All I wanted was for Puppy to look pretty!

[WHShit]

I brought my dog, Puppy, to Petsmart to get a shampoo and some ribbons tied to her ears (my mom wanted them).

I was wth ASSMAN, and left him and Puppy in the car as Puppy is not a puppy, but a Boxer and Pitbull mix. She is big and I do not like to take her into shops without knowing where I have to bring her first. She is the sweetest dog ever, but kids and other animals are scared of her sometimes.

So, I walk into the salon and see this woman brushing a Shitzu (sp) on a table. She does not even look at me. I asked her how much it would be to get Puppy a shampoo and some bows on her ears. She finally looks up and says "What is the dog"?

I ask her if she means what breed Puppy is. She says "yeah". I tell her that she is a Pitt-Boxer mix, I think...she may have one other breed in her, but I don't think she does.

She stares at me for a few seconds and says "well, we price by breed"

I say "well, I just told you that as far as I know Puppy is a Boxer-Pitt". She frowns at me and says "so, she IS NOT a pedigree then, huh"? I say "no, but can you still give her a shampoo and bows"? Then she says "well, I will have to see the dog, but it will be alot of money since she is a mixed breed" (this was said with pure discust). So, I said, "well, I can bring her in for you, she is in the car". The woman said something like she was going on break so I would have to wait.

I just got in the car and told ASSMAN that Puppy would not be getting a shampoo today as I do not want that bitchy, nasty woman to be
near her.

The thing about it was, it was not so much WHAT the lady said, it was HOW she said it and her attitude. It was as if I was bothering her and as if Puppy was shit cause she wasn't a purebred. I felt bad, cause when the lady saw Puppy she would have liked her. She is the sweetest, cutest dog ever and she would hae looked so nice all shampooed and with bows on her ears! It made me sad!

So, I told mom and she was on the phone with the manager. I never asked what happened, but I hope that the lady got spoken to. I mean, this was not some up-market pet salon...it was Petsmart. And all I wanted was a simple thing! Poor Puppy! ASSMAN and I gave her a bath and I tried to paint her nails!

[Ree]

Sounds like she doesn't care about any customers that come through her door.

I have to wonder why grooming a non-pedigree dog would be more expensive.
Possibly the breed of your dog has a bad rep and she thought it would be difficult to groom?

With an attitude like that, I have to wonder how long she will stay employed.

[Brighid45]

If a groomer or store has problems with a particular breed or breed mix, they should be upfront about it. I've known groomers who won't do chows because they tend to be one-person dogs and aggressive (although of course not all chows are that way). Ditto pit bulls or rotties, which is a shame because if those breeds are raised by responsible and loving owners, they can be the best family dogs around, very gentle, affectionate and intelligent.

And if that groomer was being snotty about a mixed-breed dog while grooming at a chain petstore . . . boy does she have pretensions. What a buttmunch. You were right not to go in there and put up with her nastiness, and your mom was right to call the manager on that woman.

[Gurndigarn]

The thing about it was, it was not so much WHAT the lady said, it was HOW she said it and her attitude. It was as if I was bothering her and as if Puppy was shit cause she wasn't a purebred. I felt bad, cause when the lady saw Puppy she would have liked her.

Not necessarily. Elitist can have some weird attitudes at times.

Me, I prefer mutts. Gets most of the inbredidness out of them.

[Mr. Rude]

Not necessarily. Elitist can have some weird attitudes at times.

Me, I prefer mutts. Gets most of the inbredidness out of them.

I've found that the same situation exists with humans too

[One-Fang]

Aw, WH, that sucks. That would've really brought down my day. I totally dig why the sad smiley is the topic icon.

Any dog can look better with a proper wash and groom. There's no reason only pedigrees can have it. Maybe only pedigrees regularly get it done, or maybe it's a big pre-show thing, but even Fido Nobreed will look (and smell) better with a good wash, trim and nicely tied ribbon.

What a sucktard she was. Don't let her drag you down. Post us pictures of how pretty you made Puppy by yourselves.

[ForestDragon]

I was a dogwasher at a Petsmart for a while and didn't see very many mutts. I guess people with gold-plated dogs are more likely to take them to a groomers', though I did see a few who should've gone a few months earlier... As for nasty breeds; never saw a nasty breed, though I did run across a few nasty individuals. Rule of thumb was I wasn't paid enough to get bitten.

The most pleasant dog I dealt with was a purebred pitbull. He enjoyed his bath, didn't mind the dryer and took his ear cleaning and gland compression with good grace and went back into his waiting-cage without a fuss. I was horrified when I clipped one of his nails too short and he started to bleed . It had to have hurt, but he merely looked at me a bit reproachfully as I scrambled about to get the styptic powder (which stops bleeding). Lovely dog, I felt so bad about the nail. I was a lot more careful after that.

[Erin]

What a snob...

I had a similar problem with my (now deceased) Bouvier des Flandres, TinyMonsters. He'd not had a grooming in a loooong time. (we'd had a busy year that year) and Tiny went pretty much half the year without getting groomed...and this was during his fat years.

I called several groomers who had shops not too far from my house, when they heard how big he was (140 pounds!) and the breed, they refused to groom him because he was a large dog. I'm almost positive that they'd never seen a Bouvier before, because they told me Bouvs are vicious animals and they would not groom him. Bouviers are not known for being mean dogs. They're big babies and very gentle.

