Lubbock Dog Owner Shares Traumatic Experience With Local Groomer

A Lubbock dog owner recently posted on Nextdoor.com about a traumatic experience they allegedly had after bringing their Shih Tzu to the local groomer, Heavenly Paws. After years of using this groomer and having positive experiences, the last time they brought their dog in about a month ago, they claim they got her back with an injured spine.

The owner said that she first noticed something was wrong with her dog when she picked her up from the groomer. The dog was behaving abnormally, but the owner just figured it was because she doesn’t like being away from the family for too long. It wasn't until the next day when the dog was obviously in a lot of pain that the owner realized something really was wrong and decided to call the groomer to see what happened.

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The dog owner claimed she called Heavenly Paws and spoke with the owner of the shop who was very kind and caring about the situation. The shop owner checked their records and found that her niece was the one that had groomed the dog. The shop owner then told the dog owner that she would speak with her niece about the situation and give her a call back once she has more information.

Apparently, the shop owner never called back after that and kept dodging the dog owner whenever she tried to call the shop for an update. You can read the dog owner's claims below:

Being a responsible dog owner and wanting to know what was causing the dog so much pain, she took her pup to the vet to get an exam. After taking x-rays and completing a full exam, the vet found that the dog’s spine seemed to be damaged as it was swollen in some areas. In order to really be able to tell what kind of damage they were dealing with, the vet needed to know what happened to cause the swelling, but because the shop owner kept dodging calls, they had no idea.

The dog owner said that her pup is doing a bit better now, but it seems like this will be a long-term injury. They don’t plan to sue the groomer, but they're devastated that their family member was allegedly mistreated under the shop's care.

As a dog owner, I would be furious if someone hurt my pup and never explained what happened. You should not be working with animals if you don’t know how to handle them properly or take responsibility for any accidents that occur in your business. That is someone's family member that you are handling, and leaving both the dog and family traumatized due to your negligence is unacceptable.

Whether it was a purposeful mishandling of the dog or an accidental drop of some kind, you have to take responsibility for your actions and not leave this poor family blind as to why their dog now has a lower quality of life.

I called Heavenly Paws to get their side of the story, but after asking to speak with the owner, I was hung up on.