A Scottish Crufts enthusiast has blasted Pets at Home as she claims her dog was left 'traumatised' and now shakes in fear at the sight of a brush - after returning from a grooming session half 'bald'.
Tamara Freeman booked her miniature wire-haired dachshund Frankie to visit the pet giant's Groom Room at their Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, branch on 22 April, as the dog's hair was in desperate need of a trim.
Despite reportedly requesting that Frankie be groomed to the breed standard, the dog show enthusiast says she was horrified when her pet returned with a 'naked' strip down her back where the hair appeared mostly missing.
The 68-year-old retired nurse believes the experience has left Frankie traumatised and the five-year-old pooch was left 'shaking uncontrollably' when she tried to groom her with even a soft brush a month on.
The dog owner has vowed never to return to Pets at Home and has demanded an apology from the company as she believes her dog was left looking like a 'striped gremlin'.
Tamara, who lives near Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, said: "She was certainly traumatised when she came home, she wasn't her usual perky self.
"She was curling up in her bed, which is not Frankie. She is usually zooming around like a lunatic. Much quieter than usual shall we say.
"When we picked her up we were kind of surprised at the wide strip of hair down her back, which was pretty naked.
"There's no regrowth of hair near the tail area. A friend of mine who's a groomer said it might never grow back, she might be bald in that area.
"I suppose the surrounding hair will cover it but it's pretty disgusting really."
Tamara insists that Frankie was good with grooming prior to this particular Pets at Home incident but one month on she is still badly affected by the ordeal.
Tamara said: "I gave her a little brush down with soft 'baby' brush yesterday and she was shaking uncontrollably - it was horrid to see her so upset."
In addition to Frankie, Tamara and husband Peter, have two Crufts qualified Scottish Deerhounds, Monty and Ozzy, which they show in competitions.
As a dog exhibitor, Tamara was further dismayed at the rest of grooming when she returned Frankie for her second appointment a week later, which included a bath and clipping of her legs fur.
Tamara said: "It was a young girl - her scissoring - my god, a blind man with pinking shears could have done it better.
"So she had her bath and the so called scissoring of the legs and you can see they still look stupid - they look like pantaloons.
"We did actually ask for breed standard grooming and I explained that they are supposed to have a beard and a moustache.
"I explained to her about how there’s a triangle between the eyes and the end of the nose, where you cut some hair off so it looks like they've got a beard and a moustache.
"They didn't do that, they just left the head hair, fluffy, as you can see.
"She said 'what do you want done to her legs?' I was surprised she even asked that, what the hell does she think we want doing with them - pom poms?
"I suggested she just blend them in with the rest of the coat, and as you can see, they are not blended.
"I've done her rump myself, because it was sticking up on her bum area. It looked absolutely ludicrous, honestly it did."
The dog-enthusiast has vowed never to return to the Groom Room but insists all she wants is an apology from Pets at Home.
Tamara said: "I put a complaint in on their online form and we only wanted an apology, we're not asking for our money back or anything.
"Now we've got this black striped dog - like a gremlin or something.
"We were upset all right, we've had dogs since 1974 - they are part of the family.
"I do think at the very least they could apologise."
A spokesperson for Pets At Home said: “We are sorry to hear that Frankie’s owner is unhappy with the experience she received and have been in contact with her over this matter since she raised concerns.
“Our expert groomers follow detailed processes and strict welfare guidelines, including a coat check with the owner ahead of any groom taking place.
“We will always advise on the most appropriate grooming techniques for the different breeds we see in-store but owners often express their preferences and can always have the final say.”
