Four Paws Grooming

Hit or miss depending on who you get. Unfortunately, even if my dog «looked» okay, he seemed to always have a scab or two or more-​which I was told later could be burn marks from an overheated trimmer or shaver? He always would be uncomfortable and licking afterwards. The worst thing is that he would be kept there for such a long period of time no matter when he went in-​very stressful for him with all the crowd and ruckus there-​very noisy. The lack of friendliness didn’t bother me but the problems with the long stay and grooming errors got to be too much. I found a new place… which just really has shown me what I should not have been putting up with.

When we first adopted our Tibetan Terrier I asked the Tibetan owners around the hood who they used for a groomer. Sarah got two thumbs up. She’s been fantastic with our aging four legged family member for 4+ years now. At the beginning she gave me tips on bathing and has even treated an infected dewclaw when she found it. I feel like my dog is loved at Four Paws and that plus the fantastic way she looks is worth five stars in my book. It’s not the cleanest place, but um… they groom dogs.

Did a poor job grooming Yorkie-​practically shaved her. I was horrified and praying for fur to grow back quickly. Also expensive.
On the plus side – they are local, friendly, and maybe this person who did this to the dog was new or confused.
But still I would never go back and cannot recommend them in good conscience.

The ladies at Four Paws are absolutely amazing. They were so sweet with our little Charlie, a terrier mix, and with us. Thank you! :) We’ll be back soon!

We have been taking our goldendoodle here for about four years now. Sarah is amazing! We wouldn’t go anywhere else!

Our groomer could no longer take our Tibetan Terrier. They cancelled an appointment 2 hours before and said our groomer quit and they could not accommodate us anytime in the near future. We were frantic as we were going on vacation 2 days later and he was in dire need of help.
We heard about four paws and gave them a call. They could not get us in for 2 weeks, which was too late. We made an appointment anyway and decided to bath him ourselves. But 2 hours later we got a call from 4 paws saying that they had a cancellation. We were a little concerned at first but thought we would give them a try.
We took him down there and talked to Sarah and told her what we wanted. She was familiar with the breed and in fact does show dog Tibetans.
About 1 ½ hours later (5 hours at previous groomer), we picked him up. And he has one of the best grooming jobs he has ever gotten. Sarah told us a couple of things to help us which our other groomer had never done.
So bottom line is I, at this moment, I highly recommend Four Paws. But be aware that this is our first time. We are very particular about how our boy is groomed, so I woill keep you informed.

This business was recommended to me, and the first couple of times we were happy with the service. However, the last two times have been horrible. They have asked for a morning appointment — say drop her off around 11:30a.m. — and have not finished until at least 6.5 hours later. That means our poor dog is sitting there without being worked for ALL DAY. Not only is our poor dog cooped up in that place all day, probably traumatized like dogs get when they can’t be around their people for an entire day, but we have been entirely unable to keep any sort of plans. We asked them outright how they could keep the dogs cooped up all day– they said, «Don’t worry, she has one of the biggest cages.» We were floored.
After calling and asking for estimates, they refuse to give a timeline! If I treated clients like that, I’d be fired. I have no idea why they even schedule that many appointments in one day or why they ask for dogs to be dropped off in the morning. If this had been a one time experience, I might have assumed someone called in sick or they were running unexpectedly slow, but the same issue twice in a row is clearly indicative of how they run their business.
We will not be returning and are definitely looking for a groomer that can keep a better schedule and take into account that dogs don’t appreciate being in a cage at the groomer for 8 hours at a time.

Great groomers. Never had any issues. You can pay extra for a straight through and they do your dog first. Worth it so the boys can be back home asap.

My son brought in his Havanese Puppy a couple of months ago for grooming. They did a decent job on the grooming, however; 3 days later his puppy starting showing signs of having ear problems. He brought him to the vet and was told there were lacerations in both ears that had gotten severely infected. These lacerations were caused when the groomer plucked the hair in his puppy’s ears. I called Four Paws and advised them of the problem and told them that I thought they were responsible for his $ 250.00 vet bill to treat the puppy’s ears due to the fact that it was caused by them. They refused to reimburse him, but did offered him a coupon for a free grooming in the future instead, which is of no use since he does not plan on returning.

The person at the counter was not listening, and seemed to be very distracted. There were a lot of dogs in this very small, hot & humid place and the noise level was deafening. Coco has rough coat and does not require much in the way of grooming: basic trim, nails, paws, anal sacs, etc. After three hours, I get a dog back that looks like he got a standard buzz cut from someone who had no idea what they were doing, cutting everything ridiculously short, even his whiskers were cut completely off! I didn’t see until I got him home that he had been nicked on his belly too. Unacceptable. I was very clear about leaving his rough coat alone telling her I only wanted a trim around the paws, eyes and back end. To top it off I was charged more than my last two visits, but at this point I just wanted to get my very damp dog the heck out of there. Terrible service.

