Carrie’s Critters

I’ve been in to Carrie’s twice now to have my 2 chihuahua’s nails trimmed, and had absolutely no problems. She has a grooming table that she uses, but also asks if you’d like to hold your dog instead, which I appreciate, and I’m sure my dogs do too. One of my Chi’s was abused before we got her, so she can be very skittish and nervous. Being able to hold her myself during the nail trim made it quick and easy!
The shop has small dogs, cats and other animals you can adopt. And the pricing on the toys, dog clothing, ect. is very reasonable! I like the service my dogs and I get, so we will continue to go there!

Ewwww. The store’s fish tanks are full of algae. The bird cages had tons of feces in the bottom. The dogs for grooming were just throw together in a single room– no cages or anything. It SMELLS in there to beat all. Crickets are here, but they give you tons of those weird soldier fly larvae with them. I probably won’t be back. Ick.

We had been searching all over for a new family dog, that could also be a good fit for our in-​home daycare. A friend referred us to Carrie’s Critters where we found the perfect dog! I don’t know where the negative reviews come from. Her place was clean and the dogs are fed high quality dog food. As she brought the dogs out for us to meet, they kept leaving us and running back to her, licking her all over. She had a loving bond with them. she was also less expensive than other places we’d looked at. I’d highly recommend her!

We have gone in to Carrie’s Critters three times. When we first stopped in the store my husband and I were brand new dog owners having gotten our first dog only the day before from the Tacoma Humane Society. We were complete novices but eager to learn anything/​everything about dog handling. I’ll never forget how relieved I felt after Carrie and her compatriots supported us with helpful tips, knowledgeable advice and encouragement that assuaged my fears. She really increased our learning curve. The store was very busy at the time, but in the middle of that demanding three ring circus, Carrie was staying on top of everything. She is emotionally equipped to take a lot of simultaneous stimulation. My husband does nothing but joke and everybody was laughing and having a good time.
We now have three little dogs and enjoy looking in pet stores along our travels. We hardly ever get to Yelm so it was all of two years later when we had the chance to go there twice in June 2014. Carrie remembered our initial visit down to the details, no kidding.
My husband adds, «We are not easy people. We can try anybody’s patience. We will be in a place an hour or more, pondering and not making up our mind, wasting people’s time. Carrie is pleasant, gives us all the info we want, and never makes us feel we should leave. On all three visits, the dogs we viewed appeared healthy and happy so I would not hesitate to purchase one. The prices are very good in comparison even to the Humane Society. ($ 100 less)»
Overall we have the impression Carrie’s little business does good in this world. She appears to be cut out for the job as her caring is obvious for both pets and people. It can’t be easy in this day and time to perceive what is true and what is not in how healthy an incoming dog is or whose home is a loving home. We hand it to Carrie for braving the stresses of self-​employment & for managing the responsibilities of animals in need. We’re proud of what she accomplishes. «You go, girl!»

A VERY unpleasant experience! Will never buy another pet from here again! My 6-​year-​old son’s dog died of cancer. He was 10. He was horrified, so one day when we were out to lunch we happened on this place and my son fell in love with one of her kittens. He was so happy to have the kitten he named him Luke Skywalker. From the day we brought him home he was very sick.
Moral. of the story, the kitten didn’t even last 2 weeks before dying. Because of the busy holiday week, we weren’t able to get him into the vet till Wed. Too bad he didn’t’ make it till then. I could NEVER live with myself if I lied to a grieving child just to make a quick buck. HOW PATHETIC!
Oh, and there is a review of this place online claiming that animals die days after being purchased at this place. Well, we are PROOF that this statement is 100% FACT!

