The Spaw

I have been taking my little guy here for 8 years and I can’t believe it took me this long to Unilocal about it! I now take both my dogs here… and my moms dog. They really do care about the dogs like they are their own!
I have a very shy rescue that we were nervous to leave, but we immediately were able to see how well she was cared for because they have cameras! When I came back to pick them up, I could actually see into where a groomer was cleaning up… my little Rudy was following her around! I loved that they did what was right for her and made her feel comfortable! My other dog is a ball of energy that loves play time, so he spends his time in the play room!
Love this place!

I love this place. My son Maximus stayed over the weekend for the 1^st time and like every pet parent on their 1^st stay over, i was anxious and nervouse but seeing Maximus on periscope and to see he was fine and enjoyed himself gave me reassurance and to enjoy my getaway. His home happy and sleeping as expected. The complimentary bath is an added bonus. Carrie your team and you are so wonderful. Im glad we found a good babysitter for Maximus for our weekend getaways. He will be coming again on the 29^th… oh and i love the periscope… did i say that already.

My first visit here for my four month old Havanese pup was a positive experience. The staff is very helpful and friendly and Oreo looked very happy and dashing in his red complimentary bandana after the grooming.
They even offer complimentary snack service while you wait. The only reason why I’m not going all 5 stars is two reasons. One is that it’s very hard to find an appointment which for a business is a great thing but hard for someone who has a busy schedule. Two is that my last nail cutting appointment for my dog didn’t get me what I needed. He still had sharper nails than before and I had to file them down more and recut them at home to keep it manageable. It WAS a walk in but still seemed like a rush job from Spaw.

Great place, did a very good job. They take good care of their puppies. Amazing place.
–Puppy’s Little Owner

The people at the Spaw feel like family! Both my dogs go to daycare, boarding, and get groomed here. They love it at the Spaw and they are loved just as much right back.
Thanks so much for always being so good to us!
Cassie, Henry, and Howard

This place is great took my dog to get her nails done. They were quick and the staff is so friendly. I will defiantly be back! Thank you!

Cooper (my dog) LOVED his time here. We were a little nervous about him being in an open area with a variety of dogs, but he did great. The staff made us feel so comfortable leaving him there and your dog receives a free bath at the end of their stay! WIN WIN!
I would highly recommend, even if your dog may have leash aggressive tendency they might be great at the group play setting!

My boyfriend and I bring out dog here all the time! We’re from the inland empire area but we always make the effort to come to the Spaw every month or two to get our baby groomed. We have tried going to places around our area, but nothing can top the Spaw! They have given us nothing but amazing service and results.
It’s hard to see any cons about this place. We have a two year old shihtzu and he always come out so happy, healthy and good lookin’! They also have cameras on at all times where they keep all the dogs in a huge space (meaning they don’t cage up the dogs and they are free to roam around!)
This place is highly recommended for all dog lovers. Thanks for keeping our baby so happy :)

We got married over the weekend and the spaw was the best for doggy Buddy. Our family poodle that is 16 feels comfortable at the spaw my mom reassured our 2 year old buddy would be fine. He was at doggy day care 2 days in a row and he was very happy. Thank you for the live periscope it reassured us. Buddy loves everyone. your staff is so friendly and that’s what makes you different!

When your Aussie is over fifteen years old, deaf and part blind you take careful consideration into your choice of groomer and boarding facility. I love my dog. Knowing that she is in the twilight of her life means that I only want treatment of her to be of the most compassionate nature. Older dogs are easily injured and traumatized when they are groomed like any other dog. I was recommended to The Spaw by a friend that witnessed my concern.
The first thing you notice is the relaxed atmosphere. All of the employees are so friendly. You can easily tell that they love their job. There are cookies and fresh coffee for the customers. Live screen TV shows everything that is going on in the doggy rooms. This is a no cage facility so all pups are free to roam around. This is also a plus when boarding your fur babies. Older dogs are identified with a colored neck band and because such are treated more gently by all that approach them.
What I find most important is the look on my Roxies face when I pick her up. Not only is she beautiful and very well groomed, she is relaxed and happy. She comes home and acts perfectly normal, not sleeping or limping because of being handled improperly. Believe me, I have experienced both and The Spaw is beyond amazing.
Feel free to email me via Unilocal if you want further information.

I don’t want any one’s dog go get hurt. This two weeks from the groomer cut her ear with the clippers. I should have known something was up when they had me sign the contract before they do the work. I DO NOT recommend any one go there.

My dog Beau loves this place. Well I guess I do as well. My dog is an 8 year old silver miniature Yorkshire terrier so he is at a stage right now where he despises being in cages. This place is a cage free environment!!! SCORE. They cater to all his and my needs. The technicians here are super friendly and very customer service oriented.

