Shopping Trip

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Took Lachlan out this morning to the local Petco for a combination training/exercise/shopping expedition and for the first time at this store, where the employees are generally helpful and knowledgeable, found myself annoyed to the point of wanting to gnaw my arm off to escape the place. I ended up leaving (well, making a break for the parking lot) without spending ANY money, which is rather unusual for me in any pet store (awwww, look at the cute thingies, must buy thingies)!

I went into the store with a mental checklist of things I wanted to look at and possibly purchase: A martingale collar with a side buckle, some treats, and an exercise pen. I started at the collar display hunting for that elusive item and redirecting Lachlan from picking out his own -- Oooooh, mom! Look! It's pink! (Yes dear, I know, now leave it.) While I was digging through the collars an employee I'd never seen there before came around the corner and struck up a conversation with me.

Now I'm a pretty friendly person and will chat with anyone (especially if it's about the boyz LOL) and she seemed like a sweet older woman but ... okay, if I'm asking "do you carry this specific type of collar" the correct answer is probably not "I use a little bitty harness on my chihuahua and he just loves to go for little walks with his little bitty harness and when he gets tired he just sits down and looks at me and I have to pick him up and carry him and then when he wants to walk again I put him down and he runs ahead and has to stop and wait for me and ... " on and on and on. I wish I were exaggerating. Anyway, she did seem sweet and harmless and I just smiled and nodded and let her carry on for a while, and then made my excuses and made a break for the other end of the store to look at exercise pens.

She followed me. To tell me all about crate training and how wonderful crates are and stream of consciousness through potty training and how weird clickers are even though the store trainer uses them and ... by now I'm chewing the inside of my cheek and Lachlan's actually curled up at my feet and yawning. Right, thanks for the information, have a great day, mad dash for the treat section, did I lose her?

Not hardly. "What kind of food does your dog eat? Oh really? You should feed him Blue Buffalo, it's a really great food, that's what most people feed their dogs, here let me give you a card and I'll write my name on it and you really should try it because it's a great food and my dogs love it and it has good stuff in it and ... " Now I'm tuning her out and reading ingredients on various treat packages, just randomly nodding. Lachlan has his back to her, looking around for something interesting to sniff. I tuned back in long enough to hear "... and if you call this number (card thrust under my nose) they'll send you samples and coupons and you really should ... " Glance at watch, oh darn, late for appointment, thanks for the info, gotta dash "... and can I give your little dog a treat? Oh please, I make these myself and I think he'll love it and ... "

Oh no, she didn't just pull a shopping bag out from behind that stack of dog food, did she? Seriously? Oh, she did. That's it. I'm done. Sorry, he has a sensitive stomach and gets car-sick if he eats just before a ride. Have a great day. Thanksbye! Lachlan, LET'S GO!

I'm sure she was perfectly friendly and harmless but ... there was NO WAY I was letting her feed Lach anything! Call me paranoid, call me neurotic, call me overprotective, but ... mad dash for the parking lot! Now that we're home I'm rolling my eyes and giggling, but I think I'll just avoid that store for a while.

[Jen, Lachlan, and Declan]

Oof, yeah, sounds like they have a training issue at PetSmartCo's. I thought it was just mine!

@Ricki, weird! Maybe she WAS a Blue Buffalo rep! @Jennifer, no worries, I spent plenty of money later at our locally-owned pet store up the street from me. *grin*  @Bonnie, maybe I'll try that next time! Could be entertaining! @Jennifer, good for you. It makes me cringe hearing someone who should know better giving out bad advice like that. (Side note, a co-worker this morning said "Yeah, but dogs live just fine on cheap food unless there's something wrong with them already." My response was "Sure, and kids live just fine on a steady diet of hot dogs and mac-and-cheese. For a while.")

I asked a friend later if he thought I was being neurotic with my reaction to her giving Lachlan her "home-made treat." He responded "Yes. But I wouldn't have let her feed him anything either!"

[Bonnie and Kona]

Sounds like PetSmart has a new training technique for employees. Too bad they don't realize that people are leaving without buying anything because they have trained them to be obnoxious. That would behavior would send me right out of the store, too!

[Jennifer and Jack]

That has happen to me too, just this past weekend I was trying to get something from PetSmart and they have a new trainer. I was there with Jack, just returning some things we didn't need for Molly.

 

This new trainer didn't realize that Jack was not a puppy so she started spouting off puppy commands and well Jack listened. He can sit and do down etc.. She said wow he does great for a puppy, I told her he was two and half and that his problem is off leash recall.. BIG MISTAKE.. she went on and on and on about how I should hire her for a private lesson... even after I told her I use the other trainer that works for PetSmart.

 

She followed me around the store as well, I was thinking that part of her job was to sell stuff because she would not get off my back... Finally I just said I need to get some stuff and get out of there.. and she continued to talk//

 

Someone asked her for help THANK GOD.. my revenge was when she was telling someone about a brand of dog food that was really good, I butted in and told the other people why it was not good and gave a good explanation and showed them on the label where it said by-products..

 

Not normally my style to be rude like that but she was making me nuts and not respecting my boundries.. I also left without buying anything because she would not leave me alone

[Bonnie and Kona]

Sounds like that store is going to lose customers right and left with that kind of "help". In fact, maybe you should have screamed, "Help!"

[Ginny Nightingale]

Had a waitress like that recently. I was eating out on the patio so that i could have my puppy with me--she felt that the fact that I had a dog with me meant that I would want to hear endless stories about her kitten--ugh! And, of course, I couldn't run away since I had to stay at the table to eat my meal! I should have asked for it "to go"!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

OMD!! I swear this same lady was at our PetSmart store!! She followed us all over the store! It turned out she wasn't even an employee of the store but worked for Blue Buffalo as a product rep. Maybe yours was too? It might explain why she had the bag hidden behind the dog food! Or maybe she is trying to start up her own line!! Great blog and loved the pic! Perfect!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Hey, look on the bright side, this was great training for both of you! Patience, patience, patience. Oh what the heck, lady please go annoy someone else.  I think it is more than a little strange that she had her own homemade treats hidden behind the dog food. Wonder what the management would think about that.

[Melody & Bruin]

LOL!!!! (sorry)

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Hey we have one if those at our Petco also! Weird! Sorry you didn't get to shop!