Bark Shoppe

When our 26 pound cocker poodle needs a bath, nails clipped, etc. we always take him to JOSI at The Bark Shoppe. Josi is a winner and our dog LOVES her! She takes great care to make sure he is happy and and we are satisfied each time he goes in.
Other groomers would keep our boy, Cory, in a kennel while he waited his turn but Josi has the dogs in a play area where another employee hangs out with them and throws toys and otherwise keeps them entertained. This is so great!
Although we’ve been seeing Josi for years, she still asks us how we want him to look each time we bring the dog in which is great attention to our needs/​wants and reflects her fantastic customer service.
I know some people have complained about their experience at The Bark Shoppe but I can almost guarantee they didn’t see Josi there, they must have been working with someone else.
We are fans and will keep going back. Our dog insists!

My parent took our Yorkie, Brownie to get groomed and his hair cut. To my horror when Brownie came home he looked like a street rat. I could not even believe what the owner had done to my beautiful Yorkie. I immediately called her, they did not pick up the phone so I left a message. The message I left basically said that I was client and would like a call back. The owner never called back. The owner has no concept of customer service or customer care.
Seeing how she never called back I stopped by the shop on Monday afternoon to talk to the owner. From the very beginning she was just plane rude to me. I told her how the hair cut was just horrible, she had cut my Yorkie hair down to the scalp. She also chopped up the hair around his head. I tried to show her pictures of what she did and she would not even look at the pictures. She never apologized, she was extremely rude, defensive, and insulted me. I have never been treated this bad by an owner. She took no accountability for her horrible job. All she kept saying was how she followed instructions from my mother. What she meant by that was my mother had pointed to another dog as they were dropping off Brownie and said Oh, he looks cute can you cut Brownie hair like that. What she did was butcher my Yorkie and charge my poor parents that are Senior Citizen $ 50 for the worse job I have ever seen a groomer do. Her justification was that she told my mother 3 times if she was sure that she wanted that hair cut for Brownie. Which is a total lye. She never said that to my mother. As a professional groomer and more importantly an owner, she should of told my mother that haircut was not for a Yorkie. WHICH SHE DID NOT. Instead she made my Yorkie look like a street rat.
I would highly recommend that you always pay with a credit card, so when she screws up you dog haircut you can dispute the charge with your credit card company. Let her fight with the credit card company and not with you. Unfortunately my parents paid her cash, so in my eyes she stole my money. Do not think for a moment that she will do the right thing when she screws up because she will be as rude and defensive as she was with me. She told me that she did not think that the «customer is always right» and that she had nothing to fix or apologize for. Well she lost a customer, had she been polite and apologetic maybe we would of given her another opportunity. I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND THIS OWNER TO ANYONE IN CARLSBAD. Everyone makes mistakes it’s how we handle those mistakes and own up to our mistakes. My suggestions is to find a person that cares, is respectful of her customers, believes in customer service, and is nice and professional. This women lacked everything.
If I can post pictures on Unilocal,I will do so for proof.
p. s. I have never posted anything on Unilocal but this business owner compelled me to do so.

Our dog, Sandy, is a spaniel blend mutt. When her fur starts growing out she becomes very fuzzy instead of cute n cuddly. We were referred to Josie at the Bark Shoppe several months ago. Today was Sandy’s 3^rd grooming at the Bark Shoppe with Josie… and THIS is where she will always go for her spa days! (-:
The Bark Shoppe doesn’t cage the dogs, as long as they are well behaved, and I am very happy as caging/​crating does stress my dog out. Another previous reviewer had mentioned some rudeness in dealings over the phone. My personal experience has been nothing but fantastic with Josie! She remembers exactly how we want Sandy’s cut… high and tight… and we always correspond for appointments via text, so it’s super easy!
About 5 weeks ago my husband insisted we get Sandy groomed sooner than Josie could accommodate our schedule. So I tried a place in Leucadia that was so close we could walk to it. For the exact same price as Josie, the cut… my husband said «WHAT CUT!?!». … Sandy was barely trimmed. We were terribly disappointed, plus when I went to pick up Sandy, they pulled her out of a cage! I wasn’t expecting that and wasn’t happy! Won’t go back!!!
Josie will always take care of our Sandy from here on out! THANK YOU JOSIE!

