PetsMart grooming/bathing

That's really uncalled for... you'd think they'd be more professional in their treatment.

We had similar problems at that PetSmart. Now we go to Bath and Beyond Pet Salon and LOVE them!

We stopped going to PetsMart for grooming except in emergencies - like when I got my flea and I couldn't wait for my groomer, Shirley, and so Mom took me there (to the east side store by Washington Square) to get me shaved down and groomed. They do an okay job, and I don't mind going there, but we don't do it regularly because we love Shirley so much. We met Shirley when she worked at that PetsMart, but now she is at Noah's Sugar Creek Pet Spa east of Greenfield on Washington Street. She's great. Mommy never takes the poodles to PetsMart. We're all so sorry you had a bad experience and tell your Mommy it's okay to vent! xoxo Sashi

I've heard about that before at the PetSmart in Greenwood. There are several independent groomers on the southside that offer much more caring service. Plus I always advocate shopping at local businesses.

I went to the one on E. Washington Street and they didn't even take me potty while I was there so I had messed in my cage!! So I got a bath for free but then
I had to stand on a pedestal for over 4 hours while someone who didn't know what they were doing pulled on my tail and talked mean to me then she chopped all my hair off and left bald spots! Mom was VERY UPSET and said never again and took me home and I got lots of treats for having to be there so long.

Thanks everybody! I felt a little silly complaining about this since there are so many good pets on this site who are going through real trouble with their health and other issues. But I also thought it was important for people to know when a business is not living up to its promises.

We'll be researching southside pet salons for a better fit. Any recommendations are most welcome! My cousin Gizmo is scheduled for a new 'do today at 4 Paws Only, so I'll see how they do with him. Of course he only weighs three pounds...

These kinds of posts are very helpful, because IndyPaws, as a community, is powerful. If enough people protest such treatment, and make it well known in the pet community, the offenders will have to change their ways or lose business. So sorry they did not treat you well, Ollie.

sadly, your story is not uncommon. unfortunately, petsmart is a chain store, and making money is their bottom line. not the training of their groomers or bathers, or quality. my friend was a groomer at the castleton store, and i think they have always been really good, but she did fill me in on some of corporate's "rules". first, no dogs were allowed (per corporate) to be taken outside for walks, for liability reasons, i guess. all dogs and cats (with shorter snouts) had to be COMPLETELY dried, no cage drying at all. (i cam imagine how traumatic this could have been for some animals, because there are some that you just cannot dry all the way, unless you torture them)they have a HUGE turnover in employees, with all areas of the store. i can bet you that a majority of the groomers that were there at any given petsmart a year ago, are not now. anyhow, if you don't have a good environment to work in, then you don't have happy workers, and they move on. that was probably why this happened, because someone probably walked out. they are really bad about letting completely unexperienced people work on people's animals, sometimes with terrible outcomes. (besides bad haircuts, but some have to go get stitches after)i get many, many dogs that have been down at petsmart, and they just look awful. i just wonder what the heck the groomer was trying to do, or what were they even thinking when they did that haircut??? it's just a shame, IMO, that big business like this has crept into the grooming industry, because they are letting people work on people's dogs that should NOT be. now, that said, there are many groomers there that are good, but they rarely stay, as they don't want to deal with the BS the store puts them through. what is really a shame, is that people just naturally assume that since this is a huge corporation, that touts itself as loving and being great with pets, that they know what they are doing, and they flock there. i'm not saying all petsmarts are like this, but most are. the one on east washington street is one of the most notorious for putting out horrible grooms. i have seen them first hand. it's too bad, because they really could have a nice place if they had the right people running it all.there is no lack of dogs, that is for sure.

Please don't feel bad for venting. This is just ridiculous - too qualified to give a bath, please! It's not your fault someone made a scheduling error, so that groomer that was available should have bathed you. That's just good customer service. If I was the manager at that store, someone would be in BIG trouble, if not fired, for this. I'm not even going to get started on them leaving you in that cage for 3 hours! Ridiculous!

