Chester was a new client for me. I greeted him by getting down on his level and I hear a growl out of this poor matted boy. I am a vet employee, so as a precaution, I had him sign permission to tranquilize Chester just in case. His owner agreed saying he was a “ornery thing”. Great! I had Chester outside for a while, he was shy, but as it turned out very sweet. I decided not to tranq. him. Bad call. It turned out, Chester wasn’t so sweet when I turned on the clippers. As I slowly peeled away the mats I started smelling something awful. With the receptionists’ assistance and my Groomer’s Helper, I got enough coat off of his back foot to find a nail had grown into his pad and was very infected. So, with half of his coat hanging off of him, we called the vet in to cut the nail and treat it. 2 ½ hours, and several “time outs” later I had peeled off his matted coat in one large piece. Picture #4 shows the pelt that came off of him. The larger parts covered his sides. After he was clean and comfortable, his sweet personality returned. I was happy to return him to his owner feeling much better, even if he was “naked”. I also got a promise from him not to let Chester go so long without a groom.

Groomer: Lori McAlister
Location: Warsaw, IN