Warning: if you are thinking of coming to Serenity, DON'T! You will regret it, and it's not worth…read morethe risk if you're particular about how you want your dog groomed.
We have an eight month Cobberdog (Australian Labradoodle), who we took to Serenity yesterday for his third visit. The first two visits were their "puppy package"...which is trimming the bathroom areas, cutting nails, wash/brush/dry to get them used to the experience. We had the same groomer each time. She greeted our dog excitedly at the start of each session, and walked him out at the end to discuss with me how it went. The first time was great. The second time, she mentioned that she found a couple knots behind his ears, and I told her we had a hard time getting them out there. Later when I got home, I noticed that the knots were still there and his nails didn't really seem trimmed. I chalked it up to maybe her missing one or two.
At both of our first two visits, even though he was only getting the puppy package, I stressed how we like the shaggy look and don't want his hair to be short/shaved ever.
Yesterday was scheduled to be his first actual cut. The groomer met us as usual, and we discussed length. Again, I stressed multiple times that we want to keep it long, and wanted just a trim, no shaving. We agreed to about half of his current length. I pointed out that he still had some knots that we couldn't get out on his beard and behind his ears, and if those had to be cut out, that was fine. She let me know that since this was more than the puppy trim, it would take longer (the first appointments were about an hour to 90m).
Four hours went by without hearing anything, so I called to check in. The groomer informed me that he was just up on her table now and it would be another 30 minutes. She mentioned that he had more knots than she originally thought, so she had to do a bit more than planned.
When I arrived to pick him up, I didn't even recognize him. She shaved him from head to toe--and not even shaved well at that. The groomer never came out from the back of the salon as she always has to talk to me, and instead had two other women awkwardly check me out. They knew by my reaction that I wasn't happy. I left without saying a word.
We wash and brush our dog weekly, and he did not have knots/matting all over his entire body. EVEN if they started the bathing and brushing and found that he did--it was their obligation as professionals to call me to discuss and see if I wanted him shaved. I would have declined and brought him somewhere else. They didn't do that, because they aren't professionals, they're hacks. Finding a good groomer is hard, steer clear of this place at all costs!
