I will never go back. They always cut Frankie's hair too short.

I took Lola when she was right at 12 weeks, a friend of my mothers with yorkies recommended a place that specialized in yorkies but when I called they were booked solid & wouldn't take puppies under 16 weeks, for health concerns for the puppy. Petsmart had a "puppy package" for puppiesup to 5 months, and Lola needed her nails trimmed, bad. So I took her there & get the trim package as well, and I was watching from the big window, and Lola was so scared, when the groomer tried to put the bow in her hair Lola jumped back and slipped off the table and almost hung herself! The "groomer" got her before she hurt herself, It was like she was more concerned about getting a stupid bow in her hair rather than worrying about her safety. anyway, she cut Lola too short, and the next day her skin was so dry I had to give her another bath. I wouldn't go back there. EVER.

Oh, poor Lola! :eek: I hope it didn't traumatize her.This was one of my greatest fears about leaving Ziggy alone with a groomer. You'd think they could take special precautions for the safety of a puppy....everyone knows how jumpy and wiggly they can be in an unfamiliar situation.:confused:

I know! And I just hate that her first experience at the groomers was so awful. Hopefully she wasnt traumatized...

Add me to the list of people who will never take my dog to a Petsmart groomer. I took my Mocha to Petsmart simply because I didn't know anyone good enough as a groomer. I thought Petsmart should be fine enough since it seems like everyone goes there. Well, I took Mocha there and there was a new person being trained/on orientation. I wasn't told about this until after I came back to confront the groomer. I asked for a full service groom- bath, cut, comb, clip nails, clean ears, brush teeth (basically the works). When I went to pick Mocha up, he just kept shaking and shaking and wasn't his usual self. I thought it was a bit strange. He perked up a bit when he saw me. I got my receipt to pay the cashier and noticed a 10% discount. I asked them what the discount was all about? They told me it was a special going on. I didn't think anything about it. I then take Mocha to my car and pet him to inspect how he was groomed. Horrified, I noticed his 2 back legs, his pads on his feed were severely cut, cut so far deep that you could see the pink tissue. There were also several cuts (scabbed over with blood) along his neck, chest, and under his ears. They were hidden b/c his hair was covering them up. I only noticed them when I was carefully inspecting his hair. I took Mocha immediately back to the groomer and showed them what had happened. I confronted this groomer and told them I wanted a refund and wanted to complain to the manager. I asked them why they didn't tell me up front about the injuries. ALso, why didn't they bring him to Banfield (which was right next door) to have the injuries checked out?? They apologized to me but stated they were not going to give me a refund. There excuse was the fact that the groomer working on my dog was new and inexperienced. I said why didn't this groomer ask another groomer for help if she couldn't handle a toy dog? The groomer didn't say anything and stood there quiet. I then told them that I would never set food in a Petsmart groomer ever again. And I haven't been back. I was so traumatized by this, and I felt so guilty at what I put Mocha thru, that I didn't take him to another groomer for 6 months. Now I have a mobile groomer. She comes to my house with her grooming supplies in her van. And I watch her groom Mocha personally. I even help out sometimes! She is very gentle and KNOWS how to groom toy dogs like yorkies. So before anyone goes to a Petsmart groomer, if you do decide to go, please make sure the groomer working on your dog is not new! If you have been to a Petsmart groomer before, please make sure you go to the same groomer you have been with before. Or better yet, find a groomer that specialized in toy breeds like yorkies.

Ajoyjoie, I'm so sorry, what a horrible experience!:eek: It is so shocking that they didn't even take him to the vet's that was right next door!:mad: There are so many negative things about Petsmart groomers....I don't see how they can stay in business. I'll bet they have a few law suits going. I hope your little Mocha recovered from his experience. Sounds like you've got a treasure of a groomer now.:)

You need to complain to the corporate office, and you need to be heard!!! This is very important to do if you want to keep other peoples babies safe!!! Complaining on a store level may not get to where it needs to be. At the least you should be reimbursed for the grooming and some pain and suffering for you girl.

