Pet Industry Annoynces

[SpringerLover]

1) Choke chains on puppies.
2) Fat puppies, more specifically, people thinking their growing puppy is way too skinny... when really, the puppy is either a bit pudgy or JUST RIGHT for a growing puppy.

What are yours?

(Someone came into the store today and managed to hit on both of these. I was kind of impressed by her ridiculousness. And then very sad.)

[Jenne]

People who don't bother to do research before getting a puppy. There are two puppies from Chase's puppy class who are being rehomed because the owner's didn't do any research before buying the "oh, so cute!" puppy. One is a wheaten terrier and the other is a jack russell.

[Fran101]

- The term "fur babies"

- Who needs training? Stick a gentle leader/easy walk/pinch collar/bark on your dog forever! I want a solution NOW, training takes time and is so over-rated. I've seen a puppy class on DAY ONE with gentle leaders on pups.

- It's called an undercoat. You need to BRUSH IT OUT of your dog. It's why he's so hot/stinks/sheds so much

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Oh, do I have a list for you!
(I actually have two lists, one with pros and one with cons of my job. I look at the first list whenever I'm contemplating quitting, and I look at the second list whenever I'm contemplating taking extra hours.)

I understand that not everyone can spend $90 on a bag of Orijen...but I assure you, a $40 bag of NutriSource is NOT "ridiculously expensive." If it is, you shouldn't have a dog.

I'm sorry that your dog is destructive, and destroyed that stuffed toy while you weren't looking, but no, I won't give you your money back. It clearly states on the package to supervise your dog, and it clearly states in our store that toys are not returnable.

I'm sorry that you were out of town, or working, or in the hospital dying during the weekend of the sale, but I'm not honoring your month-old coupon. Watch for the next one.

I understand reactive dogs. I have one. And if you're working on training, by all means bring them in and work on it. But please don't bring your barky, out-of-control dog into the store and let them run up to other dogs and jump on people, while you stand by and laugh, or make excuses. I don't care if he's just a puppy. I don't care if he's a rescue. Train your dog. Or don't bring them in.

The store does not "reek of dog food". It does not "smell like animals". We clean it VERY well (and we don't even keep animals!). It may not smell like Bath & Body Works, but it does not smell bad.

Please do not bang on the door when we're closed, or before we open. It will not make me open the door for you. I have things I need to do in the morning and in the evening that I cannot do while there are customers in the store. We (like everywhere else) have set hours, and they are clearly posted everywhere.

If you ask me a question, or for advice, I'm going to show you the best possible options. No, I'm not suggesting this odor remover because it costs more than the other one. I'm showing you this one because I believe it works the best. I get paid the same amount of money no matter what you buy, so I honestly don't care. I'm just trying to answer the question that you asked.

No, the rescue cats are NOT declawed, and for good reason. And when you ask me why they aren't declawed, I will explain why the rescue (and myself) don't believe in declawing. If you don't agree, that's fine. But do not tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about, and that I'm wrong - that's just trying to start an argument.

Please understand that your dog could choke on ANYTHING - if it goes in the mouth, it has the potential to be choked on. This includes kibble, bones, chews, toys, your favorite pair of socks, whatever. So when you ask me whether your dog will be able to choke on a particular product, I'm going to explain the above. Nothing is choke-proof.

When I say that I like a particular food, please don't ask me if I've tried it. Obviously I haven't. I get that you were trying to be funny, but I've heard it a million times before.

When I'm carrying a bag of food for you, please don't tell me that the food weighs more than I do. The largest bag of food we carry is 50lbs, and I weigh about three times more than that. Please don't tell me that it's impressive that a girl can carry such a big bag of food. If I couldn't, I wouldn't have this job.

If you ask me for a product to make your dog stop pulling/misbehaving, I'm going to show you our selection of headcollars and harnesses. And then I'm going to suggest a training class (and even give you numbers of training facilities in your area!). When you tell me that you don't have time to train your dog, or don't want to train a dog, or that "he's already trained" (eye roll), I will begin to think you shouldn't have a dog.

[SpringerLover]

Originally Posted by JustaLilBitaLuck

No, the rescue cats are NOT declawed, and for good reason. And when you ask me why they aren't declawed, I will explain why the rescue (and myself) don't believe in declawing. If you don't agree, that's fine. But do not tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about, and that I'm wrong - that's just trying to start an argument.

I had a lady I was explaining cat foods to on Thursday complain to me that declawing is too expensive. So I showed her cat trees that are far less expensive than declawing your cat.

She just wants someone to declaw her two, year-old, female cats for cheap... oh, and spay them, too.

[PWCorgi]

Disclaimer: I am not anti-disabled people, I'm anti-stupidity when it's the dog that suffers. Holy JC, learn your limits people!!

Why the f&#% do disabled people think that getting a high powered husky is a good idea when they don't have any way to exercise them?!

