A full year has passed since my experience here. I was so mad about it that I didn't feel I could be remotely civil even in describing my experience to a manager. But I want to share my experience now, in case someone is as crazy as me to try to coordinate what I was doing. After all, the pet store's proximity to the hospital may mean I'm not the only one.
My husband is an awesome angel-on-earth who was called upon to give bone marrow (PBSCs) to a complete stranger twice in 2013. Both times the donation was at Scripps Green, not far away from La Jolla Village. Without going into too much detail about the process, the donor is hooked up to an apheresis machine, and it runs until it has collected enough material, which takes many, many hours (upward of six or more). During that time, the kindly donor lays only mildly sedated on a bed while these machines pull and push blood through both arms. This is not something that someone does for fun. It is uncomfortable for the donor, and, at least in my own experiences, stressful for anxious and loving family members.
Here's the problem: we have two dogs. (The first time he donated, we had just one.). Dogs are not allowed in a sterile place like a hospital. Our dogs have special needs and don't do well at regular gang daycare. So my answer was grooming, which they both needed because we took them to the beach the night before my husband's procedure.
Last time we went to Dirty Dogs and they were awesome and patient, but once I realized when I got there how quick and efficient they were, I felt bad about the fact that I intended to leave my dog a little longer (although I warned them of this). Not wanting to inconvenience them - although in hindsight, totally wishing I did - I chose the Village PetSmart this time, instead. Therein was my mistake.
You see, I tell anyone who will listen to me that my husband donated bone marrow. I am super proud of him because I have seen that it's a scary procedure and he willingly did it for a stranger that he will never meet twice within a ten month period. So when I called PetSmart to set up the appointment, you'd best believe that I was very clear about the fact that they would be in while he was having a procedure, and I was not certain what time I would pick them up. That's fine, they reassured me on the phone, we're flexible. I asked if I would need to bring any paperwork, so they could be checked in to daycare immediately after, and I was told it wouldn't be an issue. Great! Sounded like a great fit. I held on to my dogs as long as possible in the morning, and then dropped them at their appointment.
My husband's procedure took longer than anticipated. Seriously: he was the first person they hooked up to the machine (out of three donors that day), and ended up being the last one off the machine. After you're off the machine, they feed you, hold on to you a little while (sort of like when you give blood), and then release you. Nothing about this process is quick.
Somewhere in there, my phone started to ring, so I stepped outside to handle it. It was PetSmart, giving me a hard time about how long my dogs had been there. Since I was talking to someone I hadn't dealt with before, I explained the situation, and the woman still proceeded to give me a hard time and tell me how I should have done some other paperwork in the morning so that they could do day care. She schooled me about how what I was doing was in violation of their policy and how they weren't allowed to take my dogs outside. What I really wanted to say was something along the lines of how if the dog went to the bathroom in her kennel, it would be her problem to clean up, not mine, but instead I continued to explain that I was at the hospital and although my dogs are usually my #1 priority in life, at this very minute they weren't. Somehow that didn't end the conversation. She really wanted to make me feel like an awful person over this. You know, while my husband does something incredibly selfless, we were just the worst dog owners on earth because we had the nerve to get our pets groomed.
At PetSmart the woman refused to make eye contact with me. I hope she didn't last much longer after that.
So, lesson learned. Dirty Dogs will go above and beyond, but PetSmart at La Jolla Village will treat you like dirt. I've spent the year debating whether to write about this, but a year later I still can't believe how I was treated. read more