First Trip to the Groomer!

[Star and Goldie]

First trip to the Groomer's... quite the adventure!

It was off to a rocky start right from the get go...

• Call to the Groomer to talk about pricing, what I wanted etc... I didn't get good vibes on the phone. The woman was not friendly- never even told me her name. When I asked her how often she would need a full groom once she's ready for it she responded so RUDELY with "well that's up to you and how much maintenance you want to do" followed by a lecture on how important maintenance is.
• Arrive at the Groomers and am taken back by DISGUST for the place. It smelled like urine and 100 wet dogs in there. It's a tiny shop and yes of course there are wet dogs in there all day but should it smell like that first thing in the morning? Light a candle... create a nice atmosphere, something! I fought my gut instinct which was to turn around and walk out and I went ahead and checked Goldie in
• Go to pick Goldie up and I try to hand the woman my card. She says "Um, we don't take cards. Cash or check only".  She said it in a tone like DUH you should have known this.  Payment methods are not posted anywhere in the shop and she didn't mention this on the phone so I had to get back in my car and go to the nearest ATM- UGH...
• Come back to pay. She takes the cash and instead of a 'thank you' or' sorry about the inconvenience' she says "Do you own a comb? I thought you said you comb her. Do you know what you're doing?" OMG OK LADY!!! Cue the lecture about how I'm not combing her properly
• Resist the urge to jump over the counter in a fit of rage
• Smile and nod while thinking bad thoughts
• Finally, she brings Goldie out and alas, my blood boiling starts to calm when I see my sweet baby's face. She was so excited to see me and she looked so....so... DOODLY!

So this was not what I expected our first trip to the Groomer to be like. I still don't even know the woman's name. She is NOT friendly to humans but she talks to the animals in her shop in a super sweet voice. Goldie seemed to love her and she did a good job.

So my question, would you look past the look (and smell) of the shop and put your personal feelings for her aside and continue using her based on her skills or would you look elsewhere?  Finding a reasonably priced decent Groomer in this area has proven to be a challenge.

Todays bill was $20.  Petsmart quoted me $65 to have the same thing done.

[Star and Goldie]

How are these 'cages' legal?? I've never heard of such thing and they just sound so inhumane!!!

[Cindy Bowles]

I guess I am pretty lucky, the groomer I use is in a Vet Center where my Vet is, so there is my vet, the pet supply and the groomer so they are all connected to my Vet which makes it a lot more comfortable for me to leave my kids there... I guess I should say Rosie's vet since I personally do not go to a vet for my health concerns   LOL.....

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I read some of the responses but not all.  The smell would be off-putting for me, but if it was more wet dog than urine, I would live with it.  Can you drop by the shop again to see if it is dirty and smells of urine?  It might have been an off day with whoever cleans not showing up or a specific dog that peed.  That Goldie liked her and she did a great job for such a reasonable price is worth rudeness - at least as long as you can stand it. She might grow on you. I know some teachers who come across unfavorably when when speaking with adults, but are amazing when working with students.

[a.k.a. Rodney]

Couldn't get past the messy, unsanitary conditions..

[Cindy Bowles]

When I was walking my dogs around our Lake I met a lady with a Labradoodle so of course we stopped and talked and I liked the way her Doodle was Groomed so I asked her where she went (this was before I got my groomer I have now) and she said her husband does the grooming ....but here is the kicker he uses a Flow Bee this is what you can use with your vacuum at home, there is a video on this on You Tube ...has anyone used one of these before?????

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Cindy for some reason I cant reply to your comment --
but yes! my friend actually uses it...on himself! He likes it because there is no mess. I guess if the dog doesn't mind the vacumn sound it wouldnt be bad?

[Cathy, Fozzie & Shaggy]

Star, Goldie looks great! Follow your gut instinct here. I would have had a hard time with the smell. With only 2-3 dogs at a time it shouldn't smell as bad as it sounds. Paying a bit more to KNOW my dog is being well cared for and in a safe environment is worth it to me.....29.00$ just for a bath , blow dry,and brush out. Follow your instincts and Goldie's too.

[Sally S Miles]

This is a tough one - your girl looks great~ I just had my girl in for grooming and I'm looking for another one.   Mine was very clean establishment, zero odor (stink will send me out the door in a hurry) our early conversations were on e-mail because I hate phone calls - but I wish I had called because initial face to face was not comfortable.  Now I'm doing the old 'look first' routine.     Picking up my dog resulted in a lot of whining - from the groomer/owner, who sent me home with a huge pufy thing wearing a top knot, a matted dog who is still being rather touchy about things that had not bothered her before. Words were used like "at least she understands No" and stressing the importance of "showing her who's boss" and "get yourself a comb"  (she had a totally mat free coat upon drop off, as I do comb her every darn day) and 'her feet are sensitive' but I told the gal  that her first nail trim had been badly done at the vet - .... but the tone was alll wrong!  Took me two days to shake the sadness off my puppy and I'm going to have to cut out the mats left under her 'arm pits' - I'm filing down ragged nails and she still reeks of perfume and my husband who is Mr Cool even commented on the groomer's sour attitude.  I was quoted a price range - she hit the top dollar (70 for a thirty five lb dog) and still did not clean ears, so maybe I would feel differently if it were cheaper, not!

A dirty place is looking for disease - a business without customer service does not deserve customers -

 

Price is irrelevant to me - treat my dog right, treat me right, you get my business - anything missing then I will be too.  My dog, my money, my rules. 

 

[Lynette Main]

Very cute doodle.What a sweet face!!!!!Where I take mine ,the groomers are all wonderful and talk to me and the dogs.My dogs are always happy when they go and even happier when I pick them up. AND I have walked back where they do the grooming and have never been told to ever leave.I think this is important because they groomers are confident enough to let you see whats going on.  If your groomers does what you ask...thats really the most important thing.Some people like amimals better than humans...