Petco

I always receive prompt and friendly service when I enter this El Cerrito Petco. The employees are energetic and cheerful. I am very impressed with the Furever Cat Rescue that maintains the Enchanted Forest located in the middle of the store. It is a secure sanctuary for lovely, adult cats that are up for adoption. The sanctuary is always clean, with a flowing water fountain, food and toys for those felines waiting for their new home. Beautiful, healthy cats. Currently I have three wonderful kitties, so that is a full house for me :) But in the future when I am searching for another feline companion, I will definitely go to Petco and directly to the Enchanted Forest. Thank you, Furever cat rescuers for all of your generous work.

I’ve been coming to this Petco for years actually I want to say about a decade now and the service and knowledge cannot be beat. Now they did have some staff changes awhile ago where people got promoted so it awhile to get used to the new faces.
But the groomer are the same and Nicole is still the manager. She has always taken great care of both my pets especially one who has epilepsy.
They always have the newest food on the shelves and if they don’t then they normally order or for me at a lower price until it arrives.
Overall love the service here!

I’m giving them 5 stars because I think the staff is amazing!!! They are allll patient and kind — always up for answering my million questions. Meghan and Lauren are theeeeee BEST!!! My fur baby lovessss her some Meghan. The groomer girls are so nice toooo… They were over the moon excited to play with my teacup Yorkshire Terrier and make her feel comfortable. They clipped her toe nails WITHOUT nicking her as I have heard happens quite often at Banfield in Pinole.
This will be my fur baby’s groomer forever orrrrrrr until my favs are gone.

Nicolle was very personable on the phone and greeted me in the same manner when I came in today. She was sweet with my ten year old Pomeranian who is a bit nervous and anxious in general. Nicolle gave a price quote over the phone and I confirmed the amount in person, she said yes.
When I picked up my dog she looked adorable, very nice grooming, cut, smelled good and cute bows. Nicole shared a few words about her time with Princess :)
I was very happy until I got my bill; it was $ 24 more than the price I was quoted. I brought this to another groomer’s attention and she waived the difference in cost! No one likes «sticker shock»!
Thanks for great service today!

Go somewhere else.
I honestly wouldn’t have troubled myself to write this if I weren’t so disturbed.
It’s easy enough to shop at Petco if you have a cat or a dog, or don’t care to think too deeply about how things like money and living things intersect and the result of cutting back on skilled workers or proper care. I have been to this location (just this one) a total of 3 times.
Two of those times there were dead animals on the sales floor.
It’s truly unfortunate that I’m not exaggerating. In this case it was the reptiles, but it was pretty disgusting how long it had been since anyone had checked on their herps (lizards and snakes). I’m talking animals that are in a clearly poor condition BEFORE passing away.
If you’re a fellow reptile keeper, go to the East Bay Vivarium. They also have rodent care supplies. If you have a cat or dog, try Pet Food Express. They even have a return policy for if your pet didn’t like the food!
But please do not go to a store that can’t even nail down basic snake keeping. They’re not motivated to care for their animals; they’re motivated by the largest possible profit margin. And that means not wasting retail folks or training hours on animal husbandry.

This store is further from my house than Pet Smart otherwise I would probably go here more. The workers at this store seem to know slightly more than the folks at Pet Smart.
It’s your typical pet store that sells all the accoutrements for your dogs and cats. They also sell some fish and reptiles. The cool thing is that they sometimes have tarantulas and it’s the spot I go to for the flightless fruit flies I need for my baby praying mantis.
Prices are certainly reasonable and they have a little do it yourself buffet of dog treats if that’s what you like.

Norm, the dog trainer, is the best. He is very knowledgable, super patient with you and your dog, and makes class fun. I’ve been to other training classes that have a minimum of 4 dogs and up to 8, and you end up getting minimum attention from the trainer. No so with Norm. We got one on one attention. Both of my dogs «get it» with Norm’s instruction. He clearly loves dogs and what he does. I won’t go to anyone else for dog training.