Debbie Ray
Owner Best Friends Pet Salon
Salem Oregon
www.sumtoiyorkies.com

I would complain to the corporate office if I could do it now. But this happened last year. I was so mad back then I couldn't think what to do. I didn't even think to take pictures of Mocha's injuries. I did go to my vet and get him treated. So if they needed any kind of records I could probably get something from my vet. But no pictures. And I'm afraid that it would be my word against theres so to speak. Because of this, I didn't complain to the corporate office. And I never got my refund. Now, I have told everyone I know that owns pets, especially dogs, to avoid Petsmart groomers like the plague.

That is horrible. I have never taken my dogs to places like Petco or Petsmart and never will

Petsmart
 

One day I was in Petsmart and on a whim asked about a part time grooming job..the store manager was eager to talk to me since I was already a professional groomer ..BUT when I went in to talk to the head groomer who did the hiring, it was a different story. I watched while they groomed a Yorkie to see how it was done...no problem!

They took a soft coated Yorkie and bathed it first..then dried it and proceeded to spend one solid hour brushing out mats..then they clipped it down and did the face, ears, nails..the poor Yorkie was pooped put at the end.
They turned a one hour grooming into FOUR full hours..I was told that is the way I would a Yorkie and other coated tosy...I was asked if I had any questions..
My question was...Why you spend 4 hrs grooming a dog that could be done in ONE hour..she asked me how I would have done it...?

The dog should have been clipped first..why brush out mats ( with a rough slicker brush I might add..painful process) and then cut the hair off? Why wash matted hair? I clip, then bathe, it only takes about 10 mins to trim up the face and any left over stray hair..Once a Yorkie soft coat is cut short, wash it and it will dry in minutes..why subject a dog to an hour or more in a hot dryer..that is the way many are forgotten and get heat stroke or die in pet shops...!!!
A short coat can be dried on the table in minutes...I was not hired because I would not agree to groom the "Petsmart" way...I was told they perfer an untrained person and they can teach them their way...BUT I would be hired to as a bather until I learned how to groom correctly...30 yrs of grooming Yorkies and I couldn't get hired at Petsmart..!LOL

HMMM WEll I am SPLIT on the Petsmart thing. I have seen some horrible cuts come from there ...but I only use one girl there and she is FABULOUS!. I tell her EXACTLY what i want.... and my dogs always come out lookig EXACTLY how I described it to her:thumbup: Now I ONLY go to her there and my dogs come out perfect everytime. of course as I am trooting out with the cut dog....Some other poor doggy always comes out along side me looking like a skinned rat from one of the other groomers there:( .
The good part of thisis ... The girl used to to work there full time and I could always get an appointment with her. NOW she only works half a day on Saturday and is ALWAYS booked up if I don't call 2 weeks ahead;)

groomers
 

I have no problem with the groomers themselves..it is the way they have to go by rules that are not in the dogs best interest. Some people post how much grooming upsets their dog..I think it is unfair to blame it all on the dog not being trained, spoiled etc...some dogs are so traumatized by cage drying or dematting etc..there are less drastic ways to do it IMO...

I will have to say, My best groomer is at Petsmart. She was a groomer before so I think that helps. She get me in anytime I need it. She does exactly what I want her to do and nothing else. I must have just got Lucky!!! She treats my babies like they were her own. I just took Maddie in today. Oh course she said Where's Parker... She just loves Parker. She said it always takes her longer to do my babies cause she just wants to cuddle and play with them.

That's where I've taken Sadie. Loved the first girl I had, but she had back surgery or something & had to quit. The person I have now is good, too. I've never really had a problem with them. I would consider going somewhere else, though, if I had heard good things about it & it wasn't WAY expensive. Where is this Camp Canine that you said you took your dog to? I see that you are in Denton...I'm in Irving.

Christie, I sent you a PM. If anyone else would like to know, it's Club Canine(I had the name wrong)located in Denton, TX. I will definitely take Ziggy back to her.

It's been mentioned a few times in this thread, but I'll bring it up again. The key is the individual groomer. I wouldn't take Bailey anywhere if I didn't know and trust the groomer who would be taking care of her. If she's just going to be done by whoever's available - she won't be going there.

We take her to PetCo, but we were really lucky. A few days after we got her, we were in PetCo and stopped by to ask about trimming her ears to encourage her ears to stand up. The lady that we talked to has 5 Yorkies of her own, grooms them herself, and has pictures of them up by the desk. Those are credentials that gave me confidence to try her. She did great, and Bailey is always happy to see her when we take her back.

