[Smithie86]

The reason that I stated that it should be in writing and sent to both is that the majority of people will not notifiy the corp office of such a complaint. The store manager is condoning the behavior and possibly lying, stating it was corp's fault.

Make sure it does not happen to someone else.

I had the "trainer" at Petsmart talking to a couple nearby us about schutzhund, how it was bad, violent and taught dogs to bite anything. Baer was with me. I interjected and ask the "trainer" about their hands on experience and/or evening watching training/competing. She stated, haltingly (since we now had a small group gathered and Baer was schmoozing with everyone) that she had not. And then pointed to Baer and said - he is not a dog that would do SCH. I replied that, in fact, he was a SCH2, V scores in protection, strange filed, strong helper. And TT and CGC.

I then complained directly to the store manager, followed up with a letter to both stoe and HQ. Recieved a follow up from both.

 

[rjvamp]

The reason that I stated that it should be in writing and sent to both is that the majority of people will not notifiy the corp office of such a complaint. The store manager is condoning the behavior and possibly lying, stating it was corp's fault.

Make sure it does not happen to someone else.

I had the "trainer" at Petsmart talking to a couple nearby us about schutzhund, how it was bad, violent and taught dogs to bite anything. Baer was with me. I interjected and ask the "trainer" about their hands on experience and/or evening watching training/competing. She stated, haltingly (since we now had a small group gathered and Baer was schmoozing with everyone) that she had not. And then pointed to Baer and said - he is not a dog that would do SCH. I replied that, in fact, he was a SCH2, V scores in protection, strange filed, strong helper. And TT and CGC.

I then complained directly to the store manager, followed up with a letter to both stoe and HQ. Recieved a follow up from both.

I would have loved to have seen the "trainers" face! LOL You go with your bad self - and I mean that in a good and fun way! :wild:

Yeah - I've had to put a "dog in training" and "do not touch" helper dog vest on just to have people leave Angeles alone before. And even once I had someone try to ask "can I pet" and I pointed to the vest and said "no" and they walked away.

Agree with talking to the manager and letting him know you are following up with Petco HQ so they are aware of the situation in case they would like to follow up with him to ensure the issue has been resolved. You could have just walked out and they lost a customer - is it really worth that $100 fee for the class to lose a lifetime customer because the trainer was being annoying? Is it because Management has put pressure on them to sell mor classes? could be - but how they sell those classes is important - have the right trainers that know what they are doing and not be pushy. And a big dog with a bunch of small dogs yapping - not a good idea unless you are trying to teach a leave it command or something with distractions

 

[Smithie86]

It is waht someone told me years ago - never let the bullies get away with it. Stand up for your dog and your self. You might be helping someone else at the same time

 

[AbbyK9]

Still document it, send it to her and corp office. no matter what a quota, she is making excuses. And I would hope the Corp office would not condone this. She sounds like she is trying to supress any complaints. In the Corp letter, state that she is blaming the corp office.

I second this suggestion. Send something IN WRITING to the corporate office.

 

[Jessiewessie99]

I would never let someone push me into something I didn't want to do especially if it meant the safety and health of my dogs.

She needs to be reported. That is unexcusable behavior.

 

[LondonnZack]

I did inform her that i was writing corporate and that she had lost a customer, or two because of this. If Zack had been an adult dog, i dont really know what wouldve happened. I was able to grab him quick from being by the little girl. If he was 90lbs.. i have no idea and dont wanna think what couldve happened.

 

[JakodaCD OA]

interesting thread, and experience,,I would have been livid..I personally just don't like Petco, the ones around here, it seems like everytime I go in there, there are alot if ill mannered dogs and the aisles are way to tight. Their training area is right in the aisles,,

Petsmart around here, for some reason, has nice big aisles, it's quieter, they have a separate training area, seems to have better behaved everything there, and I think they are cheaper too)

 

[gsdraven]

interesting thread, and experience,,I would have been livid..I personally just don't like Petco, the ones around here, it seems like everytime I go in there, there are alot if ill mannered dogs and the aisles are way to tight. Their training area is right in the aisles,,

Petsmart around here, for some reason, has nice big aisles, it's quieter, they have a separate training area, seems to have better behaved everything there, and I think they are cheaper too)

It's funny how different the stores are depending on the area. I have 2 PetSmarts and 2 Petcos all equally close to me. You couldn't pay me to buy anything from PetSmart. My Petcos are far less busy than the PetSmarts and cheaper.

I pick which store I want to go to for socialization depending on how many distractions I want. Each store is varying in busyness from I never see another dog to there's one every 10 feet.

 

[JakodaCD OA]

that is funny about different areas..but I DO agree, not to get off topic, but there are alot of big box stores in this state, you go to one around here, pricing may be higher than the one in two towns over..

 

[LondonnZack]

that is funny about different areas..but I DO agree, not to get off topic, but there are alot of big box stores in this state, you go to one around here, pricing may be higher than the one in two towns over..

yea its really weird in cali before i moved the petsmart and petco near me was awesome, petsmart more than petco. When i moved to the coast of MS the petco down there was freaking awesome. Here I only have one option Petco, and i doubt ill ever go back with an animal or by myself for that matter.

