Petsmart: NO! Petco: YES!

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, on Wednesday morning, Lucy and I went to Petsmart. That was probably our first strike. We are typically Petco shoppers, but I've been looking for a dog bed for Lucy and the selection at Petco leaves very much to be desired. The other part of our reasoning for going there was to purchase a Gentle Leader (gonna nip the pulling problem in the bud before Lucy's 50 pounds and I'm left looking like I'm water skiing behind her across the parking lot of the Oak Depot).

I love Petco for three main reasons:

1. They always have a great selection of toys, treats, and dog food. They never seem to be out of anything.

2. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and always seems to be able to recommend products that work and that Lucy will like.

3. The staff always seems to like dogs- especially my dog!

With that in mind- we probably should have just gone to Petco and skipped the whole Petsmart thing- but every once in a while, a little variety is good... or so I thought.

We left Petsmart with a Gentle Leader- I was happy because it was on sale, and Lucy was happy because we also left with a big bag of dried DUCK tenders which were also on sale (yes, I said Duck! Nothing but the best for my little boxer!).

As we were walking across the parking lot I marveled at the interactions we had with several different employees during our 15 minute visit to Petsmart. None of them seemed overly taken with my little boxer- a fact which I find absolutely apalling. Everyone is taken with Lucy. Come on people, what's the matter with you? Just look at that face. Lucy was completely interested in them- but there was no reciprocation. (Actually our best interaction was with the Fed Ex guy who also delivers to our building- he's a boxer owner too!)

I typically look very confused- and as I wandered through the aisles of Petsmart- I'm sure the look on my face was nothing short of the usual confusion, but no one even volunteered to help us find anything. BIG MISTAKE! They have no idea what they missed out on. I will, and typically do buy just about anything recommended to me by pet store employees to make my boxer happy, or keep her busy. But there was none of that going on.

And then the biggest disappointment of all came yesterday when I finally worked up the energy to try to outfit Lucy with the Gentle Leader. (I should add that I had a very forced conversation with an employee as we were checking out about being excited to get Lucy going with the Gentle Leader...) After about 10 minutes of struggling, I figured out that the only thing that Lucy was going to do with a Gentle Leader was chew on it. There was no way that strap was going around her short little beak.

The big question is- don't you think that the girl that I talked to, seeing the boxer that was wrapping it's leash around my legs making it nearly impossible to sign the charge slip, should have said to me "Mam- this lead won't work with a boxer."? Maybe it would have been a good idea to recommend something else. Well, she didn't... and I'm extremely disappointed... Lucy and her human will not be returning to Petsmart... except to return the Gentle Leader.

I'm sure the executives at Petco will be very happy to hear that Lucy and I will forever be loyal Petco shoppers- and Petco shoppers only. I'm sure that every bell in hell rang when we walked through the doors of Petsmart on Wednesday morning...

Incidentally, the selection of dog beds at Petsmart was no better than the selection at Petco. Note to the buyers at these 2 pet stores- filling your shelves with dog beds not fit for a common back yard squirrel is a waste of time. Your shoppers are people who pamper their pets- they want a bed that's so amazing that they are tempted to sleep in it themselves. Get with the program people!