Ranting, 2010 Edition

Dear Sweet Baby Jesus, what a 2010 it has been! Whoo Boy! I kind of made a pseudo-resolution as I sat watching Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve with my husband and two sick dogs instead of attending one of the multiple parties we were invited to that I would try to be a little more positive in 2010. I mean, I'm a York, there's really only so much I can do about this, but I thought I would give it a genuine good effort. Or at least in the blogosphere. After all, I got into a fender bender on Dec. 27th and then my dogs proceeded to eat about 3 lbs. of chocolate on New Year's Eve. I thought surely those were signs that only sunshine and roses were to come in 2010 - I mean, a couple of last grains of salt in the wounds of 2009 to make everything all warm and fuzzy. Surely, I thought, 2010 could in no way be as bad as 2009 was. And I was right. However, life has certainly been a resounding "not good" on the life Richter Scale.

Between work issues, family issues, and house issues. Did I mention the FLOOD? Oh, because we woke up to a downstairs that was underwater two Mondays ago. It was awesome, except that there should never be STANDING WATER on new hardwood floors. EVER. So now my house is completely torn apart. The positive: almost the entire house is getting a new coat of paint. Good bye asylum beige and good riddance!

The downfall of this situation - please sense the sarcasm here - is that while workers are in the house, the dogs can't be there. Because they are dogs. And they like to defend their property. And they surely have a case of autism they are so cemented into their now completely disrupted schedule. So, we've had to take them to "Doggie Day Camp." The insurance is paying for this thankfully, but I still was not overly thrilled. PetsMart's Doggie Day Camp is the only one reasonably close to our house and let's just say we've run into some issues. Despite the fact that the dogs just spent the last week being boarded at their trainer's facility and getting a little training refresher while we were away. The trainer - who is one of the best, if not the best in the state of Georgia, loves our dogs and thinks they are great. Rambunctious, sure. Spirited, definitely. But overall, great dogs who occasionally need us to be a little more strict with them than we are. They also play very well with all the other dogs there. All of this sounds incredibly reasonable to me. However, I bring the dogs back to PetsMart after a little altercation on Friday afternoon (two weeks ago) where Eva nipped at a little dog who was up in her business. At first they were banning her, but after evaluating the situation, decided that it was fine and that she just needed to be placed with the bigger dogs that would leave her alone a little better. Then, not 30 minutes after I dropped them off this morning I received a very disjointed phone call (or rather voicemail) informing me that they would no longer be welcome at Doggie Day Camp because they had already had some "altercations" that morning and had to be separated. Below is my response:

Dear PetsMart,

Upon receiving an incredibly vague and smug voicemail from one of your employees this morning, I feel the need to reach out. To rectify my grievance with your asinine institution, maybe you should consider hiring people at your doggie day camp who 1. Are actually sober, 2. Actually like animals, specifically DOGS, 3. Do not force dogs to perform actions in direct contradiction to their formal training, and 4. Can remember their own phone number.

I have encountered an employee at your Buckhead location who violates at least 3 of these 4 items, although I greatly suspect all four. I certainly will no longer be patronizing your establishment despite having spent several thousand dollars at your store in the last year since adopting my two dogs. I have had no pleasant experience with Petsmart and will not recommend your services to any of my dog-loving friends or family. The only reason I have been a loyal customer is due to the convenience you formally provided. However, since my dogs are apparently too "excitable" to be in your doggie day care program despite multiple consultations with your staff on how to best acclimate and treat my two dogs - who, for the record, were dogs that were rescued after being abandoned and abused. Despite the incredibly hard first part of their lives, they are remarkable dogs with nothing but loving spirits. They will, however, bark or growl in self-defense. They have spent extensive time with one of the best trainers in Georgia who thinks they are great and have minimal to no behavioral programs. They just spent all last week at his boarding facility where they received an update on their training. So, while they may be spirited and rambunctious, the only place they ever seem to have a problem is in your care thus indicating that maybe it is a "you" problem and not the dogs' problem.

I highly recommend that you use better discretion when hiring your staff and maybe give them a basic course in customer relations.

Sincerely,
Prudence.

Good bye PetsMart and your "doggie experts." And a heartfelt, "GOOD RIDDANCE!"

Just wait until I get to pick them up tonight. I bet the employees can't wait to get an earful from me. It's been a while since I've chewed out someone publicly, so this should be quite the experience. I'm now working on getting all my adjectives in line so that I don't start spewing expletives in my guaranteed fit of rage.