“Don’t forget to cut his nails this time”

I don’t know of a comment better designed to get the back hackles up on a good groomer. What, you don’t think I cut them last time? While in the course of a busy day anything can be forgotten from time to time, most of us are on automatic on nails. Plus, most of us love a nice tidy looking foot and you can’t get that with overlong nails. So how dare they suggest we haven’t trimmed nails, or haven’t trimmed them short enough?
Because they are not the pet professionals, we are. I sometimes forget that my clients don’t know what I do about their dog. I forget that customers often think that we can just whack nails back to where we want them, not understanding that there is a blood supply and nerves in there.
So instead of the very natural response of feeling that we’ve been insulted or criticized, perhaps we should work on gentle explanations of how things really work.
“We always trim the nails as short as humanely possible. If you’d like them to be shorter, we can do that only by trimming them more often. You see, the nail includes both a nerve and a blood supply and we can only trim down to those points without causing pain or bleeding. The blood supply, or quick, will recede a little from where we cut and if it’s cut again in a week or so it can be taken a bit shorter – then again in another week or so, etc. Once optimum length is reached, trims every 3 – 4 weeks should keep the length where you like it. The cost for trimming if done weekly will be $__. Trimming every 6 – 8 weeks during regular grooming appointments will not allow us to trim his nails as short as they should be”.
This is often enough to educate customers on how nails are trimmed and get them to commit to a schedule that will allow you to shorten the nails. But just in case it isn’t here are some possible scenarios:
Client: ”I don’t care, just cut them short.”
Groomer: “That will allow a strong possibility of infection in the nail as well as being unnecessarily painful for the dog. We won’t do that here.”
Client: “It’s your job to trim his nails short, I shouldn’t have to come back every week for that!”
Groomer: “I don’t have another option for you, other than frequent trims to get the length down over a couple of months. We will use a grinding tool all around the tip which may help in causing the blood supply to recede, but it will still take time.”
Client: “You are just saying that to make more money!”
Groomer: “No, I am making your dog’s health and comfort my priority.”
If a customer continues to complain after hearing that their dog’s health and comfort are your #1 priority, perhaps you ought to consider taking them off your client list.