I just took my Pomeranian here for the first time yesterday– they are amazing! He was having allergies and was scratching endlessly (could not find one flea on him) making his skin red and irritated. I talked to one of the owners and she gave me REALLY good advice and the cut that she gave my Pom looks incredible! When I dropped him off she was a little abrupt but she is very knowledgable and was nice when I picked him up. After I gave him the natural allergy pills she recommended at Wesco he has not scratched ONCE! His skin is clearing up and he looks fantastic! Thank you Bark Shoppe!!!

Constance has been grooming our dog for almost 12 years. She is truly a master of her craft. Our dog is a chow chow and most groomers won’t even mess with him. There are all sorts of personalities in the world and no exception here. As long as you don’t mind someone to «call it like they see it», you won’t mind them. Our dog always gets the best care and looks gorgeous.

This Lady is RUDE!!! Worst dog groomer experience I have had. Please never go there, I regretted leaving my dogs in her care. DON’T DO it!

Let me start by saying that the owner/​employee (not sure if shes the owner) was exceptionally rude when I came in to drop off the dog. I got a quick «what am I doing with her?» when I clearly had an appt at 12pm. After I gave her a response saying «she has an appt at 12, just a full grooming including a haircut». Her response was «Well what do you want me to do to her haircut!!!» in a very brash and loud attitude filled tone. After I stated what I wanted «all over trim as long as it is not buzzed» one of the other groomers there very nicely said «She will make her look pretty» I felt a little more at ease but a little frustrated! Anyway, because of the reviews I trusted it thinking it would be fine. She then yelled out after me «We don’t accept credit cards! Come back in about 2.5 hours (this was at 12pm)»
2:30pm: I sent my boyfriend in to pick up the dog. She immediately yells at him and says «YOU DO KNOW WE CLOSE AT 2PM RIGHT?». First of all, why would you tell me to pick up my dog in 2 – 2.5 hours if you CLOSE AT 2PM. Second of all, I did not get a single phone call saying my dog was ready to be picked up NOR did she tell me what time they closed but she was sure to be very aggressive in staying everything else. Based on some of the negative reviews (which I overlooked) I should have listened about the poor customer service.
Overall, I will not be bringing my dog back as she looks cute and had an overall good hair cut but the customer service was EXCEPTIONALLY poor. I am not one to generally write negative reviews unless the experience I had was that poor.
I generally am very laid back about my dogs haircut as she is a terrier mix and a mutt so it really doesn’t matter as long as it does not look buzzed.
Bottom Line: If you are okay with dealing with really poor customer service than this place is fine to take your dog. They allow the dogs to walk around without being in crates which is nice.
I will be taking my business elsewhere.

We have been taking our mutt to the Bark Shoppe for nearly two years now. Roscoe has a pretty long coat that can get tangled if not regularly groomed and it is such a treat to have someone else help.
Josie is the person that always works with Roscoe and we really enjoy that they are cage free… Our little guy is not a fan of the cages that other places use.

I have been having some difficulties with my dog lately — since we moved she has become aggressive towards other dogs, so I’ve hesitated to take her in to the groomers. I called the Bark Shoppe and spoke with both Constance and Josie and they set up a time to bring in Marley when the shop didn’t have many other dogs in. Marley did great! Josie worked with Marley and my dog was calm and not aggressive while at the shoppe. She looked and smelled great, good job on her nails and ears — couldn’t be happier with the shop. Made me feel very comfortable about having her there! Will definitely be a regular!

i have three dogs, two Shitzus and a terrier mix. I would never take my dogs to anyone but Josie at the Bark shop. Ever since my older dog had to have surgery he has had less tolerance with being handled and Josie has a way of keeping him happy.
My female loves to able to see the other dogs and not be in a cage. They come out looking super and the price is reasonable. I have recommended her to friends.