It's not always possible to get one, but there's no substitute for a recommendation from someone you trust.

Never, Ever Again!!
 

Well if I ain't just kicking myself HARD in the butt! What a total IDIOT I was for not coming here and reading all these posts FIRST! I just picked up my baby from PetSmart about an hour ago and I can tell you the minute I saw him through the window...the VERY FIRST words out of my mouth to my husband were, "OH MY GOD......NEVERRRR AGAIN!!!!!!!!!". My baby went from a beautiful little Yorkie (that needed a haircut, lol) to a CHOPPED UP/SUPER DUPER SHORT looking Schnauzer!! I cannot EVEN believe it! I feel like I left my cute little baby there and came back home with someones Schnauzer!!!!! I almost started crying!! I am just sick to death about this.

My husband and I were EXTREMELY specific on EXACTLY what we wanted done with him. We even brought in THREE pictures for her to go by!! While my husband was holding him, I even took (with my own hands!!) the parts of his hair that I wanted "TRIMMED". I mean I honestly COULD NOT IMAGINE having been more SPECIFIC!!

The whole reason we took him to PetSmart was because of the whole "being able to watch through the window" thing........STUPID. The "groomer" told me that she wouldn't be starting on him for a while because she still had some work to do on a Cocker Spaniel, so my husband and I left to run up to his work and we were gone for all of TWENTY MINUTES and when we came back she had already started the CHOPPING. I swear I almost lost it completely right there in PetSmart!!

Needless to say I will NEVER AGAIN in my life take another animal of mine to that place. After being as specific as I was, and I STILL got exactly OPPOSIT of what I wanted. I even SPECIFICALLY told her, "I DO NOT want him to come out looking like a Schnauzer". And thats EXACTLY what I got!! For (right at) $40 dollars I could have gotten a MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better job done on him SOMEWHERE ELSE! And I will next time. Although since this was his VERY FIRST hair cut EVER, I am pretty much TRAUMATIZED about getting his hair cut again. Don't know what I'm going to do..

BTW, Does anyone know about how long it takes for some of the hair to start growing back? I can't stand it!!!!! :mad:

P.S.- I have posted before and after pictures so that you can actually SEE what they did to my poor little baby!! The before pictures were taken, literally, 30 minutes before I took him to get groomed. And the after pictures were taken about 30 minutes ago. It is so hard for me to even look at the before pictures now! Just look at that precious, puffy little teddy bear face!! :(

stedmansmommy,

Wow. That is very short cut they gave your baby. I'm sorry this happened to you. I don't know why even when people are specific about what they want done to their dog, the groomer goes ahead and uses their own judgement in what they think looks good on a yorkie.

I'm sorry that happened to your dog. It will probably take a couple of months for the hair to grow back. Spend a good time looking around locally for a good groomer, especially one that specializes in toy dogs or has groomed yorkies before. It took me a good 5 months before I was able to find my groomer, who is a mobile groomer (comes to my house to groom my dogs).

I think he looks pretty cute in the after pics actually. Doesn't look like a schnauzer at all to me. What did the pics you showed the groomer look like? Compared to some of the Petsmart and Petco haircuts I've seen people post pictures of, I think you got off pretty easy. I'm amazed he still has some fur. Usually they pretty much strip every dog that comes in.

I agree that is not a bad hair cut, if she had left any more hair you would have just gotten a bath and no hair cut. I have seen some ugly hair cuts and this is not one of them. It should grow out very nice for you. It is always a shock to see your baby cut for the first time, but I think you have nothing to complain about.

JMHO
Debbie Ray
www.sumtoiyorkies

Thank you
 

Thank you everyone for all of your very kind and caring replies. Yes, he is very short...WAY shorter than what I like on a Yorkie. :( And joyjoie, I agree, I too don't understand why when you are so very specific on what you want done, someone would go and do the exact OPPOSITE. It is very upsetting and very frusterating. I completely understand that it is just hair, and that it will grow back (in time..), but when you pay for something, I guess you are just kind of expecting to get somewhat of what you asked for :( Unfourtunately, with my luck, that totally didn't happen for me and my little baby.

