Wash & Wag

This review is a warning to all other dog owners who may look up wash and wag. I called on the phone and the woman was nice enough to say she would see my two large dogs that day, when I got there she started by telling me that one of my dogs coat was shaved when it shouldn’t be, and was rather harsh about it claiming that the coat would never grow back now and she would be hotter for the rest of her life because of it. That was just the beginning.
Let me first say that both my dogs have been groomed on a regular basis by several different groomers, and there has never been an issue or problem with either one of them. When we walked in the place looked small but clean enough and there was a small dog on the table barking continuously. I felt a little nervous because I was unfamiliar with this place (we are here on vacation) and had an uneasy feeling after being reprimanded by the woman with glasses and light brown hair who seemed like the owner. In any case they were both dirty so I gave her my information and watched her herd them both into one medium crate. Then I left and sat in my car for a minute, trying to think if there’s anything I forgot to tell her. Well, I’m sure glad I did. It wasn’t long before I heard someone yelling «shut-​up!!» rather loudly. At this point I decided to pick my dogs back up, I walked in to find her struggling with my sweet 5 yr old collie mix trying to shove a muzzle over her snout. This was appalling and very, very scary considering she would be there for 2 hours, and dogs pant in order to sweat, by muzzling them for long periods you take away thier ability to cool themselves down and they can get heat exhaustion quickly. I stopped her by yelling over the dryer that I had changed my mind and was going to take them home. It got worse when I saw her take my 9 yr old out of a back room with several other dogs roaming around. She had not asked me if my dogs got along with others so I can only assume she didn’t ask other owners either. It’s just as scary to think there could easily be a fight back there without her hearing a thing over the sound of the dryers.
I got my nervous pups back into the car and then went back in to let her know I had heard her yelling at them and that muzzling someone’s dog was innappropriate to stop it from barking. I expressed my surprise at her behavior due to the business she is in and told her how unprofessional I thought she was. She was clearly embarrassed claiming it was Friday and all the dogs had been barking so much, etc. etc. absolutely no excuse for abusing someone’s pets that they have trusted in your care. I suggested that in the future she might call someone to pick their dog up and left.
I felt the need to warn other dog owners of this place before they made the same mistake. I’m so glad I changed my mind or else who knows how my poor pups would have been treated.

I recommend Kim’s Wash and Wag highly. I will not take Sophie, my Bichon, anywhere else. Kim is so kind and really knows about handling dogs and I have also boarded Sophie with Kim over Christmas. Sohpie was so happy, she loves Kim.