I’ve been bringing my dog here since I adopted her a year ago. Initially, I was really nervous about bringing her anywhere because when I adopted her, she had SEVERE separation anxiety (she could be left alone for 5 minutes) and she was highly reactive to other dogs so I brought up these concerns both when I made her appointment & when I brought her in. The staff assured me it was fine, but I told them I would be available and could come get her if there were issues. To my pleasant surprise, they called a few hours later to say she was all done & had been just fine. The staff here are so great: they do a fantastic job on her and they’re all sweet & loving with her which makes me feel at ease leaving her in their care. I would highly recommend them.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves their dogs! I brought my two puppies do doggie daycare at The Spaw every day this week and they loved it!
The staff is so warm, friendly and caring and as soon as you walk in you feel like your pets will be safe there. Both of my dogs are really shy and don’t play well with others or so I thought. After 5 days they had really broken out of their shells.
Every day each person I speak with gives me an update about what my little ones were up to during the day. They even do live broadcasts on periscope. How cool is that?! Im so relieved to have a place my pets can stay when I’m away or working.

Took my sister’s dog in for a groom as a surprise since its been awhile since her dog had last received a groom from Spaw. Unfortunately, when it was time for her to get taken to the back, she had peed on both the floor and employee. Both Carrie and the employee were super nice about it! Since my sister didn’t know that I was taking her dog in, I wasn’t sure what type of haircut to do so I told them to do whatever they thought was best — and they sure did! A periscope was also conveniently taken during the visit so I asked Carrie how NC (my sister’s dog) was doing and she was kind enough to include her in the video. Thanks for all that you guys do! You guys are and have always been my go-​to dog groomers!

Since I moved to the OC several months ago, I’ve been taking my dog Keilani to The Spaw for grooming & teeth cleaning. I love that she comes back looking & smelling great! In addition, they provide a couple hours of cage-​free dog care, which is an additional perk. I’ve always been impressed by their professionalism & feeling that they truly care about the dogs.
This past weekend, I dropped off my dog for boarding for 2 days/​nights. I was impressed that they offered to provide a complimentary bath! While I knew that she was in good hands, I loved being able to check in on her through the Periscope app. It gave me that much more confidence that everything was going well while I couldn’t be there with my dog. I am truly grateful for that additional perk at The Spaw!
I am so glad I found The Spaw for my dog!

My baby Gyzmo is almost 3 years old. I’ve brought him to Petsmart here and there, I’ve always hated bringing him there because he always shakes and cries, I can’t handle him feeling that way. My little boys hair was matted because he hates his hair being brushed, washed, etc. and loves playing in the dirt. With my schedule now (and inability to do a good job), I decided continuing to cut his hair on my own was not going to happen but I couldn’t let him go back to Petsmart. So I decided to look into smaller grooming shops for a more personal feel, but with a 5 star rating even though I was scared of the cost.
This is when I found The Spaw. I got a kick out of the name so I scanned the reviews which were all great, and made the call. I spoke to a girl there, she was very informative and friendly. First of all, they DO NOT cage the dogs which is GREAT! I told her how anxious he is and she mentioned if he got nervous they can put him somewhere else but NOT in a cage. They DO NOT use a box hair dryer. They file the nails. I bit the bullet and scheduled an appointment. I waited 2 weeks so I could be available to ask questions, as well as be there for pick up and drop off. I’m beyond glad I did.
I showed up today with Gyzmo who was matted, he was shaking but not like he did at Petsmart. He seemed to calm down entirely once he was greeted by 2 different little dogs who were also going in for a haircut. He was by no means comfortable with the dogs, but he was interested. I spoke with Brisa about all my concerns and she assured me he would be okay and showed me the live feed on the television in the lobby. This was great. It doesn’t show the whole play area but shows a big amount. There may be a little more loving going on than I’d prefer if you know what I mean, but the staff there tries to stop it pretty quickly. I finally let my little boy go unto Brisa’s care and she took him into the doggy play area. He was surrounded by curious dogs and looked terrified. He ran to the gate it seemed and hoped he could escape. Brisa checked on my fiancé and I, we were pretty nervous still and she said she’d check on him again and bring him into view. She brought him out, and the process was repeated. She came out and talked to us for a bit while we waited hoping Gyzmo would socialize but he didn’t.
I keep busy till about 4 and decide to check in. I was put on hold for about 10 minutes which I amazingly didn’t mind, I felt like they might be attending to Gyzmo or providing the same care and attention to another family. I ended up speaking with Brisa again, she told me he was close to finishing up but that he did amazing. She said he was a little nervous but he was very calm. This was reassuring because he gets so nervous and I honestly think the groomers at Petsmart might not have been patient and possibly yelled at him. Brisa then mentioned they actually caught a couple minutes of the preshave on their periscope account, so of course once I got off the phone I checked it out. I didn’t catch the name of the woman who did his preshave, maybe it was Carrie the owner, but she mentioned not doing them so often as she has problem with her wrists. So I was actually grateful because Gyzmo seemed very calm with her.
I got there and Brisa told me Gyzmo did so great, she said he was calm and she doesn’t understand how he could have had any issues in the past. My little boy was brought out, he was so excited to see me. The same lady who brought him out was the same one in the video, I want to say it had to be Carrie. She coaxed him into eating some treats while I paid, and he seemed comfortable there. We let him walk around and he didn’t even head to the door. We chatted the girls ears off for a bit just getting every price under the sun and decided to leave. I got to the car and realized his head was a little too puffy for my liking so I decided to go back in. Gyzmo actually ran to the door, he would’ve never done this with Petsmart. We get inside and of course he gets more treats and I decide to spend a little more of my nonexistent fortune on a bag of his now favorite treats. Tripe. I inform the girls he’d be back the following Saturday for doggy day care, $ 20 for 5 hours of play time in a safe environment. Also a good thing because it’ll make The Spaw not just a place he gets his hair cut but a place he has friends and lots of fun. Although $ 63 was a little more than I’d like to spend, I really love the feel of this place. The employees seem happy, they are all super friendly and dog people. There are so many dogs I feel like it will really help my little boy adjust. I really recommend this place, I plan on bringing Gyzmo back. This place really made an impact on me, my little boy was actually seeming comfortable. So if you love your baby like I do and really want a good place, go here. This place will not let you down!

