A lady comes in with a lab-mix dog to get groomed.

Me: “What would you like done?”

Customer: “I want my dog waxed.”

I stare at her for a few seconds.

Me: “We don’t wax dogs.”

Customer: “You will wax my dog’s hair! You’ve done it before!”

Again, confused, I look her up on the computer, and alas, all her dog received was a basic bath and brush package. I try explaining this to her, and she screams at the top of her lungs: 

Customer: “WELL, I’LL JUST GO TO MY LADY THAT WAXES MY VAGINA! SHE’LL WAX MY DOG FOR ME!”

I work in a pet store unloading trucks in the wee hours of the morning. The pet store also has a grooming salon that opens two hours before the rest of the store.

One morning, due to a combination of scheduling errors and illness, the opening salon team is not there. The manager leaves a note assuring us she has notified all appointments before 10:00 am via phone and offered a 25% discount for the inconvenience of rescheduling. As such, we can not allow people to bring their pets to be groomed. We hang a sign saying the salon is closed until 10:00 am and apologize for the inconvenience.

At 7:30, a woman is struggling to open the door. I walk up but do not open it.

Customer: “I have an appointment. Open up, please.”

Me: “I apologize, but the salon is closed until 10:00 am.”

Customer: “No, I have an appointment. I spoke with [Salon Manager] yesterday about it.”

Me: “Did she tell you the salon would be closed?”

Customer: “Yes, but I… have… an… appointment!“

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am. The salon is closed.”

I walk away, not knowing what else to do. I can’t make the salon open, and I’m not going to let her in when we are still closed.

The salon opens at ten, and they are flooded with people trying to reschedule. I am on a ladder retrieving something for another customer when the same woman from before comes up and shakes the ladder.

Customer: “Is the salon open now? Is it? Is it open?”

Me: *Climbing down* “Do not touch a ladder when someone is on it!”

Customer: “You’re a b****!”

Me: “So are you! Get out before I call the cops!”

The woman staggers back as if I hit her. She looks at the other customer I was assisting when she came up.

Customer: “Did you hear her?!”

Other Customer: *Shrugs* “I saw what you did.”

The woman stormed out. I told my manager what had happened, including us calling each other b****es. [Other Customer] backed me up and said she would have done more than just call the woman a name. I never got in trouble, and the woman was banned from using the salon.

I’m a dog groomer. It’s not all “playing with puppies”; it’s mostly dealing with jerk customers and badly-trained dogs. I see a lot of heavily matted dogs. When I have to shave them basically bald, their hair comes off in a sheet and cannot be separated.

I get a matted mess of a twelve-year-old Shih Tzu-poodle mix. Everything is matted together, poor thing. She’s the SWEETEST DOG, though! I don’t know how she is such a sweetheart considering her condition. The only thing I can do is shave her all the way down, but I do manage to save some hair on her head and ears.

This girl looks so cute, and my coworkers are impressed with what I was able to accomplish: no razor burn, no irritation, and no signs of stress in a twelve-year-old dog.

The owners finally show up to pick her up, and the dad is immediately rude.

Male Customer: “You shaved her completely naked!”

This defensive and aggressive nature is usually how people are when they refuse to properly care for their dog. The woman with him also starts throwing a huge fit.

Female Customer: “Where the f*** is my dog’s tail?!”

Well, here’s the thing: the dog has no tail, no sign of a tail, nothing.

Me: *Politely* “Oh, [Dog] doesn’t have a tail. I think it gives her character!”

Male Customer: “You shaved off my dog’s tail!”

I have three customers waiting in the lobby waiting to pick up their dogs, and all three are laughing. Two women are mocking the couple, making matters worse for me.

The guy is still screaming, swearing, and accusing me of just plain stupid things. The third customer, the owner of the dog I am working on at the moment, gets in the man’s face.

Other Customer: “It is literally impossible for her — or anyone, for that matter — to ‘shave off’ a dog’s tail! Obviously, you neglected your dog for so long you didn’t notice that she didn’t have a tail.”

The guy felt like such a fool afterward that he apologized to me and sulked out of my salon.

Luckily for me, that other customer is a regular and a request-client of mine who respects me and my trade. He also tipped me $20 that day “for having to deal with idiots such as that man”.

I work at a pet store that also has a grooming salon. The salon has large windows so you can see everything that the groomers are doing. One groomer has a particularly fidgety dog, so she has to hold his face tightly to keep him from moving while she trims the fur above his eyes. That is a very dangerous area to trim, so it is so important that the dog is NOT squirming everywhere.

I am checking out one customer and she scoffs.

Customer: “Do you have a number for corporate? That groomer is way too rough, and she is going to hurt that dog! I want to report her! I work with children, and I would never handle a child that way!”

As she is yelling about the groomer and how she should be fired, the owner of the dog being groomed taps her on the shoulder and yells in her face.

Pet Owner: “That is my dog in there, and I love [Groomer]! I only go to her for grooming! Maybe you should know what you’re f****** talking about before you complain. Where do you work? I want to call and complain about you being a b****!”

It was awesome. I didn’t even know what to say; I was just standing there with my mouth gaping.

I work for a pet groomer at a veterinarian. We have one client with a Pomeranian who is, to put it honestly, the most vicious and unmanageable little s*** I have ever worked on. She hates everyone, including her owner, and will bite and scratch and try to snarl at anyone that touches her.

Our vet informs us that there is nothing psychologically wrong with the dog as far as they can tell (she isn’t a rescue with a troubled history); she’s just an a**hole.

Over the years, I have gotten used to working on this little turd, so I am the go-to groomer for her. I don extra-thick gloves and wear thick fabric on my arms to deal with the little monster.

The owner is usually present to try to calm her down, but it doesn’t do much as I trim the fur and brush what’s left.

Customer: “You’re so good at handling [Dog]! I know she’s a handful, but I do love her in her own weird way.”

Me: “I totally get it. She’s cute when she’s not… well… doing this.”

Customer: “How are you so good at handling her?”

Me: “I used to be a waitress at a family restaurant near a church. Your dog is nothing compared to an entitled grandma who just found out we ran out of potato salad and wants to speak to the manager.”

Customer: “Oh… oh, my.”

Me: “They snarled more, too.”