Also a little OTopic Zack loves BB food now and has been wound up all day and his itching seems to have calmed a bit already, good sign! :apple:

 

[irongrl]

interesting thread, and experience,,I would have been livid..I personally just don't like Petco, the ones around here, it seems like everytime I go in there, there are alot if ill mannered dogs and the aisles are way to tight. Their training area is right in the aisles,,

Petsmart around here, for some reason, has nice big aisles, it's quieter, they have a separate training area, seems to have better behaved everything there, and I think they are cheaper too)

You just described the Petco and Petsmart in this area too. Petco has too much going on in a small area and they seem rather pricey compared to Petsmart. The Petsmart seems huge, and they have a separate training area in the center of the store.

 

[GSDElsa]

Woah, that's crazy! I would have FLIPPED on that woman. I have never even had someone approach me once about training yet alone gotten the opportunity to be pushy. People are right--when he's older and scary looking I doubt she'll get within 20 feet of him.

I probably would have started screaming "stop trying to steal my dog! Call the police!"... but I'm evil.

 

[Syaoransbear]

Trainers in chain stores have to sign up a certain number of customers per week or they get written up by the store manager. Even so, that lady was harassing you. I think if someone would have taken the leash from me like that I would have been like, "SOMEONE HELP THIS STRANGE EMPLOYEE IS STEALING MY DOG." lol

Here's a tip: When a trainer in a petstore approaches you to get you to sign up for training classes, say your dog is already signed up for their classes. It's kind of embarrassing for them when that happens so they leave you pretty quickly to go bother someone else, and they have no idea of knowing if you really are in the classes.

When it worked at petsmart, it was disgusting when they would try and get people to sign up for classes. Any person that came in the store with a dog would have trainers and managers buzzing around them like flies. The managers even encouraged cashiers to push training classes on anyone who purchased dog products while they were ringing them up.

 

[onyx'girl]

Hmmm, I think I'm going to have to take in Onyx to Petsmart. See how close they will come to her! Even cuddlebug Karlo will probably have them keeping a wide berth.

 

[selzer]

Our PetsMart started doing this after they added their new training area. They came out in the aisles and picked a dog, came over and started complementing the dog, and then started talking about their classes, and steered you over to the sign up area, and before you knew what hit you, you were signed up for classes.

Yes it did happen to me, I did sign up, and I did take the classes. Unfortunately, the nice lady complementing my pup was NOT the trainer. The trainer's claim to fame was that he currently owned a two year old blood hound and he completed the PetsMart training for dog trainers.

He did not have a clue. It was a puppy class and there were no other puppies. For three weeks, I sat there with Ninja and Listened to him go on about his blood hound. The third week he brought her in. She was completely untrained, LOL. On the fourth week he had another victim in there with us. He started telling her stuff that made me queasy, and I decided that I could not possibly manage another week of this. I quit.

I had a class there before, and it was actually pretty good. The trainer actually worked with her dogs and got titles on them. So it does depend on who you get.

For a while, the PetsMart people were pretty high pressure too about getting you to sign up. Now they pretty much leave me alone. Maybe I am just a lost cause now.

Maybe they do not want to lose me as a grooming customer.

 

[Kagogi]

Personally, I'm amazed you didn't just deck the trainer. I would have been awfully tempted. In my opinion, "borrowing without asking" is theft, even if she stayed in the store.

And I'm curious, since you didn't agree to this, didn't sign up for diddly, who is liable if something happens to your dog? I think that would be a great point to bring up with the lovely Petco manager. If that trainer keeps snatching people's animals carelessly, someone is going to get hurt or sick (since no one asked who was/wasn't vaccinated).

 

[LaRen616]

Ugh! I cannot stand the Petco trainers!

They hounded me when I brought Sinister in when he was a puppy, he was very well behaved and she kept telling me that he needed work and that he would grow up and become extremely aggressive and unmanagable without professional training.

My ex and I trained Sinister, we took it very seriously, we socialized the wazoo out of him and we made sure he has excellent recall. He knows lots of tricks and he knows hand signals.

My GSD, will not wander from me, he will not leave my yard (it's not fenced in) he loves people, kids, cats and other dogs, he is very well behaved in public places like my mom's salon, my cancer hospital, Petco/Petsmart, parades and birthday parties. He listens extremely well, he always wants to please me, he always wants to do something for me, he's eager to learn and catches on quick.

I think we did a pretty good job with him, without the "help" of a professional Petco trainer.

 

[Jessiewessie99]

The closest Petsmart to me I would have to drive to. But I never had issues at Petco.

 

[LondonnZack]

Ugh! I cannot stand the Petco trainers!

They hounded me when I brought Sinister in when he was a puppy, he was very well behaved and she kept telling me that he needed work and that he would grow up and become extremely aggressive and unmanagable without professional training.

My ex and I trained Sinister, we took it very seriously, we socialized the wazoo out of him and we made sure he has excellent recall. He knows lots of tricks and he knows hand signals.

My GSD, will not wander from me, he will not leave my yard (it's not fenced in) he loves people, kids, cats and other dogs, he is very well behaved in public places like my mom's salon, my cancer hospital, Petco/Petsmart, parades and birthday parties. He listens extremely well, he always wants to please me, he always wants to do something for me, he's eager to learn and catches on quick.

I think we did a pretty good job with him, without the "help" of a professional Petco trainer.

This is pretty much what she told me, before he even started acting up, when i walked in and all the little dogs were yapping and being irritating he stayed cool. He did not want to go in there or near the place but still. I wouldnt either! lol

 

[JudynRich]

I have had good experiences at our local Petsmart...I would call the store and complain loudly, tell them how they may lose a future long time customer.