After the horrible stories I've heard about their in-store vets, I avoid the store completely, and I certainly wouldn't hire someone from the store to come to my house.

I guess it's hit-or-miss. A friend of mine is manager of one of the Pet Hotels, and he runs a tight ship. But I've also had bad service at other locations.

Seems like a decent idea. I always wonder about the people who use Geek Squad or Home Depot Install Crews and then are shocked... SHOCKED to find that they aren't quite as well trained and professional as a private company that specializes in that sort of thing.

Do you really need a college degree to walk a dog and clean up poop? I'm sure there are people who just want basic things done for cheap, and that's what places like PetSmart are for. Anyone who wants more than that is still welcome to employ a highly trained "professional dog walker" for twice the cost.

This can only equal a bad thing. Pets are like children/babies. You take your eyes off them for a second, and they've drunken antifreeze before wandering into the street. I only trust people I REALLLY know well/have pets of their own with my Hucky Potter. With a face like this, how could I not?(his face, not mine)

I give them a week before the first significant theft complaint or their first dead/injured pet. Bad, bad, bad idea.

@jaya9581: I worked as a trainer in a PetSmart (for a month) and they wouldn't let even me see the area where dogs are kept to be groomed. The job had a minimal salary, the money was to come from commissions. huummmm Personally, I don't shop there, and would never recommend the chain for grooming or boarding (does your friend the owners inspect where there dogs will stay? Our new, local PetHotel won't)

I would hire someone to pick up doodie.

...But at that point, why not just hire some neighbor's kid and tell him it's a scavenger hunt. Tom Sawyer-ed!

I don't think I'd give my keys to Petsmart.

@smartmuffin: What makes this even scarier to me than geek squad or home depot is these people will be in your home while you are away. I'd rather have a neighborhood kid who knows I know their parents and can get them in trouble do it.

HumungaCowabunga_GitEmSteveDave:

Sheltie? Border Collie? In any case, he's adorable!

That being said, several years ago we had great vets at a Banfield in SW MO. As far as in-home services, only if their people are more knowledgable than most of the ones in their stores...

We currently live too far from the pet "box stores" to use those services. We do our own scooping (for 4 Shelties, no less!) and we hire a local dog sitting service if we need one.

@twonewfs: I've seen back there, it's appalling.

Honestly, I'd rather hire a neighbor to walk my dog when I'm gone. I feel like it would be a good chance to help a neighborhood kid earn some money and learn responsibility and I would also know who was coming in my home and taking care of my beloved pet. It's not an issue yet but it may be in the future (if the job market ever improves) and I certainly have been considering my options.

It'll probably take off. I'd imagine that with the economic shithole we're in, people are cutting back on hiring people to take care of their pets, and doing more themselves (or asking friends to do it). But if you bring along a company that'll do it really cheaply, people might be more apt to try it out.

This wouldn't be good for those who are working as dog walkers.

@K-Bo: You'd let a GS or HD employee in your house while you're not there? Are you insane?

Always be there when work is being done. If not you, someone you trust.

Given the horror stories I've heard about Geek Squad, cable installers, etc., PetSmart would have to do a lot before I trusted one of their employees with the keys to my home.

I'm going to go ahead and address the aquarium installation. WTF?! You're dealing with hundreds of pounds of water and rock. The people in store and installing the units will have no idea about the structural integrity of your home, load bearing walls and beams and floor surfaces. Far and above the dog stuff THIS is where the problems will arise.

My dog walker has a key to my house. I have to be able to trust this person to not rob my house and that's on top of trusting them to take care of my dog.

I know my dog walker and her staff of 2 personally and the staff has been very constant the past 2 years. I don't worry about a new person that I have never met entering my house every week. My dog walker will also let my dog stay overnight at her house...it's a great perk. No cage, plus she has dogs, cats and kids to play with. She probably likes it better than being at home...

Anyway, I just don't think a big box pet store could provide me with enough comfort that my home or my dog would be safe.

I never really understood "professional dog-walkers." Although I don't own a dog, I kind of figured the whole walking/playing fetch part would be the best part of having one. Is it responsible to own a dog if you're too busy to walk it? Don't people know any trustworthy teenagers/neighbors that could help them out with this?

@JustinSane07: i think that's K-Bos point. while geek squad/home depot would be there when the customer is there, a dog walker isn't. unless you're a really lazy dog owner or a really sick one.