The grooming staff, specifically Lauren and Nicole, are wonderful. They always do a great job on our border collie when she needs a summer cut. They also treat her like she’s a princess. Also, I appreciate that they take the time to notice things like her sensitive/​dry skin. Today they gave her an oatmeal bath and a haircut and she came home happy as can be!

The grooming staff are VERY rude. I came in to ask questions and they yelled at me and said the list is right in front of you. So I questioned about which one would be best, they told me whatever you think your dog needs. That wasn’t very helpful at all. No smiles, just negativity. The store is although very nice & spacious, but there are barely any staff to help you.

Petco shares some characteristics with The Home Depot. The have a ton of stuff for almost anything your pet could need, they have cool prices and they have lots of locations. The problem with Petco is the same problem with The Home Depot: the associates. If you get help from someone who knows what they are talking about, and who cares about animals, you’ll have a great experience. If you get someone who just works there because they weren’t qualified to get a job at McDonalds, and those people exist, usually around the fish department, then you’ll leave wondering why Petco doesn’t just hire chimpanzees. They’re much more entertaining, and probably more helpful
Luckily, I’ve come across more of the former type of employee, so I’d still recommend going there.

Wow! They did a great job on my dog! He is so fluffy, clean, styling and happy! And I agree with the comments about Lauren… she is wonderful!!!

Christopher was very helpful. He stayed with me and made sure l had everything I needed. He even gave me great ideas on how to set up my aquarium. Recommended a lot of great products that I purchased.

I can’t say much about the actual store but this review is for the pet groomer side– mainly for Lauren. I took my sweet 9 month old Cockapoo to them this pay week and wanted him to get his hair cut short because we found a tick on him and we were all freaked out.
Lauren was super nice, calm and helpful. She said she would cut it a certain way so that he was still comfortable but we could see more of his body (he arrived a fluff ball). She also said she would check him for any further ticks and pull them out if she found any.
She said it would take 2 –½ hours and it did. It was 50 bucks and he came back super cute, happy and tick free. I see others had a terrible experience– but Lauren was wonderful for us. We will definitely be back.

This is the closest pet store to our new house, but we won’t be going back thanks to a negative experience. We went in to buy a few things, among them joint supplements for our dog. They are pricy, but we have seen that they help her as she is getting older, so want to keep giving them to her. And wanted to patronize a local store instead of ordering them online. Imagine our delight when we saw that the ones we wanted were on sale — two for the price of one!
The only problem: there was only one left on the shelf. We asked a staff member to check in the back to see if there were more. He came out saying that there were no more, but that we could get a rain check. Great!
He walked us the the checkout and explained the situation to the cashier. She did not give us anything, but took our name and phone number and the product name and wrote them down, telling us they’d call when more came in. I had already left because we had our antsy dog with us. When my husband explained the interaction, I questioned it. I thought a rain check was a piece of paper WE got. So he went back in to double check and they said no, that’s how they do it, and assured that they would call us.
Of course they never did. Several weeks later when I was doing other errands in that shopping center, I stopped in and checked the shelf. Our supplement was back in stock. So I asked a cashier about using our rain check. She had no idea of course and so called a manager. Who proceeded to use the «customer is always wrong» training he must have gotten when hired. No, they never do it that way. No, there is no slip of paper with my name and phone number on it in the office. In fact, that product has never been on sale!
It was the last one that did it for me. Not true, of course, and calling me a liar. Wish I’d taken a photo of the shelf tag.
Now Amazon delivers the supplement right to our door, and when we need a bed or new leash, we will simply drive farther.

Such a huge place, but no one to help you. That is very sad. I could have spent a bundle, their lost.

This Petco is pretty big… (store wise) and it’s much bigger than the one in Pinole. Petco has lots of pet food and leashes and collars. If you need anything for your pet this is place to go.. Other than that I give this store 4 stars. There are also tanks filled with fishes & snakes that you can see & customer service is good here

I love my cats. They are pretty adorable, loving and love to play.
I bought them a cardboard scratcher here, which they love. I come back for the refill pads, which makes it easy to keep our house and their toys clean.
I also buy the greenie version for cats, which are these cat treats they love. They think they are getting treats, but it helps keep their teeth and breath clean.
Since they love these things, I’m a fan of Petco and will come back to pick them up every time.

