All about the DOGue Salon & Spa

im warning all dog owners. do not go to this place. this place received a 2 year probation after being reported for abuse. i recently heard that a dog was killed from here.

She did the worst
Careless and Unkind
I called to share my thoughts about how my dog looked. I expected a different conversation. I was willing to give her a chance to redeem herself… But that was not to be.
After our phone call I just have to share to prevent another disaster.
I have groomed dogs for show and general pets for decades and have never had such a butchered job that just screams F*%#K Y**.
She did not like my dog and wanted to make sure that she never has to see this little 6 pound fragile sweet dog.
My dog, just hours after being stripped of all his hair, and must have been tortured because he is shivering, throwing up, and diarrhea so loose that I am going to have to go to the VET!
My lovely little doggie, is today, just hours after being groomed, sick and ugly …
I called her out of respect to tell her how sick and unhappy my dog is today.
She tells me repeatedly that she called and told me she was going to. Like to turn my dog into an ugly invalid with tufts of uncut hair and his face not groomed at all.
So the fact IS that she does not have the skills and RESPECT options that good groomers have. At No Time In The 40 Years that I have Had Poodles Did I See Such A Travesty.
How could she let a dog leave her premises looking as my dog looks?
She tells me that I gave her permission to badly shave and hurt my dog.
I will post pictures of the disaster on my facebook in a day or two. You will be able to see how I managed over the years to groom my dog and compare.
I actually thought this poodle groomer had more respect for the emotional life of Poodles. Tufts of hair around his butt on his neck at the middle of his legs. He looks like he went through a whipping machine. And the dog Smells BAD like kennel mold.
That it was ok for her to allow a dog to leave her business the way my dog looked and behaved shivering in shock, is the deep reality.
Anyone can say anything but Her side says she told me what she was going to do such an amateur job!
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

I went in for a dog bath and snout hair trim and was very happy with the results. I had actually butchered her snout after trying to cut it myself and they totally fixed it! They even added a complimentary sanitary trim and trimmed her out-​of-​control eyelashes. I had previously gone to another place for the full body trim and they left the snout and lashes oddly long, so I might be back to the spa for the full cut next time!

Wow. I wrote a review 5 years ago that mysteriously «disappeared». Took my dogs there twice. Among other things, (ie. rude customer service, argumentative owner/​staff, overpriced, below average product, and inflexible scheduling) suffice it to say that I, like other reviewers very strongly believe that they are drugging dogs in this place to make them calmer. Everyone says that when they pick up their dogs, they are strangely «subdued.» Do you really want to leave your dogs here??? NO WATER, NO POTTY (unless you pay for it), DRUGS, CRATES, SCRATCHES, BRUISES = INHUMANE. Not rocket science here, folks. Apparently there have been legal investigations. I, nor my dogs, will ever step into this place again.

No matter if you are a long time client like me 6 years) or a new or a potential client, the recent negative reviews are very concerning. This post is not to defend Lena because I was not there during those incidents. I did called and talked to her because every story has two sides. And I am still taking my 2 dogs to Lena.
My first review of this place is September of 2009, the first time I took my dogs to Lena. They were 3 then and they are almost 10 now. My dogs gets groomed every month, you can do the math as to how many times Lena has taken care of my dogs. I think this says plenty about Lena and the services she provides. I have never been with the same hairdresser, dentist, mechanic for this long because something always happens to piss me off or that people get complacent after you have been with them for a long time and start to slack off. But Lena has never given me a reason to look for another groomer.
If you are a client and concerned, I encourage you to talk to Lena first (if you haven’t already) before you look for another groomer.
If you are looking for a groomer, I encourage you to visit the salon and meet Lena. You may see her baby daughter in a walker in the middle of the salon (yes, the place is that clean).

My dog never liked going to this dog groomer and I used to think that it was because my dog didn’t like grooming. She had to literally be dragged into the room. Now that I’ve gone to other groomers I realize it was specific to this business. With other groomers and my current groomer my dog wags her tail, greets them warmly and eagerly walks into the shop. For this reason alone I would not go to All about the Dogue.
In addition, I was walking with a friend the other day who told me that her dog also did not like going to this shop and that her dog also had to be dragged in the door. In one instance, the groomer called her saying that her dog had a stroke on the grooming table and to pick the dog up immediately. Her dog was both deaf and blind for a significant period of time after this experience. The groomer never called to ask how the dog was after this. Wow. That is not only bad business, it shows an utter lack of caring. My friend wonders if her dog had actually been drugged.
Given the other reports of animal abuse on this page and the fact that my dog loves and forgives everyone, I can not imagine the way my dog was treated at this establishment and would never recommend it.