@Urgleglurk: Aussie. And smelly. :D

@wheresmymind: Sometimes your dog develops a problem where they can't hold it for 12 hours like mine can(Only occasionally. It's usually 8-9 hours). Or sometimes people go away and can't watch their pets, but the idea of stressing them at a kennel is either too much or they are going away for a weekend.

@wheresmymind: Some people have these things called 'jobs' where they are away from home 8 - 12 hours a day. Some dogs just can't be cooped up that long and need to be walked, esp puppies.

@wheresmymind:
For those of us who have high-energy dogs and 9-5's sometimes it is nice to have someone let the dog out during the day if you're stuck at work and can't get home on a lunch break to let them out so they can burn off some energy and so they don't have to sit in the crate all day.

@julieannie: Yep. Thisness.

@JustinSane07: That was my point, this is scarier, because with gs and hd, you are there. With these guys, almost by definition you are not.

@sponica: Thanks, I'm glad someone understood it. I was wondering if I was really that unclear in expressing myself.

A PetSmart dogwalkers sounds pretty stupid.

BUT - If PetSmart included a package for a nice aquarium to have them deliever & set it up, along with some instructions on what me as a user needed to do (clean what filters how often, check water quality, etc...) - THAT would be something that would interest me.

@K-Bo: there are two banfields (petsmart vets) in my area, one is ok but the vet doesnt seem like he see pets as little people, if that makes sense. the other is wonderful they saved my pugs life when get got severly anemic due to an unknown illness. either way ill keep going there untill i find a real reason not to.

@mocena: I guess, again, it's hit-or-miss. I wouldn't leave my animal anywhere they would not let me inspect first. I can't speak for them all, only the one I have experience with.

@HumungaCowabunga_GitEmSteveDave : Hey, I got me one of 'em!
Yours looks significantly better behaved than mine, but she decided to hide during obenience school....
Hopefully at 6 months she is still able to be taught by someone more capable than myself.

As someone who works for PetSmart I can tell you there is a ton of training they give you. I can't speak too much for other depts but in "pet care" it takes a month or two to complete just the basic training. So many new people quit because it's too frustrating having to learn so much and to be tested on it.

That being said I'm not going to some strange person's house to pick up poop or set up tanks. I hope they plan on hiring new people for these services. I mean, I'll gladly walk you through fish tank set up in store and over the phone... but I don't know you enough to trust going to your house.

But considering how many people REALLY need it, in home tank set up might be a good idea. It's incredible how many people don't know you need a level and a proper stand.

@wheresmymind: It's all too common for people to own pets that they have no time or energy (and increasingly, money) to care for properly. I've seen it repeatedly among my own friends. In one instance, I was so disappointed in my friend's neglect of his husky that I made arrangements for a friend to take it onto her farm. I have another friend who is putting in so much overtime these days she forgets to feed and water her two dogs.

@K-Bo: I have not dealt with the vet clinic on site but both PetSmart and Petco have some of the lowest calibur employees outside of McDonalds.

There is no way in hell they are coming in my house or handling any of the critters.

@smartmuffin: Anyone with some reasonable intelligence and responsibility can learn to be a dog walker or pick up poop. The problem is that many of the people at these stores act like wiping their own backside is a confusing and daunting task.

Pet sitters or similar services, I will stick to word of mouth.

@ChuckECheese: I got my Aussie, Huckleberry, after someone realized an Aussie doesn't like being in a 3 room apartment in Elizabeth, NJ. He rather likes the 11+acre farm w/High School across the street more. Not a year goes by he doesn't get out and I get a call from the Principal/vice-principal.

@Skeetz: There is massive liability there. When we moved our extremely large tank we screwed up and ended up with about 10 gallons of water that poured into the downstairs ceiling causing us to have to pull down about 20 feet of drywall. We know what we are doing, have had tanks for years. We just were distracted busy and not communicating. So what kind of shitstorm is going to hit PetSmart when one of their teenagers does far worse damage to someone's place?

@Skeetz: Depends how big the tanks are. If we're talking 10-20 gallons, most floors could easily handle that. More than that, and you might have to start being careful.

@johnva: Yeah.. but even with a 10 gallon I'm not trusting them to set up the stand correctly lol

@bohemian: I had that happen to me with my tank except instead of moving it something went way wrong with the filter and it dumped a quarter of my tanks water into the carpet. It actually caused the hardwood flooring underneath to expand and buckle. It's dry now and mostly went back down level.. just hoping the landlord won't notice when I move out.

