Pet-co/mart (you know the names) stories

 I've never had any bad experiences at PetsMart; Jessie loves to go there. She comes up to everyone in the store and loves the attention, and the treats at checkout. I did learn something about her temperament while there once. It had only been a few weeks since we adopted her from the shelter and she was about a year old. The store was busy and there were long lines at the checkout. While we were waiting in line, a little girl between two and three years old came running up to Jessie, screaming in a happy way and waving her hands in Jessie's face. Much to my relief, Jessie stayed calm; it didn't seem to bother her at all, although I thought it was irresponsible of the parents to let their child run up to a strange dog.

I would say the worst experience we had there was with the Blue Buffalo food rep. I stopped in for a bag, she asked me what kind of food I was feeding - I said Blue. It was CLEAR that I was in a hurry, but she kept asking all sorts of demanding questions. How long, what bag, etc. Very pushy - and I WAS ALREADY FEEDING THE FOOD!!! Then she walked off, I said thank you - she WHIPPED AROUND and said 'What did you say?!' So I repeated my 'thank you' in a less than pleasant tone.

  I've some interesting experiences at Petsmart. I worked there briefly in high school and already knew quite a bit more about dogs than most of the people working there. The manager got annoyed with me once and told me "There is the right way to do things and there is the Petsmart way to do things". Which wasn't what he was really trying to say but it made me laugh. Once while working there someone was doing inventory of the pig ear bin and found lots of maggots in it 

 A few years after I left there they started having a "doggy play time" at the store which was crazy! Lots of people, lots of dogs all on long lines and all playing in the middle of the store. Not sure who thought it was a good idea but I hear the regional manager wasn;t happy about it.

  In more recent times I have been there for some real...questionable training advise being given out. I was working with a male Boxer for someone last year and for socialization would take him to the petstores with me. I was looking at something and a guy with a Doodle let his dog drag him down the aisle to get to the Boxer. Luckily, this Boxer was pretty tolerant of other dogs but still, people shouldn't think it's ok to let their dogs do that. So as nicely as possible I said "This dog is fairly tolerant of other dogs but it's not really a good idea to let your dog rush up and interact with dogs you don't know. You never know how another dog is going to react to your dog and had this dog not been as tolerant, he could have bitten your dog before you could have stopped it". The guy started saying "well that's not what my trainer said..." and one of the Petsmart trainers appeared behind him and finished "you can tell which dogs are friendly and which aren't. Dogs need to socialize with other dogs". Yikes!

  I also watched the same trainer doing a private lesson, I assume for a dog who pulled badly on leash. The dog looked to be a APBT or very APBT-mix and was on a regular harness, pulling like he was in a weight pull competition. The trainer had the leash and was being pulled around the store, with the owner following behind. Every now and then the trainer would stop, click and drop a bunch of treats on the floor then continue on with the pulling dog leading the way. Not real sure what she was hoping to accomplish but...it seemed like the dog was being rewarded for pulling from what I saw. I was practicing heeling, stays, etc with Jagger in one of the aisles and the owner started to say "Wow! Look how good that dog is...". The trainer did a 180 and stayed far away from us the rest of the time I was there. Wouldn't want her client seeing a dog who was actually trained or anything

Their trainers make me cringe! Every once and a while, I'll meet a decent one... but they never last long there!

When I first got Casey - I was looking for an easy-walk harness for him, since he was leash shy, pulled out of every collar, and I did not want a regular harness on him (gave him sores). So I made the mistake of asking the trainer where they were. She had NO clue what I was talking about... and proceeded to tell me I just needed a regular harness. No, I do not, I just told you that. She insisted that I needed the regular one, I got so fed up - I said forget it, and walked out. I got my harness elsewhere!

I worked at the petsm*art for a while. I was a bather. It was between bather and trainer (I had gobie, a puppy at the time and knew positively nothing about dogs!).  Literally they give you a booklet with a quiz at the end and viola! you're a bather or viola! You're a trainer.

Eeks.   Maybe they do things differently now, but yikes!

I don't have any terrible smart/co stories, typically I have the bichon girls all groomed up nicely and I get "Oooh you must have just picked them up from grooming here!!"  uh, No. I do them myself and yes, they are sure pretty! :)

I've had a bad taste in my mouth for PetSmart ever since the good ol' Acme days when they took over the boards.  Around that time I found out they also owned RC Steele.  I still would have shopped there, tho, if they had what I wanted.  PetCo opened close to here 4 years ago- right after we put our deposit on Caleb.  I shopped there for awhile with no problems. 

