Petsmart Trip

[MandyPug]

So Petsmart just opened in my city. I've been to Petco, but never Petsmart so Izzie and I went to check it out.

Well i should've been charging people to love on izzie because the second we walk in, a SWARM of people went "OH MY GOD LOOKATTHECUTIEPATOOTIEPUG! SQUEEEE!" and came to pet her. Thank the dear dog she's not skittish at all and actually LOVES attention. Still it was intense, so many people kept asking me to pet her as i'm checking out the store. I didn't know my dog was that popular!

A petsmart trainer also approached me and asked how well Izzie was trained and if i'd be interested in their training classes, i said no thanks but she was pushy. So there was me and izzie going through our repertoire in the middle of the store with a crowd around (awkward for me, i hate being centre of attention) as izzie nails each cue i give her. I smirked at the trainer and said i was sure i didn't need to go to the classes.

I also met several more Pug owners (total of about 6 more pugs to add to the total pug tally in my city) therefore i think i'm going to go ahead with my plan to start a meetup group for the summer (any tips on that would be lovely).

We ended up buying a Loofa dog and a bag of treats (i sat in that aisle for 10 minutes looking at ingredients), i wanted a package of the small sized air kong squeaker balls but they only had large and extra small so i'm waiting on those.

No pictures unfortunately, i don't think i'm allowed to take them in there anyways.

PS. When i got home mum left Cesar Milan's magazine on my bed. I think she hates me, she knows how much i dislike that idiot.

 

[lizzybeth727]

New stores are always super crowded.... give it a few months and the novelty will die down, you probably won't get swarmed like that.

I like Petsmart more than Petco just for the simple fact that Petco sells Cesar brand stuff. Last time I was in there I found a CM dog bed. So I boycot that store as much as possible. Plus Petsmart is usually cheaper.

 

[colliewog]

New stores are always super crowded.... give it a few months and the novelty will die down, you probably won't get swarmed like that.

I like Petsmart more than Petco just for the simple fact that Petco sells Cesar brand stuff. Last time I was in there I found a CM dog bed. So I boycot that store as much as possible. Plus Petsmart is usually cheaper.

I go there to buy the Avoderm Kookies (my dogs love them and they're a good price), but it sickens me to see the CM collars, leashes (nothing like he uses in his show either --- just normal collars), crates, beds, toys, treats, food, etc. His name/face it on EVERYTHING!!

I like PetSmart except they're usually too crowded. Pet Supermarket is less crowded, but PetSmart does have more stuff ...

 

[PlottMom]

... it sickens me to see the CM collars, leashes (nothing like he uses in his show either --- just normal collars), crates, beds, toys, treats, food, etc. His name/face it on EVERYTHING!!

but have you seen the bottled water?!?! lol

 

[Tazwell]

LOL! Since they just opened, they probably DRILLED "Sell Training Classes!" into their heads! I'm glad Izzie performed well

 

[AgilityPup]

I went to Petsmart for the first time with Bella, a couple of weeks ago, and it was like that with Boodle -- except, all the employees were like "Oh! She's so cute!"...

As for the trainers -- I don't know what it is, must be part of their job description, but the trainer at ours came up to me, and warmed up to Bella (I'll give him points, he was very calm and handled meeting a large GSD well - took the necessary steps to meet her properly), and I THINK he was about to get onto a speel on how I should take their classes, when he asked her to sit (I've NEVER had ANYONE else train Bella, who didn't know her for a LONG time), he raised his hand in the air (standard 'down' command, correct?) and said "Sit"... Poor girl. She offered a down, I looked at him and said "The hand raised that you're doing... That's her down command." lol! *shakes head*

What did you think of the store in general? I liked it -- found some stuff was awful pricey, but what do you expect?

 

[MandyPug]

What did you think of the store in general? I liked it -- found some stuff was awful pricey, but what do you expect?

I liked it, it was very clean and big and the staff were nice (one of the managers has a Pug and was loving on Izzie). I mean i'll probably use it for toys despite the fact i could order them at work and get cost, it's just a matter of convenience y'know? I have a feeling i might be doing adoption days there too, i work with the humane society and we have cats there and i think we're taking dogs there on saturdays. It wasn't too bad as far as price goes, i got a pet perks card and a bag of Elk soft treats with good ingredients was like $5 and change.