STAY AWAY. ABSOLUTELY ANIMAL ABUSE. SO SHOCKING AND BREAKS MY HEART. I AM TAKING STEPS TO REPORT THIS BUSINESS AND TAKING FURTHER STEPS. THIS IS TERRIBLE. CANT IMAGINE HOW CARELESS THEY ARE.
Hope I could give –1000 stars. imagine someone brush your body until you bleed, all over your body is covered with scratches from brushing. imagine, how painful it is. it happened to my dog.
MY PUPPY HAS SCRATCHES ALL OVER HIS BODY, LEFT RED BLOODY RED, WAS EXTREMELY LETHARGIC, ANUS BEING SO SCRATCHED SO HE CANT EVEN WALK PROPERLY AND KEEP LICKS HIS ANUS. And they tell us that they dont have any fault, and because i posed this honest review, they cant reimburse us at all. Even tells us to sue them.
I am usually not a person who is overlly protective and argumentative, and even until yesterday I tried not to attribute my puppy’s weird behaviors after grooming, until I find clear evidence of abuse.
Moongchi was groomed two days ago. They told us to drop him in the morning around 9 and called us that he is ready for pick up around 3:30 — I was little suspicious of leaving him there all day, but it was his birthday yesterday so I did not have any other choice.
When i got there they told me that Moongchi pooped while he was being groomed, which was so unusual because he is completely potty trained and has never done this before while being groomed, and i felt so bad assuming that he did it because he was very anxious and stressed — a lot dogs do that when they are super anxious.
As soon as we got home, he was almost crying and ran to his water and drank literally for five minutes without stopping, making me so worried about him not being fed with water all day. And then, i noticed that his left eye was super red, like blood, which made me so confused and so worried. But again, im a person who try to minimize conflicts with others, and I gently called them and asked if there were any occasions that might cause him to have red eyes (accidentally hit by something hard, shampoo or any chemicals, etc). they told me that he was not an easy dog, so its SIMPLY from stress, nothing to worry about.
Okay, but his eye was super, red, like blood!!! if it came from stress, why only one eye? how much stress do you need to get for your entire eye to be extremely like blood? But I said okay, making sure that it is something that I have to worry about.
And later i noticed his anus is super red, and he licks it so much. it seemed like his skin was peeled or something. When he walks he stops suddenly and tries to lick his anus, going very relentless and sitting uncomfortably. then he cries and whines, sitting, rubbing his anus on the floor.
Also he is always full of energy, but his eyes were half closed and so lethargic, making me so much worried.
I was so worried and made an appointment with my vet to make sure everything is okay. then today, i found scabs around his necks, which seems to came from brushing. And then I found scabs ALL OVER HIS body!!! I would never know if I did not look super closely. He has scratches all over his body which clearly shows that they brushed so hard that caused him to bleed!!!
I am 100% sure that this happened to other dogs too. I almost did not know if I did not look very very closely his skin. How painful it is! imagine someone brushing your entire body extremely hard that even makes you to bleed???
Its was his birthday today and i wanted to take tons of beautiful pictures for his birthday and that was why i wanted to give him some professional grooming. but it breaks my heart. There are many loving and affectionate groomers out there but still it makes me never want to send him to groomer again.
I posed his pictures and explained the situation to many animal associated groups and they all tell me that this is a total animal abuse.
We Asked for reimbursement (grooming and vet) and they tell us that because we posted this review, they cant reimburse us. And even telling us that if we want, just sue them. Doesnt Unilocal exist to share our experiences with honest voice — which helps to maintain healthy business? They are like «you signed a contract saying that we could cause some scars on skin» wth? I would understand one or two, but they were all around his body! And what about other things? Red eyes and anus?
My vet supported that his scars around his body makes him speechless and its definitely wrong. Also the red eye is NEVER from stress, regarding the fact that it was the only one eye — it must be some other external reason.
It could happen to your dog. Please do not support this business. There are some reviews here on Unilocal which support my experience. Should have read them before choosing this one.
If they do not love dogs, they should stop running the business. i will do whatever i cant do to prevent other dogs from such happening, not just because of my dog but their irresponsible behavior toward their fault.
THIS IS TOTAL ANIMAL ABUSE

