I tried to cancel an appointment for Frosty (Norcal Poodle Rescue dog) for Mon., Feb. 15. He now has kennel cough and cannot be around other animals. Unfortunately, as hard as I tried to follow the menu instructions and push #3 to leave a message, the instructions kept repeating themselves and never allowed me to leave the message. I am certainly not expecting to get a bill for non-cancellation as I am unable to do so as per your instructions.. J. Glentzer Read Less

I am writing this on ALL the pages available for Ellen Codner on Yelp- that is how bad we were treated by this person.I also had a negative experience with Dr. Codner.I brought my 2 year old APBT to get his allergies and severe belly rash checked out. Trying to find an animal dermatologist who is experienced is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, this doctor is one of the few board certified animal dermatologists in California, I figured it wouldn't get any better than that for my fur kid. Bad decision, let me start by saying this is not her full time practice, she only has a clinic here a few times a week. Her actual practice is in Danville. The staff here are sub-optimal, I arrived 15 minutes early to my appointment and still had to wait over 30 minutes to check-in. There was a woman at the front desk the whole time but she refused to help me because she was not Dr. Codner's person. So when the appropriate assistant showed up, we finally got checked in. Then we got roomed, sat and waited for our dog to get his vitals recorded. The assistant was unable to weigh my dog, apparently he lunged at her, I say apparently because the dog got taken away and I didn't see it actually happen. I know the dog is an APBT but that doesn't mean he is aggressive. The dog is a teddy bear. The assistant came back, handed me the leash and left. We sat and waited  some more. Finally Dr. Codner walks in, she is visibly upset. She begins our interaction by saying and I quote " If your dog bites me you are responsible, if your dog has ever bitten a person and you are withholding that information from me, you will be held liable. Am I clear?" To this, I am extremely offended. My mother who came with me was offended. Neither of us knew what to say. I agreed and said my dog has NEVER bit a human. NOT even tried to do so. The Vet proceeded to tell me that he had lunged at his assistant and bared his teeth. Again, my dog has never done that. Anyway, I take the dog to get weighed. No problems. He was extremely anxious and nervous at this point. The vet looked like she didn't even want to touch him. It was horrible. The woman has ZERO social skills. She did cytology and concluded that he didnt have any infections. Then she proceeded to tell me that I need to start my dog on lifetime allergy protocols...steroids, injections, etc. NO thanks. I had a medicated shampoo prescribed and I took that with me. Her recommendation was that I go to her actual practice in San Ramon to see her in the future where there are more 'experienced staff' available. I didn't want to see her staff or her again. I did not book any recurring appointments. I will NEVER recommend this person to anybody. How can she be a vet if she doesn't even like dogs... ? I walked away $200 poorer and with little further knowledge than what I walked in with. What a waste.TLDR: Do NOT go here, the woman has no social skills and no actual skills with a dog. She does not even try to get along with your pet. She may be board certified but my suggestion is to go elsewhere. Read Less

AVOID!!!!! The woman is insane (as well as rude and money-hungry!)  Despite the poor reviews I saw on several websites, I went to Dr. Codner, because my other dermatologist retired and the one he referred me to was booked for several weeks. When I took my cat to her, she seemed normal, and I was surprised by the previous reviews. However, I learned after that visit that the woman is crazy! First, when I tried to make an appointment for the recheck on an afternoon after 4:00 she said only if I paid double for the exam fee. Plus, everything she told me, she changed her story. At the visit, for example, she told me before putting medication on my that I should clean the area first. When I asked with what, she said, soapy water was fine. Or I could use a shampoo. When I went to check out, they wanted a lot of money for the shampoo so I said I would just use soap. When I got home I got a nasty call from the clinic saying that I had declined a very important treatment because it was antibacterial shampoo. What? If I had known it was a necessary part of the treatment I would have bought it! Then, although she had told me to come for a recheck in two weeks, the front desk set it for three weeks. When I called and asked her why three weeks, she insisted it was because I was unavailable in two weeks. That was completely untrue because actually I was unavailable in three weeks!  The list goes on and on but every time I called with a question she had a totally different treatment plan. Today I made the mistake of going to her for a recheck. Again, I can't get into a good dermatologist for two weeks and I was desperate for someone to at least look at my cat. I had made a recheck appointment for a couple weeks ago, but canceled it at the last minute because my mom was in the hospital and I needed to fly down to be with her. Apparently Dr. Codner had an issue with that because she vindictively kept me waiting 40 minutes before coming into the room (there were no other patients there). The second she walked into the room, she went on a rant about me missing the recheck.  Throughout the appointment she would not let it go and continually mentioned the missed recheck so I could tell she was very insulted that I'd missed it.  I wanted her to look at my cat's ears because she has been shaking her head. She stuck to a swap down and then spent 35 minutes in the back, looking at it. She came out with medication and NEVER EVEN LOOKED IN HER EARS with the scope!!! Then, when I FINALLY got out of there,and went to check out the exam portion of the bill was $120. Even though her recheck fee is $87. She said that because this was my first time at this PARTICULAR OFFICE it was an initial exam fee instead of a recheck.  What a vindictive BITCH! She is mediocre at best and just plain out rude and obnoxious! Do yourself a huge favor and go to Peninsula Animal Dermatology. There is a reason they have a three-week  wait and she has appointments available the same day. Read Less