Pet Industry Annoynces

CharlieDog

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I could have worked at any one of these places. OMG, I'm laughing SO HARD.

My favorite is always having to kick out a repeated offender for biting. I feel SO BAD, but lady your dog put HUGE HOLES in another dogs neck! I don't CARE if he provoked her, that is NOT an acceptable response!

Or the lady that is seriously 15 minutes late every day. Like really!? We charge a DOLLAR A MINUTE over the closing time. She pays it, every week, like clockwork, but really, if you left just a LITTLE bit earlier, you'd save SO MUCH money.


And the clients who have no idea what their dog eats. Lady, I know your dog eats beneful/pro plan/whatever and how much they eat and they board like once a month. I only have to call you to authorize your card because we're certainly not paying for your dogs food this stay.

My favorite though, are the ones that never bring enough food, ever, and the dog eats something we have to go like five miles away to get at the specialty store, which we don't charge for, even though five miles in the city takes about thirty minutes, one way, on a good day, and then they want to bitch about the total of the bill when we charge them for the smallest bag of food to get them through the stay possible. Ugh.
 

skittledoo

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ETA: Hey, skittle, how about the clients who say, "Oh my GOD, you just must have SO MUCH FUN every day, just playing with the dogs. I bet it's not even like work."
Ack sorry. I just now noticed your eta. And yes Omg annoying. We get that ALL. THE. TIME! I get it outside of work too. Someone will ask me what I do for a living and I tell them I work at a dog daycare/boarding/training facility and they respond with, "oh you LOVE dogs so it must not feel like real work." Or when someone comments, "well you get to hang out with dogs all day. It's not like you have a real job with real work."

Excuse me? I clean up crap and pee ALL day. I clean up diarrhea all the time and throw up and I have to be quick or else other dogs will EAT it. I have to break up dog fights sometimes and give dog baths and do nails. I have to know how to clean wounds when needed and wrap wounds correctly if needed. I am a shift supervisor so I have to manage my crew which does NOT mean I sit on my butt and play with cute puppies. I take boarding reservations and daycare reservations, payments and create new invoices. I have to clean and scrub down the entire play area every single day and I get mopped with dirty poop water at least once a day unfortunately. I also teach training classes and so on so forth. It's not like I dance across rainbows with unicorns and puppies all day. It's hard work.
 

skittledoo

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I could have worked at any one of these places. OMG, I'm laughing SO HARD.

My favorite is always having to kick out a repeated offender for biting. I feel SO BAD, but lady your dog put HUGE HOLES in another dogs neck! I don't CARE if he provoked her, that is NOT an acceptable response!

Or the lady that is seriously 15 minutes late every day. Like really!? We charge a DOLLAR A MINUTE over the closing time. She pays it, every week, like clockwork, but really, if you left just a LITTLE bit earlier, you'd save SO MUCH money.


And the clients who have no idea what their dog eats. Lady, I know your dog eats beneful/pro plan/whatever and how much they eat and they board like once a month. I only have to call you to authorize your card because we're certainly not paying for your dogs food this stay.

My favorite though, are the ones that never bring enough food, ever, and the dog eats something we have to go like five miles away to get at the specialty store, which we don't charge for, even though five miles in the city takes about thirty minutes, one way, on a good day, and then they want to bitch about the total of the bill when we charge them for the smallest bag of food to get them through the stay possible. Ugh.
A dollar a minute after closing time? OMG that's GENIOUS!!!!! I need to seriously run that idea by my boss... though she might not enforce it because traffic out here is so terrible that some clients really can't help being late... but ugh... I hate staying after when I really want to leave and go home because I have to feed my OWN dogs dinner.
 

CharlieDog

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A dollar a minute after closing time? OMG that's GENIOUS!!!!! I need to seriously run that idea by my boss... though she might not enforce it because traffic out here is so terrible that some clients really can't help being late... but ugh... I hate staying after when I really want to leave and go home because I have to feed my OWN dogs dinner.
Yep. We borrowed it from a child daycare in the city.

We're smack dab in the middle of midtown, lol, we DO make exceptions, especially if it's been raining, and we do give out a few free warnings. After the first warning we let them know we do charge late fees, and then if it happens a second time, we let them know what the late fee is, the third time it happens, they get charged.

We (I say we, I don't work there any longer) make a tidy sum off of late fees. The employees get a little of that back every few months in bonuses, but I wish they'd give a percentage to the ones who stay late, because inevitably, it's the same employees every time.
 

Fran101

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People who want to buy cheap foods/treats and get mad that we don't carry science diet/dog chow/proplan/beggin strips "BUT THIS IS A DOG STORE!"

