Hair of the Dog Pet Salon — Local services in Asheville

Absolutely terrible! First, I was given the name of the Michele as a potential groomer for my champion pedigree dog. I went to interview Michele months ago to ascertain whether or not she possessed the skills to groom my dog. She assured me that she did. Once my dog had been groomed by his regular, nationally ranked top 10 groomer in the USA (4 hours away) I made another trip to Michele for her to view how the dog is to be groomed for shows. The Kerry Blue Terrier is a rare breed that requires a grooming such as that of someone purchasing a tailor-made suit, not an off the rack garment of clothing. At that particular visit Michelle asked if I would give her the opportunity free of charge for her to show me what she could do so that I would not have to travel 4 hours to my regular groomer. Also at that visit she asked if I would consider allowing her to travel with my dog to an upcoming grooming competition. After careful consideration I decided to give her a chance. Upon every visit I made to her establishment, I expressed my concern and distain of the “cage free “environment. She assured me that my dog would only have her attention and that he would not be interacting with other dogs as she was going to come in on her day off to tend to him. Needless to say upon my return, my precious dog looked horrible! She groomed his face to look like a Wheaten Terrier, which is the breed she usually takes to shows. And she shaved his legs inward so much so that he looked crippled! Michele claims to be a great groomer. However, it’s unfortunate that She lacks the skills necessary to groom my dog. Her grooming skills are subpar at best. Unfortunately, most folks do not recognize a good grooming job from a bad one, until they’ve had an EXCELLENT one. Also, upon my arrival her coworker informed me what great friends my dog made socializing with all of the other puppies there. Are you kidding me??? I asked Michele about this and she informed me that she has never had anything happen at her facility. That didn’t matter to me. This is an accident waiting to happen! I never signed off on paperwork being liable for anything. What if my dog attacked another dog? Or vice versa? Who’s responsible? She never even asked me if my dog had been spayed or neutered. I would have never agreed to leave him had I known that she would be so coy about something that could potentially be detrimental. My dog gets plenty of socialization in more controlled environments. I sent him there to assess whether I could have a local groomer, not have a puppy play date. Something about his demeanor wasn’t quite right when we returned home. And I called his breeder to inform her of the situation and we gathered that he was probably stressed being thrown into an environment of 10 to 15 dogs that don’t know one another. Has Michele ever given any thought as to what would happen if any of these dogs were to challenge one another? Doesn’t she know that dogs have a pack mentality? After contacting her later in the week to inform her that I did not feel comfortable allowing my dog to travel with her, or be her model for the show, she flipped! She accused me of being untruthful about his regular groomer. May be thinking that I didn’t have access to a top groomer. She continued to inform me of all the things that she saw incorrect with his grooming from his previous groom. As if she is an expert on the Kerri blue breed! After hanging up in my face, she then proceeded to go onto Facebook and contact and attack my groomer through messenger. She accused her of never grooming my dog, harassed and berates her . How apalling! Michele should not be in this profession. Her unprofessionalism, lack of integrity, and lack of good moral character and Obvious instability should eliminate her from ever grooming anyone’s dog. I’m not sure of what her intentions were with my dog. How do you take a dog to a grooming competition in three weeks with no hair? Dog owners beware! I am forever grateful that I dodged...

We brought 3 of our Shih-tzus to Hair of the Dog after making an appointment for early morning labor day. At 5PM that evening, we hadn't heard from the salon, so we called. They requested another half hour. We picked them up at 5:30. Their grooming was very poor. They looked uneven and misshapen. This was the first indication of poor treatment at Hair of the Dog. Ironically, this was the most expensive grooming we've ever paid for and also the worst!

Our 13 year old dog walked out, but was listless and sedentary that evening. Our other dog, Oscar, limped on his back left leg as they cut into his pad when trimming the hair on his feet. Our 13 year could not climb the ramp into bed. The following morning she could not walk and had to be carried outside to use the bathroom. When placed on the ground, she fell over unable to support her body with her rear legs. We had to hold her up to allow her to urinate and defecate.

We immediately took her to the vet who told us that the groomer had injured her back and possibly herniated a disk. She was faced with 3 weeks with little movement, a steroid shot, Prednisone, and Tramadol for pain relief. If she didn't recover, she would require a $4000 surgery. Fortunately, she was better within a week and no surgery is required.

I phoned Michelle, the owner, to see if she would cover the vet bills totaling about $260. She said she had talked to the vet, and the vet told her that the groomer had 'aggravated a pre-existing injury.' She was never injured nor does she have a pre-existing injury. Our dog has been seeing another groomer who was further away for about 3 years with no problems. We were simply looking for someone closer to us.

Fact, three of our dogs were delivered uninjured. Two of the 3 came out injured with the worst grooming we've ever received. Michelle would not pay the vet bill. I would never use this groomer for any reason whatsoever.

After mentioning our experiences to our friends, we have now spoken to three other people who had poor experiences at Hair of the Dog and would never use their grooming or boarding services again.

**In response to owner: Michelle,

I did ask you to pay the bill. That's true. When you refused, I told you I would post what had happened. You originally told me that you, "...would be responsible for any vet bills if it was our [Hair of the Dog] fault." Should you have done what you said you would do, I would have let this go, but your refusal to take responsibility makes you a liability to others. That's why it's necessary to report this.

My wife left you a generous tip because it was late in the day and didn't realize till she brought all three dogs into the house that they looked like an amateur cut them. You even admitted to me on the phone that you were embarrassed by the cuts, so why you choose to defend this is a bit ridiculous.

In the eleven years we have taken these dogs to a groomer, they've never come back limping or injured. Be responsible Michelle, and you won't get involved in...

Edited to reply to owner’s comment: It has not been clear who I have been communicating with because I’ve mostly been sent messages through texts. I did have to cancel in January, and I rescheduled for March. Sometimes people need to reschedule. I did so with plenty of notice and not last minute. The March appointment was today and your business cancelled on me. I did not cancel it. I did not know dog flu was an optional vaccine and assumed this was included in all vaccines per your request. I don’t keep a running tab of my dog vaccines but I do follow the recommendations of my vet and make sure that my dog is seen at least twice a year for check ups.

This was handled very unprofessionally, including your response below.

Original post: Wish I had read more of the reviews before making an appointment here. Like many others have experienced, she is disorganized and canceled our appointment last minute. I have waited a couple months to get in here, and sent all vaccination records several days before the appointment. The morning of the appointment, as my husband is driving our dog there and I am trying to get our child to school, she texts me telling me that she couldn’t get the vaccination files open and asked me to print them out and bring them. I was not able to do that so I took a screenshot and sent it to her at this point. She asked me if he has a flu vaccine. I assumed he did because he is up to date with all vaccines. Apparently he didn’t because it is not necessary since he is never boarded or frequently around other dogs. She cancelled our appointment 5 minutes before my husband was to arrive. Unbelievably frustrating. Don’t waste...