Weird Thing At Work

[EmmaGirl]

We had 2 Poms that came in. One was a little hyper, the other fairly laided back. No problems during the bath and blow out. She was as sweet as could be. So the owner came to pick them up and the laid back one, once in it's owners arms started to smack her lips, shake, and then drool. My immediate thought was that it was seizure activity...though she has no history of it. She is 3 y/o. I was very concerned.

We advised the owner to watch her closely. Sometimes, as a groomer you do see certain things.

[saluki-sue]

Sounds like a nervous reaction to me.

[EmmaGirl]

Originally Posted by saluki-sue

Sounds like a nervous reaction to me.

Saluki do you think it was the owner? We had absolutely no troubles with the dog doing the grooming? It was strange.

[saluki-sue]

I think it's like any dog who's humans only take them places that are not the funnest places in the world. The dog learns that when ever they get picked up they have to go in the car and end up having stuff done to them. It could also be that the dog gets car sick and human picking dog up = car ride and that can lead to an early nervous reaction by the dog. Poor thing at least he/she had fun while with you.

[EmmaGirl]

Originally Posted by saluki-sue

I think it's like any dog who's humans only take them places that are not the funnest places in the world. The dog learns that when ever they get picked up they have to go in the car and end up having stuff done to them. It could also be that the dog gets car sick and human picking dog up = car ride and that can lead to an early nervous reaction by the dog. Poor thing at least he/she had fun while with you.

Thank you for your response. I've had many dogs widdle or poop because of nerves. I know it's unsetttling for them. But this was about 30 secs worth of smacking behavior and then drooling. I don't really know.

[saluki-sue]

Lots of dogs do a submisive lip smack, lip licking even rapid eye blinking as a stess response. The drooling is likely a prevomit reaction. I'm sure your client had more to clean up out of their car when they got home then a few extra bits of fur.