I would feel bad not reviewing this dog groomer and hopefully preventing someone from the disaster I experienced.
When you ask for an express groom, don’t expect your pup to be ready on time. More importantly (if you are as lucky as I am) your dog’s anal glands will leak all over you and your car on the way home and then continue to leak for days, sending you to the vet for a check up. They were too aggressive and our poor pup was irritated and red for over a week.
Run away pet owners! Run away!

I live nearby and walk my dog around the block all the time.
This establishment throws bags of dog sh** onto the sidewalk behind their back door.
There are no public trashcans nearby, but this doesn’t give this place the right to litter. It looks and is absolutely disgusting and it is downright unacceptable behavior. If this place has the audacity to do such a thing, think about what they are willing to do to your dog while you are not there. I entirely believe earlier reviews of dogs getting drugged to make it easier for the cut, and staff treating dogs poorly.
I would NEVER trust this place with my dog — stay away!!!
All About the Dogue, please dispose of your dog sh** in your own trash, not on the public sidewalk.

Polite reception staff, prompt and same day appointment openings, offered relevant and available upcoming training sessions, staff was very polite, service was performed in a timely fashion, price was reasonable, dog looked fantastic… Overall, everything you would want and nothing you wouldn’t. Would recommend to friends

Honestly, I always liked how my dog came out from here after her groomings, though, the first time they cut her nails they went too short (saw the quick stop all over them :/​) My dog has long quicks, so when I took her back the second time I alerted the lady who took in my dog and she said it was no problem, and they wouldnt be cut so short, and they werent!
THE REASON IM GIVING SUCH A LOW RATING is due to the fact that the last time I went to pick her up, I came in to hear one of the groomers ‘scolding’ a dog he was grooming, hushing him, generally being a jerk to the dog (verbally). From what I saw, the dog wasn’t acting wildly or anything, it was just sitting there at the grooming station, whimpering. Now, how could I send my dog back somewhere where I’d worry if she wasn’t being treated kindly, and full of love?

I hate leaving bad reviews – but this is one I’d feel guilty not sharing.
The good — the cut was fine and well-​done, although a little too perfume-​y for my liking. There were a few superficial cuts, I understand that I have an anxious dog and that sort of thing happens. None deep enough to warrant any real concern. They did get water in his ears and didn’t dry them out, in spite of my request that they try their hardest not to get the inside of the ears wet (the dog has a history of ear infections). But, dogs get fidgety. I get that.
The bad.
What I don’t get is how my normally exuberant, happy, jumpy dog greets me with half-​closed eyes and a sluggish gait when I picked him up from here. I don’t get how he was lethargic for hours after being picked up, how he couldn’t muster up enough energy to wag his tail when treats were presented to him. He didn’t return to «I love life and everything in it!» form until the next day.
This is a dog who, when I picked him up from a groomer in LA, ran towards me at full speed with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, flapping in the wind. Whose nails I can hear rapidly tapping against the linoleum at the vet’s office when I pick him up from a weekend of boarding, who Unilocal with happiness and jumps on me even when I correct him, whose tail wags so quickly that I’m sure they’re both going to take flight.
So why didn’t he react like that this time? I asked a few vet friends, they thought maybe my dog was drugged to make the cut easier. I gave All About the DOGue the benefit of the doubt, thinking maybe he was just bummed out by being at the dog salon all day. After all, it was only his second time at a groomer. But today, I picked him up from a different one. He acted like he always does – tail wagging, jumping everywhere, pulling at the leash to run to me.
Now, I’m not sure I can give this place the benefit of the doubt anymore. They may have him something to subdue him, without my knowledge and without saying a word of it to me. That is absolutely unforgivable.