Josie was our groomer the 1^st time we decided to take our 2 Mini Aussies in for grooming after moving to Carlsbad Village. She was AWESOME! We were worried about our older dogs «fear aggression» behavior, she handled him so well. She gave both dogs, great cuts and they were both done in less that 1.5 hours and they were both happy and not stressed at all. We took our Aussies back to see Josie again last week, she asked all the right questions to get the cuts just right on our boys, and they both looked and smelled so great when we picked them up a little over an hour later. She is great! Always gives us good tips for pet products and pet advice. We’ve been to both big name pet stores and little boutique stores, she is priced well, on the average, lower side, yet this is the best service we have ever had. Go see Josie!

Our dog always comes home from here happy and well groomed. They know him now that he’s been there a few times and they are very sweet to him. We tried a couple other groomers in the area after moving from mission viejo but once we found bark shoppe we haven’t had to look any further.

My first experience here was great as far as the grooming. These people are great at what they do and the dogs sure love it there. I especially love how the dogs can roam free after their grooming. However, when I’m paying money for a service, I do expect to be treated with some semblance of respect, and I sure was not. Without going into all of the details, just know that there is one groomer here (possibly the owner) who is very rude. I guess if you don’t care about that, then you’ll love this place. Bottom line, your dog will look great, but you will not be treated as well as your dog…

Bath #2 just as successful as Bath #1. Joey is usually very nervous going in for a bath, and he squirms and squiggles when he is picked up to be taken into the back. At this place, he just seems resigned and calmly goes into the arms of the bather, no fuss.
The dogs can run free in the store after their bath and that also contributes greatly to less stress. Love this place. They even trimmed the bits of fur between his toes and cleaned his ears.
What a fluffy boy!

This place is great! I’ve taken my 2 mid-​sized (30lbs) dogs to several places over the years including Petsmart, Petco and Muddy Paws.
My boys LOVE this place! No cages so they can roam around. They are never nervous when I drop them off or pick them up and it only takes an hour or two, rather than the typical five hours other groomers keep your dog.
Other reviews mentioned a rather stern sounding person who answers the phone. That is the owner, her name is Constance. I had the same first impression, but she is actually very, very sweet and friendly with all the dogs.
She has help with the bathing, but she does all the actual grooming herself.
She always communicates anything that may seem «off» about my boys and that really shows me that she cares about their well-​being.
After 8 years of dealing with teenagers who hate their job, groomers who are too rough, and caging my dogs for hours on end, I think we have found the best groomer ever!
The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is becasue parking is a bit difficult and her hours are limited, so be sure to book in advance.

Very personable and took great care of our dog Hunter. Very reasonable prices and it only took 2 hours. Will definitely be coming back.

The first time I took my schnauzer to the Bark Shoppe, I was hooked. No cages here, the dogs can roam around the shop when they’re waiting to be groomed and when they’re done. (Unless they are unruly) I like this a lot, and so does my dog — she is much less nervous about the whole experience. Josie was Bella’s groomer, and she really impressed me — she remembered the cut that I like (modified schnauzer) and that Bella has ear issues. Bella always got compliments when we walked out of the shop!
The only thing I didn’t like was there is someone who answers the phone who isn’t super friendly — she’s very brisk, but not rude… kinda makes you wonder about her «bedside» manner with the dogs.
Josie left the Bark Shoppe some time ago, and I didn’t go back. But I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the shop to others. Their prices are decent and they don’t keep your dog all day…
TIP: Bring cash, or be prepared to run to the cash machine across the street — the Bark Shoppe only accepts cash!

They were closing early the day I brought my dog in but they squeezed her in anyway. I wasnt in any particular rush but the women there sure were. I offered to schedule an appt later in the week but they went right to work. Within 20 minutes my dog was ready. (She weighs less than 10 lbs) The Bark Shoppe’s willingness to accommodate my last minute request is a plus but the quality of the grooming experience suffered. They basically washed and dried my pup. Her nails were left untrimmed (but to be fair they weren’t very long) as well as the fur on her paws and rear. 25 minutes and $ 25 dollars later she smelled great but looked the same as when she went in.
I’ll give them another shot, i have a feeling it was an off day.