Polite, and a reasonable location.
Only half of my pet’s nails were trimmed, though. There is an obvious difference between them, where they chose to either trim very very closely (ouch) or some not at all. It looks like they put little effort into it.
Cotton balls were left in both ears after the wash. We discovered them a few hours afterward.
Sigh. I can’t imagine that we’d go here again.

I am a new client that read the great reviews on Unilocal and called to make an appointment. Their phones were down because if their recent move so I just showed up with my scruffy puppy and Shannon greeted me and said they could do her bath but it would be awhile. I said fine. I came back later without a phone call. I don’t recommend that. They are very efficient and will call when ready. I am impatient when away from my dog over an hour. I had a sit in the busy hallway and wait. It did not take long at all. When I saw my beautiful baby all is well with the world. I made a follow up bath for two weeks early in the day and the assured me she would be done quickly. I live about 20 – 25 minutes from this shop but highly recommend them. My dog
Is happy when I pick her up. That means a lot to me!

When you walk into Four Paws… it is not really all that fancy. However… I have to say that this is the BEST GROOMERS and most accomodating pet place you will ever find. My dog is more important to me than just about anything. I’m so glad a friend recommended this place to me. Sarah loves animals like crazy… and it shows!!!
I could go on and on about specifics, but let me just say «YES…go to Four Paws Grooming for your grooming of your pet!!!»
I love this place!

This place is amazing. It was a little hard to find because it’s kind of hidden, but it was absolutely worth it. My maltipoo Mio is very timid when he is not in his own home, so I was a little spectacle about him with the groomer. But, he ended up loving Tracy and he looks totally fabulous. She was very patient and she was really great to get him to like her. We are so happy and he was really badly full of mats and tangles, so it ended up being $ 90 plus we tipped Tracy $ 20 because she’s amazing. She was telling us that the minimum price is $ 50, which is totally reseasonable in this economy. We will definitely be coming back and I recommend Four Paws to anyone!!!

My Shih Tzu, Woogie, is my very special boy and the most important thing in my life-​no joke! When searching out a groomer naturally I want someone who can do a great job, but more importantly, I want him to be treated well. When I picked him up not only did he look adorable, but his tail was waggin’ away. I could tell he was a happy boy!
I have been to probably 7 different groomers in the past 8 years and these guys are one of the best-​in the top 3. One of those is in Los Angeles and they charged $ 50(which is very reasonable), but not an option based on location, and the other is in Berkeley. I won’t mention names but they charge upwards of $ 80 which I find ridiculous. For that I would prefer to groom him myself. When I started going there they had lower rates but they kept raising them. They did this once at check out without ever informing me, which I find extremely rude.
Four Paws is in a bit of a strange local, but so what. They charge a reasonable rate and do a great job. Woogie was groomed by Tracy, whom I could tell was an animal lover and nothing makes me happier then picking up a calm happy pup!
Although I live in El Cerrito, I will be returning to Four Paws!

I took my maltipoo Kali here after reading reviews. I am extremely happy with how she turned out the groomers listen to you and do exactly what you tell them. I took Kali to PetSmart and she turned out the complete opposite of what I wanted and she was traumatized she didn’t act herself for a few days. After picking her up today from Four Paws my Kali was happy she was excited to see me and she acted herself from now on I’m only going to take her to Four Paws to get groomed.

I found Four Paws on Unilocal and took my Chow for a lion cut. It was a bit hard to find around the side. They did a great job. He looks so good and is so soft. I will be taking him back. Thanks to Sarah and the girls for taking good care of him.

They did a great job! usually I always have to fix my doggy’s face after a hair cut .but here she came out nice and round and cute.

Took our two dogs here (Westie and a Yorkie) after taking them to a place in Clayton for years. Four Paws was recommended by several friends so we felt confident our dogs were taking care of. The outside look of the pace leaves a bit to be desired but the quality of grooming is top notch. We have already booked our next appointment. Highly recommended!

I have taken my 7-​lb Yorkie to Sarah and Four Paws Grooming since his first puppy cut at 6 months. Every 6 weeks for the past 5 years, Sarah has expertly groomed my Yorkie without one incident, injury or accident to my dog.
Sarah came highly recommended to me by my dog’s vet and I now understand why. Sarah understands dogs and she’s an accomplished, award-​winning groomer.
Look around the work area, and you will see content dogs who know and trust Sarah. My dog happily runs into Four Paws excited to see Sarah… which I know he would not do if Sarah hurt or mistreated him in any way.
My dog’s haircuts are of consistent quality and I often receive compliments regarding how well groomed my Yorkie is. I would not hesitate to refer the services of Sarah and Four Paws Grooming!