Let me start off by saying that the parking lot is a damn hazard so be careful when backing up. I almost got rear ended by an old grouch in Cadillac with her poodle sitting shotgun the other day. That was a sight to see.
Anyways…
I’ve bought a lot of things at this Petco when I’ve been in a pinch. They’ve got salmon kibble with omega 3s when I run out of my Costco stash, they’ve got Kong and Mighty toys that will take more than a few hours to be destroyed by my little buddy, they’ve got grain free treats for training, and they’ve got the most delicious smelling pet shampoo with almond extract that makes me happy to welcome my furry friend into my bed. Sure, their prices are higher than I can find online but this location is close by and it’s not like brutal inflation by any means.
I wouldn’t recommend the collars or leashes especially if you’ve got a dog that has a serious sense of adventure. They just aren’t that durable and they get kind of fuzzy far too quickly. They also rarely stock biodegradable waste bags and when they do, they are obnoxiously overpriced and unscented. Boo to that.
I’ve never tried and probably never will use grooming services because I’ve got a charming little staffordshire bull terrier that doesn’t require an expert’s touch. The dogs always look pretty unhappy as they’re enduring their trimming, shaving, and clipping or covered in suds. Don’t really know what’s up with that.
The customer service is definitely hit or miss. When I come in with my dog, a bunch of the ladies who work here always want to give him bulk treats and coo at him. My general assessment is that some of the employees know how to help customers and the other half are just sleeping with their eyes open. One time, this annoying male employee tried to «share the wealth of his knowledge» about raising dogs with me. Thanks but no thanks dude. I came here to pick up a kennel for my car and some bacon treats, not listen to you drone on about the joys of pseudo parenthood.
I’ll be back for more of that shampoo though. Winning.

Petco – where the pets go!
It is A-​OK. The Mother and I were not too impressed the last time we were here. She wanted to get a new collar for Bianco who recently became our new doggy.
It was a challenge looking at the selection of collars and leashes. It is a challenge looking at the collar selection. First, collars and leashes are jammed together. It is quite hard trying to remove a collar for a close perusal. The set-​up seems to deter shoplifters though. The Mother was about to give up when I found the collar she wanted for Bianco: ½″ wide black collar with a black buckle that one presses to release on both sides.
This place used to have a great dog wardrobe selection. I quite enjoyed the Petco sweatshirts. Dolce inherited those and other dog clothes from one of our previous little dogs. Vests, sweaters, and rain capes galore. The current selection leaves much to be desired, too cute, frilly, and girly for our tastes. Dolce and Bianco seemed to be sporty types – so strong, heavy duty made dog clothes would suit them much better.
Though I am not sure if we will get Bianco groomed here. I do not get a good vibe when I have walked by the grooming section while entering the store.
I concur that service here is hit or miss. We have not had anything that would irritate yours truly here to call their corporate offices to give them a piece of her (my) mind. I have a feeling they or corporate are taking note of the Unilocal!reviews. We have been treated nicely by most of them. I really appreciated one associate’s assistance when she informed us of the new, improved, and upgraded Petco Pals Reward program.
We will still come to shop at Petco. We do appreciate the convenience. The Mother does for sure!
Fresh Unilocal!Review #62 for 2013

Walter, my Corgi, went to the beauty parlor for the first time. And none other than, Nicole, groomed him. See my Unilocal below.
She and this new guy, Joel, we’re so gentle with him. Nicole commented that Walter’s face looked like Holly. He’s from the same pedigree. Holly would have been his great, great, auntie!
In addition to the Furminator, Nicole suggested a rubber brush too. After she was done, there was enough hair to make a sweater!
There are plenty of options for groomers, but I’ve found Nicole and now, Joel, are the best. And the Petco price is right!