When you find a service provider that goes above and beyond, you MUST leave a review! The owner,…read moreCarrie, has taken such thorough care of my dog, Gracie. She did this at a point where I took my dog as a last ditch effort. My dog has extreme allergies (both food and environmental) and scratches ALL day long (if she's not eating or sleeping, she is scratching). Her skin was in terrible condition and she had been ripping her hair out and causing hot spots. When I say I took the dog in horrible condition, I am not exaggerating. Our Vet has given us advice (guesses) and given the dog prescriptions, supplements, injections, and tests....with ZERO improvement! I've spent thousands of dollars trying to get our dog healthy and nothing ever helped! Based on a recommendation to take Gracie to The Spaw I dove in telling myself this is the last time. If this fails, we will just do the best to let her live her life out as comfortably as possible, which is a sad place to be as a dog mom. She's not even 7 years old and she still has a lot of life to live.
Meeting Carrie was the best thing that has ever happened to our dog! She recommended some specific testing and said that Shih Tzus often have low Zinc which can lead to skin issues. We had her tested by a Vet and sure enough, her Zinc was SO LOW!!! She made some suggestions about supplements we could give her. At a follow up test, we could see some improvement in her Zinc levels. She also said that it looks like my dog had mange and that Shih Tzus are also susceptible to mites. Our Vet never once mentioned that as a potential cause nor did she test for mange. We did a skin scraping with a different Vet who found no mites, but she suggested we put her on a mite medication for a couple of months. The stuff that came out of/off my dog was disgusting (old die off???)! Through skin cytology, we also confirmed Gracie had serious yeast overgrowth. That was not a mystery to me, because our house smelled so bad! I didn't even like to have people over because it was so embarrassing. Carrie gave Gracie sulfur baths and used some other amazing technologies on her; Ozone baths, red light, blue light, and micro bubbles to name a few. It was a lot of work, but I can tell you for the first time in years, I'm actually optimistic about Gracie's future AND my house no longer smells disgusting. We boarded her for a period of time so we could do some deep cleaning and reset our house before she returned. I'm so glad I made that initial call to The Spaw. Carrie truly loves my dog and my dog loves Carrie! When we drive to The Spaw my dog knows. When we hit Tustin Ranch Road from the 5 Freeway, Gracie starts going crazy! When we get there, she practically jumps out of the car. Thankfully, her harness is clipped in, so she can't get out of her car seat without help. ;)
On the subject of Boarding: I love that The Spaw has staff on the premises 24 hours a day and that the dogs aren't locked in crates all day. I am so grateful to see my dog's hair growing back and for her to have noticeably more energy and MUCH less scratching!
Carrie clearly loves animals and is a true blessing. She admitted that my dog's issues forced her to do deep dive research to find help for Gracie. I will forever be grateful for the life she has given back to my dog! She is much more than "a groomer!"