 

[Tankstar]

Blaze loves his petsmart trips. All the trainers and staff know him by name (as they should we go in 203 times a week for feeder fish for Mike).

Today he got used as a distraction dog for their training class lol. The trainer always uses him for something if we are in there while class is on.

 

[Criosphynx]

I worked at Petsmart for almost four years. They will never get another dime from me until they stop selling live animals.


As far as the OMG cute dog stuff...if it was from employees...they are FORCED to say that stuff to you. Every.single.person that walks in must be greeted, their dog greeted, complimented, asked a question, recommended a product, said goodbye to.

They get mystery shopped and get into alot of trouble when they fail one. The mystery shopper always has an animal. Som'thing to think about next time a petsmart employee fawns over what you bought or your pet.

 

[MandyPug]

I worked at Petsmart for almost four years. They will never get another dime from me until they stop selling live animals.


As far as the OMG cute dog stuff...if it was from employees...they are FORCED to say that stuff to you. Every.single.person that walks in must be greeted, their dog greeted, complimented, asked a question, recommended a product, said goodbye to.

They get mystery shopped and get into alot of trouble when they fail one. The mystery shopper always has an animal. Som'thing to think about next time a petsmart employee fawns over what you bought or your pet.

It was customers fawning over her... Only the trainer and one manager said anything about her.

The only live animals i saw were the fish, other than that it was just my humane society kittehs and doggehs in the adoption area. So either they're getting live animals in the future (i dunno WHERE they'd put them) or they're not gonna carry any animals except the fish that were already there.

 

[Beanie]

They get mystery shopped and get into alot of trouble when they fail one. The mystery shopper always has an animal. Som'thing to think about next time a petsmart employee fawns over what you bought or your pet.

Interesting... if I were a mystery shopper I'd nail them just about every single time I go in the store. I don't think I've EVER had a PetSmart employee offer me all of that assistance. Usually they greet Auggie but hardly ever say anything to ME, LOL. There is one girl there that I think is the head trainer who has always been super helpful whenever I need something but usually I just get ignored in the store.
Last time we were there the cashier completely ignored Auggie and didn't even offer him a biscuit. Auggie was HEARTBROKEN because he knows that they have cookies at the registers and was sitting SO POLITELY waiting for his cookie. My poor little guy.


I believe the trainers get a large percentage of their paycheck from commission by selling training classes, so that's why they would push their training... it's how they get their paycheck. Years ago when my sister and I would go in there with her dogs we would also have groomers coming up to us and trying to sell us nail trimming, teeth cleaning, this or that, so I think they might be (or used to be) on commission too.

 

[Criosphynx]

I have noticed it varies a bit store to store, and time of day the MS tends to only come in during the morning shift, or evening or whatever, so the employees learn the pattern.. the other thing is its only one mystery shop per month or so...so after they have it, the employees slack and stop pretending to care.

At petco, there is no such requirement, and the employees generally ignore my dogs.

At petsmart, I watch them go through their whole "list" of things and I just laugh inside.

I believe the trainers get a large percentage of their paycheck from commission by selling training classes

absolutely. Infact they are generally panicing inside trying to make ends meet.

 

[TheGoldenRetriever]

Last time we were there the cashier completely ignored Auggie and didn't even offer him a biscuit. Auggie was HEARTBROKEN because he knows that they have cookies at the registers and was sitting SO POLITELY waiting for his cookie. My poor little guy.

Poor little Auggie!!! He's sooo cute ... sad to hear some thoughtless cashier would even think to disappoint him like that.

If I were in line behind you I woulda reached into the cookie bin on that cashier's counter and just gave him his cookie that he wanted so badly and was SO GOOD waiting for ... or better yet woulda handed it to you to give him.

and trying to sell us nail trimming, teeth cleaning, this or that, so I think they might be (or used to be) on commission too.

When they said that (highlighted) did they mean teeth brushing? Wondering because out here the actual cleaning (prophylaxis scraping of tartar) can only be done by veterinarians or state-licensed vet techs.

