Small Dog Owners Beware

First off I don't like starting a post with a bad story but that's what is happening today. I feel this is important to note though since I am a proud human mommie to a toy breed puggie. Word of caution for small dog owners. At a Petsmart here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area a toy poodle was mauled to death by a mastiff. Details are a little sketchy, one report I heard said the owner of the toy poodle was walking thru the Petsmart store with her poodle on a leash and was entering the grooming section when the mastiff suddenly attacked and killed the toy poodle. In another report the owner of the poodle was stated as having already dropped her poodle off at the grooming section and the incident occurred while both dogs were being groomed. Either way a little dog is no longer here sadly. Can you imagine the horror? I refuse to go there with my mind! Not that this next part is important to the story but I'm a detail oriented person, so I'll add, the pic of the dog that was mauled appeared to be a maltese not a toy poodle. Granted both are toy breeds, both are similar in size, and I suppose both can be mistaken for each other.

This is something I have always been so nervous about when going to Petsmart grooming. I just don't like the way their grooming section is set up. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with taking Cody very often at all, once in a blue moon for him. I will say this though, it's been a longtime since I've darkened the doorway of a Petsmart grooming. I prefer Petco. Why? I have two reasons, one reason is not exactly valid anymore but anyway. My first big reason....was Simon! He just seemed to like the groomers better at the Petco near us. He seemed too nervous every time I tried to take him to Petsmart for grooming. One time I left them both at Petsmart, but felt uneasy about Simon's reluctant manner of leaving my embrace. After leaving the boys at Petsmart initially I got down the road about 2 miles then turned around to go get my boys. I booked Petco the very next day and I think that was the last time I took the boys to Petsmart for grooming. The second reason I decided to take the boys exclusively to Petco was oddly enough....the design of the grooming section. I do not like how Petsmart grooming doesn't have more separation. You walk in and theres a half door separating dogs being groomed from dogs being checked in. Plus whether they are coming or going, all dogs have to walk past each dog being groomed. There's just too much going on in one area, it always looked and felt chaotic.  

Here's my humble advice which isn't worth much but nonetheless I'll mention a few things...carry small dogs into the groomers if possible. Book appointments on least busy days, like Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay away from Mondays and Fridays and obviously the weekend. Book morning appointments too, it's definitely more busy as the day progresses.

I learned a LONG time ago to be on guard at all times when you have small dogs. The amount of big dogs seems to outweigh the amount of small dogs. And in recent years the amount of big and aggressive dogs has grown at a rather alarming rate in my opinion. I feel as though it's becoming a weird status symbol to own an aggressive dog.