Just moved to the area and needed to find a groomer. I had been going to an amazing salon in Boston, (Shout out to the Pampered Pooch) and was looking for a similar groomer owned business.
Boy did I make a terrible mistake.
When I first got to the salon, maybe 5 minutes before my appointment, I rang the doorbell and waited. And waited, and waited, and waited so long my fiance went to the car to try to call inside to make sure we were at the right time and place. After peering into the glass and finally seeing a man grooming a dog, I realized we were in the right spot.
The shop was small, loud, dirty and just generally stressful. I should have just turned around then!
After finishing up the phone call he was taking instead of answering the door, I was finally greeted by Fred. He started to look over my dogs, a Border Collie and Pyrenean Shepard. The Border Collie was a pretty easy case, but my little Shepard was a bit of a challenge. Fred mistakenly called my dog a Wheaton Terrier, and after I corrected him, he seemed to be pretty convinced that he was correct, and that I actually did have a Wheaton Terrier.
Anyways, I knew that she was going to be a challenge. Her legs and face had some mats, but I've definitely seen her worse. He explained to me that he would have to shave her, which I figured, but the way it was done was HORRIBLE.
He cut her whiskers entirely off without mercy, uneven shaves on her face, butt, tummy, and all I was left with was some stupid puff on her head. Now I understand that she was in rough shape and needed a decent shave, but our old groomer never sent her back like this. He also clearly did not care to take time with the Border Collie and use proper scissors, instead there was evidence that the took the same razor and just chopped chunks off.
I have sheers and can shave my dog. That's not why I paid over 100 dollars.
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. The dogs came back shaky and sad, and I feel terrible I put them through this. read more