This is still very disturbing because this just happened 3 weeks ago. If anyone can get me help with whom to contact what to do I would greatly appreciate it. Saturday January 12, 2008 my wife took our 9 year old Golden Retriever to PETCO for a normal wash and dry. She waited several hours and since no one had called her from PETCO she decided to go and pick up Gracie, our golden. When she arrived and asked is Gracie was finished they told my wife that Gracie wasn't breathing and asked if she could try and wake her up. What!!!!! Gracie was cold as if she had been dead for quite some time. An autopsy was performed but there wasn't anything that could prove negligence. Her tongue was purple which made them suspect choking, but without any bruising or marks there wasn't any proof. We still have not been contacted by PETCO on the matter and we aren't sure what we can do. We were deferred to an out sourced third party administrator for PETCO. Right now I just want Gracie back.

[Yogi]

in many cases bruising will not appear til some time after necropsy. You may want to check and see if any bruising has developed since that time if possible.
Sorry for your loss. I personally let no one bath my dogs but me. I guess I am just not trusting of others to handle them, especially a pet store.

Oh what a terrrible thing to happen.I am so so sorry for your loss. I would not rest until I found out what had caused your dog to pass away. ---Aggy.

please contact an attorney. there is now case law for pain & suffering because of these types of things. I know money won't bring your Gracie back - but it should be a black eye for Petco.

now keep in mind there could have been other things at play there too.

had she gone there before? if not it could have stressed her terribly.

did they have ONLY wire crates? or do they also have the Vari - kennels that look like a large cat carrier? if they dried her in one of those - that could have done it.

We had taken her their a few times before. She has been taken to groomers since she was 6 months old. I didn't see anything but the wire cages. Her last resting place was one of their wire cages. It is a very haunting image that I can't get out of my mind....

oh I wasn't implying you didn't have her groomed, I just thought this may have been her first trip to this place.

does this store also have the Banfield vet office there? if so why didn't they immediately get a vet over there?

if so, it wan't them that did the necropsey I hope.

her last resting place is in your heart

See if you can find out if they use what is called a "Drying Box". If they do, and didn't watch her close, or if they left her in there too long.....
I would be calling a lawyer. I am so sorry about your dog.

[Groominator]

The circumstances of your pet dying are very suspect. I have to say that I am a Grooming salon manager at a petco in central texas and have been grooming for several years. If an autopsy proved she was not choked then she may have died of natural causes, or an underlying health condition that was exacerbated by the stress of grooming combined with her age.

My major question is: Why did they not seek medical help for your dog? Why did they not call you to tell you she was in need of medical assistance?
Was she finished grooming? Did they attempt to call you? Did they tell the store manager the dog was not breathing? What the hell is wrong with those employees? "Can they wake her up?" That statement sounds fishy. I know that if I pass a dog in its cage and its asleep I wake the little dude up! Or at least check to see if hes really just sleeping.

PETCO policy is:

When you drop your dog off you have to sign an authorization form stating, among other things that 'in the event of an emergency you authorize we may seek medical attention for your dog, etc'.

If a dog shows any signs of a health or injury issue we MUST call you to get your authorization to take the dog to the petco vet. If you dont answer then we take the dog there and try to contact you until we get ahold of you.

If you did not sign an authorization form stating we are allowed to seek medical attention for your dog then petco does not allow us to seek medical attention for your dog.
We must attempt to contact you though in any way.
The reason being for this is if you dont sign the form, and we take the dog to the vet without your authorization, you as the customer can sue petco.

I have to say this is a horrible instance of incompetency and callousness. I am so sorry this happened to your best friend and your family.

If I were you I would look into a lawsuit. Not for the money, but on principle.

Corporate pet stores need to do a better job training the "groomers" that get trained through them. (as in not going to grooming school but training thru petco/smart) Often they "train" for 2 weeks and then are sent out to groom. Real groomers go to grooming school for months with rigorous training and paid the school thousands of dollars to do so.

FOR EVERYONE READING THIS:

Please ask to speak directly to the person grooming your dog. Ask them how long they have been grooming and how/where they were trained. Make sure they are attentive and open to speak with you, and are professional. Appearances and age dont always tell a full story. I have seen some very normal looking people that are groomers that are less than friendly with the dogs. And I have seen groomers with mohawks and neck tattoos that would throw themselves in front of a bus to save your dog. Also, just because a groomer is an older/ middle aged person does not mean that they are a better groomer.

