Helga’s Pet Grooming

First time bring my shih tzu here, I moved here from San Diego so I was hesitant bringing him to a groomer he didn’t know but his fur was becoming too crazy. he can be shy when I’m not with him but when I picked him up he was a happy little guy with the best haircut and cute bandana. I would definitely recommend this place.

I highly recommend this place to anybody with a pet. They treat my pet husky Boomer like he is part of their family and I know for sure he is well taken care of when ever I am dropping him off to get his nails and hair cut. I have taken him here 3 times already and everytime I get Boomer back I am always thrilled to see him well groom by the staff. The staff are very friendly people and they do take care of your pet. And I was kinda freak out when they recognized Boomer by his name without me mentioning it towards them the 3^rd time I came to this place. Just shows that they do care about your pet. They do an outstanding job with my Alaskan Husky every time!

We have driven by this place for two years and tried them for the first time today. Great prices, efficient and friendly service and our two dogs look great!

HORRIBLE, HORRENDOUS, ATROCIOUS!
I had one of the WORST experiences at this grooming salon: not only was an employee incredibly rude and very belligerent towards me (the customer), but he charged me an extra fee that was never mentioned before pick up. Days earlier, I called to make an appointment and was told that none was needed and to just drop off my dog early in the morning since everything was going to be done by 2/​3pm. I did so, yet little did I know this was untrue. I found out about the discrepancy when one of the groomers started YELLING at me just when I was about to pay. I had not disrespected him at any point, yet he made it a point to be impolite and raise his voice, which impeded me from explaining myself! No customer should EVER have to go through this, especially when he/​she is not rude to begin with! Clearly, the employees at this grooming salon have no customer service skills, are BEYOND UNCORDIAL, and are very unprofessional.
I do feel bad for Helga, the owner of the pet salon, since she is great and respects her customers. But unfortunately, I will never do business with this establishment or anything like it ever again! If I could rate a «0» on this review, I would.

This is not a fancy dog spa. But, the family that runs Helga’s loves my retriever and treat her well. The prices are very reasonable and I’ve been back for great service every other week for over a year now. I’d recommend Helga’s to anyone with a pet.

Took my Pomeranian there for grooming yesterday. I brought in a picture and gave them detailed instructions about I wanted. They told me it would take a little longer than usual because he was new and they wanted to go gently and give him a good experience, which was fine. 7.5 hours later I had still not received a call, so I called and they said he was just coming off the table. When I arrived to pick him up they asked for payment before they brought him out, which I didn’t think anything of at the time. When they brought him out, they had shaved him down very low and given him a pouf on his tail. When I asked what had happened, the man told me the pouf was part of the lion cut. When I said I hadn’t asked for a lion cut, he looked confused and said that was what was written on the card. I told him everything that was wrong with the cut and he apologized that the it was not what I wanted. Though the staff seemed very nice, I will not be returning to a place that cannot follow simple directions.

What’s the point of a appointment if you don’t follow it. Also even if I was concidered a walk in I was the second person in. 7 hours and nothing done to my dog. Disorganized place but I wouldn’t know because they did absolutely nothing for my dog. But are friendly.

We have being going to Helga’s for 4 years. Not sure what happened with the one star reviews. As stated in one of those reviews, Helga’s is always busy. That is because they do an outstanding job for outstanding prices. If the customers who left one star reviews were unhappy with the services that they received, they should have said something at the time. Helga’s would have made it right or probably not charged them at all.
Mike, Helga, and their crew are top notch. They truly care for all of the dogs that they groom. Our 9 year old Lab had patches of hair falling out with itchy skin when we moved here to San Antonio 4 years ago due to new found San Antonio allergies. The vet was charging us for visits and steroids. They also told us that we could try medicated baths. We took him to Helga’s, and they knew just what to do. We’ve taken him there every week since for his medicated bath, which is very reasonably priced for all of the work that they do. His coat looks better than ever, no vet steroids needed. He also loves to go to Helga’s. We say, «You want to go to the groomer?» and he gets very excited and runs to the door to leave.
We recently adopted a foster dog that we had taken in from Animal Care Services in San Antonio. He had large, deep gashes on his legs and was matted, dirty, and very scared. Helga’s groomed him for free and even helped to clean out his wounds. Helga’s will groom a shelter or city dog or cat for free within 6 weeks of adoption. These are people that truly care about animals. Our new dog came out looking wonderful. Both dogs now happily go for regular baths nearly every week.
Helga herself took my husband on a tour of the facility, showing him everything and explaining how they completely sanitize everything, even the temporary holding crates, every night before they close. She said they do that to make sure that animals don’t catch anything from each other, such as conditions like mange. She said that she would feel awful if something like that happened. Like I said, these people really care about your animals this way. Ask about the sanitary procedures at other groomers. You will find them to be very variable.
Helga’s is one of the best independent businesses we’ve ever found. Please give them a try. You will be happy. If you are not happy, tell them. They will make it right.

This place is great! We take our dog there once a week and he loves it. They are great with ranger and he comes home smelling great. I would trust my kids with them, if they accepted toddlers.

Helga and her crew are awesome!
I have a Papillon (Elvis), Yellow Lab (Oakley) and a foster Spaniel mix (Dougie). Elvis comes in once a year for a summer shave down and Oakley comes in twice a year for a good brushing, bathing and once a year to get his teeth brushed.
When we found Dougie he was covered with fleas and ticks, had a nasty cut on his tail and a bad eye infection. I took him to our vet for a check up and then straight to Helga’s to get cleaned up.
I told Mike, the owner, what happened and he took care of Dougie personally.
As expected, Dougie looked amazing and seemed to be in better spirits.
I do not understand the 1 star negative reviews. PetsCo and PetsMart don’t take pit dogs or pit mixes. And if the claws were not done to your liking and they missed the dewclaws, then why not just bring the dog back and have it fixed?
To sum it up, you dog and cat, yes they groom cats (who else in this town is brave enough to groom a cat?), are well respected and well taken care of.

New to San Antonio First and only time visiting, I was looking for a groomer to grind my two dogs’ nails. I called ahead for availability and cost, and was quoted «$ 10 — $ 12 per dog… it depends on how hard they are to handle». I should have known at that point it wasn’t a good place, but I didn’t have a lot of time and went anyways.
I have a 35 lb. pit mix, the most people friendly dog ever, who went to the back with her tail wagging. and they muzzled her. which of course made her not want to stand still to get her nails done. when they brought her back out, i was told «we muzzled her because she’s a pit, and we had an incident with a pitbull before».
COMPLETE IGNORANCE. even the teenage groomers at petsmart don’t muzzle her. anyone who knows dogs at all can tell a friendly, happy dog. they know that you can’t judge a dog by it’s breed, and perhaps they even know that pitbull terriers were bred to be people friendly! and bluntly, if you were gonna picture someone who might train a dog to be people aggressive, you would not picture me. i’m about as straight-​laced as they come.
Beyond the brazen ignorance that was on display, the nail grinding sucked. Her nails are barely any shorter than they were. I’ll probably have to go back to PetsMart next week because THEY DIDN’T GRIND HER DEWCLAWS AT ALL. And she only has front ones, so it’s not like they missed something less common.
And of course, they charged me the $ 12. Never going back to this place.

This place is very busy with clients, and I can not understand why. They do not follow instructions on how you want your dog groomed. I wanted just a clean trim for my yorkie, and they cut his hair to less the ½ inch long. I really try to support independents, but in this case it would have been best to stay away.