The positive reviews on Yelp inspired me to bring my dog, a 16-lb. Chihuahua Shiba Inu mix named…read moreSam, for a grooming at Metro Pups. The booking experience on the phone was pleasant enough. I made sure to explain that he is a heavy shedder given his Shiba background and needed a very good brushing out.
However, after spending 1.5 hours at their shop, my dog looked clean but curiously thick-haired, and hair was falling off of him with every step. I took him home and took my brush to him (the small Ferminator meant for his breed type and size, one that I've been using successfully on him for the six years I've had him), and clumps of his undercoat began coming off.
I called Metro Pups and they told me to bring him back for another brushing, but when I did, they got incredibly defensive. They told me their "commercial methodology" - blow-drying my dog as a way to de-shed him and then taking what I saw was a fairly wide-toothed comb to him - was better than mine, and that I should expect him to shed after their de-shedding methods. They even told me that yes, it does sound counter-intuitive, but that's how it is.
Among the excuses: I was told that I don't know my own dog, that my brushing methods all these years are wrong, and that my dog will always shed. Oh, they also told me his hair is falling off because he is "excited." Having had Sam for six years, I know he will *always* shed, but also know from my own thorough brushings of him, and from taking him to other groomers, what a good, proper brushing looks like. This was not it.
I left Metro Pups and spent 30 minutes brushing Sam, yielding a beach ball-sized pile of hair - I took a picture after I threw half of it out, but have attached here a bit of what I took off. It's clear that they did not take the time to properly brush my dog, or if they did, used methods that are not up to par.
Including tip, that's $62 hard-earned dollars, plus my time, down the drain. I would not recommend this place if you expect a thorough brushing / de-shedding of your pup.
