Disclaimer: I am a super neurotic dog mom. And I have a neurotic german shepherd. So there's that.
My mom had taken my dog to get his nailed trimmed here while she watched him by her friend Judy who grooms here. I let his nails get far too long and decided that I needed to sack up and call to make an appointment. I called and explained he had been in before, that I was nervous dog mom. The woman on the phone asked my dog's name, and then said "Oh, yes! The German Shepherd mix!" (insert sigh of relief)
The next day was the day before Christmas, and they were super busy when I arrived. They have two rooms, one for little dogs to play, and one for big dogs. Both rooms have monitors and the grooming area was full of dogs getting beautiful for the holidays. The dogs were all playing and having a ton of fun.
They led Ruckus back, and of course he starts being neurotic as one of the employees starts clipping his nails, so I see another lady start cuddling him and reassuring him (It was too sweet). He even fake yelps (anyone with a big baby dog knows what I mean *when you're making them do something they don't want to*) and out of nowhere this HUGE bulldog comes running over to the fence where they are and starts nudging him and licking him, and I just about melted. So as my overdramatic dog is acting like the world is ending because his nails are being clipped, these big dogs are coming over and checking on him while he yelps like he is dying (which, of course, he isn't). The staff were so patient and kind to him, when I know he isn't the easiest dog to deal with. They were busy, and had a full house of doggy daycare pups.
They knew each dog by name, and took the time to care. It may not seem like much but Ruckus has always been nervous with people so, not only for him to have such a social interaction but for them to be understanding of my anxiety was seriously awesome.