 

[lizzybeth727]

As far as the OMG cute dog stuff...if it was from employees...they are FORCED to say that stuff to you.

Yes, but I think that most of the employees that work at Petsmart wouldn't work there if they didn't like animals to some extent.... So I do think that a lot of the "cute dog stuff" is genuine.

Last time we were there the cashier completely ignored Auggie and didn't even offer him a biscuit. Auggie was HEARTBROKEN because he knows that they have cookies at the registers and was sitting SO POLITELY waiting for his cookie. My poor little guy.

They've done that to Luna a few times too, it's VERY dissappointing. I usually ask them for a cookie for her.

I believe the trainers get a large percentage of their paycheck from commission by selling training classes, so that's why they would push their training... it's how they get their paycheck. Years ago when my sister and I would go in there with her dogs we would also have groomers coming up to us and trying to sell us nail trimming, teeth cleaning, this or that, so I think they might be (or used to be) on commission too.

Trainers get paid hourly - I think it's about as much as cashiers, so not much - plus 20% commission on training classes. I have 2 friends who are trainers and they have trouble making ends meet. Groomers don't get hourly pay, but get 50% commission (PLUS tips).... one of my trainer-friends switched to grooming and makes a LOT more money.

 

[Beanie]

Trainers get paid hourly - I think it's about as much as cashiers, so not much - plus 20% commission on training classes. I have 2 friends who are trainers and they have trouble making ends meet. Groomers don't get hourly pay, but get 50% commission (PLUS tips).... one of my trainer-friends switched to grooming and makes a LOT more money.

Oh, interesting! I just applied to be a trainer a week or so ago to pick up extra cash and the wording on the application made it sound like a very large percentage of your paycheck was from commission. That's actually good to know, because I was soooo not digging the idea of commission. If I wanted to be in sales I could be at my current job. ;P


GoldenRetriever, hell if I know what they "meant" since we never took them up on any of it, LOL. I can think of at least two times that I remember they said specifically "cleaning." They may have meant brushing and giving dental spray/wash - cleaning could mean a lot of things.
Some groomers here will scale a dog's teeth if you have asked them to. Dunno if it's legal or not. There's sadly lots of illegal stuff going on, plenty of it far worse than scraping a dog's teeth with a dental scaler when you aren't a vet. =/ I however have never heard it said that only a vet or vet tech can clean a dog's teeth.

 

[TheGoldenRetriever]

There's sadly lots of illegal stuff going on, plenty of it far worse than scraping a dog's teeth with a dental scaler when you aren't a vet. =/

True

I however have never heard it said that only a vet or vet tech can clean a dog's teeth.

That's why "out here" was specified.

I understand laws are different in different states .. not sure what it is in the middle states, that's why I asked. It does run the gamut ... from what I understand, in many states vet techs are not required to be state-licensed at all, educational requirements for techs vary by state as well ... with some not having any specified requirements.

Here they must complete an AVMA-approved vet tech educational program that results in at least an Associate's degree and then have to pass a state exam to get licensed, their license must be renewed every year which requires a certain number of CE units (Continuing Education classes).

Most vets here also require additional specialized dental training before they allow techs to do prophylatic scalings, not sure if that's required by law though. A vet tech moving in from another state must have completed an AVMA-approved educational program in their home state and it had to have resulted in at least an Associate's; if neither condition was met they have to take additional credits and then take the state licensing exam. If they choose to do neither then they may only practice as veterinary assistants but not as veterinary technicians ... and it doesn't matter how many years they may have been vet techs in their home state.

 

[chicklette]

Im glad your pet smart trip went well even though you don’t like to be the center of attention. Can you post a pic for me of your dog? When we bring my two Jack Russells to Pet Smart everyone gathers around because they are so hyper. They are almost 7 years old and still like puppies. They bark a lot out of excitement and jump on people which I try to stop. Half the time they knock people over, lol. It’s a lot for some people to handle.

I hate when people are pushy like that. If you say no why keep asking or telling you he needs to be trained.

 

[Dog-Training-Outlet]

Well be thankful you have an adorable & well-behaved dog. I love the idea of the meeting group, but don't like to be swarmed in a store! You may be able to put a notice about the group on the bulletin board at the front of the store.
Good luck & have fun!