After seeing such great reviews and seeing a sign in front of the store saying that Carrie’s was voted as the best in the area I was excited to take my dog to get his nails trimmed. We are relatively new to the area and live in Yelm so I was excited to find a place that I could become a regular at. My first impression was great! The shop is in a good location, it looked friendly and inviting and the sign was fun and bright. I called today to see what a nail trim cost, about hours and to see if we needed an appointment.
Nobody answered but I was offered to leave a voice mail. I left a voice mail and the return call was prompt. The store hours are really great and the nail trim is only $ 5 and the returning the call was friendly.
So we walk in and immediately the good feeling is gone. The smell is horrible and there are several dogs pinned up in the entry with nothing more than a baby corral. I wasn’t sure if they would jump over and attack since they were all going crazy barking. My first inclination was to just walk back out. It was loud and it smelled BAD. Some animals were freaking out and some just looked like they had given up. It was just sad in there.
The lady that approached me didn’t really greet me, just kind of looked at me like, «What do you need»? So I told her we just needed a nail trim. She asked me if I wanted to hold my dog. What? I figured they had a table and harness for grooming. Who is asked to hold their dog? I have gone to several groomers, from mom and pops places to the big box stores and they have never asked me to hold the dog. I should have know this was the start of a mess.
So she took him to the back and had her co-​worker hold my dog with a blanket wrapped around him. Did I miss something? I thought this place would be more professional since it has had such good review. It looked like they had it under control so I looked at some kittens with my kids.
When she brought my dog back she told me that it would be $ 10. What?! What happened to $ 5? She explained that it was double the amount because they had to muzzle him and he nipped her finger. She showed me her finger and I honestly didn’t see anything.
So I paid her the $ 10 and while I paid she also mentioned that he peed on her too. So I’m wondering why you aren’t wearing an apron AND harnessing or muzzling them anyway? Isn’t that standard procedure?
If I wanted such an unprofessional experience then I would have done it myself.
Needless to say, I will not go back. I mean, is this normal for the area? I hope not. This place needs a good cleaning, less animals, prices/​disclosures posted and a more professional staff.

I recently moved to Yelm and needed a place to take my dog to get groomed. I was appalled when I walked in and to my left saw about 15 puppies all crammed together in two small cages. That screamed Puppy Mill to me… On top of that my easy to please often groomed dog came out of there clearly agitated and shaking. He has never done that before, even after going to the vet and getting shots!
Then while looking at his feet they missed multiple clumps of hair. 50 bucks for a crappy grooming job and a filthy store. Gross.

i have to say i won’t be going back. my dog came out ok. she didn’t listen and didn’t cut her hair short enough. i didn’t know the groomers terminology while i was trying to explain to her what i wanted and she came off pretty rude to me as well as in the middle of our conversation she started speaking to someone else. my biggest complaint is that they sell animals there, the dogs are in clear boxes with what appears to me to be too many dogs in each. the cats are in open cages but again seem as though there are too many in each. with shelters overrun with animals why are they selling them? either way i won’t be returning. gale

I personally enjoy supporting this local business whenever I get the chance! My husband and I have been stopping by for almost 3 years now and have always had really good experiences. My only wish would be for a bit wider selection in reptile supplies, only because we run a small just starting our reptile rescue though.

Been taking our dog here since 2007, no complaints, good service.

I’ve taken both of my dogs to carrie’s. They both come out looking great. Would recommend. Only complaint is the sign for a recent parvo outbreak.

I have known Carrie for close to four years now, and the story that we tell is always the same. Carrie loves animals. We know of her personally, and she has brought many dogs into her home who are loved dearly.
Our story involves Carlton, our Boston Terrier. We saw him in her store in 2007 and my daughter fell in love with him. We have never considered buying a pet store puppy, but Carlton really was different. He’s a nut. When we brought him home he potty-​trained so quickly that it was unbelievable.
Then he got sick a few weeks after we brought him home, and we had to take him to an emergency vet in Tacoma. He had a severe case of pneumonia and had to be hospitalized in an oxygen tank. Carrie was in Las Vegas during this time. She called us from her vacation to check up on him, and over the course of the next months or so she covered the vet’s bill almost to the dollar. This type of integrity is not common with pet store owners in our opinion.
Now Carrie has changed her puppy and dog program. She brings rescue dogs in from California to sell to decent homes. She says that this process takes more work but that it’s worth it.
I do recommend Carrie’s as an ethical place to find a dog or a cat from our experience.

Scheduled a grooming appointment for my two girls for today at 9am. I accidentally overslept and missed the appointment so I called to reschedule thinking I’d have to wait a few days and they wouldn’t be in a hurry to get me in… I was wrong! They asked ME what time worked best for ME and fit me in the same day! Both of my girls look and smell great! And I showed up during the end of a groom and saw the groomer taking the dog out for a walk. Most groomers just put the dogs in a crate with a puppy pad.
They also have TONS of adorable puppies! And unlike most other pet stores, the dogs are all in clean large sized cages. Every pup looked 100% healthy. I would feel comfortable buying a pet from them! Shoot, I almost wanted to walk out with another pug! The store is clean and they have some adorable dog beds!
I highly recommend them for their grooming services. My silky terrier looks GREAT and my pug smells AWESOME! It’s too bad that I live so far from Yelm or I’d bring my girls here every time.