On December 17th, I took my older, little Maltese, Pinky for her very first grooming appointment. I did this after calling around and conferring with various groomers in my area. I told them that I had adopted her six months prior and that she had been found wandering the streets with hair so badly and completely matted that I had to have my vet's assistant cut it all off a month after I got her.\r
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I brought her to Astoria Animal Center primarily because when I spoke to Mike he said that it would be alright if I were standing by with treats in hand in case my dog were frightened. I had expected that the groomer would maybe have to cut the hair from her legs (because that was the only area that she wouldn't let the vet's assistant touch) and that they would wash and blow dry the rest of her hair.\r
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When we arrived at the scheduled time for our appointment, Mike had not yet arrived. Instead we were greeted by Joe, Mike's elderly father. Joe stated that his son had not told him about the appointment but that, since Mike had not arrived, he would be doing the grooming. \r
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As I said, I had expected a light cut, then a wash and blow dry. What I got, instead, was a scalping! Joe stated that Pinky's hair was still matted (even though I had been religiously combing her hair every other day). Then, in the middle of winter, he proceeded to shave off every bit of her hair, including the soft hair on her pubes and belly! Because his son had yet to arrive, Joe conscripted me to hold down my poor baby as she began to struggle. I kept questioning Joe about whether it was necessary to shave off all of her hair and he saying yes, that it was absolutely necessary. \r
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Adding insult to injury, Joe, apparently not satisfied with just being an incompetent groomer, proceeded with a veterinary diagnosis. He said that he could ""hear a clicking"" in both her hips and that she would, ""very definitely have walking problems in the future"". You would not think that the session could go down from there, but it did. While cutting her nails, Joe cut to the ""quick"" and my dog started to bleed onto the table as I stood there holding her, nervously sweating and shaking. When I brought it up to Joe his answer was that it happened because the nail was curved into the skin and that it was no big deal (I would think that the nail being curved would give him more to work with but I guess that was not the case).\r
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Approximately an hour into the horror show, Mike, the groomer I had made the appointment with, finally showed up. His father had him replace me at the grooming table to hold my dog down while he completed scalping her. When they finished, Joe informed me that he wouldn't have been able to do the appointment at all without my help. He then proceeded to charge me $55.00 for the session, even though Mike had told me the charge would be around $40.00 and they had not even bothered to shampoo my dog.\r
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For over a week afterward, Pinky was not the same. For the first two days she would not eat and hardly drank and every time she looked at me she seemed unsure of me, since I had helped with what had happened to her. \r
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I had particularly wanted her first experience with the groomer to be a pleasant one and instead it was a horror show. I noticed when we were leaving that the same people also own Astoria Animal Hospital, which is right across the street. After having seen their grooming work, I would carefully check to make sure there is at least a licensed veterinarian associated with them before considering an appointment there, either.\r
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If you truly love your pet, don't bring them here. \r
Cons: Incredibly Awful Service
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