@K-Bo: I use a PetSmart in store vet. I met him because he volunteers his services for a local animal shelter I also volunteer at. He is wonderful, his staff is all well educated, and he is very caring. When I brought my dog to him, I was very comfortable with his level of expertise. I've had dogs for years and gone to many vets as I've moved place to place, and I can tell he knows what he's doing. My dog has a chronic condition and when I brought him in, the vet knew all the latest treatment protocols for that condition.

He's been a local vet around here for 20 years, and when his old landlord sold the building he rented for his practice he did not renew his lease at the new extremely high rate the new building owner wanted, and chose to instead open one of those Banfield vet practices inside a new PetSmart in our town. He loved it because they set him up with a brand new practice and all brand new equipment at much lower prices than he could have purchased on his own to set up a new building with a new landlord.

He does not work for PetSmart, it's his own vet practice just inside the store and using their franchise name. He gets the benefit of lots of walk in patients, brand new facilities, great location, etc.

Maybe I got really lucky to find him. He is a real gem and I trust him, and appreciate the volunteering he does (free spays and neuters for the local animal shelter.) I cannot speak for the other stores in the chain, but a friend is happy with the vet in another of their stores about an hour away.

I think the in store vets are just like any other vet - go on recommendations of people you know who have been there. Take your dog for just a check up or shots and get to know the vet before trusting them with more complicated procedures.

Petsmart is really hit or miss, i work at one and even i refuse to shop at some other local ones. i just know that i got so much training that i want to bash my head in the wall with what i know about some things... you ask the same question of someone else at another petsmart down the street they dont know jack. so honestly the stores are hit or miss.

if their in-home training was done by the corp trainers (which we have one at my store) then i would say they have a chance at in home services. other wise the training is iffy as some stores just brush it past fast. mine took 3 months because we have the corp trainer in our store woot.

@wheresmymind: I never understood people who have children and leave them with babysitters or in day care centers. I mean, isn't that why you have kids?

I'd think about the idea of letting them clean up my doggle's poop.
But I will be home...
And they won't get to meet my dog.

I worked at Petsmart for few years while I was in College. For the most part the Store does provide good training material for everything in the store. However, its up to the individual employee to read and understand that material.

I read all of the stuff on dog food and on the dog grooming products. Petsmart also does mandate training and test for those employees who work with birds, reptiles, and fish.

Like other have mentioned setting up anything lager than a 20 gallon aquarium has the potential for great disaster. I would be very wary of having an untrained or poorly trained person.

@K-Bo:

I used to work at one of the in-store vets and would not recommend them to anyone. The "nurses" they hire have little to no experience, their employees are overworked (no breaks or sitting down allowed), and their facilities are unsafe and unsanitary.

Granted, that was just the one I worked at, so I can't say they're all as awful.

@zombies.like.lattés.too: I think my dog ate my wife's diamond ring. Can you help find it?

*ShZam* *KaPow*

Instant clean yard.

@K-Bo: In theory that's the best idea, but even neighborhood kids, depending on age, may break rules and be flaky. I had a young teen walking my dog (she'd put up signs advertising her desire to do this as a job) once or twice a day, until I started coming home to find things of mine had been moved around or touched (like the exercise bicycle ridden for 1 minute). After we discussed why this wasn't a big deal but it wasn't her place to do that, she started bringing friends over, and they went through my change jar. End of that neighborhood job.

It'll happen, they'll hire crap people (or some crap people, or enough crap people) and someone's dog will be lost, killed, tormented, or things will be stolen from their homes. There'll be a 7 on your Side investigation by local networks, or depending on the severity and scope of the crimes a Dateline episode, during which everyone will say "why did they think this was a good idea?" and the CEO will say "this was not what I planned when I handed this over to my junior trainee, who by the way is no longer working for us" and it'll be axed or downsized and eventually go away.

This isn't future predicting, folks. This is how it USUALLY works when people don't either think things through or put enough money into something to make it work right. Let's come back in 6 months or a year and see if I'm right.

@wheresmymind: Most people have a dog walker to take out the dog while they are at work. This comes in handy if you don't live close to work or run the risk of getting stuck in traffic or having to work late.

It's supposed to be a supplement to playing with and walking the dog, not a replacement. If anything, having a walker is more responsible pet ownership than letting the poor thing hold it for 8 hours. Just like @missdona said, it's similar to a working parent having a babysitter or day care for their child.