PetSmart

This review is for the grooming department at PetSmart Encinitas. We recently took our 8mo old Maltipoo there for a grooming session. I bathe her weekly and brush her often myself, but she was getting a bit too long and had a couple small areas that were matting. The groomer explained that dogs can have blood circulation problems or even a hematoma if they are matted. I didn’t think much of that statement because she was only matted in a couple spots. After a four hour stay, $ 54 later and being charged extra, they completely shaved down our puppy to almost the skin! You could see birthmarks we didn’t know she had! The groomer insisted that he had no other choice but to shave her and told me a bunch of BS. My dog, my kids and my husband and I were devastated. Upon checking my dog over, she had a deep scratch or cut on her stomach (from the sheers?) and later developed a scab on her ear. She has been cold, shaking and not the same happy temperment ever since. I had to buy her sweaters ($$$$)! I took her to the vet a couple days after (more $$$$) and they verified that the dog was not at risk of blood circulation issues or hematoma. Our vet assured me that I was doing plenty to care for my dog and it was NOT necessary to shave all of her hair off! After consulting the vet, having the scabs, scratches checked out, we concluded that the lazy groomer just didn’t want to take the time to trim her, shampoo, and brush her out. I will NEVER bring my pet there for grooming again!

This review is for the pet hotel. We boarded our chihuahua and chihuahua mix for 7 days over Thanksgiving. These dogs are very pampered and live with a retired couple who are home with them all day. I was very nervous about leaving them as they have never been boarded before. I was concerned they would be crazed from missing us and would be barking fools when we picked them up. When they were brought out they were so calm and looked absolutely beautiful after their exit bath. They really acted like they wouldn’t have minded staying longer and loved the staff. I am so glad we have Petsmart Hotel for our future travel needs.

This Petsmart is actually a great location with an extremely large selection to fulfill any pets needs. This place has an animal hospital, pet hotel, grooming salon, training center and pretty much every brand that your pet could possibly need, all at a reasonable price. The place is always extremely clean and the staff is helpful and courteous. Overall, solid 4 stars for this Petsmart.
Pros–
Location
Service
Size
One stop pet shop
Cashiers give out treats
Grooming salon
Cons–
Need more natural food brand (Acana, etc…)
Can be pricey without pet perks

This review is for PetSmart in Encinitas, California — Encinitas #144
Let me fist say how horrible the manager — Tanner is by misleading new customers. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, QUIT.
We got a new puppy — English Bulldog who is 8 months ago and she is all up-​to-​date on all her vaccinations, etc. However, the trick is she used to be named Bella, we renamed her to Diega. 5 days ago PetSmart manager Tanner told me he wasn’t able to verify that Bella and Diega is the SAME dog… blahh blahh blahh… We are going to call Bandfield again… blah blahhh.
Ok. I am going to a business trip tomorrow at 8 AM and will be gone till Monday night. Decided to call PetSmart to confirm we are good to go, Tanner tells me YOU CANT BOARD your dog because I wasn’t able to verify it’s the same dog. Seriously!!! You had 5 days to call me and advise what I was supposed to do. How am supposed to know what needs to be done??? I have the paperwork, what really needs to be done now?
If anyone needs to call the corporate office — here is their number 800−738−1385

Figured out the problem I was having with my fish. I needed to upgrade my fish tank and they were super helpful! Got the right tank with a quiet filter. My fish could not be happier and I’m happy too! Knowledgeable staff and very helpful. They also have a great cat adoption room where you can sit with and play with the kittens and cats. Nice store!

Very confusing trying to choose the best toy, litter box and treats. But they have such a helpful and friendly staff. Actually much more helpful than the Petco on Encinitas Blvd. The staff member came over, helped us find shampoos, boxes. trees and all the things are new kitten would like. This will be our go to store from now on.

This is seriously by far the BEST Petsmart I have ever been to! I have a brand new puppy that I have been taking here since she was 4 months old to the Banfield Pets hospital… They are amazing! They make me feel so comfortable when Pepper is in their care.
The PetCamp/​Pethotel is by far the best place ever!!! Jen, Michelle, Tanner, Nicole and Tabitha are basically second family to my puppy Pepper! They are so amazing and take such good care of her when I have super long days at work… I even will take her for half days just so she can play in the AC with all her camp pups!!! Leslie the pet trainer is also amazing ! She has known Pepper also since she was a baby and loves teaching her new things when walking threw camp:) I can’t rave enough about how amazing the service is at this location and all the people that work there ! It is the coolest feeling when you walk in the store and everyone says «Hi Pepper!» And my puppy loves it !!! If you have been on the fence about camp or anything … Please try it they are AMAZING!!! Your puppy will be the happiest pup!!!

