Klippers Pet Salon

I will never again bring my dog to Wags/​Klippers, and here’s why.
I have an 11 week old Tibetan Mastiff puppy (30lbs). Because of his size, the small dog day care was recommended by one of their employees. I dropped him off for the day and returned around 4:30. There was an initial misunderstanding about what time they closed (I though each day at 7, but they do close at 4 on Saturday. My mistake and the owner was great about it.)
As this same owner goes to collect the puppy, she grabs him by his collar and he reacts negatively and starts crying loudly. She continues to tug on his collar, dragging him at this point, then grabbing the back of his neck very hard causing him to literally freak out. She loses her cool and grabs him even MORE forcefully, of course freaking him out more. This all occurs in 15 – 20 seconds. I loudly ask her to stop and she snaps at me that «dogs need to be pulled around by their collar to be controlled! When they are larger we need to control them.» And the kicker, «We’ve been doing this all day and we do it to all dogs».
I understand a dog needs to be under the control of the workers, but we’re talking about a 11 week old puppy here who isn’t through his training yet. She treated him like a sack of groceries.
She then denied grabbing his neck, and reconsiders that position when I remind her that I just watched her do it! I’m not sure which I’m more blown away by, her lying, or her acceptance that causing visible trauma to a dog and losing your cool is ok.
This treatment to our pets is absolutely acceptable. There were two people dropping some flyers off and they looked as disgusted as I felt.

I recently moved to Santa Fe and was looking for a new groomer for Jack, my 8-​year old, full-​sized Golden-​Doodle. Jack had been getting groomed every week for almost 4 years in our previous city. So, grooming isn’t new to me or Jack.
By all accounts, Jack is a super gentle dog and extremely well cared for. He’ll go to great lengths to please and seek affection. No expense is spared with his care and keeping him healthy, both mentally and physically.
When I pulled into the Klippers (Wags) parking lot to check out the business, I wasn’t very impressed with the exterior. The place was questionable looking both inside and out. However, I wasn’t that concerned about chipped paint and dirty windows. Naturally, the safety of Jack was my absolute priority… followed by the quality of the cut. The «by appointment» schedule was a definite plus. So, I booked an appointment knowing that Jack would only be out of my care for 90-​minutes.
Days later, Jack and I walked in for our appointment. I handed Jack to a helper and the groomer asked me what I wanted done. From my experience, many people that own Golden-​Doodles use a term called «puppy cut». It’s a fairly common term that represents a desired look. For me, and many others I know, a «puppy-​cut» trims the fairly long hair just enough to keep this breed looking «puppy» cute and fluffy, with the right spots trimmed for cleanliness. Even as puppies, this breed has beautiful, medium length hair for their size.
The groomer replied to my «puppy-​cut» request with what I felt was a very condescending and rude remark. If I recall correctly, she said; «So you want all of his hair taken off? …because puppies don’t have hair»”. The tone and attitude of this person was off-​putting. I had no problem further defining what a «puppy-​cut» meant to me. Anyway, I spelled it out for the groomer, but she was cocky.
Within 90-​minutes, Jack was ready. It was 4:51 pm when they ran my credit card and I left. Jack looked really good and I had no complaints other than the $ 97 cost. Actually, $ 107 with the tip. But, like I said, I’m new to Santa Fe and maybe this service is just more expensive here and the «by appointment» comes at a premium. Not a big deal.
I brought Jack home, he ate his normal dinner and then rested calmly in his bed for an early evening nap. This is typical as Jack does get tired from grooming. He basically conked out.
When Jack awoke from his living room bed, we made our way to the master bedroom for the night. It was around 9pm and time for our nightly belly scratch and cuddle before lights out.
As soon as I saw Jack in the brighter light of the bedroom, it was immediately noticeable. His left eye looked as if it had rolled back into his head, was extremely red and watering. Actually, his «third eyelid» was covering much of his eye. It looked horrific and I almost broke down in tears. He has never had this disfigured condition, ever.
I rushed Jack to a reputable emergency hospital. The best I could find. After the initial evaluation, I was informed that his ENTIRE cornea had an abrasion. The emergency doctor said the whole surface of the protective coating was involved. The doctor explained that this injury wasn’t consistent with a scratch from another dog’s nail during play… or the slip of fingernail or even a clipper. The doctor drew on a piece of paper how those injury’s show up differently and are more localized. I was trying to understand what happened in layman’s terms and the vet agreed with my comparing the abrasion showing up on Jack’s eye to sandpaper scuffing a surface.
The emergency doctor conducted 4 separate tests on the eye and kept eliminating causes. No Glaucoma… no pre-​existing condition… no sand/​dirt, hair or foreign objects in his eye, no evidence of dry-​eye which can cause this, etc, etc.
After weeks of follow-​up care and daily at-​home treatment, Jack’s eye started to return to normal.
I don’t know exactly what happened at Klippers. All I can say is that Jack exhibited zero problems with his eye before his grooming. I stare into this big guy’s beautiful brown eyes every time I look at his face. In fact, his eyes were looking at me in the rear-​view mirror on the way over to Klippers. Within 4 to 5 hours of leaving his appointment, he rapidly developed this horrific eye condition.
Klippers staff denied any wrongdoing. Ironically, it was only after I told them of the emergency situation and showed them a picture of Jack, post grooming, did they suddenly recall that my dog’s eye was a little red BEFORE they groomed him. Funny… they didn’t mention that at all when I picked him up. They also suggested that maybe my Jack got home and «rolled around in the dirt». These assertions by Klippers staff are not credible as there was no dirt or foreign objects in his eye at the time of his emergency evaluation that evening. Jack is not a «dirt» dog.
Never again.

I almost didn’t go here because of the two bad reviews. But there doesn’t seem to be anyone else in town who clips cats, so I made the appointment. They were fine. Not cuddly, but I was looking for somebody who’d do a neat, no fuss shave of my very hairy Maine Coon cat, not a therapist. They shaved where I asked, leaving my cat’s face and tail alone. He seemed fine after his 20 minute ordeal. I will use them again.

I took my cat to be groomed and gave specific instructions on how I wanted his heavy coat cut. They did nothing that I asked them to do including bathe the cat. I asked them not cut his tail and they did. I asked them to leave his legs, they cut them about halfway down and I asked them to leave his ruff alone, and them cut it very short, and completely uneven. He was in his carrier when we returned and we didn’t see what they had done to him till we got home. What a waste of money, and you can’t put hair back on, but I was very disappointed in the service. If a groomer can’t do cats then they should say so!