Bark'R Boutique & The Cat's Meow

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They're always very friendly. It's a clean area. My cats seems to take them well and he usually doesn't take strangers well. They restrain his feet and take him to have his hair dried, which he doesn't freak out for.

20 Sep 13 - Bark’r Boutique and Dislocated Right Hip of my 13 year old Border Collie Mix. No names.
I got a call at 1430 informing me only that my dog was ready for pickup. Upon arriving the business owner explained that my dog had hurt himself after pulling back during a nail trim and fell to the grooming table while standing on the table. My dog was holding his right rear leg up and unable to put any weight on it. The business owner stated she had attempted to massage the soft tissue, however, my dog was still unable to put any weight on his right rear leg. My dog isn’t able to talk. I stated I’d now have to take my dog to the Vet. The business owner replied to send her the Vet bill. My dog walked in to Bark’r Boutique under his own power several hours earlier. I had to carry my dog from Bark’r Boutique to my vehicle because he was maimed. My dog has been taking Rimadyl over the last number of years for an arthritic hip. My dog otherwise had no medical condition involving his right rear leg or hip upon entering Bark ‘r Boutique.
I was at my local Veterinarian within 10 minutes of picking my dog up. My Veterinarian concluded through examination and radiology that his right rear hip was dislocated. The right hip joint is clearly out of the socket. My dog was in extreme discomfort and completely unable to walk Friday. It was obvious to anyone at that time he presented on Friday to the Veterinarian that we had to do something. We scheduled my dog for surgery at the earliest opportunity on Monday, 23 Sep 13.
I noted some improvement Saturday in his overall mobility. Sunday however is when I detected that he had regained probably 70% functional mobility, despite his dislocated right hip. I videotaped him walking around the back yard on Sunday. I showed this videotape to my Veterinarian the following day, Monday, 23 Sep 13. I did not wish to proceed with the surgery because he had made such remarkable progress over the preceding two days. I wanted a second opinion on how best to proceed. We set up a surgical consult for Tuesday, 24 Sep 13 with a board certified Veterinary Surgical Specialist (VSS) in Spokane. The surgeon concluded, given my dog’s age, it was best to leave him as is with his dislocated hip and not proceed with surgery
I built a ramp from my kitchen down two steps to the patio which my dog had difficulty negotiating.
I sent a demand, certified/return receipt, for reimbursement on 30 Sep 13 to Bark’r Boutique in the amount of $417.66 for Veterinary bills. Bark’r Boutique received it on 2 Oct 13. I received full payment on 3 Oct 13.
I have no doubt that my 70 pound dog was dropped onto the floor while being lifted onto or off of the grooming table and or he was allowed to fall off the grooming table onto the floor. There was no restraint system. I strongly suspect amateur and untrained groomers played a key role in this incident, probably so undisciplined that I question their suitability for fast food employment, let alone working with live animals.
The nature of this significant impact injury allows one to make common sense assumptions about how it occurred, far more, than if the injury was, for example, a mere muscle strain. It causes one to look hard at Bark’r Boutique’s explanation about what happened. There’s a cause and effect association to a dislocated hip and being dropped onto the floor, less so with falling onto the grooming table while standing on the table. On picking up my dog, there were about five employees at the receptionist desk, all within six feet distance from where I was, who were able to overhear the owner’s above explanation about what happened. No one at the time knew the injury was a dislocated hip.
I’ve been unable to reconcile my dog’s injuries with Bark‘r_Boutique‘s explanation about what occurred. The court of public opinion and the reasonable person test.
My dog has regained 85% of his former mobility which I’m grateful for, however, he still has a dislocated right hip sustained while in the care of Bark_Boutique.

They did a very nice job with my old man doggie! I called at the last minute and she squeezed him in for the next morning. That was super nice since I was leaving on vacation and he was going to a sitter and I wanted him to look his best! I picked him up at the assigned time and he was ready for me. They also gave me some additional information on local vets since I am new to the area. I will take him back and probably get some of the additional services they recommended because I feel like I can trust them.

I received the referral/recommendation from my veterinarian's office to take my dog, Miko, to Margaret at Bark'R Boutique. The veterinary staff based this referral on the fact that my dog has medical issues that are exacerbated by anxiety, and Margaret, the owner of Bark'R Boutique, is a licensced veterinary tech who would know how to treat him. The veterinary staff is also aware that I'm a pretty picky pet owner, and they told me that all of their clients who had taken their dogs to Margaret had been quite pleased.
Miko's been to Margaret for grooming three times now. She always schedules him for the quietest part of the day and makes sure that he isn't there any longer than necessary to complete his grooming. She handles him gently, plus she does one of the most beautiful grooming jobs I've seen in Spokane--expert scissor work, and that's no small skill! Miko will never be happy about going to the beauty parlor, but at least with Margaret he doesn't come home and throw up or quit eating for a day or two, as he did with previous groomers. Instead, he comes home perfectly calm and content. I'm very careful about who I recommend for any kind of pet care, including grooming. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Margaret to any protective pet owner.

The owner came out and said that they noticed a lesion on one of the dogs. They made sure that I was aware of that.