Be careful with the information you get from this place — I specifically called to make an appointment and the lady on the phone told me they don’t take appointments, only walk-​ins, so I should just bring my dog by in the morning and drop him off. So I set aside some time to take our dog here, at which point they told me they only take appointments and no walk-​ins. So now our dog is finding a place that is better managed. Very frustrating.

Imma just start off with this. Love the place, been loyal for over two years. Same rate, nothing changes, was overcharged for almost half a year last year by computer error.
Today I just found out rates go up on one of my two small dogs. So what’s different, REALLY! I’m not interested in causing trouble but don’t understand this at all. What has changed. My smaller dog looses weight and dogs get price hike. Upset, where is loyalty? Does that even flipping matter anymore? Kinda bummed! It’s already expensive enough for me, $ 50 for 10 lbs and $ 60 for 15lbs.
Grrrrrrrrrrr, this is a recession were in! Raise the rates during hard times makes no sense for really no reason! I want my loyalty rate. New clients, fine, loyal clients, not ok! Rude!

I don’t live in Oakland anymore but this place is definitely worthy of the drive! Lena and her team are awesome groomers and boarders– not to mention her prices are super reasonable (compared to the research I’ve done in the area).
I left my dogs with her while on vacation, and they needed a little reform which Lena provided with a smile (even though they were a little unruly and embarrassing– they’d never been boarded before)! She even gave me some tips on how to continue to make them better dogs.
I really felt that my dogs were in good hands as I’ve heard (via word of mouth) how good they are at the salon. Not only did I feel safe leaving my dogs with her, I felt like they would be cared for while I was gone. Just from how they’re behaving now that I’m back, I can tell how much «magic» Lena put into their stay!
Truly awesome place and I will be bringing my pups back! I promise they’ll be better the 2^nd time around too… I’m committed to keeping the maintenance up!

If I could give no stars would be perfect. I have gone several time out of trying to support a local woman owned business in my community.
I disagree with the Potty Fee as long as they keep the dogs there the least they could do is take the dogs out on a potty break without charging a fee. My dog was there over 8 hours (cause they were running late) without using the restroom because I did not pay the $ 10 fee to take him out to potty. He was resistant to go in I’m sure from the past experience there, he was very timid when he left and that’s not my dog at all. His nails were cut way too low all night he wimpered and refused to let me touch his paws.
I asked that he just be trimed evened up he was given a buzz cut. That was my last time I don’t care how close it is to my house we will be going some where else.

We’re so sad to move away from Emeryville. Lena and her crew had taken care of Mew Mew for the past 10 years. I love getting him a lion’s cut, his nails are always nicely trimmed, sanitary area cleared and clean. Mew Mew hates getting groomed, but All about the DOGue Salon & Spa made it bearable. Thank you and you will be missed!

Really, you have got to be kidding me. If you have a labradoodle, take her here if you want her clipped to a ½ nondescript, scrappy looking mutt. The groomer paid no attention to what I was requesting and basically gave my dog, the «I have clippers» look with a shaggy tail to prove that she once had nice wavy fleece. Anyway, it is easy for me to say that I am not going back and I do not recommend this groomer for Australian Labradoodles. I will go back to cutting her myself, which has been working out well enough by my self-​taught amateur hands. This was DEFINITELY not a better alternative, and she will take a good month to start getting her look back.

Speedy service, included nails, anal glands, and her face smelled like blueberries for several days. Love this place and will be taking my beagle-​friend there again.
The Facebook coupon just sweetened the whole thing!

Biscuit needed a good grooming. We are new the area and it had been at least 3 months. He looks cute as a shaggy poodle, but he looks much better as a well coiffed poodle.
We were referred to All about the Dogue (rhymes with vogue) by Claws and Paws because I wanted a fancy poodle cut they said the owner has poodles too. The place is pretty impressive. It is not is the best part of town, but decent. Inside is clean and cute. He came out looking fabulous!
The only thing I wasn’t too thrilled about was the $ 80. Pretty high. In LA he got the same cut for $ 40. Other groomers in the area are less at around $ 60 – 65 for the same cut, but they took him without a 2 week wait. I was thankful for that.
Their email form does not work on their website though. They were not responsive at first, took a few calls. They did add on an additional $ 10 for a flea bath and something else. Overall, if you can afford them, they will hook you up. I was not offered the 20% new client discount however. I wonder why?