Does my dog need to be vaccinated and on flea control to go to the groomer?

That's a great question. Having your dog vaccinated for grooming is essential on a couple of fronts. For humans’ safety, having a rabies vaccine is vital. Even if it's a quick experience, they're in and out; there’s still going to be some level of exposure to your pet, and then potentially your pet exposing other pets. It’s essential that the necessary vaccines are current to ensure that all pets are protected as well as possible to the best of our ability.

I would say yes. Ultimately that's up to the groomer as to what they require. Most groomers are going to require a rabies vaccination, a distemper vaccination, and kennel cough. And I would think most groomers would want to know if your dog is on flea and tick control. I really couldn't speak for them, but those are good general health recommendations for your pet overall.

Great question. Yes. All the dogs should be current on their vaccinations for that area in Maryland or wherever you are. It's going to be distemper and rabies and bordatella and sometimes canine influenza.

And, yes, they absolutely need to be on flea and tick control as well. We don't want to spread any fleas from one dog to the next. And when groomers require that, then every dog can go into a grooming facility safely and come back cleaner and brighter than when they went in.

Great question. Here at Good Vets, we have a list of requirements to get our services with grooming or just our bathing services. Each grooming facility and hospital may have different requirements, so check with them, but I would advise having them up-to-date on vaccinations, heartworm, flea, and tick prevention.

I think all groomers around here do require vaccines. You would have to ask your specific groomer about their protocol, but we’d definitely recommend it because they will be around other dogs and cats. Whether they're in a cage or whether it's more of a cage-free environment, they're still going to have interaction. They're still going to be breathing the same air. So yes, it's recommended. As far as flea control goes, of course, we always recommend all pets be on flea control year-round. Where we live in San Diego, it's just flea time. We see it all the time. So we recommend that they be on it year-round. Again, I don't think it's required in a lot of places but recommended.

So it's really dependent on each and every groomer. I would encourage you to select a groomer that does require vaccines for your pet. The reason is that they care about your pet's health and safety and the other pets coming into the facility. Like boarding facilities, many animals in a small space can make it easy to cat or transmit some contagious diseases, and vaccines can generally prevent many of those. So I would look for a groomer that does require vaccines. And in terms of flea and tick prevention, being on flea and tick prevention is going to be the best thing for your pet regardless. A groomer may not require it, but if a pet has a flea infestation or maybe even what we call a flea allergy dermatitis, meaning your pet is allergic to the saliva of the flea, it can cause a severe skin rash or infection that could be uncomfortable to your pet to make things challenging for their visit at the groomer.

Yes, they do. The best course of action is to give Brooks-falls a call and see the exact list of requirements to come for grooming, but vaccinations are required.

Yes, absolutely. Your dog should be on flea control, whether they go to the groomer or not. We do see fleas outside for nine months out of the year in this area. Fleas will live inside the other three months out of the year, meaning January, February, and March. Typically from April all the way to December, we do see fleas. You don't want your dogs to have fleas in the first place, and the groomer sure as heck doesn't want you bringing a flea-infested dog into their facility. Even though they would be able to bathe your dog, they may or may not have flea products. That's not what they're there for. The good news is we've got great flea products. We can take care of that problem. With vaccinations, there are a couple of considerations. Rabies, of course, is required by law. That's a given, and I promise you, every groomer will want to ensure that your dog is vaccinated for rabies. Why is that? Quite simply because people can get rabies as well. This is not just a dog or a cat problem. This is potentially a people problem as well. That's why it's mandated that every dog and cat be vaccinated for rabies. Horses too. They're vaccinated for rabies as well, for those of you who have horses.

For the other vaccines, we recommend distemper parvo for every dog and cat because it does not require contact with another dog to get the distemper and parvo. Lastly, the other one we strongly recommend is the Bordetella vaccine. Most groomers won't require a distemper parvo or the Bordetella because there's no human contagion with those. However, there is a high risk of transmission from one dog to another dog, even if they're not in direct contact with one another. If your kid is a kindergartner and two or three kids are coughing and sneezing, you probably don't want to take them to school that day because they're going to come down with something. The same thing goes for if somebody unknowingly takes their dog to a groomer and they might have an upper respiratory infection or kennel cough of some sort. They can easily spread it to the other dogs in the facility, even if they're not in direct contact. So, by all means, I highly recommend the distemper parvo as well as the Bordetella vaccine. And, of course, the rabies vaccine is required by law.

Yes, we recommend that all dogs be vaccinated for several viruses and diseases and also be on flea and tick prevention. Anytime you take your dog somewhere, you're risking them being infected, whether it's a virus or you take them to the park, and there are fleas there. We don't think about that. So anytime you take your dog out of the household, you risk them being exposed to these different diseases. We do recommend that they are fully vaccinated and on prevention.

Ideally, your dog should be vaccinated and on flea control before visiting a groomer. This ensures that they are protected against infectious diseases they may encounter while in close proximity to other dogs at the grooming facility. Flea and tick control is recommended to avoid contracting parasites during their grooming appointment.

Yes. Most professional groomers require pets to be fully vaccinated to protect them against diseases from other pets. Flea control is essential for pets living inside or outside the house or even just going outside to the groomer or bathroom. Fleas can hitchhike on clothes, so it's recommended to have flea and tick coverage year-round.