I would highly recommend staying as far away from this place as possible. I have a puppy Great Dane…read moreand two weiner dogs. I switched my Great Dane, Bucky, over to glenway when he was about 6 months old because of a trusted referral. After dealing with this practice for almost a year now, I've learned that their staff is the most uneducated and unprofessional bunch (with the exception of Dr. Cron) I've ever encountered. Here's just a few reasons why:
- I took Bucky in for his neutering and gastropexy. While stepping on the scale, his tail accidentally knocked over a treat jar sitting on a side table next to it. Colleen, one of the horribly rude office ladies, responded with "ugh, it's ruined" rather than a normal response of no big deal, he's a big dog, things happen.
- Prior to even bringing him in that day, I was given incorrect pre-op instructions prior to Buckys neutering and gastropexy which led to an incredibly stressful experience for him. Their response? Sedate him until he cannot move with morphine and ketamine, without my consent. Their next move? THEY ASK US TO CARRY OUR 130 POUND DOG TO THE PROCEDURE ROOM AS HE IS CRYING, UNABLE TO STAND UP OR MOVE, AND I AM ALSO CRYING. The most traumatizing and upsetting experience I've ever had at any vet practice. Prior to his sedation, I asked Dr. Hobbie to come in the room and greet him/pet him/ give him a treat to calm his nerves. Her response? Goes to get a muzzle, comes back and knocks on the door (why the hell would you do that? That's the best way to make any dog bark. Like I said - uneducated), slowly crack open the door and drop muzzles in and asks me to muzzle Bucky. Zero effort to just walk in the room and treat him like any other dog. Keep in mind - no one has ever told me that Bucky has been aggressive, hostile, needs to be muzzled, etc. So on top of the trauma, I was also completely caught off guard as to why they were acting this way. After 10 mins of me struggling to muzzle Bucky because he was terrified and never had something like that before, Dr. Cron came in to help. They then gave him the sedation I mentioned above and he fell to the floor. Dr. Hobbie later called after his procedure and admitted they responded the way they did due to his size and "loud bark". THIS IS A VETERINARY PRACTICE! They have employed vets and technicians who don't know how to properly interact with a large breed dog, who barks? Insane.
- I was very skeptical to leave him there for his surgery after all of this, but I trusted he would be in good hands with Dr. Hobbie as this was the first time I had seen her act so unprofessional. Terrible mistake. When I went to pick Bucky up, we walked back to the kennel area with Dr. Hobbie to get him. When we get to the kennel, we noticed Bucky still had his poker collar on while in the kennel, on sedatives, and UNSUPERVISED. Any competent human, let alone a veterinary professional, knows that it is incredibly dangerous to leave a dog unsupervised with a choke collar on as it could cause serious damage or kill them if it were to get caught on something.
- The final cherry on top: I called to get buckys records and a refill of his medicine as we are now transferring practices. Michelle called and asked for feedback on why we were leaving. I explained all of the above concerns to her and she did not apologize, ask any clarifying details, or show any sign of sympathy, remorse, or concern for what had occurred.
Before any of this happened, we had a pretty decent experience. Bucky had been there on multiple other occasions and never had a problem, probably because we primarily saw Dr. Cron. He was the only one who helped us and clearly the only one who was not intimidated by a large dog. Mind you - Bucky lives with 2 girls, 2 mini weiner dogs, and his best friend is a 4 year old boy next door. He couldn't be intimidating even if he tried.
All that to say, if you are ever in a situation where Glenway Animal Hospital is your only choice, you are better off not seeing a vet at all unless you are guaranteed you will only work with Dr. Cron. Good news - Covedale pet hospital is just a few mins away and is a great alternative. Bucky goes there now and has zero problems!