Form a relationship with your groomer just like you would your own stylist or doctor or your veterinarian. This has many benefits. You trust/know the groomer and so does your dog.

OMG, that is horrible, I can't believe they didn't call you right away, I am so sorry, that is so sad.

There have been a few cases over the recent years that I have been aware of where dogs have died in cage dryers, hung in the tub and been CUT (requiring 20+ staples). As a groomer for almost 13 years and working in many shops I did the same "sleep check" Groominator mentioned. I got tired of the stressful (for the dogs & groomer) shop environment. I always worked in small, privately owned shops and cannot even imagine a petco/smart grooming factory situation. I would never do that to a dog (or myself for that matter). I now do grooming house calls and my clients are thrilled. I work in their homes, they watch, the average grooming takes 1.5 - 3 hours and then I clean up and leave. It gives people peace of mind and is stress free for the dogs. .

I am so very sorry for your loss - I am in agreement with some of the posts here. This is very disturbing. (((HUGS)))

I am very sorry for your loss, This is the 2nd time I've heard about Petsmart they have a vet there (another state) who dx diabetes, the gal , tech whoever she was, showed the owner how to draw the insulin showed the owner 60 units instead of 6, her pet died next day, letters have been written in regard to this. A newly dx pet owner would not realize this error. They apparently hire people with no experience.

I would contact an attorney also, this is a corporation you can start and go thru the attorney general in your state which would not cost anything.

This is animal cruelty done by a corporation.

This is horrible.

Sorry for your loss. I hate to think of any animal being harmed or having something very suspicious and unusual happen that results in death. I hope the appropriate actions are taken to see that PETCO is investigated. I know it will not get your dog back, but maybe some closure will come of it. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Groominator

Real groomers go to grooming school for months with rigorous training and paid the school thousands of dollars to do so. .

This is a misleading statement. There are many, many groomers who never went to school, and didn't spend a dime being trained.

Some, like myself, started out in the most demanding grooming arena there is; the show ring. I started out grooming my own dogs, then branched out into handling and grooming other people's dogs. I learned by watching and questioning some of the top handlers in the country. It was a natural progression into grooming for the vet I worked for at the time.

Other groomers, and they're just as "real" as any groomer who went to school, learned by apprenticing either with a handler or in a grooming shop. They started out as bathers and worked their way up. I've had more than a couple apprentices myself.

I've also had to take a school grad in hand and teach them how to do more than just the basics, because that's all they learned at one of the most prestigious grooming schools in the country. No matter how good the school is, you just can't learn much more than the basics in a matter of months.

They don't, for example, teach the subtle differences between an Airedale and a Welsh terrier. Few schools teach the finer points of hand stripping, and none of them teach singeing. That's something you have to learn from old style terrier handlers, and their aren't very many left who have even heard of singeing, much less know how to do it. And yes, singeing means you burn the hair. With an open flame; a candle, matches, or a lighter. It's probably the most difficult, most exacting form of grooming there is, and it's no wonder it's a dying art. But I'll promise you this; anyone who knows how to singe is indeed a real groomer.

Originally Posted by k9lady

I am very sorry for your loss, This is the 2nd time I've heard about Petsmart they have a vet there (another state) who dx diabetes, the gal , tech whoever she was, showed the owner how to draw the insulin showed the owner 60 units instead of 6, her pet died next day, letters have been written in regard to this. A newly dx pet owner would not realize this error. They apparently hire people with no experience.

How do you know this was the tech's fault? Maybe the 'script was written up wrong. Or the vet's handwriting was so bad it looked like 60 instead of 6? Maybe the vet gave verbal instructions to the tech and said 60 by mistake? Or maybe the owner wasn't paying close attention and misunderstood the instructions? That happens a lot more often than you'd expect, trust me.

If we weren't there, we really don't know who's mistake it was. And the more I think about it, the more I suspect there's something in this story that isn't being told.

i understand your feeling very well actually and my pup died a couple years ago then I could not control myself but cry like a closed friend I lost. dogs are best friends to human. I totally agree with this point. get over yourself. everything will be all right soon.