Dawn125, thanks for the compliment on my little guy ;) He is still a cutie, and I OF COURSE would love him no matter WHAT he looked like (he could be shaved bald, lol) but I am just very frusterated because his cut is not AT ALL what I expected, or what I wanted. I have posted the EXACT 3 pictures that I gave to the groomer to go by. And I understand that on the one Yorkie (not the one in the clothes, but the other) that he/she is just a puppy, but that is more of the look I wanted. So I guess a puppy cut??? This is more of the look that my husband wanted. I, however, liked the other cut (the Yorkie with the clothes on), which is kind of the look he had going to begin with (before taking him in to get groomed)...and that is exactly why I specifically told her I wanted him "TRIMMED". There were some things we liked about each of the Yorkies pictures, and we specifically showed her (on my baby) what we wanted done on what part of his body, etc.

dray AND Dawn125, thank you for making me feel better by saying that this is by far not the worst cut you've seen. It's not that I feel she did a BAD job on his grooming (everything is even, etc.), it's just that the look she gave him is MUCH shorter than what I had originally asked for. I'm sure that when his hair slowly grows back out it will start to look really cute and choppy, the way I like it. It is just going to take some time (and patience from me, which I don't have!) lol. :rolleyes: And dray you are right, it is DEFINITELY a BIG SHOCK to see them cut for the first time....WHEW!!!!.....:eek:

P.S.- Can anyone tell just by looking at these 3 pictures (the ones that I took in for the groomer to go by) what kind of cut it is on the Yorkie with the shirt on?? Is there any specific name that this type of cut is called that I can go by and reffer to when having him groomed the next time? That is my favorite cut and I really don't know what to call it which is why I brought in the pictures. Would that one be called a puppy cut?? Or something else? Not sure. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks much :D

The first picture is pretty much what you will have in about a month, why would you pay to have your dog groomed and not get enough hair cut off to be worth the money. To leave you dog longer it would have to be hand scissored and puppies do not as a rule stand still for this kind of trim and most groomers do not know how to do this anyway. Do not ever ask for a hair cut by a name because names mean different things to different groomers. A puppy cut can be a shave to some groomers and can be several inches to others. I think this groomer did a good job and it will grow out nice like I said. There have been some very ugly hair cuts on this list but I still believe this is a good job, yorkie hair is one of the hardest hair to trim as it does not stand up, and it is so fine , the trim this groomer got on your dog looks even and not at all like a lawn mower went over it as some do. So that is all I have to say on the subject for now. I think your dog looks cute and you will too soon. Here is a picture of my dog after he got his hair cut.Attachment 61926

Oh, yes I agree with everyone pets mart gets a :thumbdown I took my Candy there just to have her ears shaved 1/3 down and they cut all the hair off her ears and cut the hair around her eyes. She looked like a little bat:eek:. I told them all I wanted was the hair cut on her ears (just because I was too lazy that day to do it myself). I asked them why did they cut the hair around her eyes. They told me, "you need to have it cut so it does not poke her in the eyes" I told them I watch her well and the hair is never in her eyes I make sure it stays out of her eyes she's with me 24/7.

Now shes grown and I don't have to worry about her hair in her eyes because it has grown long. Do you know how long it took me to get her hair long after they cut it, FOREVER it seemed.

After I was done arguing I picked up my dog and walked right out the store I didn't pay a dime and I didn't care if they called the police on me I was sooo mad:mad:.

Ever since then I just groom her mayself.

dray your baby looks beautiful. Nice picture you posted of him :) Thanks for all your help and advice. I am still going to be looking for a different groomer, and hopefully I won't have to go through several bad haircuts before I find him a good one. I don't care what the cost is, as long as they do the job I ask for. Oh well....the hunt continues. :confused:

Thanks again.

Petsmart
 

Before I got Stanley, I'd always play with my boyfriend's half labrador/half husky dog. He's a completely mellow dog and we never have any trouble getting him to listen. My boyfriend's mom always took him to Petsmart...and they did a good job, most of the time. One day Bentley comes home from Petsmart with his eye half shut! We were all furious, he was so sad and his eye looked all red and irritated. My boyfriend's mom called and complained and they offered to pay the vet bill. I never took Stan to Petsmart, I had an personal referral to a girl at Petco and she does a wonderful job on Stanley!