We are a small dog store that only has high quality food/treats.. we explain the reasons why, we have pamphlets on nutrition.. but some people still leave in a huff.

Sorry. We are not going to carry crap food so make you happy.
 

Fran101

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"I need pet sitting for my dogs" "For when?" "Tomorrow!"

..are you kidding me right now?! and worse is that I ALWAYS do it. Our walking clients know that we love their dogs, know that we see them everyday and inevitably...will do it.

"Sorry..we don't have any sitters available, we need more notice"
"BUT I NEED SOMEONE TO WATCH HIM! BUT PLEASE!/Oh..that's fine. I guess I'll just leave some food and water out *pauses to let the guilt seep in*"

FINE!! Ugh. Another **** weekend I spend in someone else's house even though I DON'T WANT TO!
 

Taqroy

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I am SO glad I don't work in a pet store/doggy daycare. You all have my sympathy. The people at the training place are bad enough - and most of them WANT to be there and WANT to do right by their dogs and they're still dumb.

ETA: Dumb sounds mean and isn't really accurate. Resistant is a better word I guess. Although why you would resist the teachings of a class you paid a considerable amount of money for is beyond me.

Seriously I would be so beyond PISSED if I walked into a store with my dog and there was a loose dog. Like that is the kind of situation where I would probably think "oh Juno, you want to growl and lunge at that dog? Today, I will allow it." I mean okay it's not the dog's fault, but sometimes the idiot owners need to be smacked in the face with reality.
So...I had Mu at a private session the other day and when I went to take her out there was some guy walking his dog down the sidewalk in front of the building. Which is a huge no no, we have DR, DA, HR, HA, and status unknown dogs coming in and out a lot and we tell clients to leave their dogs in the car until we're ready. So I have someone go out and ask them to get out of the way and then I take Mu out. The guy moved three feet. Seriously, just out of the line of sight from the window. Mu ran out the door and lunged at him and his dog while barking like a jackass and the guy got this horrified look on his face. I TOLD YOU TO MOVE JERK. FACE THE WRATH OF MY SMALL ANGRY DOG. It's one of the only times I haven't apologized for her being reactive - that guy brought it on himself.
 

milos_mommy

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People who put haltis or choke collars or worse....PRONG COLLARS on their dogs.



With a flexi lead.



(and it's not something I've seen once or twice. About half the dog owners in NYC do this...)
 

Assamiea

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On the subject of math, there's a small mom and pop shop in my area that sells crickets by the dozen. Their signs say x amount of dollars for 12. The other day a woman came in to get crickets and her husband told her to get a dozen. So she comes into the store and tells the guy that was working there (who was fairly new) that she needs a dozen crickets. The guy looked at her all confused and says "sorry I can't give you a dozen, we only sell then in groups of 12". They both stood there in silence for a couple minutes and then the lady says "forget it, I'll have my husband come in and you two can sort it out."

The poor guy stood there dumbfounded for a minute, then shrugged and went back to work.
 

Julee

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Also I can identify some kibbles by smell and it weirds out some customers but some are really really impressed by it lol.
I can do this, too!

People who ask for discounts. Seriously? I charge the same as the boarding kennels in the area, all of which LEAVE THE DOGS IN KENNELS ALL DAY and make you pay extra for any walks or playtime. Here, the dogs get exercised regularly with mine, play with mine all day, and are only crated when nobody is home (NEVER more than half an hour) and at night if they're not trustworthy. Otherwise, they sleep ON MY BED. WITH ME.

It also irks me when people don't maintain the training I put into their "problem" dogs. People who feed bad food. People who don't listen when I say their dogs need to lose weight. People who insist on using shock collars, choke chains, etc. The list goes on.

I really the hate the "real work" comments as well. My boyfriend used to make them occasionally, and now that he lives with me and helps me out... not so much :rolleyes:
 

Toller_08

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I can relate to sooo many of these things! Some people are really beyond annoying. And I really have empathy for those that work in daycare and boarding settings. I tried that, twice, and honestly don't know how you do it. The whole setting was far too chaotic for me and the dogs' owners were nuts.

My biggest peeve as of this morning is:

"My dog just won't stop pulling! I've tried everything! Do you have something that will work?"
"What kinds of things have you tried so far? We have these no pull harnesses that work really well for most dogs to help you teach them to walk loosely. Would you like to give one a try?"
"No, I tried that, it didn't work. As soon as I try to walk him with his collar instead he goes right back to pulling."