This review is strictly for the Cat adoption event held 7÷17−7÷19÷2015 done by the crazy nut jobs that run The Rescue House.
Let me fist say how horrible you people are by misleading your customers to actually believe they could adopt one of these kittens! You all should be ashamed of yourselves for not stating up front and in HUGE letters that you do not let your kittens/​cats go to homes that are: too small, homes have kids, have other pets, or to homes that believe cats should be allowed to go outdoors.
If you have a loving family willing to do their best to care for a homeless kitten or cat you should be grateful! In addition to being turned down for having kids I’d like to mention how your racial profiling did not go u noticed.
Right after I had asked to see a cat and was let in its pen (without question) a hispanic family asked as well. The workers response «yes but you all need to go sanitize your hands and it will be a while» you racist horrible people. Why didn’t you ask me to do that? BC you had no intention of letting those poor people adopt one of your precious kittens.
Pet smart as long as you’re working with the Rescue House you will NEVER get my business or anyone I knows! I plan to share this experience with my good friends in the media and hope you all can change the way you do business.
I saw many tears and heartaches this weekend that could have been prevented had you stated these regulations or «deal breakers» as you so put it to my families up front, not after a 30 minute interview and many tears.

Petsmart Encinitas now offers Doggie Daycare and boarding!
I dropped my Buddy off at Doggie Daycare and much to my surprise, the Pets Hotel is run by a previous manager from the La Jolla store. Buddy and I were THRILLED to see Michelle behind the desk! I left my pooch knowing he would be in great hands.
My boy blended well with the other small dogs at camp and as usual, he hammed it up to any passers-​by looking through the large glass walls. Buddy was exhausted when I picked him up that afternoon.
It is obvious that the Pets Hotel associates love what they do, when I peeked in the window, the camp associate was playing fetch with a tireless and shy Aussie while simultaneously petting a talkative Heinz 57. Every encounter at the Pets Hotel has been pleasant.
If you are looking for a nice climate controlled (and CLEAN) camp for your pooch, Encinitas PetSmart is the place for you. Ask for Michelle!

This place is large yet the don’t carry the higher quality cat foods our vet recommends. Nor do they have good cat toys. What they do have going for them is very nice cats available for adoption. Love going in and playing with them every time I am in the area. Good place to buy things like cat litter and beds but if your cat is on a special diet you likely wont find their food at this location.

I’ve taken my golden retriever mix there about four times. Got three good cuts. The cutters are polite and caring. THE PROBLEM IS: FLEAS — my dog didn’t have them going into the cut but came home with them. And that takes meds and weeks of cleaning to get them back out of the house. NEVER AGAIN.

We took our Shih tzu there for grooming. They were told, & documented it in their computer, that she is fearful of loud blow dryers. But normally she can be talked through it just fine, & comes out of a grooming salon happy, bouncy, & waggy tailed. Not THIS time!
First of all, when she was ready to be picked up they called the exact phone number they were told NOT to call. They never even called my husband’s phone at all, as they were asked to. An hour later I turned on my phone (thankfully) & found the voice mail from them.
When my husband got there they said she’d be done in about 10 minutes. Weird, he thought, since they’d called over an hour earlier. When they brought her out she was shaking & extremely anxious to get out of there. VERY unusual behavior for her. And she was very damp! They said she’d pooped on herself & had to be bathed again. She has NEVER done that! He paid & went out the door & our poor dog lost bowel control on the sidewalk, & it was bloody! He cleaned her up & brought her home to me, since I’m a medical professional. Looking her over, I found that they’d shaved her sanitary area so close that her skin was raw & oozing blood. Of course this caused her to panic & she probably became uncooperative. So they put her in a crate & called the wrong number. They never took her out to relieve herself. And the manager later said «We don’t ever take dogs out to relieve themselves. They can hold it for up to four hours.». He said they only have potty «privileges» for dogs boarding there. The bloody poop she lost was a rare panic response dogs have when completely terrified; a sudden onset of ulcerative colitis. It took 3 days to get her better. I called the manager of the store to complain. And in explaining how special this little girl doggie is to me he said (no kidding): «I get it. My grandma has a cat that she thinks is special too. So you want your money back, or what?» He also said I could bring her in to see their veterinarian. Right… great idea. I called our own veterinarian instead,
Go here at your own risk. Never again for us!
BTW…they never finished the grooming job either. I discovered after looking her over that her teeth weren’t cleaned, her paw pads weren’t trimmed, her facial hair wasn’t trimmed, and her legs weren’t finished. They NEVER told us that! But they sure took the $ 45 payment for it!