This review is for their grooming. They do a GREAT job with my small mixed breed dog (who is not a fan of baths). If I want something changed with the way they groomed him previously, they are totally willing to adjust and make careful notes about what I asked for. The staff are pleasant and professional, and you can tell they love animals. I never worry about leaving my dog here, and you definitely can’t say that about all groomers. It’s also very clean, which makes it a nice environment for your dog.
So why not five stars? Every time I go, I get a speech about how I will be charged if I leave my dog post grooming in their doggie daycare too long, and by «too long», I mean even 15 minutes after the free time they allow you. I understand they don’t want people abusing the daycare, but this no exceptions policy is a bit much. Their grooming isn’t exactly cheap… they can’t be a little more flexible? I don’t work nearby, and with the traffic sometimes I’m not able to get there immediately. A little customer service in this area would go a long way.
Overall, I do definitely recommend them, and will keep taking my dog for the excellent grooming.

When I first saw all these 5 star reviews I questioned if they were legit– safe to say I was wrong and they are well deserved.
Story: I am new to the Irvine area and defaulted to taking my pup to the big name stores. After going to Petsmart grooming a few times and noticing how anxious/​whiny my pup got when we arrived — I realized I needed to make a change.
I turned to trusty Unilocal (which I should have done in the first place) and found The Spaw and had my first experience today.
This place and the people are AWESOME! It’s hidden in an office park and once you walk in, it’s like a doggy sanctuary. The people are incredibly kind and you can tell they love animals and their jobs.
My favorite part is they let your pup hang out with the other dogs before and after they get groomed (you can also watch them on screens to see how they are doing and they have Periscope!) it’s like a puppy play date/​spa day!
They did a great job with my pup’s haircut and he got a cute little bandana.
Safe to say I will be a return customer. I’m so happy I found this place! The Spaw rocks! Thanks Unilocalers for the advice!

The Spaw should be THE destination for all dog owners within Orange County. Near or far, we have continued to bring our pups here throughout the years. Dog after dog, my family has been dedicated to this small business and with good reason.
The Spaw has continued to treat our pets as we would treat them. Not only are their haircuts meticulous, humane and just plain ADORABLE, their hair cuts are tailored to our specific needs.
We’ve called for silly haircuts for our pooches, and we’ve gotten them with the most flawless execution. Our dogs are always returned happy and in great condition.
We’ve recently had to use the Spaw for our boarding needs. We went on a vacation to Mexico for 10 days and our pups were left with the Spaw. We were absolutely floored by how closely they watched each and every one of our dogs, and they entertained every silly request we made.
We left our dogs without leads but with plenty of foods and the Spaw provided snacks. We were crazy dog parents and called nearly every day from Mexico and the Spaw entertained our silly questions and ensured our dogs were in good hands. We even got to see them on the Spaw’s instagram (even more reassuring for us).
Overall, this is the best facility and we will continue taking our dogs here, even though it’s no longer geographically convenient, the Spaw is worth the drive!