And it conversation goes on and on about all the things that don't work. So I asked them if they made sure they were aware that even with a training tool, you still have to train the desired behaviour and reward the dog when he does what you want. And it's amazing the amount of people who are like "Oh, I never thought it that! Do you really think that would help?".

I also have this other customer who supposedly trained animals for movies and thinks he's an expert on anything dog, and then he comes in and asks me questions and when I give him my answer, he's all "no, that's not right. This food is no good because... this toy is no good because... those collars are bad for dogs because..." etc. He never wants to hear my answer. I'm always wrong. And yet he asks anyway.

Then there are the people that phone me and must be lonely and want to talk for an hour. I'm trying to work! Yeah, my store isn't that busy, but still. I don't really have time to sit on the phone and talk to you about your kitten's adorable meow for an hour. Really?!

And I agree about the people who don't know what food they buy. Seriously? How can you not know? I kind of understand if you just switched foods recently and don't remember, but you've been buying the same food since I started working here and probably longer and you still don't know?

And the people that come in last minute or after close and are all "My poor dog is starving! He ran out of food last night and I just haven't been able to make it in". Who waits for the very last kibble to get more food? You feed the dog every day, you should know how much he has left. Or there are the people who get mad at me when they leave their dog's food to last minute and we happen to be out and their dog "can only eat the one kind!". We obviously try to keep the store stocked, but sometimes things do run out since we aren't big. It's always coming, usually quickly, but they need it NOW. And then there are the people that call right before close and are all "My dog really, really needs food! Can you please stay open for me? I'll be there right away!". I now no longer answer the phone right before close. Then there are people who bang on the door after close and are like "I see you in there! My dog needs something!", meanwhile I've already closed the till, cleaned up and have my jacket on about to walk out the door. And if I know the customer well and like them and this isn't a regular occurence, I'll usually let them in anyway. But I learned not to let most in because they wander around the store literally shopping and it wasn't an emergency at all.

I always open the store early because I get here early and it's expected of me for whatever reason to open early because I'm here, but this one morning one of my crochety old lady customers (she's not nice at all) showed up at 9:30 (we don't open until 10am) while I was in the freezer organizing things and restocking it. I get out, don't look at the door, go to the back storage room for something, come out and open the store at my regular 9:45am. I open the door to welcome her and she gets all mad telling me she has this appointment and that appointment and she's been standing outside for 15 minutes waiting for me to open. She should be happy that I open the store early at all and not yell at me for not being open a half hour early. The store hours are posted. Then she came back and complained to my boss on a day she was working and told her I refused to open the store early that morning and made her wait until 10. :rolleyes:

Then there is this other older guy who doesn't even have a dog but comes and buys treats and bones for some reason and gets mad because we don't have the exact thickness of bone he wanted, or we don't carry a certain brand of treats he used to be able to get 5 years ago. And he's rude about it too. Then he comes to the counter, starts talking to me about some products we carry and proceeds to tell me those things aren't good for dogs (I work in a completely natural pet health food store - there is no junk food or treats here) and why. And one day somehow gravel dog runs came up and I said that's what my dogs use and now he thinks I'm a horrible, cruel person. He always just has an opinion about something and it's never a good one.

Then there are the people whose dogs drag them into the store and when they get in they let their dog loose and greet every other person or dog who might be in here and don't listen when I ask them to please control their dog. But their dog is just the friendliest, nicest dog in the world and just loves to make new friends and everybody loves her and also loves to pick out her own treats, so why should she have to stay on a leash? They just don't get it.

I think the worst things have all been covered and I left many out that other people already said, but I bet I could go on an on. I do like my job for the most part. Retail certainly is not my thing at all and I look forward to figuring out a career one day, but I like the store I work for and I like that it's pet related. But omg, some people are super difficult to deal with. And tons of them also like to take all their life's woes out on me like everything is my fault sometimes.

And not related to my current job at all, but I used to house sit for a fair amount of people and some of them still call eventhough I told them I can't anymore and are like "But you're the only one I trust with my dogs! If you can't come then I can't go on my vacation and it's really important!" or something like that. I don't let most of them guilt me into it, but one of them got the better of me and now I have to go stay at her house for two weeks in January, which sucks because I don't drive yet so it's going to take forever to get to and from work from her house and be a hassle. Good thing I like her and her dogs.
 
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lmao.

"I don't think that's the right one."
"This is the one coming up on your account.... that you've been buying the last 2 years..."
"That bag looks too blue. I thought it was more teal."
"Well, it's the same name and item number as what we have on record so it should be right..."
"Ugh fine, I guess I'll have to get this then."

