Dear fellow pet lovers. This past Friday we took our Bella for a
grooming. Normally we would take her to a pet salon but since moving
back to Chicago we have had great difficulty in finding someone that
is familiar with the Wheaten cut. Sadly we took her to Petsmart and
the results were not only poor but shocking as they shaved her to the
bare skin except for her head and tail even though I took pictures to illustrate the cut she should have. if you would like to see a photo of before and after to send to friends please let me know. I have since heard from their corporate headquarters after a letter, but with little satisfaction. I am asking them what the certifications are for their groomers. When you see the photo's you will know why. :cry:

I thought groomers were supposed to be registered. I've seen wheatens with different cuts. Sometimes they have a puppy cut, sometimes they look like Old English sheepdogs and sometimes they are cut to look like schnauzers. I think it would be good if there is a next time to take a picture of what you want done and find a particular groomer that you like and stick with her/him much like if you had a favorite barber. Yikes. Sorry that happened but it is nice to know the hair will grow back.

Yes groomers are supposed to be registered except at a facility like Petsmart where they have an internal program for their groomers. I took a book with me and showed the groomer exactly what I wanted. Bella is two years old so she has grown past the puppy cut and has been cut as a wheaten for over a year. We moved here from the east coast and finding a new groomer has been tough, that's how we ended up at petsmart. Wish you could see this poor thing shaved bare, you would than understand our feelings. Had three calls from the petsmart corporate office today. They are investigating. I was asked what they could do to make it ok, could they send me a gift certificate etc. I told them they could make sure they hired trained people so no one else would ever have to go through this again. It will take quite a bit of time for Bella to grow her hair again.... thanks for the note.

That's awful. That's why I would be afraid of being a groomer because I have heard about a lot of people who were very unhappy with their puppies' cuts. I only trim coats of puppies where I work. I really like doing it but I don't have the right equipment .---Yah---I agree there is no excuse for shaving your wheaten that short.

I think being a groomer is fine except in a chop shop like petsmart. A person who cares and takes pride in their work makes all the difference. What kind of dog do you have?

Me? I can't own a dog yet but I am gearing up for that someday (hopefully soon). I care for lots and lots of different puppies (thus I gave myself the name "petshopgirl"). Where I work we never really hold onto Wheatens for very long because they are in the perfect family dog catagory. It's a crazy job but I can't say I don't like it. I like to come here and ask questions and give input. In comparison to Petsmart, although it is a good chain with some good humanitarian rules (like no selling of animals that end up in shelters like pups, ferrets and bunnies) not all the employees are well trained. Like I was watching a Petsmart employee try to help a customer with a baby cockatoo. She was afraid to touch it as if the cockatoo was going to bite her. I too am hesitant about reaching out for any large sized bird but I know a baby cockatoo is very harmless. I felt sorry for that poor girl actually. It looks like a fun job but there can be so much to know. I take for granted what I know to do until I have to train a new employee because it's not just "doing work" but a little more head and heart work involved.

I do apprecited their humanitarian work and will continue to shop there but never as someone getting their dog groomed. Wheatens are terrific dogs but can be very nervous and hyper. Not barkers but they need a lot of attention, combing etc. Many end up in shelters because the work is not what the people are expecting. We love our Bella and we lost our doberman Lizzie this year...we still miss her.

Good for you working and caring for these helpless little animals.

Midge

Sorry to hear about your dobie. But I think of it as good that a family holds onto their beloved pet throughout the pet's life. It's not an easy thing for a lot of people to do. That is a true problem with petstore work--I hate finding out that the dog that we sold ends up in a bad home and it has happened

Very true. It was not easy in the end with our Lizzie. She was so sick and at the end could not get up very well or hold her bladder. The thing was she was still our Lizzie the pretty and every loveable pet we had for years and we were not going to do anything but love her. It's the first time I have ever had to put a pet down but she was suffering and while at the vets office where I prayed that she would somehow by miracle get better she only got worse. The day came when we walked in and looked at her and we knew we were keeping her there for us, a selfish act. I sat on the floor and kissed every part of her head and feet I could reach and sobbed. I cried for days, weeks months and still have a hard time with it. We have Bella who loved Lizzie and that is a comfort. I am going to give you a website to go to and an ID number. You will see Bella and than go to her family and see photos of Lizzie and Bella. The website is dogster.com and the ID is 301173 the simple URL: www.dogster.com/?The website is dogster.com

On my website I have a list of groomers broken down by state and city. I can't recommend them as I obviously couldn't have taken a dog to every one of them. Anyway here it is http://www.dogbreedgift.net/groom/usagroom.htm

I suppose you have to phone them and ask a bunch of questions just like a human hair stylist. Anyway, I'm sorry your dog wasn't groomed correctly, but the hair will grow back and if you don't make a big deal about it infront of your dog, the dog probably wouldn't mind.

Mike

Thank you, this is very helpful.

Midge

So sorry to hear about your Wheaten. They are such cuties. We just went through this ourselves. We bought our daughter a show puppy this last March and decided to take advantage of Petsmarts puppy package which is bath, nail cut, trim etc for $15. We took him and our two year old female Siberian in about three days before our puppies first fun match. We had to argue with them when we got there because the lady started to ask about how we like them clipped. (BIG RED FLAG) When I told them under no circumstances were they to cut a single hair except the pads of their feet because clipping their hair would disqualify them from showing, the girl kept trying to explain that it was free and included in the bathing package. I had to repeat a couple times that we did not want any clip except the pads of their feet. When I went to pick them up I had my three children with me, they handed me both dogs and I was trying to write a check. My female was so happy to see me she wouldn't stop jumping up in my face . It was chaos i wrote my check and left. When we got home and she got out of the car and was trotting away from me, I saw instantly that her guard hairs had all been trimmed to the length of her undercoat and her shaggy behind was a straight cut. It looked like a 4 year old boy took scissors to her back end. It was terrible. The only thing they didn't touch was her tail. I looked over the puppy very quickly and saw that he had not been clipped. I don't know what I would have done if he was. We bought him specifically for my 11 year old daughter to show and if he had been clipped it would have cheated her out of months of showing. His entire first season would have been a waste. As it is I can't start our female in conformation matches now until next year. She just blew her undercoat for the summer and now her hair is actually as short as a Lab! Imagine a Siberian with a Lab coat. The poor thing is hideous. Worse, people think this will keep them cooler in the summer but dogs don't sweat through their skin the way we do. A Siberian's coat actually insulates them from the heat.
I learned a very valuable lesson from the whole thing and nobody else will ever groom our dogs again. We do it ourselves at home now. Thank goodness we have an easy breed that doesn't require fancy clipping or anything.
I wouldn't recommend Petsmart groomers to anyone.

[Olympia]

I used to cringe everytime I went to Petsmart, and saw the grooming room, I'm by no means a licensed groomer, but I have siberians as well, and I think I know a bit about how you are supposed to groom them. You are right about the hack jobs they do, they had a border collie in the grooming room once when I went there, and the girl had hacked it's fur so bad, it was sooooooooo uneven, and not even a cut you are supposed to do on a border. Anyway Petco, actually has grooming schools they send their people to, they have to pass with a 70% grade average to be a groomer, I have used PETCO, because there was a girl that worked there who fell in love with my Mariya {red and white sibe} she did an excellent job. So maybe you could look into PETCO, and check them out. I thought they did a better job at PETCO, then my regular expensive groomer. Needless to say we moved out to the country so groomers are to far away, DH is buying me a grooming table, and all the equipment. Good Luck!