I dealt with 2...TWO!! customers today who came in (at different times) and could barely walk, both had adolescent huskies, and both were looking for help to walk their dogs. Of course neither of them had any, yanno, money to go to class or get a trainers help or buy any type of equipment.

One proceeded to ask every other customer who came into the store with a dog if they'd like to train her dog because she wanted him to be a service dog or else her apartment wouldn't let her keep him. She comes in all the time. I'm pretty sure she's a borderline animal hoarder with all the birds that she has IN AN APARTMENT. I'm talking macaws, not parakeets. The dog needs some serious exercise, and the only exercise he gets is leashed walks, which obviously can't be going very far considering his owner can barely walk.

The second customer had a very fearful husky and when we were fitting him for a GL she grabbed his muzzle and yelled "If you don't SIT and STOP IT I'm going to get your MUZZLE!!" What was he doing? Trying to get away from the crutches that she was flailing around.

I wanted to put both of those poor dogs into my car and take them home

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Originally Posted by SpringerLover

I had a lady I was explaining cat foods to on Thursday complain to me that declawing is too expensive. So I showed her cat trees that are far less expensive than declawing your cat.

She just wants someone to declaw her two, year-old, female cats for cheap... oh, and spay them, too.

The biggest thing I don't understand is when someone wants to pre-emptively declaw their cat, before there's even a scratching problem! They insist that "all cats scratch the furniture". No, they don't. Especially not if you give them something better to scratch on.

I realize Sassy was older (8) when I got her, but she has never attempted to scratch ANYTHING inappropriate, and she doesn't scratch me. Surely there must be other cats like that?

[PWCorgi]

Originally Posted by JustaLilBitaLuck

The biggest thing I don't understand is when someone wants to pre-emptively declaw their cat, before there's even a scratching problem! They insist that "all cats scratch the furniture". No, they don't. Especially not if you give them something better to scratch on.

I realize Sassy was older (8) when I got her, but she has never attempted to scratch ANYTHING inappropriate, and she doesn't scratch me. Surely there must be other cats like that?

Ugh, irks the snot out of me. We had a customer at Blaine (hopefully you haven't dealt with her) who INSISTED and would tell other customers that you HAVE to declaw or they will scratch ALL OF YOUR THINGS! At the time I was living with 3 fully clawed cats and no ruined furniture, she told me it would happen, just wait!

With Whiskey he is very into kneading on a specific texture, which happens to be what our fancy dining room folding chairs are made of. But he still can't do any damage to them because we clip his nails like 3 times a week, lol.

[Southpaw]

Originally Posted by JustaLilBitaLuck

Please do not bang on the door when we're closed, or before we open. It will not make me open the door for you. I have things I need to do in the morning and in the evening that I cannot do while there are customers in the store. We (like everywhere else) have set hours, and they are clearly posted everywhere.

This one literally made me LOL. Where I used to work, we closed at 5pm on Sundays. On one particular Sunday, we had a store meeting at 5:30, so I got there at that time and was walking up to the store, and a guy in front of me was walking up too and pulled on the door and *gasp* it was locked. He continued trying to pull it open (of course) and then proceeded to bang on it. And bang on it some more. And then he went over to the windows and started pounding on those, and yelling "HEY!! HEY!! I NEED DOG FOOD!" More pounding continued, then he started making choking gestures and making gagging sounds and yelling "I NEED DOG FOOD! MY DOG IS GONNA STARVE!!" After like 5 minutes of this, one of our lovely supervisors opened the door and handed him a small sample bag of food lol. It was hilarious, I stood off to the side watching the whole thing. And he insisted that we were not supposed to close at 5. Um. Yes, the hours listed clearly state that...

I mean for Gods sake at that point I would have bought a small bag of food at the grocery store if I had to for one day. Your dog will not STARVE.

So there's one peeve: people waiting till the last freaking minute to buy food and then getting upset when the store is closed or doesn't have their food in stock. Ummm, maybe plan ahead a little bit?


Another good one... lady brings her chihuahua in on a flexi. Every time a person mentions that her dog is cute, she goes "oh yes, but he is such a diva." I don't know what is supposed to mean, but whatever. Finally she is checking out, and a customer at the register next to her asks if he can pet her dog. She replies "well, he is a little bit of a diva." So he reaches down to pet the dog and he freaking lunges and snaps at him! Is that what you mean when you say your dog is a diva?!? And you bring him into a store on a flexi?!? How about leave him home, or at least give people a proper warning instead of making his issue sound cute. He's a diva. omg the idiocy.

And that's just retail. LOL. A couple weeks ago at the clinic a lady came in with her dog, his face was so severely matted and his eyes were only half open and were completely covered in pus and whatnot. DISGUSTING. And she was not giving him the medication she was supposed to. And this was not the first time this dog has come in looking like this. Know what she asked the doc? "Does this make me look like a bad owner?" NO, not at all! This gives off the impression that you are a wonderful, caring dog owner.

Excuse the novel.

[sassafras]

I just want people to be a little smarter about what they read on the internet. Research is good, information is good... but some people really just need a better filter.