We have never been to Petsmart for grooming. Mom had a husky once that she took there and it was a disaster. They were not very good at handling a big dog like him. We all go to our local pet groomer in Noblesville. They treat us as good as our Mom does! Mom says it's ok to vent. It's good to let others know the kind of service they will get at Petsmart.

Momma takes me to Castleton PetSmart, but she only lets Lisa groom me. She is very sweet to me and always gets to me quickly. She calls Momma soon as she is done. I am usually there for about 2-3 hrs. I had been groomed by someone else, and she wasn't very good with me, but Lisa is sweet and she makes me very pretty. I hate to hear about your bad experience. I guess it all depends on the groomer.

We go to Sally at the Noblesville Petsmart for our nails. She's the only one I will let do my nails. We don't get baths there, though. Mama gives us our baths.

I worked at Petsmart while in high school and the groomers that are now at the Castleton store, were previously at the store that I worked at in Westfield while I was there. I always thought that our groomers did a good job (courtney and Amber) and I've heard only good things with what they've done with castleton. Jersey, you are right...the turn-around is bad. I did watch some of the "bathers" trim my ex's dogs nails...OMG...it just irriated the piss out of me. The had her muzzled, but they didn't put it on correctly so she just pulled it right off. They had her standing on a table and they were pinning her legs down with all their strength! Ahhhhh...not necessary. I could have held that dog in a "safe hug" wihtout a muzzle and they could have dremmeled her nails on the floor while I held her...she was only 35lbs or so...no big deal! It was absolutely ridulous. The poor dog's eyes were totally bloodshot--no wonder why she hated having her nails trimmed!

Oh, don't get me started on the Plainfield Petsmart grooming salon. When Sally (from the Noblesville store) was on maternity leave, I thought I would just try Plainfield, since it is closer to us. Yogi had come a long way with getting his nails done. With Sally, he stopped squirming and sits there as nice as can be. Well, at the Plainfield store, it just started off really bad. He started his little fit throwing, and instead of calming him down, they took their attention off of him to talk to the manager about another pet. Here I am watching my dog thrash and throw a fit, while he's got a noose around his neck and noone is paying attention to him. I was so upset! I called the district office to report it. I didn't want anything (like a free nail trim, etc.), I just wanted him to know how upset I was, and how wonderful Sally is, even if we have to drive 40 minutes to go see her. LOL

That is ridiculous! the should have gotten to you the first day you were there...a groomer is too qualified to give a simple bath now! What is the world coming to?

Mom had a worse problem at a different Petsmart with a different dog. She took him in for his grooming appointment and when she picked him up, one of his eyes was swollen and dark blood red. He also had a big knot on his head and his front paws were sensitive. The vet determined that the FIVE MONTH OLD MINIATURE SCHNAUZER had been beaten. Petsmart paid for his vet bills and mom was told that the groomer had been fired...but after that, mom only went to groomers that would allow her to stay with him by his side for the entire session....then she learned to do it herself.

Yogi, we always go to the Plainfield PetsMart and yes I agree, they do that. I only go there to get Sugar's nails done, because I don't want to do them. For baths, we do them at home, and use the sink daisy thing. She likes it so much better at our house.

The PetSmart at Trader's Point is awesome. My mom also takes me there for the Doggie Daycare twice a month and they will come and get me with it is time for my appointment (after a good workout with my pals) bathe and groom me and make me all nice and pretty for mom when she picks me up. They even fixed that horrible bald spot PetCo cut into my butt instead of trimming when my cowlick grew a little too wild for mom's liking.

My brother, Tiger, and I just love Terry at The Pink Poodle in Franklin. It's a fairly new shop and Terry really knows what she's doing.

Well now they are going to be starting opening Petsmart daycare. That's scary. They hire anyone which is unsafe and they are anti pitbull.