retail sales associate

pet groomer

salesperson

pet bather

store manager

Doggie Style Pets

What is the best part of working at the company?
Doggie Style Pets is one of the most dysfunctional and hostile work environments I’ve experienced. The operation is disorganized at every level, with no consistency, no stability, and no real leadership. Instead of focusing on running a competent business, the company creates unnecessary stress through poor management and constant oversight.

What stands out the most is the atmosphere of control and distrust. Rather than empowering employees to do their jobs, the company fosters an environment where you feel watched, scrutinized, and set up to fail. It’s not just disorganized—it’s actively uncomfortable to work in.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The most stressful part of the job is the constant feeling of being watched and set up to fail. There is an overwhelming level of surveillance throughout the day, where it feels like every movement and even conversations between coworkers are being monitored. Instead of focusing on doing the job well, you’re forced to constantly think about how every action might be judged.

On top of that, there is pressure from frequent emails and messages calling out minor issues in real time, which creates a nonstop sense of tension. Rather than being trusted to handle responsibilities, employees are micromanaged to an extreme degree.

What makes it worse is the accountability standard. If something goes wrong—especially theft—you are still blamed regardless of the circumstances. That combination of constant monitoring, lack of trust, and being held responsible for things outside your control makes the job unnecessarily stressful and mentally exhausting.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture is chaotic and exhausting. Management gives one set of instructions, the office gives another, and you’re expected to somehow follow both perfectly while they blame you for any mistakes. There’s no real consistency, and standards change constantly, leaving employees guessing and then penalized when things don’t line up.

If there’s no manager in the store, you end up doing the manager’s job for CSA pay. That means handling distributor discrepancies, scanning and putting away shipments, keeping up with inventory, reporting no/low items, fixing warehouse or ordering errors, handling customer complaints, and running the register—all at the same time. Not to mention caring for the store dogs, managing daily dog walks, helping find suitable adopters, and acting as receptionist for the groomers, which adds even more stress when grooming clients complain about mistakes that aren’t yours.

Mistakes aren’t handled as learning opportunities—they lead to reduced hours or replacement. Employees end up working constantly on edge, trying to avoid punishment instead of focusing on doing their job effectively.

Work-life balance is essentially nonexistent. Personal emergencies or family situations rarely receive consideration, and even serious events like funerals or pet emergencies are treated as unimportant. The company’s supposed “pro-dog” values feel hollow compared to the relentless focus on numbers, performance, and blame.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day at Doggie Style Pets feels like running a marathon with a dozen jobs strapped to your back. You’re constantly switching between tasks—checking inventory, scanning shipments, fixing distributor mistakes—all while customers are waiting and expecting help. Meanwhile, the dogs need feeding, walks, and attention, and you’re helping match them with potential adopters.

If the groomers mess up, their clients’ complaints land on you, and you have to juggle that on top of running the register and keeping the store organized. You’re reporting low or no-stock items to the office, cleaning up warehouse or ordering errors, and responding to a flood of emails and last-minute instructions from management.

There’s no real pause. Every move is being watched, mistakes are punished, and at the end of the day, it feels like nothing you did was enough. You leave exhausted, knowing the next shift will just start the cycle over again.

Ran by a man that lacks any sense of joy or appreciation, this company is where service employees go to get burned out and under appreciated. From the mouth of the CEO himself, the management of this company is “never tell your employees what they do well, only things they need to fix. If there is nothing to fix, find something” and this is the method they apply to every store manager in their 11 locations mostly located in the Philadelphia area. In working for this company the full 90 days, three of our locations (including my home store) were robbed THREE times, yet no changes were made to give the single closing employee at the stores (only one person closes ever night) a safe and comfortable environment to work, aside from closing the stores just one hour earlier, and this change was made after the 3rd robbery. All-in-all, though the pay is decent, what is asked of the employees is far too much for the amount of hours and pay that is actually available to them. As well as management that will never have its employees wellbeing in its priorities. 

• Toxic and stressful work environment
• No appreciation shown to employees
• A lack of compassion from management including the CEO and owner, who frequents all of the store locations 
• Poor training for store managers, further creating issues within the store micro-environment 

I’ve held nearly every role in this company, aside from groomer and bather. Along the way, I’ve faced challenges, but they’ve been the kind that push you to grow, both professionally and personally. These aren’t unique to this workplace, but the support here makes a difference. I’ve worked closely with the CEO for many years, and his direct feedback has helped me improve and become more effective in my role each year.

One of the most rewarding aspects of working here is the opportunity to help both animals and customers every day. Many customers come in looking for guidance, and it’s incredibly fulfilling to hear when your advice has made a positive difference. If you’re someone who enjoys helping people and animals, this is a great place to work.

Another highlight is our work with ACCT, helping dogs find their forever homes. Many of these animals come to us after being abandoned, and being part of their journey into a loving home is truly meaningful.

The job does come with a steep learning curve, and there’s a lot to absorb. However, no one expects you to know everything right away. If you show up on time, work hard, learn from your mistakes, build relationships with customers, and genuinely care for the dogs, you’ll succeed here.

