My husband and I are very upset by our first visit to your clinic today. We just moved back to Wilmington from Greensboro and found your clinic online. We liked your website and drove by the clinic a ... Read More
My husband and I are very upset by our first visit to your clinic today. We just moved back to Wilmington from Greensboro and found your clinic online. We liked your website and drove by the clinic a few days before making the appointment, and we liked what we saw. However, my interactions with the groomer today, coupled with her interactions with my dog, have left a very negative impression on my husband and me, and we plan on finding a new vet. However, I think it's fair that you know why you've lost a customer.
Your groomer appears to be either totally inexperienced working with dogs, inept at communicating with people, and/or she just has absolutely no doggy "beside manner." My dog was whining when the groomer came out to meet us because this was our first visit to your clinic, there were certainly lots of unfamiliar smells, there were other dogs barking in the background, etc. The way my dog was acting was not erratic by any means. She was not barking, she was not being a disruption to the lady at the front desk, and I was soothing her (with a positive behavioral response from my dog). The groomer came out to meet us, and her first words to us were, "Quiet zone!!", as though we were being a huge disruption. I made a comment about this being our first time to your clinic, and she just stared at my dog and said, "Is she going to do that the whole time?" After leaving my dog with the groomer and driving away, I nearly turned back to ask to get my dog back, because I had the horrible feeling that if she acted that way to my dog in front of me, what would she do if my dog whined during her groom with no one else around?!
Your customers should not feel this way!
Upon picking my dog up from your facility, I was told by another front desk worker that the groomer said my dog needs behavioral modification, because "she doesn't like to be groomed."
Yes, it's true: like most dogs, our dog does not like to be groomed. I've never known of a dog who does like it. But it doesn't matter, because either way, I imagine that the horrible attitude and ineptitude of your groomer didn't help. Everywhere else we've been, the groomer is comforting, and our dog calms down and behaves well. Groomers in the past have provided us with "report cards" of our dog's grooming experience, and no one has ever told us our dog needs behavioral modification.
Now that she is back at home, our dog is limping and the insides of both of her ears are bright red and irritated. I know her ears were not red prior to the groom, because I check them regularly, as she is prone to ear infections. I also told the front desk person and the groomer that she had surgery on her left back leg two years ago. My intention in imparting this information was to allow the groomer to be sensitive to this fact, to take any necessary precautions, and to handle our dog carefully. She has been groomed many times since her surgery, and has never, until today, come home limping. Clearly she ignored the information I shared, or maybe she just didn't care.
I hope you monitor the groomer carefully and watch how she handles the dogs that come to your facility. I'm never bringing my dog back to her, and I'll be certain to warn anyone I know that uses your facility for grooming purposes! Read Less