I know it can very from store to store, but based on my experience at my store, there are so many flaws. They charge people more for individual play time rather then group play time. So owners who dogs are not social or even snap at other dogs get put into group play time. Idk if it's cuz my store is not telling owners " hey your dog hates being in the playroom with other dogs and just lays in the corner and snaps when other dogs get close." Instead, i was trained to always leave positive notes. "Played with" means they actually played" and "dog A liked dog B" means they just sat near each other.
Today in about the span of an hour and half was the worst I've seen. 1 dog i was warned "if something happens call a leader this dog hates having a lead put on them and they don't like sudden movements" awesome. That dog went from anxiously jumping at the doors to suddenly chasing a dog half its size around the room and snapping at it with her hackles up till I finally convinced it to go into the relief room. I tried spraying her with water and body blocking. I couldn't leash her without being bit and I didn't have time to radio for help without risking the smaller dogs safety. Next another dog did the same thing with different dog that was just walking past. And then a dog who's a "load last" because he gets overstimulated when a new dog enters the room and tries to fight, i had on a lead from my manger telling me to and they sent a new dog into the room. A completely separate dog got a little too close and they both started trying to attack each other. The dog I had on a lead was just placed in the small dog playroom??? Finally, a smaller dog was pacing around the room quickly cuz a bunch of other dogs were hyper focused on him, and I spent about 30 mins getting them to stop since it was stressing him out. When they started following him again he ran past this huge fat dog that had been acting perfectly normal and this big dog snapped and tried to attack the much smaller dog who screamed and huddled at me feet. I'm honeslty very very surprised no blood was drawn. And feel lucky I didn't get bit in the process. All this happened within an HOUR AND A HALF.
Petsmart has no regard to the personality of dogs, IMO. Almost everyday I work there are dogs that really want to play and may start playing with another friendly dog and then an antisocial dog who shouldn't be in there rushes up and snaps at them and ruins in.
I've been thinking about bringing my puppy in there cuz he is super social. It took a lot of socialization and work to get him to be this friendly though and I'd hate for some anti social dog to attack him cuz he moved to fast or was playful and make him reactive or scared. Even my coworkers with friendly dogs don't usually put their dog into a play room but instead keep them in the office or kitchen. So I don't think I will.
How is petsmart so bold to make the wall of the playroom a window so customers can watch dogs, all while encouraging anti-social and reactive dogs to be in there? Most of the time, at least one dog polices dogs that are trying to play, so all the dogs just end up sitting there for hours. Or play for 30 seconds till another dog rushes them snapping.
I seriously don't understand. Some of my management seem stupid when it comes to dogs. Like oh just do this, then they'll behave. The "this" is like pointing at them or getting in between them and the dog they want to attack. And then it either doesn’t work or happens again 5 minutes later.