It was a difficult decision whether I should bring Pocky for a grooming session. His eyes were always covered by his fur and most importantly, his paw pads were covered to the point that i think he cant run properly.
Some photos of Pocky before his haircut :
He had the teddy bear look with the adorable puppy eyes.
After doing research and reading many reviews of pet salons in Singapore, I decided to bring Pocky to Sopra Ginza, a Japanese chain pet salon who opened 2 outlets in Singapore. There are 2 outlets in Singapore - River Valley and Bt Timah. I chose the one nearer to my house - Bt Timah and made an appointment 1 week in advance.
Pocky is totally stinky by the end of the week already. We drove to the address given in the website.
As it was our first time there, we took the lift to the second floor only to find out that the main entrance to the salon is via the first floor -_-
Taking the lift back to the first floor, there was a stray cat that meow-ed at us with such sadness in her eyes :( (Pocky has no reaction towards cats lol, maybe because I am carrying him hmm.)
We climbed the stairs up via the entrance of Sopra Ginza on the first floor. There was a double gate between the stairs and the salon. The place wasn't very big actually- mainly the bathing area, grooming area, reception area and holding area for groomed dogs.
To be honest, I was quite shocked upon entering as a Poodle(Poodle A) was barking at us while we were climbing up the stairs. There were around another 3 other dogs in the "holding area" that were barking at us too. Basically the place only has 2 groomers- a Japanese and a local.
The local groomer was mainly in-charge of bathing the dogs while the Japanese groomer was in-charge of styling them.
When we arrived, the local groomer was in the midst of blowing dry another dog. Yet, she left the dog and came to attend to us instead. While she came over to ask us to fill up the registration form, the poor dog was left half-wet on the grooming table. I didn't voice my concern and proceeded to fill up the form. I was puzzled when she let the half-wet dog out to roam the place instead of continue drying him.
By then, the Japanese groomer was done grooming another poodle (Poodle B) and let the poodle B roam around too. So now, there are a total of 3 roaming dogs, 2 dried + 1 half-wet :/
I told the Jap. groomer that I want Pocky to have a similar cut :
It was a picture uploaded on Poodle Club Singapore FB page and i thought it totally suits Pocky's puppy fur look as for now.
She said it's do-able she will trim around 1 inch and quickly proceed to bathe Pocky already.
However, at this point of time, one of the roaming dogs decided to "stand" against the bathtub and look at Pocky
(MAJOR X for a supposedly professional dog salon...) Honestly, I thought that it will be quite distressing for Pocky since it was Pocky's first visit to the pet salon and he did not really socialise with much dogs yet. With some random dog was staring at him as he was drenched with water and soap, I was really stressed as well :/ Alvin tried to distract the dogs away by playing with them.
Thereafter, Pocky was dried using 2 dryers and he was struggling quite abit. Usually when i dry him, he will fall asleep on my lap. However, being leashed on the grooming table was a very different experience for him and he was whining quite abit.
From the picture, you can see the half-wet dog roaming around the bathing area and stopped to look at Pocky being dried. (MAJOR X for a supposedly professional dog salon...)
Pocky was dried pretty fast and brought to the grooming table at the other end of the room.
You can see that the half wet dog and Poodle B as well as the tail of Poodle A roaming around the grooming area.. and I believe some of the dogs actually ate some fur on the floor (MAJOR X for a supposedly professional dog salon...):/ Shouldn't they vacuum the place if they want to let the dogs roam around freely? The grooming place was connected to the holding area for some dogs. They were barking non-stop and super loud and I think it caused even more stress to Pocky. Even though I was standing outside the grooming area, their barking was really loud. I don't understand how the groomers can actually stand it like nothing happened.
At this time, a black poodle was dropped off by his owner to the salon. The black poodle seems to be a frequent customer of the salon as he has a thick Sopra diary (more about that later). However, he started attacking the 2 roaming dogs and the Japanese groomer had no choice but to stop grooming Pocky and instructed the local groomer ( who was finally drying the half-wet dog) to leash up the black poodle at one corner of the bathing area.
It was quite chaotic and I firmly believe that there is a real shortage of manpower in the salon. The dogs were left unsupervised ( roaming and in the holding area) which was really dangerous as you will never know what might happened if dog fights break out.
We waited for around 1 hour for the entire process to be done.
The Japanese groomer was done with Pocky but I realised Pocky's nails were very sharp after cutting and I requested for nail filing to be done. She said that there will be additional charges but I asked her to proceed with it. (for everybody's own good lol)
She told me that she cannot do much for Pocky as he was fidgeting around quite alot (even need the local groomer to come and "pin him" down).
Finally after everything, I got Pocky back into my arms and he smelt quite nice. Didn't give him a chance to join the roaming dogs in case he started eating his own or other dogs fur. However, his face was groomed to become so short that he no longer has the "teddy bear" face.. I immediately regretted bringing him for grooming :(
We proceeded to the cashier and I was presented with this:
Every customer who did a full grooming will receive a dairy book with picture printed on the spot. I think it a great idea as a "Receipt for Record" but the look wasn't what i wanted.... :(
She told me that she will not charge for nail filing as he was just a puppy. However, full grooming came up to $80 and this is considered quite expensive for a puppy poodle because essentially there wasn't any styling done ? only trimming fur actually.
Back at home.... He seems tired after that and wouldn't respond when I called him.
However, things were back to normal at night after his nap. But I still can't get used to his new look. Definitely prefer his "before-grooming" look.
VERDICT: 6/10
PROS:
- Jap. Groomer was patient with Pocky even though he was struggling quite alot.
- Jap. Groomer was quite efficient ( took around 1 hr ?)
- Jap. Groomer was quite generous (decided not to charge for nail filing)
CONS:
- Dogs left unsupervised and roam around "too" freely (eating their own fur on the floor)
- There was pee and poo on the floor that they were too busy to notice
- Shortage of Manpower ( Local groomer had to leave dog several times halfway to do other stuff because there is no one else there to do it).
- Dogs were barking in the holding area, that was directly connected to the grooming area, which may directly cause stress to the dog whom was grooming.
I don't think I will come back to Sopra Ginza anytime soon :(
Meanwhile, hoping for Pocky to grow back his teddybear face. Feeling super guilty and sad about his new look. Sigh.
P.S. This review is purely based on my personal experience and not meant to have any offensive intentions towards anyone / organisation.
