I am going to put in my two cents worth as a groomer for over 30 years. 1st of all you should have your pets treated monthly with Advantage, frontline or Comfortis to control the fleas. If your dog or cat goes outside it can get fleas. ( wildlife and stray cats are carriers). If you take your pet to the groomer or vets I would suggest carrying your pet into the groomers and back out again. tell them you dont want your pet touching the floor. If you have a large pet than you definately want them kept on flea control. walking in and out of these establishments your pet will pick up fleas as joe shmo who does not care for there pets walk there pets around spreading fleas.
Gone are the days of your groomer playing pest control. With all the wonderful safer products out there to kill the fleas on your pet with out having to even bite your pet there is no excuse for your pets to have fleas. Dips are dangerous to your pets and even more dangerous to your groomers if they dip all day. I think you will find most groomers no longer dip. Us old groomers are paying the price for all the dipping in the old days.
If your pet scratches immediatly coming home from the groomer, please let your groomer know. suggest that they use a non soap based shampoo, ( especially if you use Advantage or Frontline) also forgoe the cologne. these often cause scratching especially in shorter clipped pets.
Check your dog immediately for fleas if you suspect your pet is getting fleas from your groomng salon. more than likely your pet is getting them from where he was walked. Most grooming salons (there are always exceptions) are very contiencious about flea control. They do not like fleas either and some salons will actually charge you extra for having to clean up fleas after your pet. If your pet came home with fleas they will scratch immediatly not a couple days later. I hope this puts a new light on this subject and helps you with flea control on your pets. JoAnn