BUT- once I discovered both PetSmart and PetCo made donations to the HSUS, I not only haven't set foot in their stores, I turned in my Pet Pals card.

http://www.arbreptiles.com/extremists2.shtml

Not my bad experience, but one which I use to suggest why it's really better to train at a facility like mine and pay the few extra bucks - better than burying your dog.  I have double door entry to my training hall, so people bring their dogs in one door, close it behind them, then open the gate to the hall.  One of the local big box stores had a dog get loose from their training class, and a patron was opening the front door right in time for the dog to completely exit the store and end up on the state highway.  It wasn't pretty.

I prefer to not shop in a store that sells animals. I don't like when people keep exotics in small tanks in their houses. Buying them just supports the trade.

I find it disturbing to see the fighting fish they have in individual small glasses. A while ago I was in one of the stores and half were dead. I've never found the staff particularly helpful either.

I know PETA has been after these stores for years. They have some disturbing undercover videos on how some of the suppliers of these animals treat them. That's before they even get to the stores.

I recently switched to a local store that is both a groomer and sells many brands of cat and dog food, all natural, good quality, not made in China. They also have a good assortment of treats.

For things like litter and supplies I go to WalMart.

The good thing I can say about these stores is that they allow pet adoptions from shelters.

eeeeehhhh although I know most pet stores are bad, and I don't shop at major ones, I don't particularly trust PETA and their ways of doing things

I refuse to buy anything from any petstore that sells puppies or ferrets. Ive only been to a Petsmart and Petco once, and I probably wont ever go again.

I love Tractor Supply, they have a pretty good variety of dog stuff there. The only petstore that I buy from is Mackey's (local pet/garden store which does not sell animals).

l.michelle

eeeeehhhh although I know most pet stores are bad, and I don't shop at major ones, I don't particularly trust PETA and their ways of doing things

 I dont trust or support PETA or the HSUS, either.

l.michelle

eeeeehhhh although I know most pet stores are bad, and I don't shop at major ones, I don't particularly trust PETA and their ways of doing things

Me either.

Petsmart Charities is a wonderful group though - we do adoptions out of their facility every weekend, and petsmart sends us a check based on the number of adoptions we do. We also get promotional items for adopters - bags of food, coupons, etc. As a rescue group - they treat us VERY well.

erica1989

l.michelle

eeeeehhhh although I know most pet stores are bad, and I don't shop at major ones, I don't particularly trust PETA and their ways of doing things

 

Me either.

Petsmart Charities is a wonderful group though - we do adoptions out of their facility every weekend, and petsmart sends us a check based on the number of adoptions we do. We also get promotional items for adopters - bags of food, coupons, etc. As a rescue group - they treat us VERY well.

I love that Petsmart (and Petco?) does adoptions, I think its great. The reason I wont buy from either of those still, is because they sell ferrets. All pet store ferrets are from Marshalls farms, or Path Valley (smaller, lesser known supplier than Marshalls) Marshall's & PV farms are the ferret version of a puppy mill.

Petco does house adoptions, but I'm not sure what their protocol is. We only go to petsmart, because we have such a good relationship with them and don't want to chance it! Our animal control works with petsmart to house and adopt out their cats too, as do several other area groups.

The petsmarts by me do not sell ferrets. But they do have hamsters, fish, birds, etc. I don't know where they come from, but they always appear in good health. I've gotten a few fish from petsmart - and they've always lived a long time (considering what a bad fish-mom I am!) I haven't been in petco enough to know what they sell - I do know they have fish. 

The Pet-Co near me doesn't carry EP so I have to go to a feed store for that, but I haven't had  any bad experiences or issues with them.  I go there for new squeakies, treats and bully sticks. I used to take the dog I had before Max there for grooming and they did a pretty decent job on him.

Joyce

Petco does pet adoptions, and has a fund for animal shelters, too.  If you shop there, you can ask to round up your change and they donate it to the rescue fund.

Both Petco and PetSmart are businesses.  You can influence them with your sales, by speaking with your local store's manager, and if it's a systemic issue, you can write a letter to their corporate headquarters.  Doing none of the above, if you have a problem you really think is worth complaining about, you're not going to have any resolution.  It's just whining in the wind.  Yes I have had issues, and yes I have spoken with the store managers.