I only saw Tiny be vicious a couple of times and that was in response to other dogs attacking him, me, or my aunt's pug Pudge. (only saw him kill once...a juvenile possum that attacked my dad...Tiny caught it in midair, shook it, broke it's neck and spit it out. I was so proud)

Another groomer who had groomed Tiny before refused to groom him because we'd picked up him early (family emergency) and they werent able to finish his grooming...they were offended and told us when we called back that they would not groom him because of that. (ummm...okaaay) They also tried to tell us that Tiny had bit one of their groomers before. If that were true, why didnt they tell us at the time they claimed it happened that he'd snapped at one of them? I seriously doubt he chomped on anyone...with big teeth like his, we would have heard about it as soon as it happened, not 6mos to a year down the road when I was trying to get him a bath and a shave.

I finally found a groomer who would do him, but they charged by the pound, so we paid over $130 for the grooming, but they did such a wonderful job that we took him back there several times till their shop moved too far out.

I finally found a groomer at a vet not too far away that would take TinyMonsters and they only charged about $60. I followed that groomer to about 3 other vets offices as she changed jobs because TinyMonsters would do just about anything for her, and she didnt charge a zillion bucks to trim him.

I miss TinyMonsters. He died about 6 months ago of kidney failure.

[CrimsonEmber]

Not only was that lady rude and snobby, but she wasn't entirely honest, IMO. Normally what would happen with a mixed breed is that they'd just charge for the breed that the dog's hair and size are most like... They charge by breed because some have different types of coats and are different sizes, which affects how much time and effort will be required. There's no way a mix should cost more... she should have just looked at the dog and picked one of the two breeds to charge you for. She was just being rude, I think.

[Lace Neil Singer]

What a snob! If I had been in that position, I would have been hard pressed not to slap her. I used to own a gorgeous Welsh collie cross; I usually bathed her myself, especially when she rolled in the Chanel No.5 of the canine world, ie fox poo, but once I had her done professionally cuz I was taking her to a show. The people at the place I took her too were very nice; they didn't go all snotty cuz she was a mongrel, and they didn't charge too much at all.

By the way, my dog did very well at the show; 1st place in "Best Crossbreed" and 3rd place in "Dog with the waggiest tail."

[repsac]

I have three beagles...ok, not true. Two beagles, and a half basset, half beagle mix.

One of the beagles, his name is rusty, is a huge fat thing. Then again, he's 8 so, he gets to be fat and lazy.

Rusty, is a whimp. Pure and simple. I take him for nail clipping and he pulls what we call the "Ostrich" on me. Which means that he sticks that big fuzzy head under my armpit and just whines some.

He'll stick his paw out and wait, though sometimes he also pulls the jerk jerk motion. You know it, like he's trying to kick start a Harley.

The other full blooded, is Sissy Anne. She's 10. She's also fat. And very lazy. She's a sweetie though, who isn't beyond gnawing (note no biting) on you if you try to trim her nails.

Lastly is Lucky.

Lucky, the half basset is a rescue dog. He's 2, but barely made it that far. When I adopted him from a dumpster last year (just before he turned 1 we think) he had the following injuries: Broken tail, cracked skull, broken ribs, broken legs, cracked back, broken hip. In effect, someone had tried to kill him.

That dog is just...well my family says meek. Me, I say he's a door stop. Cute, loving, he loves everyone; and yet, he lies there like a lump all the time. I've even used him to keep my door open once while he was dozing. Lucky has the best attitude I've ever seen. Meaning, as long as you don't hurt him, he doesn't care WHAT you do.

[Slave to the Phone]

I miss TinyMonsters. He died about 6 months ago of kidney failure.

I am so sorry

I just adore BdF's. They are awesome dogs and so beautiful. Smart and family oriented. Sadly and as a general rule (this means I know that there are exceptions to every rule), "giant" breeds tend to fail sooner than mid sized critters.

Back to the OP and grooming problem...that groomer was a hag and I would never allow someone that rude to touch one of my pets. NEVER!!! All of my pets are mixed breeds, rescued or trapped off the streets.

That being said, our critters have been treated wonderfully at the local PetCo. Back when our St Barnyard was alive, she got great haircuts at Petsmart and I don't remember it costing more than $65. She also got her nails painted and ribbons in her ears.

So, the moral of this long post is that you need to find a groomer that does what you want. One that suits your needs just like you shop the people who do your own hair.

[Barefootgirl]

Seriously? This person is a dog groomer at Petsmart (of all the upmarket dives...) and she thinks she can be snotty about a dog that happens to be a mongrel ??? I'm afraid my inner need to out-snob snobs would have come surging to the fore, and i would have been compelled to remind her that at least i am not the one brushing dogs for minimum wage in a warehouse on an industrial estate !

Bows on a pit cross....now that I would pay money to see...!

[chainedbarista]

the woman is cracked; pits do have a reputation, yes, but saying that all of a given breed are a certain way is nonsense. as for mixes, she apparently has the mistaken notion that a mix is somehow less of a dog than a pure.

funny thing is, due to overbreeding, more than just a few 'pures' have so many issues (health and temprament especially) that they're not a better choice. add in any special needs (special grooms, food, medicines, etc.) and you have a real winner.

i prefer mutts myself; we have a greyhound mix (had two until the first one died last fall ) and a cocker/shepard mix that fit into our family just like any other dog. snobby groomer, indeed; why should she care what you want done to what dog and why? it's not her business; just quote a price and be done with it, rather than affect some air about 'it's not PURE.'

who cares?

[LostMyMind]

My neighbor has several pitbulls. They're very friendly, don't bite. Love to play. Always trying to escape to play. Pitbulls "problems" really depends on how you raise them.

I've always found that most "pures" have something missing in the skull cage. They just ain't right.