Gaaaahhhhh.
Oh, this is even better. The woman that came in looking for her dog food. She hadn't been there before, so there was no history to look up. We went through the whole "What does the bag look like?" "What does the kibble look like?" thing. I brought out samples of everything we had and opened them, since she swore she'd "know the kibble when she saw it". She had been shopping at a small locally owned pet store in another town, and I even went as far to call them and ask what brands they carried so we could at least eliminate something. She eventually wanted to OPEN VARIOUS BAGS OF FOOD THAT WERE ON THE SHELF TO MATCH THE KIBBLES. I explained that we could only do that if she was paying for them, and she got all huffy and left.
 

milos_mommy

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When I worked at day care (which also did cage-free boarding), we had a 45 minute grace period for owners to come in late (we didn't answer phones, sell anything, or allow people to come in just to look, but since we were cleaning anyway we'd let owners come in to pick up).

If they didn't make it by then, the dog was stuck there until the morning. And they had to pay for the boarding.
 

Southpaw

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Oh, this is even better. The woman that came in looking for her dog food. She hadn't been there before, so there was no history to look up. We went through the whole "What does the bag look like?" "What does the kibble look like?" thing. I brought out samples of everything we had and opened them, since she swore she'd "know the kibble when she saw it". She had been shopping at a small locally owned pet store in another town, and I even went as far to call them and ask what brands they carried so we could at least eliminate something. She eventually wanted to OPEN VARIOUS BAGS OF FOOD THAT WERE ON THE SHELF TO MATCH THE KIBBLES. I explained that we could only do that if she was paying for them, and she got all huffy and left.
Oh dear God.
Yeah, no big deal, we can tear through every bag of food!

That is definitely the point where you should just purchase any other brand of food that looks good. Some people are SO against trying a different type of food, and not because their dog can't have any other food... they're just stubborn!! If you don't remember what you feed or we don't have it in stock and you are 100% out of food, what other choice do you have?
 
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If you don't remember what you feed or we don't have it in stock and you are 100% out of food, what other choice do you have?
One day when I was feeling particular spicy I actually said to a client over this kind of unsolvable dilemma between WANT and POSSIBLE, "Well, if I had that kind of power over time and space I assure you I wouldn't be working here. Now, shall we do A, B, or C?" With a sweet, sweet smile on my face, of course.

Most days what I ACTUALLY want to say is "Well what the F*CK do you want ME to do about it?"
 

crazedACD

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Oh that reminds me! We have a policy that we allow people to return food if their dog doesn't like it, as long as half or so of the food is still there.

We were busy one day and a girl came in with her lab...we found her opening every brand of dog food and seeing if her dog would eat it. And I mean BIG bags of food...she told us she figured she would herself a step by bringing it home since we guaranteed it. And she was so mad that we asked her to stop, she hasn't been back since.
 

*blackrose

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Only AFTER a dog lunges for your jugular does the owner say, "Oh, yes, he can be testy sometimes."

*face palm*
 

Southpaw

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One day when I was feeling particular spicy I actually said to a client over this kind of unsolvable dilemma between WANT and POSSIBLE, "Well, if I had that kind of power over time and space I assure you I wouldn't be working here. Now, shall we do A, B, or C?" With a sweet, sweet smile on my face, of course.

Most days what I ACTUALLY want to say is "Well what the F*CK do you want ME to do about it?"
LOL love it! It was really ridiculous over the summer when Diamond had all those recalls. I'm sorry, next time I will try really hard not to contaminate any food with salmonella. My bad!

Only AFTER a dog lunges for your jugular does the owner say, "Oh, yes, he can be testy sometimes."
Hahahahah or.... *grabs paw to trim nails or examine injury*
*Dog snaps*

"Oh yeah, he doesn't like having his feet touched."

Thanks.
 
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Oh dear God.
Yeah, no big deal, we can tear through every bag of food!

That is definitely the point where you should just purchase any other brand of food that looks good. Some people are SO against trying a different type of food, and not because their dog can't have any other food... they're just stubborn!! If you don't remember what you feed or we don't have it in stock and you are 100% out of food, what other choice do you have?
I just don't understand why people are so reluctant to try new things. I understand if your dog has an extremely sensitive stomach, or has food allergies, or whatever. But so many people are so set on feeding their dog X Brand and X Formula over and over and over again, and then when we're out of it or it goes into backorder it is the ultimate end of the world. I get not wanting to mess with a good thing, but I'm sure most dogs would do fine with a bit of a rotation.

I always stress rotation when I recommend food brands (even rotating formulas within the brand) - aside from that it's good for them, and provides variety in the diet...it's helpful to have them used to eating different things if you need to make an emergency switch for whatever reason.
 

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