My quiet little Shih-poo may be every dog groomer's worst nightmare. Contrary to the usual cooing from his grandparents and other random senior citizens, groomers seem, well, somewhat exasperated by him. Sometimes it was a dismayed comment, "what a little monkey your dog is", which is particularly upsetting for the less obvious reason that I had indeed settled for dog instead of actual monkey. Or, an admonishing, "it took 3 of us to groom him" which invariably follows the unspoken: better leave bigger tip.
Fortunately, a few years ago after giving up on another Yorkville groomer, I discovered Pawfect Spa. The space is clean and bright and the staff are friendly, but what really got my attention is that the owners are not just shop owners, but also dog owners of seemingly high maintenance dogs! Trust me, this is quite rare in my experience.
Though it's going back a few years since my dog's first groom at Pawfect Spa, I clearly recall my surprise when I meekly asked the usual, "uh, how was he?" and received the unusual, "he was great." Yes, he looked great, in fact, my partner couldn't resist referring to him as "toy dog", but what about all that monkey business? The groomer seemed perplexed by my concern for her sanity and I, for the first time didn't have to offer an apology!
Still, when I returned the next time, I asked more directly, "was he difficult?" to which the groomer sweetly replied, "well, he doesn't like his paws touched, but one of us talks to him while the other grooms."
And let me reiterate, the grooming IS great; actually, it's only gotten better over time and still not even the slightest grievance from any of the groomers. There has never been a cut, nick or scratch nor have I ever seen him returned to me with irritated bloodshot eyes. It did take a few visits to figure out the length I preferred on his limbs and face, but once we did, Elsie took photos and matched it each subsequent visit.
Lastly, a couple of years ago, my dog started losing hair and Elsie suggested he get checked out for Cushing's Disease. I did, and well, she had totally called it. If Elsie was my vet, she would have saved me almost $800 for various tests that simply confirmed what she had suspected.
It's been a relief to find a dog spa that I can trust and unlike previous groomers, I can genuinely say that I don't fret when my dog is with Elsie and her staff. I highly recommend and will keep going back! read more