Karen’s Custom Grooming

Karen is the GREATEST! Always takes really good care of our dogs. Her staff always smiles — even at the end of a busy, barky day.

WOW! What can I say bout Karen’s grooming other than FABULOUS! my little «husband with fur» Louis is not the sweetest little guy to get groomed but Karen seems to do an EXCELLENT job! He actually gets excited when we get close to her shop! She can occasionally be hard to get into but thats because she does GREAT work and really does care about the animals!
I’m very impressed with Karen and her friendly staff. I also find the shop to be very clean and in a great location! I highly recommend this place! Ive taken Louis there twice and never had anything but excellent experiences!

They did a nice job, but expensive. I have not been back and now prefer mobile services

We moved to Carlsbad in October 2013 and found Karen for our golden retriever, Murphy. Murphy has a flea allergy and he is susceptible to «hot spots». Since taking Murphy to Karen’s, his skin has remained clear and healthy. The staff is very attentive and they alert us to any changes in his skin or fur condition. Based on Karen’s recommendation, we obtained additional flea prevention medication from our vet. Murphy gets compliments wherever he goes and it’s because of the wonderful job that Karen’s Custom Grooming does. Thank you!

We tried Karen because of her proximity to our home. She was highly recommended by our vet, also in the same shopping center.
Costumer service is a «take it or leave it» attitude. Show up late and your dog will be there all day. That was on us. Drop off at 8:00 am and you’ll be fine.
Second visit. Called to schedule an appointment: «to be honest your dog (puppy) was too much of a handful, we don’t have any appointments available.»
Wow! Really? This is YOUR PROFESSION. Strike the profession part – Not Professional.

I’ve been using Karen’s since 1998. No matter how soiled, matted or scruffy I let my prized poodles get, Karen’s brings them back to form. Is she cheap? Nope. Is she fast? Nope. But, she is wonderful with the dogs (no fighting to get them in the door) and they come out happy, healthy and beautiful. Do they make ME feel good? Well, when my dogs are kept up, yes. When I bring them in looking scruffy — no. I don’t bring the dogs to Karen so the staff can massage my ego; I bring them to Karen so the dogs thrive. If I want my ego massaged, I go to Nordstrom. If I want the dogs groomed to show ring perfection, I go to Karen.

Well we tried this groomer because we had heard so many good things, but never again! I have never seen such terrible customer service in my life! When a groomer looses the understanding that our pets are like our children then I think that they are in the wrong business! We were told that our dog would be ready by 2;00 and we dropped her off at 8:30. When we called at 2 they had just started bathing her. I understand that they may have gotten behind but don’t turn everything around and blame your customer. It really seemed like Karen just could not care less! What ever happened to the customer is always right!

I chose Karens Custom Grooming because they came highly recommended. My experience was not 5 star at all. My dog came out looking ridiculous, like he had been shaved straight up the back in one spot like a skunk. I was so disappointed. I asked for about half the length taken off, but most importantly I wanted it blended. I’m not sure how many times I asked for blended but it was a lot. I also said if you need to go shorter thats ok, just blended! Picked up my dog 7 hours later and it was laughable. I couldn’t imagine that this was the work of someone experienced. She told me to come back the next day and she will take it shorter which I reluctantly agreed to but she kept saying «if I take it shorter he will be bald». Well, I don’t want bald either, so I called and asked for my money back (something I have never done). She told me I could come back right then and she would fix it, well no… I was just there she should have offered to fix it when I was there! I appreciate them giving me my money back, but based on my first experience with them I can not recommend them, nor will I ever be back.
Took my dog to Sydneys and now he looks perfect, it cost $ 20 less and he was done in 3 hours.

Karen is an amazing groomer. Our toy poodle Rosy had 2 issues. One, she had neck surgery so cant be held in a neck collar for grooming. Plus, Rosy would not let any groomer near her face. But now she goes to Karen and she comes out perfectly happy and is beautifully groomed including her face! The shop is a bit out of the way from where we live, but Karen is totally worth it!

This place is great! We have been having our cocker spaniel/​poodle groomed all over the country for the past 5 years and Karen’s Custom Grooming is by far the best. The prices are very reasonable and the quality is awesome! We prebook our next appointment every time.

We took our rescue cocker spaniel Ruby in over the weekend, and were thoroughly impressed by the grooming she got. We didn’t know how «off» her initial haircut was until she came out of Karen’s. She looked amazing! Almost didn’t recognize her. Karen’s Custom Grooming is a professional, skilled, and friendly business. I highly recommend them.

I have been going to Karen for well over two years. I love the way she beautifies my Cocker Spaniel, Banjo. I get complimented every single day on his cut and have Karen to thank for it. Excellent and helpful whenever I have questions. I never have to worry about my dog getting hurt by clippers or anything else. I feel great recommending Karens Grooming.

I have been a satisfied customer of Karen’s for 12 years. My Lhaso just had her 15^th birthday and Karen always does such a great job on Muffy. We also have another dog, Scooter, and he walks into the shop with his tail wagging. I drive from Encinitas to have them groomed. You can’t go wrong here… Karen and her staff are real pros and will make your fur people look beautiful.

Karen will give you exactly what you want when it comes to your dog’s grooming needs and the style you wish to maintain. Recently, I had an unconventional grooming requests for my dog’s breed, but Karen made it happen and it works perfect for the summer season.
I believe Karen once worked as a veterinary technician so she has a keen sense of her client dog’s health. A year ago, Karen identified my dog’s weight and coat issues upon my first visit to her. While I thought the coat issue was a result of stress and climate change from Texas to California move, Karen pinpointed it to a deficiency in the diet. I took Karen’s recommendation on the food she suggested and my dog’s coat and weight exponentially improved. Not to mention, my dog still enjoys his food which has never been an easy feat to achieve. Karen saved me vet fees and wasteful spending experimenting with dog foods to remedy the issue.
Thanks, Karen.