Better luck next time…

I don’t know whether this review is better assigned to Banfield or Petsmart, but … I went to the store to buy food and a new bed for my senior dog. After getting to the front of the line, I was told that the food required a «prescription card.» When the clerk found out that I use a specialty vet (and not Banfield), she said Banfield should be able to call my vet for the prescription, so she sent me to the in-​store Banfield. The Banfield clerk then rudely told me that she had «one hundred and one things to do,» so I needed to call my vet and have them fax over an order form … She couldn’t just give them a jingle even though no other customers were requiring attention at Banfield. I decided to just leave because who wants to stick around for that type of stellar customer service?! What a racket.

So glad we found this place! My husband and I have 2 large lab mix dogs that absolutely hate their nails being trimmed. It’s gotten to the point where my husband has troubles restraining them, but lucky Petsmart has a great grooming facility that trims your dog’ nails for $ 9 or get them grinded for $ 12. We went with the grinding and they did so much better and got their nails nice and short. We will definitely be coming back here monthly. Well worth the money!

Just okay

It hurts me to write this review — and it only relates to the groomers — but I feel too hurt by PetsMart to ever come back — and this has been my go to pet store for over two decades.
I’ve been coming to this location for years — previously just for fish/​fish goodies — but as of 8 months ago for my new (adopted) dog too. Never mind all of the supplies and things I buy here, I would also bring in my girl for nail grindings. When we adopted her the nails were way outgrown, so I would bring her in once a month for grindings in an attempt to get the quicks to recede. I’ve been here probably 5 or more times and was always told she did great and didn’t mind it, no problems at all.
This last time I came in on a Sunday as opposed to a weekday, which was crazy busy, but they were able to get me in right away (you don’t make appointments for these) but I didn’t really give it much thought.
I did a quick run to the food aisle and came back up to pay to see my girl through the window with a muzzle on. That’s strange — never seen them do that before. So I pay and stroll in just in time to hear the girl who’s handling her SCREAMING how «No, she doesn’t need any help NOW that she only has two nails left, but she just wanted someone to come comfort or hug the dog, F#%^!!» — then she turned around to see me staring wide-​eyed at her. Yeah, I heard all that. I was dumbfounded.
She said she was so sorry and finished up and brought her over to me, her face was red and there was spittle flying out of her mouth and onto my dog. She said she tried to nip at her with one of her paws which she’s never done before and asked if she’d been licking it or anything lately. She said she hates to muzzle a dog because it just stresses them out. Well, I understand that you need to do what you need to; however, I feel that you having a breakdown, being stressed and angry and cursing while holding onto my dog is clearly adding to any stress or discomfort she’s for some reason feeling.
I don’t know what or who triggered who– if her paws were hastily or angrily grabbed then sure, she probably and rightfully nipped as a warning to be more gentle. I wipe her paws down daily and gently and never have an issue. Clearly I’ll have to find a new place or just start doing this myself.
When I got her back to the car she laid down and curled into a little sad ball, not her usual car ride expression. Not okay.
It’s my job to keep her in safe and loving situations at all times; clearly Petsmart no longer fits into the equation.

Just had my Yorkie Jack groomed today at this PetSmart. This was the fourth groomer I’ve tried in 8 months but this time we hit the jackpot !! Daniel was so great with Jack and did a beautiful job on his cut. I highly recommend him… very nice guy!

The staff here always goes above and beyond! We’ve brought 2 of our dogs here for nail trimming and grooming. They did a good job on our male shitsu-​poodle mix especially. We like to have his hair trimmed short and not too puffy, a lot of groomers make him look so girly so I was really happy with the results. Also my second year in a row getting a 75% awesome deal on the pups halloween costumes too– only $ 5 for the cutest martha stewart costumes! A must go!

OMG this is a huuuuuuge PetSmart. The other place didn’t have mats for Joey’s dishes so I went across the way and went into this shopping center which is enormous (Target at one end) and bopped into PetSmart.
They have absolutely everything you could think of needing for dogs, cats, birds, snakes, fish and probably chipmunks. And of course Joey is welcome and he loves sniffing the lower racks.
Glad this is so close to me and happy to know it’s there.