PetSmart Grooming

[Diane Denney]

I have had difficulty with the PetSmart here where I live.  Everytime I bring Lincoln to be groomed they tell me he is matted, and that they will have to charge me matting fees.  I walked in today to see if they could just clip his head around is eyes etc..., and they run their fingers through his head and tell me once again that it will cost two demattings and that there isn't any time.  She takes the very narrow comb, and goes to comb through all his hair at once.  I've walked out on them twice now.  I'm not subjecting Lincoln to that.  They had over an hour and a half to just do his face and head.  Lincoln has the very kinky poodle hair.  It's very curly.  I brushed him out today.  He doesn't sit still for me to brush him properly, and is always going for my hands, but I do brush him pretty well.  He always rolls his head in the snow so whatever I do doesn't last anyway.  I am going to bring him to his regular groomer this week.  They have never charged me for a de-matting.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

A fine comb doesn't go through a poodley coat easily even when there are NO mats. It is the way the hair grows.

[Diane Denney]

Thank you Nancy because I was starting to feel like a bad Doodle Mom :-(.  I brush him really thoroughly, but as I said he doesn't hold still, and is always going after the brush.  I do my best.  This is the second time that they've done the exact same thing to me.  Actually the first time the groomer was really mean, and didn't act like she cared for Lincoln at all so I just told her forget it and left.  I didn't want him to be with someone who didn't care who would tug and pull on him.  He takes a long time to groom, and I found a place that also has boarding so they give them breaks in between.  It was the best cut he ever had.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I have never liked Pet Smart. They dont sell quality items (at least the ones near me dont) and their grooming is a joke (again the one near me). Theres one across the street from the store i work at (we dont have a groomer) and i have seen many bad cuts. They dont scissor cut there, just shave, and they come to our store to buy (the cheapest) combs etc. There must be a trained groomer there, but the girls I see are not trained, they are just "helpers". Id like to think a trained groomer would have as good quality items I have for Cooper AT LEAST

[Jennifer and Jack]

You should never feel like a bad pet mom, we are all doing the best we can, and learning. No one is better then anyone else on here. WE all love our babies

That sounds like my PetSmart... The last time Jack went, which was about six months ago. ( I will never bring him back) I wound up crying.. The lady was grooming Jack and I was watching from a place the groomer didn't know I could see her. She was literally wrestling with my baby.. She was going so fast and hurting him by trying to brush him, he was going after the brush. He is so tiny and she was so rough. I wouldn't have minded if he hauled all and took a chunk out of her the way she was handling him. She put a muzzle on him and I went in there and told her to stop and to give me my  baby.... I was horrified.

He had been groomed there in the past, but I never stayed to watch him.. I was heart broken. No wonder he didnt like being groomed. I have since started grooming him myself. If I was to take Jack to a professional again, it would be one where I could stay with him and know they are going to be gentle.

I am in PetSmart all the time and I watch these girls work, a lot of them are so rough, going so fast and the poor dogs are scared.

 

[Diane Denney]

That is horrible Jennifer :-(  Just not worth the money.  I'd like to groom him myself, but he just doesn't stay still enough yet.  He will be 2 on February 28 so I'm hoping he calms down some, but he's not showing any signs yet :D

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

I do all of Haley's grooming myself.  However, when I am in a PetSmart I usually stop for a few minutes and watch the grooming and have on numerous times observed the very rough handling of particularly the smaller dogs. 

Years ago I took Cole' (RIP) to a local groomer for a bath.  I don't know what she did to him but from that time on trimming his nails was a real battle.  At first we just muzzled him but it finally got to the point we had to take him to his vet to get them trimmed.  When his arthritis  got too bad for the 45 minute trip every two weeks we had to do it ourselves again.  It was always an ugly scene. You just never know what a bad grooming experience will do to your dog. 

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I took Guinness to PetSmart once when he was a puppy and never went back.  The groomers were certainly not "dog people".  I was very uncomfortable with the way they were interacting with Guinness.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

Very interesting, the Pet Smart near me always seems to shave dogs down.  It is probably the fastest, easiest way for the

groomers to work and turn over as many animals as they can in one day.  It takes me hours just to brush Mitzi out, let alone

trim her, even when I use electric clippers.  The PetCo near me is the same.  They have had a large turn-over of groomers, the two that I liked left and can't seem to be found.  The company won't give me a place or number where I can find them,

so, I do the grooming at home.  She may not be "professionally groomed" looking, but we think she is cute when I'm done.

I guess that is all that really matters; neat, clean, and unmatted!  Best of all, she enjoys the special attention she gets when

she is groomed, she will even jump up on her "table" when she wants to.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Even though I have never had a dog, before I got Rooney, that needed grooming - I knew that I would be very selective about who came near my boy.  One place that I looked at is a doggie daycare/boarding, upscale retail store, grooming place.  While in there checking out their Orijen - I could hear a groomer yelling at a tiny yipper.  I knew right then and there that they would NEVER get their hands on Rooney.  He does go to 1/2 daycare there on occasion and those gals are super nice and sweet - but not their groomers.  I'm so lucky that we found the most loving, gentle groomer - who comes to my house in her mobile unit and she isn't that expensive - $55.00.

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

I have had mixed experiences at my local Petsmart.  I finally put two & two together.  There are 2 women there who are trained groomers and they both do a great job.  They are both older women who are semi-retired (they use to have their own shop).  They take their time and are gentle with Harlow.  The rest are assistants and groomers in training.  Now if I take Harlow to Petsmart I make sure I make appointments with the trained groomers.

[Linda and Murphy]

Murphy's first grooming was at our vet.  They SHAVED him. He was about 11 mos old and had never been groomed, other than me trimming his face. It was awful.

 

His next grooming was at Petsmart. I was very specific and they did a wonderful job. That was 2.5 years ago. I always specify one groomer, Jessica. The only bad experience we have had is when I took him in for a bath and asked if they could "trim his face a bit". Obviously it wasn't my groomer and I wasn't specific enough. He ended up with razor burn on his poor face. (he was always scissor cut).

 

I am very pleased with our Petsmart. Murphy always wants to go in the grooming area when we visit (he gets a treat). Everyone knows him in the entire store and greets him (we are in there maybe once a month)

[Camilla and Darwin]

I have heard a lot of bad things about Petsmart Grooming, or Petsmarts in general. So when we got Darwin we were cautious. We looked up a lot of reviews and were surprised to find them all great for our local store. So we took him in for a grooming. Over a year later, we still take him there on occasion to get his ears plucked and his paws trimmed. The groomers are super nice, and they all know Darwin by name and love him. There is a glass wall in their salon so everyone in the store can see them grooming the dogs, which I like. Every time I have "sneaked up" to look at what they are doing, they are being very gentle and Darwin looks like he is enjoying himself. And the employees of the Petsmart itself are SO nice and helpful to us it's shocking. We don't buy any food or treats there but we do get his toys from there. Every time we walk in, with or without Darwin they all come over asking how Darwin is, updates, etc. We love it! Just thought I'd give a flip side account. :-)

 

It probably does depend on location. Ironically, I've had more problems with independent grooming salons and pet boutiques. I have found that they are less professional in many cases, and a lot of times, RUDE. Many of the stores and grooming salons I have looked into have outright insulted me and Darwin after finding out he was a doodle.