WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Do not take your pets to PetCo in Harker Heights for grooming services. I took my great pyreness mix there to get groomed. Those of you who are familiar with the breed, know they have very long (6-8 inch) curly hair. He used to love to be brushed, but after this encounter with the head groomer if you approach him with a brush or even brush your own hair in his presence, he tries to bite. Not a simple nip, to draw blood. While on a visit to PetCo after the incident with the groomer, to buy other products there, the head groomer walked toward him and he tried to bite her, and he doesn't bite, he likes everyone.
Now in order to have him groomed for about $70.00 is is costing me $176.00 because he has to be sedated. There lies another problem, because he could die from sedation. During the short time he is sedated he has to be shaved, because it is nearly impossible to try to brush him out in a short hour. The loss of hair on his body aslo requires us to put sunblock on him and not let him out during the day cause he could go blind.
Of course he no longer goes to PetCo and it would be wise for others not to use them either, god only knows what type of abuse your animals are going through. We believe she hit him with the brush. Three of my friends who have used PetCo have had similar experiences with their animals and no longer use PetCo. The manager said he refuses to fire her because he has got no other complaints. Below is a picture of my dog prior to being groomed and then one of what he looks like now since he cannot be brushed.

I brought my Havanese there today to be groomed. He had some matting on his torso and we agreed that she (Sara) could cut his torso down to about 1/2 inch. I also told her to take minimum off his head since there was no matting there at all. When I picked him up (4 1/2 hours later) she had shaved his body completely. She didn't even try to using a scissors on his head. I didn't even recognize him. She did what was fastest for her since they had about 10 to 15 dogs listed for today. I take my dog to be groomed every four weeks and this is the first and last time I will ever have him cut at Petco. The only thing she said was that she had to muzzle him because he snapped at her. I would have snapped at her, too, if she cut my hair like she cut him!

Took my pug to get her nails and bath done at petco in Auburn, NY. I will never bring her back there again. The first time she went there they did an excellent job with her, she did not fight to have her nails done at all. The girl double harnessed her to the table and she was as quite as could be. This last time some young kid was working and when I went to pick her up her front paw nail was so short she was dripping blood. It took me a whole day to get to stop. Every time she walked it would bleed again. I had to take her to the vet the next day to finish her nail trim and check on the nail they cut and they said it was cut way to short that it was not a little nick of the quick. It even started to bleed again while they finished her back nails. They stated that if that happens again she mostly likely will not let anyone near her feet. I will never take my dog back there. Petco offered no explanation at all other then the quick is grown out. I have had the quick nipped on other dogs not severely cut. They where all put out because I went back in asking for a bandage or towel. I had to send another 10 to buy quick stop. They did not offer to send some with me or anything other then carry her to the car.

Unbelievable story. Our beloved 18 month old pure bred Australian Sheppard was brought into Petco for grooming by my wife. When my wife went to pick up our dog, her eye looked was red and swollen. By the time she got home, the eye was completely closed. She returned to the store to ask what Associate Christine C had done to her eye, and we were told that the shampoo had gone directly into her eye. Why hadn't they at least warned my wife? My wife then took our dog to the emergency room vet that day, where she had to be sedated due to pain and an inability to open the eye. She was put on antibiotics. Then, this weekend the dog continued to suffer from what must have been a burn in her eye, so we took her to our regular vet. The eye was completely opaque. Impossible to have been shampoo that did this. The vet said she had never seen such a bad corneal burn, of the entire eye. They operated on our dog this morning, trying to save the eye. My kids have been crying knowing that today our beloved dog got her eye sutured shut in order to save the eye, all because of someone who obviously did not care. I am very upset. If anyone has any advice, please write me at medicaldevicesale AT yahoo.com. If you are also pissed after reading this, please boycott their stores. If you are really really pissed, call the store. They have been nothing but rude to us, and even refused to return my wife's payment, stating that they had provide a service. Yeah, what a service indeed. Notice the left eye of our dog which was burned so badly that the light reflects differently. I am sick to my stomach just writing this and seeing the photo.

I bought a 2 month old female rat on 12/16/09 with a 15 day guarantee. Her name was Alice by the time we got home, and she was very sweet. I fell in love with my precious new baby instantly. The night we got her home, she perched on my shoulder, peeking her head out through my hair just to check what was going on. The sweetest pet I have ever owned. By the time I got to work 12/18/09, my roommate was calling me to tell me something was wrong with Alice. When I got home, her left eye was bulging out of her head, her whole left side was paralyzed. Working for a neurologist, I see stroke patients every day Mon-Fri, and my poor Alice showed the same signs of having suffered a stroke, as a human does. Taking her back to PetCo, I was there arguing with whom I assume was the manager. The treatment this poor rat, and myself received was beyond poor, I was disgusted. Alice could not move her left side, her left eye was bulging out of her head, and she could not move her head well. The assumed manager was also rude and snappish to the employee helping out, who was also a vet technician for fours years, agreeing with me about it being a stroke. Being talked down to by this manager, I felt like a terrible person for bringing Alice back to them. I had even said, I don't care if you don't return my money, just seek medical help for her, put her down. A stroke is un-fixable, there is no way to repair the damage that was done to this poor baby. An hour and a half later, I signed a refund slip, and the nice employee at the cashier volunteered to clock out and take Alice to the vet right then, instead of letting PetCo wait to do it at their convenience.

Calling this morning to check in and see what their vet said, PetCo told me she had suffered internal bleeding and had been put down, stating their vet found it to be because of "improper handling." I do believe I handled Alice quite like I would a newborn infant - with gentle hands and a careful eye as I put her back in her cage. Also, internal bleeding, whether it be a human or an animal, would not have shown such signs if they were internally bleeding, unless it was a bleed in the brain (a hemorrhage stroke.) To say the least, I will never buy another animal or pet product there, EVER. I will also discourage people from shopping there, as well. The service was insulting, and the misery that poor rat - that I had had for only two days - suffered by the manager in that store - save for the sweet cashier who clocked out during her shift to take Alice to the vet - wanting to argue and blame me for state of the rat was despicable.

I can only hope this note reaches enough people, so they are warned against shopping for pets at PetCo.