I'm so very sorry about your Gracie. I just lost my 15 year old black chow. I have all kinds of grooming stories, but bottom line, I got to the point where I never left her side at a groomers. In the future, ask the groomer if they can do a straight through grooming, and if you can stay with your baby the entire time. If they say no, then they are doing something they shouldn't be doing with the dogs, and you don't want to leave your girl there!! I would definitly call a laywer. The last poster was correct, there are too many unanswered questions. Good luck, and again, so very sorry for your loss...

Vetgroomer is right. Grooming School means NOTHING. The expensive groomer schools that give out a certificate teach only the basics... At least where I live the groomers who went to "grooming school" know how to brush, clip nails and shave a dog down. They do not know about anything other then a basic pet style, nothing about poodles, correct breed standard trims, very few even know how to correctly groom a Golden Retriever. Some of the best groomers I know never went to a formal school, they learned like Vetgroomer and myself by working in show dogs, learning from top handlers, apprenticing, etc.

I spent time in a grooming shop and with show breeders to learn how to groom my first show dogs. I got my first grooming clients after people kept asking me where I got my dog groomed and commented on how amazing they looked. When I told them I did it myself, they asked if I could do their dogs. This is how I started out. I then apprenticed with a few handlers, various breeders and master groomers.

Originally Posted by angellight777

In the future, ask the groomer if they can do a straight through grooming, and if you can stay with your baby the entire time. If they say no, then they are doing something they shouldn't be doing with the dogs, and you don't want to leave your girl there!!

Not true! There are many reasons groomers do not allow an owner to stay, and rarely does it have anything to do with their mishandling your pet.

One reason is liability insurance. Most insurance companies will not cover an owner that suffers a slip/fall injury, a bite, or any other injury. They clearly want the grooming area to be "Employees only". No groomer wants to lose their business and livelyhood if an owner is bitten or falls and breaks a leg, the insurance company won't cover it, and you sue.

There's also the fact that most dogs misbehave more if their owner is present. Owners tend to talk at the wrong moment, causing the dog to move suddenly, which can result in an injury. It's not only frustrating, but dangerous, if you're trying to trim the dog's face and he keeps turning his head to look at his owner. I can't speak for every groomer in the world, but I don't want to nick a dog, cut a dog, or poke an eye out.

I will allow an owner to stay with their dog, if they agree to abide by my rules, which I am very strict about. Stand or sit where I tell you to. Do not talk to or attempt to touch dogs that do not belong to you. Do not speak to or touch your dog unless I ask you to. If your dog is too distracted by your presence, and it is posing a risk to either me or the dog, you agree to leave the area if I ask you to. If you do not abide by these rules, you get the dog back "as is".

It's not because we're doing anything wrong that we don't want you to stay. It's simply in everyone's best interest most of the time.

Originally Posted by christian33

This is still very disturbing because this just happened 3 weeks ago. If anyone can get me help with whom to contact what to do I would greatly appreciate it. Saturday January 12, 2008 my wife took our 9 year old Golden Retriever to PETCO for a normal wash and dry. She waited several hours and since no one had called her from PETCO she decided to go and pick up Gracie, our golden. When she arrived and asked is Gracie was finished they told my wife that Gracie wasn't breathing and asked if she could try and wake her up. What!!!!! Gracie was cold as if she had been dead for quite some time. An autopsy was performed but there wasn't anything that could prove negligence. Her tongue was purple which made them suspect choking, but without any bruising or marks there wasn't any proof. We still have not been contacted by PETCO on the matter and we aren't sure what we can do. We were deferred to an out sourced third party administrator for PETCO. Right now I just want Gracie back.

You should contact the local animal abuse center, or the TV chanel 7 to report possible abuse at the PetCO. Grooming center. An investigation should be conducted to determine whether their cage and condition is in compliance with regulation to the law.
I had the same experience yesterday. I took my TEDDY, the goldendoodle for a trim and a bath. When I got him, he had no more hair on his face, the groomer SHAVED all his hair from TEDDY's forehead down to his nose to his face. My TEDDY looked like a woolf now. The idiot groomer don't know a designer dog from a street dog. Then when I took him home , I found his left under arm pit was bleeding, the groomer shaved part of the skin off his arm-pit. I was furious. I took him back to the PECTO , and the manager filled out an incident report... I am seeking advise tomorrow, Monday, I do my research and call up the Animal Abuse Center. to investigate the credentials of their groomers. .. This Petco is located at ENCINO, California.