Do sick dogs go in for grooming?

ORIGINAL: willowchow

I've just had a lot of different thoughts in my head after reading the thread Callie started. 

So, I'm wondering a few things---

1.  Are dogs who come in sick allowed to go ahead with getting groomed? 

2.  Are dogs with obvious skin issues allowed to be groomed?

3.  Do you require a kennel cough vaccination? 

4.  If a dog comes in with fleas, are there special pre-cautions that are taken to avoid other dogs from getting them? 

Thank you!  I'm looking forward to reading all the answers.
[]

 
Lori,
 
I'll give your questions a go []
 
1- Are dogs who come in sick allowed to go ahead with getting groomed? 
   A) If a dog is obviously sick (meaning vomiting, diarrhea, nasal discharge, coughing (like kennel cough), then no. We do not groom "sick" pets. There are some conditions that some would classify as sick, such as heart conditions, seizures, kidney failure (another words, non-contagious illnesses) that we would make some exceptions. These dogs need grooming too, but if their condition makes them to fragile or would stress them out to much, we refer them to a vet groomer. It just makes sense for a dog "on the edge" to be AT a vet, just in case.
 
2 - Are dogs with obvious skin issues allowed to be groomed?
    A) Dogs with non-contagious skin disorders are allowed to be groomed as long as there is no infection/inflammation or if the vet says there is no risk to the pet or others. We do use some "extra" precautions to keep things separate for these cases.
 
3- Do you require a kennel cough vaccination? 
     A) All our clients must be current on all vaccines INCLUDING Bordetella. This is for the protection of all the animals that come through our doors. We also do boarding, so we don't discriminate for boarders or groomers. They all must be vaccinated unless they have health or medical reasons release from the vet.
 
4-  If a dog comes in with fleas, are there special pre-cautions that are taken to avoid other dogs from getting them? 
   A) Fleas are an inevitable occurance. We will have dogs come in with fleas and we take every precaution to keep these pets AWAY from other animals. They are kept in a separate area of the shop, totally away from the others. When a pet does come in with fleas, we use an organic product that helps to eliminate the current population, but does not have any real residual effect. I have heard of other groomers that require their clients (suspected of having fleas) to give a Capstar 24 hours prior to grooming or they will not groom the pet. If you have your pet on a flea prevention program, then the risk of your dog getting fleas is minimal, but unfortunately, they are a risk that we (as groomers) can't 100% prevent.

kennel--Thank you.  []

ORIGINAL: willowchow

I've just had a lot of different thoughts in my head after reading the thread Callie started. 

So, I'm wondering a few things---

1.  Are dogs who come in sick allowed to go ahead with getting groomed? 

2.  Are dogs with obvious skin issues allowed to be groomed?

3.  Do you require a kennel cough vaccination? 

4.  If a dog comes in with fleas, are there special pre-cautions that are taken to avoid other dogs from getting them? 

Thank you!  I'm looking forward to reading all the answers.
[]

1.  Like kennel_keeper already mentioned there's different types of sick.  Dogs with kennel cough for example were not allowed in my old grooming shop.  We made exceptions for dogs with seizures (one stands out in my memory), and other non-contagious issues....however if the dog was seriously ill with a non-contagious illness we would have refused for liabilty concerns and/or not being fully comfortable with such severe illness. 

2.  As long as the skin problems were not contagious we allowed them in the shop.  Also, so long as the skin issues were not severe enough that grooming the dog would cause unnecessary pain for the animal.  We required that the vet give an OK that the dog was alright to be groomed.  I often worked with many dogs with serious skin problems, in helping to alleviate their discomfort via special shampoos and conditioning treatments. 

3.  Where I worked we did not require kennel cough, however it was strongly urged. 

4.  Dogs with fleas we isolated (as best as possible) and treated right away.  We did not require the clients to pretreat their animal, however we strongly urged them to be put on preventive treatment and to also treat their home.  At the grooming shop itself, I forget now what spray we used but I believe it was an organic spray to help kill the fleas and keep them from spreading.  In the 5 years I worked there no other dogs ever contracted fleas from other dogs at our shop.  However there is always the risk. 

Thank you very much.[]