Some People Don’t Deserve Dogs, Part 3

I work part-time as a dog groomer. Admittedly I haven’t been in the business long – barely a year at this point – but I’ve seen a lot. Today, though, I got a new winner.

A lady walks into the store and asks us to clean up her dog. My boss quoted her a range. She agreed, set down the dog, and left.

She didn’t give us her name or phone number and didn’t let us ask questions about health, temperament, or haircut preferences. Weirdest of all, not only did she not tell us the dog’s name, but he didn’t even have a collar.

The dog, a little black and white something-doodle, was pretty matted, so I was thankful we had room in the schedule for me to take care of him. I brushed, bathed, dried, and shaved the dog over the course of the next four hours, all the while wondering if this dog, whose name I did not know, had potentially just been abandoned with us.

Then, another three hours later, shortly after close and right as I was deciding how to best inform my wife we might have another dog for a while, we get a call. It’s the owner, blithely informing us that she’s “done shopping now” so is her dog ready?

I’m used to people assuming we can either rush their dog to accommodate their schedule, or expect us to be a free doggy daycare and watch their dogs for hours after we inform them they’re ready, but this one still floored me.

When she arrived, she was happy with the haircut and informed us she would be back soon. My boss made her sit through all the intake questions before he would schedule the next appointment.

I give it a 50% chance that she comes on the right day and not just when the whim hits, but at least next time he gets dropped on me, I’ll know his name.

Related:
Some People Don’t Deserve Dogs, Part 2
Some People Don’t Deserve Dogs