Overall this is a a good company to work for, like most jobs there are good people and people you don' get long with. I started out in the stores and moved to the warehouse were I'am treated well by my boss and don't have any problems with him. There are times that our backs are against the wall because of not having enough time but we do our best to keep the stores fully stocked and our warehouse looking clean. A lot of these reviews are done by disgruntled former employees, so take that in to account when reading them. I don't have many interactions with HR because I do my job and go home when its done. I'm not saying that it is perfect and there are things that can be fixed so that stuff runs smoother but over all its not a bad place to work. The warehouse manager is a good guy and if you do right by him he does right by you. With all that being said I'd would tell someone who doesn't want to work hard and earn their money not to apply but if you take pride in your work and are willing to work hard there is plenty of room for you here. 

Doggie Style Pets was an extremely hostile and toxic work environment. When I say this, I am not talking about my former coworkers. My coworkers were fantastic people. The hostility came from upper management and the CEO of the company. In my opinion, Doggie Style Pets fails to see their employees as living people, people who deserve to have work/life balance, people who deserve to not constantly be on edge in the workplace. This company does not care about its employees.

I have seen this company fire multiple people over nothing but emotion. You are constantly surveilled by management. They do not trust their employees at all. They will come on here and try to save face, but, to reiterate, this company views its employees as disposable and easily replaceable.

This is an emotionally exhausting job. The customers are great people, and I loved taking care of the dogs as well. On paper, this job should be great. But, the way this company is ran is the reason why they’re always hiring. There is no job security. I have truly never in my life experienced a workplace like this before. It cost me a lot mentally. Nothing is worth this.

Dogs are left locked in rooms and cages from closing at 9pm, until opening at 8am (9am on sundays). Employees are barely trained for a week before left to work on their own. Most of them with nearly no experience with animals, and did I mention barely any training on how to even properly care for them? God forbid they find themselves in a hostile situation with an animal, and with no one around to help. Employees are always working by themselves. Constantly given more retail related tasks so caring for the dogs is minimal. Not to mention, the hours are very inconsistent, so forget a work-life balance. They make sure to schedule employees under 32 hrs so they are ineligible for any benefits (even when they are promised full time). Unless you get lucky and can fill in at other stores, but none of that is guaranteed. Forget the Employees even being able to take a break. Which is apparently an offense worthy of termination (the day after Christmas) without any previous warning. Wanting workers to constantly keep up with work emails and business operations on off hours, but will terminate people for taking 10 minutes of their time. 

It's a unique retail environment with a pretty solid customer base. The job comes with great benefits like free pet food every month and vet discounts so it's perfect for people with pets. There is a lot of movement between stores and the company promotes from within so if you do a good job and have a good attitude and are motivated, you'll get promoted fast. It's nice to work at a pet store that doesn't sell animals and instead hosts adoptable shelter dogs, so you're not supporting breeders or puppy mills by working here. Stores have busy times and slower times, and each location is different but you get used to the rhythm of it quickly. If you enjoy customer service and love animals, it's a fantastic job. If you're lazy and jaded and don't care about the work that you do, it won't work out. Like with any job, you get out what you put into it. Sometimes there are rude customers or long shifts that can get tiring, but that's to be expected with any retail job. It's not very difficult or stressful; it just requires you to have a positive attitude and be open and willing to help out and be a good employee. I honestly love working here.

Do not take a job here. The owner is unprofessional and rude. Will talk about workers behind their back but never works to retrain or help workers they deem “have issues”. You are required to do more work than what expected from typical retail jobs. You will be a secretary for the groomers. A store associate who typically works alone for most of the day. And you will be a caretaker for rescue animals. Safety and stability are not priority for the Higher Up Management. Store managers do what they can and workers do what they can but it is quite clear everyone is on edge due to the owner being callus and rude and firing people on a personal whim. You will not be properly trained or given the tools to succeed and you will only be asked to do more with very little. Full time hires are not given full time hours to start and regularly complain about lack of hours for weeks before being placed at a store. They belittle and ridicule anyone they want and your expected to from and bear it if you want to keep your job. 

I don't believe that working for Doggie Style was too bad. As a sales associate you're expected to do the norm of answering phone calls, calling to confirm appointments, helping customers with finding products, cashing out etc. I actually quite enjoyed it. The only thing I want to put out here for potential job applicants is be ready to take last minute shifts or risk being fired. Unfortunately for myself I was scheduled to work certain days and was expected to take on a last minute shift for someone that called out sick. Unfortunately I was out of town dealing with family affair *on my days off* and was promptly fired by the district manager for not being on call for them, even though it isn't what the job entails. Now I am unemployed for the upcoming holidays, struggling to figure out my next move. At the end of the day keep in mind you can be fired for not being ready to cover for someone else last minute, good luck.

Employees are overworked and expected to go above and beyond for a company that frankly, does not care about them or their well being. From the get-go, you are expected to live up to their extremely high expectations and are not allowed to complain. HR is a joke. For the adoption dogs, many are placed in the stores and are miserable and because of that, they are often overlooked. The company hires anyone who is willing to apply without the experience they so-call 'require'. A lot of really good people who work there and keep their heads low are often the ones who leave due to mistreatment from the "CEO". It's a shame. You get to know your customers and then leave because your mental health becomes your biggest priority. They do not allow time off for funerals or any vacation time. In a year, you can acquire a lot of PTO and not be allowed to use it. Most help comes from other managers and staff rather than upper management due to their inability to treat you with respect and dignity.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Retail sales associate 5 salaries reported	$25.20 per hour
Pet groomer 15 salaries reported	$1,600 per week
Salesperson 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Pet bather 2 salaries reported	$14.00 per hour
Store manager 9 salaries reported	$27.33 per hour

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