Heather Ford’s Hair of the Dawg

Will miss Heather very much. They have moved away due to her husband changing jobs. She was very attentive, knowledgable and great at what she does.
Just wanted everyone to know why she closed her business here in California.
They moved to Oregon. Just too far and expensive to go there every 6 weeks. Lol

I found Heather through Unilocal.We have a 12 year old very spoiled Havanese, and have been without a groomer for about 9 months. During that time, we have attempted to groom him ourselves, but have not done a good job. He is a sweet boy, and we had to be sure he would be treated well, so really dragged our feet in finding a new groomer. When I took him to Heather a couple days ago, she explained to me what would need to done on the 1^st visit to get him back «in shape.». Although she probably could have shaved him down for speed & ease, she took the time to carefully & gently groom him, and the shape she gave to his cut is really thoughtful. He came home looking good & most importantly, feeling good.

So, this review is for 5 stars quality work, 2 stars attitude and 0 stars for «getting fired» as a client.
I will say over and over again, my female Westie who is the most perfect dog in the world, turns into a gremlin when she is groomed. She clearly had been hurt in the past before I adopted her and what to do? Terrified of the clippers, no treats nor consoling her helps.
So, Heather took her in, worked on her and my other Westie many times. When I went to book again after a particularly trying day with my female, I was summarily dismissed as «being too busy, you could try so and so.» So, Heather’s lucky she’s good enough to fire clients when she wants, so if your dog is well behaved, you will have good results. If not, search elsewhere.

Mono my bichon poodle has been going to heather for a little under 2 years. The first time he went he had just come from a lake trip and was do badly matted. Heather took him when no one else would and fixed him. I feel so lucky to have found her you can just feel her sincere love for what she does and for all animals in general. She is very knowledgable about animal care and goes out of her way to check on questions i have that she may not be aure of. She is truly the best!

If I could give Heather 6 stars I would! My boy is happy and so am I. So happy I found Heather!

This is my first visit to Heather. I took my Yorkie for a bath and haircut, and he came out looking great. He went in with the trademark long, silky Yorkie hair (not show ready, but long enough), and it was getting cumbersome to brush out every night. So, I asked for a shorter cut. I wasn’t too sure of what I wanted her to do with him, but she made suggestions based on questions that she asked me in regards to what I wanted. She really listened, and took notes. And a few hours later, voila!
While he was there, he had other clients’ dogs to play with. And when I picked him up, he was all wags, so I know he was happy while he was in her care. I will definitely be back when it’s time for another grooming session for my little pooch!

I’ve been taking my two Shih Tzus to Heather Ford for several years now. I’ve been very satisfied with her attention to detail and care of my dogs. My two dogs love her and they’re always so happy to see her. Before I found Heather, I went from groomer to groomer looking for someone who can groom a Shih Tzu without cutting their eye lashes and trim their hair evenly. I’m so glad to have found Heather!

I had two dogs whom Heather and staff groomed for over a year. It was always very obvious that she REALLY LIKED one of our dogs, but not our other one — she clearly «put up» with the one because she liked the other. I am surprised to read how many reviews mention her professionalism and that she is always in such a good mood, because I found nether to be true. She does a good job, but I do not like her approach, nor her up-​and-​down personality. And I do not miss having to get 2 dogs out of a car parked on Hillsdale Blvd. during morning and evening rush hours. I’ve found two other groomers who, m I much prefer, and — who’d have thought — they are nice to BOTH of my very-​easy-​to-​get-​along-​with dogs!

My dog Oliver has been groomed by Heather for the past two years. He is a little terrier-​schnauzer mix and Heather does amazing work. Her entire grooming team is friendly and professional.
My dog can be a little shy and insecure especially if his personal space gets a little crowded — Heather is attentive to him, makes him feel comfortable and the entire experience is positive.
Hair of the Dawg is a small business, and I think I will give them just a little breathing room on taking a day or two to get back to me to schedule an appointment. I think it is a good sign that they are busy!
Heather would have to break her pelvis for me to go to another groomer!

I brought my fussy Yorkshire Terrier here and Heather and her team did a great job with the cut. It was exactly what I wanted. I’ve taken her to other places and they always botch her hair cut. The location is on a very busy street and a little more than what I usually pay but definitely worth it!

This is the first pet we’ve had that required «grooming». Our neighbors highly recommended Heather and we took our dog to her. We were thoroughly pleased by the «look» that only groomers can provide for our dog. He always looks his best and Heather is very talented in what she does and also has a lot of knowledge re training, feeding, tips for combing and brushing at home and is happy to share what she knows with her clients. She is the best and we are very lucky!

Heather is great! We are so pleased with her and her professional service. My Mateo (small American Eskimo) looks very nice, and the finishing is very smooth. Thank you Heather. I highly recommend her service.

I’ve been to about 4 – 5 different groomers until I finally found Heather. I have a little Maltese terrier and his fur can get quite long and raggedly. Heather always does a stellar job with grooming my little guy. She cuts a perfect teddy bear face and leaves the fur on his legs a little longer so that he doesn’t look like he has chicken feet. As a matter of fact, it looks more like he’s wearing ugg boots… so cute!
My little pup always comes home happy after his grooming session. I’m so happy that we found Heather! She’s the best and I can tell that she works well with all the dogs that come her way. I fully trust her with mine!