BTW, I think your baby looks very cute..Stanley's hair was really short when I got him groomed but I liked it that way and I think he did too..it's only been about a month and a half and his hair is already long again!

I think if you went back to the same groomer and told her what you wanted changed and give her one more chance it might work out well for you. Remember a bad hair cut is not the worst thing that can happen to your dog..... Be very careful switching groomers to many times find one you like and try and work with her till you get what you want, sometimes it is just a bit of a communication problem. I can tell you the dogs that are the hardest to handle sometimes are the ones that go from groomer to groomer. Just a thought.

lol thanks but, there is no way I will ever take him back there again. I can't imagine there being a communication problem after bringing in 3 pictures of what I wanted done, and after being as specific as I was. My husband would never allow me to bring him back there anyway after how upset I was. There is no way he would let me pay another $40 for her to mess him up again. As for him being hard to handle, that simply wasn't the case. She even complimented me on how well behaved he actually was. Being that he is just now 5 months old, she said he did very good. She informed us that grooming him was a BREEZE compared to lots of others. It took me three good tries before I finally found my groomer (she is now retired) for my cocker spaniel that we had for over 11 years, so I will just have to keep searching, and hopefilly I will get some good references along the way. I have to take Stedman in for his next set of shots today, so I am going to talk to my vet and see if he can recommend anyone. There's gotta be someone out there :p

jnguyen115, that is terrible about what happened to that poor doggy and his eye :( However, it's good to hear that they paid the vet bill - I would have been FURIOUS as well! There is a lady here in town that REALLY needs be be shut down (and SUED!) because she is cruel to the animals. I just cannot understand why, and HOW, this woman is still in business. Even my vet has awful stories about her, and the poor dogs that their owners have brought in after having picked them up from her shop. My best friend just bought her Yorkie from this woman in April (yeah, she's a breeder too...now isn't THAT just fabulous!!! :eek:...and of course my best friend had NO idea about this woman or who she was (she lives in a small town close to where I live, and this is her first dog ever...so she had never heard of this place or this woman). Anyway, she paid $1,000 for her Yorkie and 3 days later it was throwing up with fever, acting very sluggish, etc. So my friend called me being that I have had dogs all my life, to ask my opnion of what I thought could be wrong with her puppy. After she told me all it's symptoms (and being that she NEVER got her puppy's shot records!!!! Can you believe it!!), I told her that I was really sorry to say that it sounded like her pup had Parvo. Sure enough, she took it to the vet and that's exactly what it had. Her puppy almost died as she was only 1 lb and very tiny. Anyway, to make a long story short, her puppy DID live (Thank GOD!) but her coat is now all messed up and very thin, as a result of the Parvo. She lost ALOT of hair. She had to say hospitalized at our vet's office for over 2 weeks. She was so bad off, that one of the nurses took her home when she left at the end of the day for 3 days straight to watch her all through the night. They are really great up there! You can really tell how much they care about animals...they are such angels! Miracle workers... :)

Anyway, I know that had absolutely NOTHING to do with grooming - LOL, but I just thought I'd share that story about my friend and her poor little puppy. Of course she felt so stupid after she told me where she bought the puppy and I told her all about that lady and the "business" that she was running...but in the end we both felt like she rescued her :animal36 from that horrible place and that witch of a lady :thumbdown :mad: My friend and I are going to write a Letter to the Editor about this woman and her so called "business", and we are going to tell her darling little puppy's story. Hopefully it will be an eye opener to other pet owners and they will be aware that they should steer clear of her when looking to buy a puppy, or to have one groomed. It is very, very SAD that someone could be so cruel to those sweet precious things. :( It just breaks my heart into a million pieces!!

Anyhow, I did want to thank for for complimenting my little guy :) He is a cutie pie alright, but he sure is SPOILED ROTTEN!!! :p lol.

Petsmart Grooming
 

I also had a bad experience with Petsmart Grooming. I took my baby there for his first grooming when I bought him and was satisfied, so when I brought him the second time, I was excited to get him back all clean and fresh like before...not the case.....he came back almost bald and completely shaved AND they charged me almost $20.00 more than the lady told me in the beginning...I WAS HOT! I will never take him back there again. He has another appointment tomorrow with a new groomer......wish me luck!

Gypsy