‘She’s my child’: Groomers responds after influencer has meltdown over dog’s haircut

A groomers has responded after an influencer had a meltdown over the way her dog’s hair was cut.

Alex Davidson uploaded a TikTok of herself sobbing, alleging Petbarn shaved her puppy, Frankie, without consent.

The 26-year-old claimed she told the groomers if Frankie had matts, which are dense clumps of knotted hair, they can be chopped out, rather than resorting to shaving his entire coat.

In the now viral video, Alex also denied Frankie was matted enough to warrant the cut, saying she “literally washes him every few days”.

However, the brand has responded by saying the decision to shave the puppy was both “proportionate” and “necessary”, and was made by a groomer with over five years’ experience. Petbarn also confirmed Alex was offered a refund and an apology was issued.

The clip, which has over 1.6m views, was posted to Alex’s dedicated dog account, where the two-year-old cocker spaniel has nearly 21k followers.

Alex herself is a popular Australian content creator, with 14.5m likes and over 182k followers on her personal TikTok account.

@frankiethecockers

@Petbarn ??????????????? 📍Warners Bay, Newcastle (the SALON MANAGER did this 😮‍💨😮‍💨)

♬ original sound – frankiethecockerspaniel

In the viral video, the 26-year-old cries as she looks at Frankie, saying: “That is not my fucking dog.”

“I said to them do not shave my dog. What the fuck. Do not shave my dog. And they’ve literally shaved her,” she adds.

Alex said she “ran to the car crying” after collecting Frankie, and was “in a state of shock”.

The 26-year-old further alleged Petbarn didn’t issue an apology when she initially rang the company, with a caller supposedly acting as if the complaint was “annoying” to deal with.

“Do you know what’s annoying? My dog no longer has a coat and looks like a rat,” Alex said.

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“She’s literally my child. Petbarn do better,” the influencer urged at the end of the clip.

‘First world problems’

The content creator has since turned off comments on the TikTok, but the conversation moved over to Reddit, where people are divided over Alex’s reaction.

One user commented: “As a dog owner I’m on her side”, adding “she’s entitled to be upset and annoyed”.

But not everyone agrees, with another person accusing the influencer of “giving red flag client”. Others believe the meltdown was “next level embarrassing” and demonstrated “first world problems”.

@frankiethecockers

Crying screaming throwing up

♬ Kiss me Sixpence None The Richer – whitelinesprettybabyy

Responding to a TikTok user’s comment, who told the influencer “Hair grows back”, Alex made a second video discussing the incident.

In it, she alleges being especially angry because the groomers shaved Frankie’s puppy coat, meaning the fur may not grow back the same.

A puppy coat is the initial soft layer of fur puppies are born with, which is shed and replaced by a thicker one as the dog matures.

The 26-year-old claims Frankie’s typical grooming routine entails regular washing, brushing, and cutting any mats. The influencer added that she takes the puppy to be groomed regularly and has never had an issue before.

Alex further alleged that Petbarn charged her for an extra beauty treatment for Frankie that she didn’t ask for, which the brand denies.

In a third video about the incident, Alex captions a TikTok “Crying screaming throwing up”, as she films Frankie before his shave. She claims it’s the last video she’ll ever have of his puppy coat “because petbarn shaved her without consent”.

Petbarn’s response

Petbarn told news.com.au: “Petbarn’s professional groomers act in line with industry best practice and with the welfare of animals as our top priority.

“The decision to clip Frankie, made by a groomer with more than five years’ experience, was a proportionate response to matting identified and was necessary to ensure both comfort and consistent coat regrowth.”

The company also denied claims that she was improperly charged and that no apology was issued.

“We can confirm that Ms Davidson spoke with the Warners Bay store manager on September 26th, who apologised and offered a refund under our Satisfaction Guarantee, and she has also spoken to Petbarn customer service on the same day.

“Ms Davidson indicated that her partner would attend Petbarn Warners Bay to claim the refund,” the brand said.

Alex Davidson and Petbarn were approached for comment.

Featured image via @frankiethecockers on TikTok