Heather is great, she writes down everything you tell her, she asks all the right questions, and if you have a dog who isn’t exactly the nicest of beasts, this is extremely helpful both for the dog, the owner, and her.
I have a five year old Japanese Chin/​CKCS mix with some interesting fur and feathers. She walks you through each part of your dog and gives you the options on what you want to do, (body, legs, hair, ears, tail) if she doesn’t think it will look right she’ll tell you, but if you still want to do it she wont stand in your way
The only downside I would say is trying to reach her, she’s difficult to get a hold of, email and text messages have always worked for me though !! I usually give her about 3 days and giver her options about what fit into my schedule to see if we can work something out. She is a small business so you have to give her some credit, she wont take on more than she can handle, and my dog always comes out looking great
Pros
–writes EVERYTHING DOWN includign what you want and your concerns
–Gives you a FULL run down of what happened, if she found anything, and how they did during the groom (i.e. she hates having her feet touched…)
–your dog looks great
–small business means more attention to detail
Cons
–hard to get a hold of/​make appointments but worth it !!!

Heather may be the best but she is choosy of what dogs to groom what not. My dog is a short haired Westie and after the first cut, (which the result was just ok) I tried to make another appointment a month later, apparently, she decided we are not worthy of her precious time and NEVER bother to call back. I tried sending her an email and call again but still no replied. I’m the customer, I don’t care how good she is, I don’t need to be begging for service and having to wait forever to get an appointment on top of it. Some people are willing to wait but I prefer to take my business else where who is appreciates my business as well as my dog!
FOOTNOTE: Heather wrote to me after this review and tried to make it up. I was willing to give her second chance but when I wrote back, she never replied again. It’s either her mail boxes are not working or that she’s simply too busy and too good to be bothered. Well, all the best to her dog grooming business. I’m super happy with my current groomer!

We used to see Heather at the Dawg House and when she switched to grooming out of her home, we had a hard time getting an appointment.
So it took us a few months to get back to her but I am glad we did. The last few haircuts that our little guy had were pretty awful and they were done by a different groomer.
What I love about Heather is she listens, she takes notes and when you come back to pick him up, you get exactly what you asked for.
Another bonus is that he gets to play with puppies while he is over there.
If you go to see her and like what she does, try to get on a regular schedule, otherwise it can be challenging to get an appointment

My regular groomer was booked, and I needed to get my dog groomed, so I turned to Unilocal to get some ideas about good, reputable groomers on the Peninsula. I was impressed by the 6 reviews I saw here for Heather Ford’s Hair of the Dawg, so I booked an appointment and took my dog in. My dog is a Lhasa Apso, and is very similar to the dog shown in the photos above. I thought that dog looked nice, so I was further encouraged to trust them with my dog.
I should make clear here that my dog was not matted, dirty, nor had it been more than 6 weeks since its last grooming.
The results I got were not good. My dog’s face was BADLY lopsided, and showed a number of jagged, uneven scissor mistakes. The coat was also very uneven, and the feet looked as though they had been clipped by a Hamilton Beach carving knife. Worst of all, not one, but TWO of my dog’s toes were bloodied from too-​close toenail clipping, as well as a cut on the stomach area. Simply put, my dog looks awful, has cuts, and I am stuck with it. I certainly regret bringing my dog here. I had asked for Heather, but learned at the last moment that Nadia would be «helping». Heather would not make clear exactly what that meant. I felt a bit uneasy, but remembering the reviews here on Unilocal,I went ahead and trusted. I will not do so again.
I have no doubt that Heather may have produced some good results and that some of the incredibly perfect, glowing reviews here might be genuine — but so is mine. I would not advise anyone to bring their dog here if you care about either the dog’s appearance, or making sure that it does not receive cuts. I feel bad that this happened, and felt that my only recourse was to come here to Unilocal and speak up about my experience with this business.

I love having Heather Ford groom my little Napoleon! We have been there twice now and both times, he has come out of there looking like the most handsome dog in the world!
I liked how Heather helped me to decide on what would be the ideal cut for Napoleon. She is a creative, kind and personable professional and I recommend her to everyone!

We feel very fortunate to have found Heather, groomer extraordinaire. When you meet her for the first time, you instantly know that you are in good hands. Long haired dogs in general and Afghan Hounds in particular are not the easiest to groom. In fact, most groomers will not even consider the notion of grooming an Afghan Hound.
On our very first meeting, Heather came out to greet us and she asked many questions not only about what I was expecting but also general questions about each dog. Did they have any likes dislikes or health concerns that she should be made aware of and she was open to grooming the dogs the way I wanted them to look!
Our guys love to visit Heather and on occasion will happily sing to her as she grooms ;O)
And the best part? Heather graciously donates her time to groom the rescues of [ Afghan Hound Rescue of California].

My dog’s groomer whom I had been very happy with went out of business and, I was so disappointed. I didn’t know where to take my dog now. So after much research, thanks to the Unilocal reviews, I found Heather and I was very happy with the grooming she gave my little pooch. This is where I’ll be taking my dog from now on. The shop is quite spacey, clean and everyone is friendly. When I picked my pooch up after her grooming, she was happy and she looked great!
Thank you Heather and thank you Unilocalers! :)