants to pay to ship water when we have an abundant supply readily available? We don't dilute to extend the number of animals we can shampoo, thus saving money, or to make the shampoo easier to rinse. We dilute because the shampoo is made to be diluted in the first place. In fact, it's possible that the full strength product could be too harsh if it's not properly diluted."
 


 
Just some more things to think about

Thank you Fancypants!!!  I didn't think any of that made sense, either. 

nkswen -- just to set the record straight, and I mentioned this at length in my original post -- my dog is EXTREMELY immune-compromised.  He has IMHA, and he's on major steroids still (altho we have him weaned off one and are working on getting him weaned off the Atopica).  My assumption was, to begin with, that she's talking about those groomers who over-dilute the shampoo, and likely negating any preservatives that might be in the shampoo in the process.
 
My understanding (and again this is not a quote) was that often the shampoo isn't being used at a sufficient strength to actually clean the skin, and my other assumption (again *assumption* ... not fact/quote) was that in speaking of groomers who are cutting corners this severely somehow the skin isn't getting sufficiently clean after cutting the hair and then massive infection results in some cases.
 
I thought I yelled this sufficiently loudly when I posted, but apparently not.  This was NOT intended to be any sort of a slam to groomers.  Not in any way.  But I can promise you that I have run afoul of more than a few bad groomers who have spread infection.  And given that this was something my vet had seen in her practice literally within the past week (and I"m near Orlando, FL-- a pretty large metropolitan area) and also given that I have this dog who is already terribly immune-compromised because of a huge illness -- my vet was simply urging caution, not condemning an entire profession. 
 
*I* didn't know that shampoos were intended to be diluted.  Because I don't groom myself , I have not even one clue 'how' it's done. 
 
However I don't think the point is that the more a shampoo is diluted the more bacteria will be in there -- I'm not even sure where that idea came about here.  My original point was intended that it apparently doesn't clean as well if it's not at the right strength, and I did make the point it may garner bacteria if stored at that too dilute strength.  Altho I will say again, I'm not a groomer and *I* didn't know when I posted this that shampoos were so highly diluted -- anything obtainable by me, as a layperson, isn't. 
 
As I said, in my original post, I'm not a groomer, and I was simply passing on something my vet cautioned me on in the context of protecting my dog who happens to be severely immune-compromised.  At this point I'm not even taking him TO a salon, but my groomer is doing him at her home for me to minimize risk.
 
I did not say that pseudomonas was any sort of primary infection.  Nor did I downplay the role staph infection plays in most skin infections.  However, it's a medical fact that across the board for both humans and animals, more and more bacteria of all varieties are tending to be more and more resistant to antibiotics and are harder to treat.  Pseudomonas is one of those infections that many of us shudder to hear because it is so resistant and difficult to clear up.  Not that it's the 'only' or 'most' seen bacterium -- I said:
 
"... And, because we've got this super crop of bacteria out there anyway that are more and more resistant to more and more antibitoics they are seeing this huge rise in really mega nasty skin infections (like pseudomonas and other hard-to-kill bacteria/skin infection)."
 
It's just a fact that my particular dog is far more at risk -- even your typical staph infection could quickly become life-threatening to him (and we are battling such a thing right at this moment).
 
Apparently I put this post in the wrong place -- I had not a clue I had ventured into "groomers only" territory.  As soon as my vet returns this week, I will endeavor to get that article from her that she originally referred to. 
 
I'm not a groomer (and rarely ever visit this thread, and I wasn't aware this was a professionals-only type of thread) and if I erred in using the word "sterilize" it was likely my own error.  She may have used the word 'disinfect' and I used the word sterilize improperly-- I wouldn't know what an autoclave was if it hit me in the head.  I'm NOT a groomer. 
 
Had I realized this was pretty much a groomers-only thread I would not have posted here -- my post was simply meant as a caution to lay people like myself who may either be using a new groomer or may be seeing spontaneous skin problems crop up after grooming. 

I think this has been a very informative thread.  Thank you Callie, for posting and for clarifying.  I also appreciate others bring up questions and remarks because those were good issues addressed and Callie's rebuttal helped me to understand more.   The main point here is that immune-comprimised dogs have so many more issues than normal, and those dog owners really need to be aware of issues that other dog owner's probably aren't interested in knowing.
 
I really haven't been to this thread before either, but it certainly seems the appropriate place.  And, with the number of owners this board gets, then someone who may need to know about this being a possible issue for their dog may be lurking now, or searching in the future, and come across this information.

Had I realized this was pretty much a groomers-only thread I would not have posted here -- my post was simply meant as a caution to lay people like myself who may either be using a new groomer or may be seeing spontaneous skin problems crop up after grooming.

Callie, i don't have sammy groomed nor groom him, but the bacteria part of this interested me.  I feel I learned something here.  I'm not a professional "anything" really, let alone a groomer!  but thank you anyway for passing on your wisdom and advice, and I'm sorry that some people tend to read *warnings* even clearly posted as semi-attacks on prefessions - you did make it clear it wasn't your specialty (though I was surprised since I had *never* yet seen you ask a question about anything, and I mean that in a nice way!)

But we can all learn something and take away something from it, even if it's only to pay more attention to our animals that have sensitivites and/or bacterial problems to try to trace it to a source.
 
ETA - PS - if an autoclave hit you in the head, you *would* know it!  basically, they are big machines that raise temp and pressure for lengths of time to kill anything.  The smallest one I ever saw was about the size of a medium dog crate on wheels, and all metal, and the largest could fit a cow in it!

Callie, FWIW, I didn't take it as an attack on groomers [] I actually "got it" that the over-dilution was not effectively cleaning and that the ORGANIC shampoos (which have fewer preservatives) may be harbouring some bacteria and by over diluting it could have caused a bacterial bloom once diluted.
 
I appreciate what you "bring to the table" regardless of the forum section and think that this thread is very important. Awareness is a wonderful thing and if it means asking tough questions, then so be it. I would rather have clients that want to know more and ask questions, than those that keep their head in the sand because "what they don't know, won't hurt them (or their pets).